Monday, February 12, 2007

Tell Me Your Ghost Story: My Visit to the Queen Mary

photo by Randi Bowles Meentzen

Today, like many days, I was thinking about chocolate.This led me to fantasizing about candy in general and reminded me that one of my favorite holidays for "free candy" is approaching next month. Yes ,Halloween. Halloween , of course gave me pause to think about ghosts. Being a genealogist, I spend a lot of time getting to know the dead, but usually only on paper. It is uncommon, even for me, to have a 2 sided conversation with one of my dearly departed ancestors. Now I am no John Edwards but there have been rare times when I have felt that perhaps someone who has crossed over is trying to tell me something. This leads me to this weeks topic. Have you ever seen a ghost, felt a prescense or know someone who has? Would you tell me about it?
I will go first.
I live in California. There are a lot of tourist attractions in Los Angeles County and one of my favorites is the Queen Mary. The above picture was taken there of Carl and I in 2005.The old ship is permanently docked in Long Beach Harbour and is open to the public as a museum. You can catch a feature about it on TV almost every Hallowen as it is supposedly haunted by a young girl, a woman in white and by a man who was killed in the engine room. I have gone on several tours there, eaten in the restaraunts on board and even spent a weekend in the cabin suites which are now used as a hotel. The ship has a wonderful feeling of history but neither myself or anyone I know has ever seen a ghost on board. Now one of the things I learned on the QM tour is that the ship was used during World War II by the military. Soldiers were transported on the ship and the injured were returned to home or hospitals aboard this grand liner. Towards the bow of the boat is a hospital ward. The bunks inside are head to toe and stacked 3 beds high. I have been past this area numerous times. Last year , a group of freinds and I went on board the ship to veiw a special exhibit about the Titanic. Afterwards we wandered through the Queen Mary. This time I was drawn to the hospital ward. As I stood veiwing it, I thought about the brave soldiers and how uncomfortable it must have been to be injured and packed in like sardines. I stood for some time and the rest of my freinds had wandered off when I heard IT.!!!!!!!!!! This is where the creepy music should enter, because as I stood there I heard a man sobbing. Not a little boohoo, not a ghostly whisper,but a gut wrenching sobbing which went on for some time. I was absolutely the only person viewing the display. I stepped back and looked all around and even walked around the corner to see if anyone was there and playing a trick on me. No one was there. When I stepped back around the corner,the sobbing had stopped. I guess the moment was gone. I did not mention the incident to anyone until we got home and I told my husband about it. He said " I beleive you, that place has a feeling about it".
OK so I went first and I am not crazy, much.
Tell me your story and dont make one up just to fit in with the lunatic fringe, and hallucinations from the 70's dont count either.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Years ago, I was living in Indiana, and the day my grandmother died, I felt her presence, as clear as could be in my home. About 5 minutes after I felt her presence, I received a phone call telling me that she had passed. I replied "I know. She was just here." I think she may have visited every one of her grandchildren, but as far as I know, I'm the only one who felt her presence.