July 4th weekend 2021 my father suddenly dropped dead. And when I say he dropped dead, I literally mean he dropped dead. July 2, 2021 he was at home with my mother and he collapsed, and that was it. When the ambulance arrived he was sort of hanging on……but not really, and he was pronounced dead when he arrived at the hospital 2 blocks from the house. I’m not going to get into why he dropped dead because the story is about the house he and my mother lived in……But I had to mention his death because his death caused my mom to have to live alone, which she did for about 6 months before she decided that she wanted to sell the house and move in with us. I was kind of surprised she wanted to get rid of the house because I thought she loved the house, and she and my dad lived there for years.

At first, my husband was pushing to sell our house and move into my parents’ house, but I refused. My parents’ house is a really nice house, but there are odd things about it. It is a turn of the century house in a historical part of town, so I am sure some interesting things happened in that house before my parents owned it. The people my parents bought it from only lived there for two years before they sold it, and they seemed desperate to get out of there. My parents never questioned it.

When I was growing up strange things happened in the house and my parents didn’t really believe that odd things happened to me and that I experienced odd things in the house. I used to hear footsteps up and down the hallway in the middle of the night. The end of my bed would sometimes feel as if someone was sitting there but no one was there. My bedroom was next to the garage and the lock on the garage constantly swung back and forth and no one was there, and it was not windy. I often saw a man in the garage that no one else saw. Once my dad did believe me and he went out into the garage with his rifle to confront the guy, but no one was there. My dog did not like my room, and he would not hang out with me if I was in my room. He would bark in the doorway. Later on, when my husband and I were house sitting while my parents were out of town, and our dogs were with us, the dogs started barking at nothing in the hallway and did not want to be in that part of the house. When my son was three years old he told me he was talking to a lady in the hallway. He pulled me into the hallway and I smelled my grandmother’s perfume. My son said that the lady was laughing and she was really nice. I grabbed a family photo with my grandmother and her sisters and other family in it, and showed it to my son. I asked him if the nice lady was in the photo and he pointed to my grandmother. And when I told my son that is his great grandmother, my son told me that he knew that because the lady told him…..

Even being in that house as adult I still felt some kind of presence and got a weird vibe but my parents dismissed me. My son has never liked the house, and even at 18 was uncomfortable in the house. My husband said he didn’t notice anything and has always laughed about the stories I told, and I am not sure he believes the stories. But after my dad died I felt that the vibe of the house changed so I started to think that because my parents didn’t get along that maaaaybe that was some of the reason that the house felt off, and now that my dad was gone and my mom was not arguing with him all the time, the vibe changed. Because when all the things were going on when I was a teenager we had the house blessed by a priest with holy water, and a medium came to the house and told whoever was in the house to leave, and actually, all the weird things stopped……until my son saw my grandmother, but that was sweet not creepy or scary.

So my mom put the house on the market and there were offers immediately. My mom seemed anxious to get out of there and I thought it was odd, but sometimes my mom is strange so I just chalked it up to that. My mom had refused to even go into the bedroom that she had shared with my dad, and again, and I also had the thought that it was because she didn’t want to be in there without him. And my mom didn’t want to talk about it. She spent weekends at our house until the house sold, and stated that our house was so warm and inviting, and that there was a warm glow in the house that was comforting. But I already knew that because that is exactly why I really worked to make sure we were the ones who bought the house. A house’s vibe is so important to me.

So moving day comes around for my mom, and everything was ready to go. The movers showed up and my mom just wanted to get out of there, and she just took off and drove to our house leaving me to manage all of her things. I thought it was odd, but again, my mom can be odd. And honestly I was relieved because it gave me the opportunity to get rid of some of the junky things my mom tried to keep. We added onto the house so she could move in, but there just wasn’t room for absolutely everything. When the house was empty, and the movers were ready to go, I told them to go on ahead and since my husband and mom were already at our house, I could stay behind for a little bit to say my goodbyes to the house where I grew up. I also wanted to see what the vibe of the house was with all of the things out of it, and with just me in the house.

So there I was, in my parents’ big house all alone. I walked room to room imagining what it was like when my parents were newly married and were moving in, so excited to own their first and only home. And when I walked to the back of the house where I had felt scared in the past, I only felt a sense of calm. I went into my parents’ room and sat on the floor, and it felt nice. There was not a bad vibe. I sat on the floor in my old room and it also had a good vibe. I went into one of the bedrooms that had been my grandmother’s room (my dad’s mom) for awhile and that room still felt strange. I decided to open the closet door and hidden behind the door was a large, antique mirror that has belonged to my grandmother. I thought is was odd that it had been left behind. I pulled it from the closet and attached to the back were some great old family photos that I had never seen before. There were even a few photos of my grandmother and I together when I was little that I don’t remember. I put the photos in my purse and immediately the vibe in the room changed and I started smelling cigarette smoke, and as I am remembering this the hair is standing up on the back of my neck. My grandmother did smoke. The smell was getting so strong that I said out loud, “Grandma, I can’t stand the smell of the smoke,” and the smoke cleared up. I took the mirror to my truck and put in the back seat, and then I went back in the house. Now when I walked room to room this time, the air felt light and bright, and the house felt happy. Maybe part of the bad vibe was because my grandmother wanted me to find the mirror and the pictures??!! Because my husband, the movers, and my son claim they looked in that closet and didn’t see the mirror.

