Living with a Ghost Named "Honey"

Theresa Wiza's last article, A True Chicago Haunting, spurred me to share my own ghost story. I've told some friends the tale but have never shared it beyond that. Sit back, and enjoy my true life story of living with a ghost named "Honey."

In 1997, we moved into Atlantic Court apartments. The rent was about $350 a month, the building was well maintained, and everyone was friendly. The only apartment available was a one bedroom on the third floor. I groaned thinking of the stairs we would run up and down everyday, but we needed a place to live.

We did a lot of grunting, groaning, and moaning moving furniture up two flights of stairs into our new home, but once we settled in, we sighed with relief. Hoping another move would be far, far in the future.

Our daughter, Serena, was a very imaginative kid, and always seemed to have one foot in the clouds. One day she was playing in her room, and I heard her talking. I crept up to the doorway to see why she was talking to herself. She was looking in front of her, at nothing I could see, talking away. She paused now and then as she listened to an answer only she could hear.

I stiffled my giggles until I got back into the living room. It seems Serena had found an imaginary friend. When my hubby came home I told him about it. We thought it was so cute. I can't remember the specific incident, but I think it had to do with something being knocked off the counter. When I started to scold her a bit, she piped up and said, "I didn't do it, Honey did!"

Aha! Finally, the name of the imaginary friend. I turned my head to smile, and said, "Well, then tell Honey she better not do that again." I heard Serena later that night telling Honey off for getting her in trouble. As time went by, we heard "Honey did it" many times. We began to wonder if she wasn't taking the imaginary friend thing too far. After all, she was blaming things on Honey, and not taking responsibility for her actions.

One day I had a heart to heart talk with her. I wanted to find out why she felt the need to blame everything on Honey. She told me Honey was real, and liked to play tricks on us. Honey wasn't a mean little girl, just mischievous. She told me that's why they got into fights. She had told Honey to stop doing those things, and Honey said she didn't want to stop having fun.

I dropped the subject, and waited to talk it over with hubby. Now we were wondering if we really did have a ghost in the house who had become our daughter's playmate. He asked why I couldn't feel her since it was one of the things I had always been able to do. I was puzzled, and wasn't sure if it was me or something about her.

Not knowing what else to do, I settled back on the couch, closed my eyes, and began to relax. Then, I felt her presence. Honey was in the living room patiently waiting for me to acknowledge her. I gasped, and jumped up staring toward where Honey was standing.

I can't see ghosts, but I can feel them. I knew where she was because I could feel Honey's energy emanating from that particular spot. What I did next is what anyone else would do meeting someone for the first time, I said hello.

To be continued....