Open Writing

We have been away tripping around New South Wales doing a little family history, but in general going where our fancy took us.

We were back to celebrate Easter with the family and after the usual greetings and exchange of Easter Eggs, my 20 year-old granddaughter approached me and asked, 'Gem, do you remember who lived at our place before we did?'

I was surprised, because theirs is a new two-storey house, built on the site of a small older house, which had been demolished. On seeing my confusion, she quickly added. 'No, I don't mean our actual house. I mean the one that was there before.'

So I told her that the couple who had built the house were quite young and how after having a couple of children they had moved on to something bigger.

'Did he have grey hair?' she asked.

I laughed and said he probably did have now.

'Is he still alive?' was her next question.

'Well yes, I certainly think I'd have heard if he wasn't.'

By now I was becoming curious as to what all this was about and she told me that the night before, she had come home about 1 o'clock, got into bed and was most definitely not asleep when she saw a man standing by her bed. She was absolutely petrified and totally unable to call out to her parents. She said he stayed for what seemed to be a long time. He then disappeared. She described him as being an old man, stooped and thin and with thick tuffs of white hair at either side of his head.

This was a description of the next man who had lived in that house. They were an old couple and it was a second marriage for both of them. He had adult children and I think she had one son who lived overseas. From memory she brought more in worldly goods to the marriage than he did but I doubt that it caused any problems.

They seemed a devoted couple, but when he developed not only cancer but Alzheimer's disease, life couldn't have been easy and she must have been relieved when his family said they'd take him for a short time to give her a break.

Well, they got him to give them power of attorney, said he was not returning to her, insisted that the house be sold and everything divided exactly in two, even to her silver cutlery set.

She was distraught. (I only know this because a friend of mine was their neighbour and was actually present during much of this terrible time). The children, having got the money from the house put their father in a Home where he died.

All this happened some years ago, other people lived in the house before it was demolished and my family built there and yet it is my belief that this man came back looking for his wife. He has not returned since, but why now and why after so long?

© Colleen McMillan