So I said goodbye to the house standing there in the very middle of the house, and it felt ok. Funnily enough my son told me that my mom told him that she wanted out of the house because a lot of weird things were happening in the house after my dad died, and she felt as if she was being watched. My hair is standing up again……..My mom told my son that she no longer felt welcome in the house, and I am wondering if my grandmother, as in my dad’s mom, was hanging out and the vibe was bad because my mom and grandmother did not like each other at all. Who knows! But all I know is that a few weeks later the new owner asked to see me because he found more pictures in the house and he wanted to hand them to me rather than mail them. When I was in the house to get the pictures, the vibe was still good, and the new owner told me that the house felt happy to him. The new owner ironically writes horror stories and screenplays for films, and when I told him the story of the house (he asked about the history) he told me that he wouldn’t mind if the house acted up because it would give him material to write. How ironic. And by the way, my mom refused to admit to me that weird things happened in the house when she lived there alone. I find that funny.

Last year my dad died unexpectedly. At this time last year, it was the last two weeks of my dad’s life, but of course at the time we didn’t know that. Ironically we discussed what would happen if one of my parents passed away, which was odd, but then two weeks later I got the call from my mom that my dad had been rushed to the hospital, and the doctors were trying to revive him. My husband, son and I started driving to the hospital but my dad was gone before we could get there.

One of the things that we discussed with my parents last year, was that if something happened to either one of my parents, the surviving person could sell the house for a good amount of money so they would have enough money to live on and not have to worry about anything. And that is where we’re at right now……we just sold my parents’ house, and I am standing in the middle of the house and it’s empty. And it’s no longer my mother’s house. It’s owned by somebody else who apparently is going to completely gut it and add a second story to it, and perhaps add a garage under the first floor because the guy says he has six cars. My mom does it know this is going to happen, and I don’t know if she would care, but I’m just not going to tell her just in case.

So I’m standing in the middle of the house. It’s quiet. It’s just me. The house feels different. I am remembering all of the good times, and thinking about all of the memories in this house. I told my husband to wait outside because I wanted a few minutes in the house alone, and I wanted to be the last one inside the house before the new owner took possession. I look out my old bedroom window for the last time and remember how my boyfriend used to come to my bedroom window in the middle of the night. We would talk through the window, and he would tell me about his day at the police academy, or we would discuss other things. It was a nice time….just he and I in the middle of the night talking and nothing more. In fact, many of my friends would come to my bedroom window and sit and talk to me. I had a lot of interesting conversations at that bedroom window.

It’s weird that the house is not going to be my parents’ house anymore. I can’t wrap my head around it even though I am adult with a family ad my own house, I guess I just never thought this day would come. It feels odd. I hope the new owner treats the house well, but I don’t think he will. I think the guy that bought the house is a jackass to be honest with you, but it is what it is. He’s a screenwriter. He’s not a very good screenwriter, but he thinks that he is.

Sidebar……I just heard that the National Historical Society for the city is not going to approve the renovation for the house, and I admit that I am laughing about it because the new owner is an obnoxious prick. But now…….Mr Screenwriter is pissed off. Oh well! I wish that a family had bought my parents’ house. Maybe this guy will sell it now that he cannot do what he wants, and I do get the impression that he often gets his way. Not this time!

Goodby house! You are full of memories and you have good energy. Maybe some of your good energy will rub off on the new owner. Or maybe he just needs to get laid. Who knows.

I am on the Nextdoor app and half of the time I am not even sure why I am on it. Sometimes there are some useful posts and information, but most of the time people are arguing on the posts and telling people they are stupid for making the post. However, I would not have the amazing plumber and air conditioning company that I have had I not asked for recommendations on Nextdoor, so there is that. Honestly, most of the time there is a bunch of drivel and negativity, and my most recent post on Nextdoor is proof of that.

Last week I saw a couple of posts on Nextdoor about an Amazon delivery driver who may have removed the item being delivered from the packaging and just set the empty envelope in front of their door, and pretended he delivered an envelope with something inside. I could see from the Ring video posted that it was the same guy, and it was about a mile from me both times. The other day I got a delivery and when I went to retrieve it about a minute after the Amazon driver left it, I found an empty envelope, and there should have been two paperback books in there. I inspected the envelope and I could see where it had been carefully opened and resealed. Ironically, the two books were about crime. I was pretty miffed because these books were a birthday present to myself, and I was really looking forward to reading them. But all I had was an empty envelope.

