Meeting the Ghost of Resurrection Mary

My meeting with Resurrection Mary was an encounter I'll never forget. It's been over twenty years since I saw the ghost; and I still remember every detail. What made my experience so shocking was that it was by accident and unplanned.

That evening started out dismal. It was my turn to be the designated "Mom" for the night. This entailed staying sober and getting everyone home safely and in one piece. Using a designated driver was not a wide spread idea, in the 1980's, but we decided that if we wanted to party hard we would need at least one person to stay sane. On this evening, it was my turn to play "Mom."

It was a Saturday night and, as Chicago Suburban brats, we decided to visit Rush Street. Now those of you who are not from Chicago probably do not know why Rush Street is a party destination. The attraction of Rush Street is it's abundance of bars in one city block.

Off to Rush Street we went with my companions fully challenged to have a drink from every bar on the strip. As the evening progressed, I guided a very lively group of four through the minefields of heavy drinking and groping hands. Around three a.m. they had become so intoxicated that I had to leave them on a street corner in order to get the car to pour them into.

In no time, they all poured themselves into the front and back seats of my car; and I started the sober trek back to our bedroom community. Wishing to avoid the newly enacted Drunk Driver stops, I had decided to take the side streets home. I rightly believed that if I was stopped, the officer would think that because my companions where so drunk that I would also be intoxicated. I just didn't want to deal with that situation at 3:00 am.

I had all the windows open in the car in order to sober up my companions. In the hopes that they wouldn't throw up in my car before they all passed out. The night air was crisp and invigorating as it blew into the car and the peaceful fall morning made me feel very alive.

As I was enjoying this peaceful stillness, I drove through the city's side streets. When suddenly one of my passed out companions awoke with a start and began the involved process of vomiting in my back seat. I quickly pulled into the closest driveway I could find. No sooner than I stopped, she opened the back door and began the purging process.

My other friends began to wake still quite drunk but now excited in trying to avoid the spew. As I sat in the driver's seat wondering how I was going to get the smell out of my car, I looked to where we had ended up. In my haste to get my friend out of my car, before she blew I didn't notice the wrought iron gates.

Much to my surprise, I had pulled into the driveway of Resurrection Cemetery! "Oh! My God!" I shouted in agitation. Of all the places to stop! As I began to hurry my friend's purging, I kept glancing around to see if anyone was approaching our car. The Police frowned upon people using the driveways of Cemeteries as bathrooms.

As I continued to look around, I glanced into the cemetery. There flitting between the tombstones was a distinctive white figure moving towards us. I was so afraid that I began yelling at my friends to get back into the car. Thinking that the police were after them, they jumped into the back just in time to feel the car lurch into reverse and speed out of the driveway. To this day, I thank God that I didn't back into another car.

My friends started yelling at my crazy behavior, but my shock at seeing Resurrection Mary was all I could contemplate. When I told them what I saw, they all laughed and began asking me if I had been sneaking drinks. They were still laughing until we passed a girl walking on the side of the road dressed as if going to a party. Suddenly the car was quite. They had just seen Resurrection Mary, too.