I looked at the footage from my Ring camera and what do you know, it was the same Amazon driver from the other two posts on Nextdoor. I attempted to find those other two posts so I could add my Ring video to one of the posts, but wouldn’t you know I could not long find either post, which is typical for Nextdoor…..you can never find a post ever again. Ok, so I decided to create my own post about this guy because apparently we have an Amazon driver in the area who is stealing from people. Worth posting about it right? Um well…….sure. LOL

So I started my post. I didn’t want attention from the post; I just wanted to inform and I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, people would realize that. Silly me. I tried to think of all the things that people would tell me so that I could add them to my post, like “Did you report it because you need to report it”, “How do you know he delivered an empty envelope”, actually you could see in the video that the envelope clearly did not have two books in it but ok…….“Did you ask for a replacement”, and so on and so forth. I felt that I explained the situation really thoroughly and carefully. I felt that I was clear that I only meant to inform, and I stated that since there were two other incidents just like this with the same Amazon delivery guy, that maybe people needed to know. Um sure.

The post did not disappoint. There were people commenting seconds after I created the post telling me to report it (I clearly said I reported it), people telling me I could get a replacement. People saying that they appreciate my post. People telling me that Amazon sucks. One of the people who this also happened to commiserated with me and said they appreciate me also reporting this. But then……all the idiotic comments started to appear. “You have way too much time on your hands. This is a stupid post.” “Get over it and just request new books. Why do you need to tell the neighbors about this.” “Quit freaking out and get a life.” “Thanks for wasting my time with this crap.” “You’re making way too big a deal about this. Calm down!!!” “Who cares! You’re an idiot!” “You can’t prove the driver took it. What if someone ran up to your door and took it. Stop accusing people of committing crime!” And so on and so on……I actually laughed about it because I knew what was going to happen, although I did hold out hope that perhaps I would not get all these crazy comments.

So I sat there and kept reading the comments as they appeared. There were 200 comments in all before I stopped reading them. Only about 50 were supportive, and the rest were mean and viscous. One of my reactions was, “Shit, these people live in my community! Yikes!” I purposely do not have my actual address listed nor do I have my profession or anything about myself just for the reason that people seem to be a little nutty. Although, I am not sure if they are just hiding behind a keyboard and in person they would not act like this?

I have noticed a pattern about comments on posts on any type social media, etc., because they are all the same. You have the supportive comments, then the comments that attack, then someone attacking the attackers, then someone telling the poster that they are sorry it happened or that they support whatever, then the comments where there is an attack and I’m not even sure what the person is saying…..it’s like they just attack randomly. It’s always the same. I have studied hundreds of posts on social media, and there is always the same pattern.

So I sat there wondering if I was going to delete the Nextdoor app, because really what good is it? I did delete my post and I did not reply to anyone because why give life to the idiots. Lol. I have found some good information on the app, and sometimes I am grateful for the information posted about the neighborhood. I decided to give it time to see if it’s worth it to keep it, and I won’t make any decisions today. However, this morning I was already alerted to a post about someone’s dog peeing on someone else’s lawn and there was a video of the offender, with the poster losing their mind over a dog peeing at the edge of their lawn. I just laughed. I am betting that I will appear in a video with my cute little Jack Russell peeing at the edge of someone’s lawn. And of course the comments do not disappoint!

I’m going to vent for a minute just because I need to. It’s been a rough year, and people have not been kind. This year is better than last year, but it has still been a weird year and I’m over it.

I’m at a point where I just might start carrying a spray bottle full of water so I can start spritzing rude people in the face. Now wouldn’t that be something! I am imagining people’s reaction. But I won’t do it. Lol.

I would also like to start knocking cell phones out of people’s hands too. I think we as a society spend way too much time looking at our phones. I admit I used to look at my phone too much at times, but I no longer look at my phone very much, and I actually feel better.

It has been unseasonably hot this month and I think the heat is getting to people. But perhaps it is also the way that society has changed. People have become so rude, and think that they can say or do whatever they want. People often do not think about what their words do to others.

Ok, what else is bothering me today. My mother is a very rude person and she seems to think that it’s ok to say whatever she wants to me. I don’t think she realizes how bad she makes me feel sometimes, and if I tell her she dismisses me and gets upset, and tells me I’m a bad person.

My husband was a jackass today. Sometimes he is just a jackass. Nobody’s perfect, including me, but I do know that I definitely do not actually ever intend to hurt other people verbally, but my husband does not think its an issue to yell at me from time to time. And ever since my son turned 18 he has been telling his dad to stuff it when he is rude. My son is 6ft 2 inches and my husband is 5ft 10 inches so my son wins those arguments. Ha, ha! But I do tell my son to not be disrespectful to his dad.

Things have been so crazy lately that I even abandoned my blog for awhile, but I am going to make every effort to keep writing and not give up again.