RESIDENCE NEAR WATERLOO IOWA

     The place is a small town 10 miles west of Waterloo Iowa. Yes, the town is small enough to pass one by.  If you are driving, be careful not to blink an eye or you may miss it.  When driving the back roads and looking out into the fields of soybean and corn one can hardly imagine an unsettled spirit staying behind for whatever reason; as they gaze the open fields and crystal blue sky.

     My sister and her family recently moved into a two-story residence over 100 years old.  The Craftsman house has been newly renovated and is in pretty good condition.  Upon examining the house, in the corner of her eye, an apparition of what looked like a man wearing work pants stood upon the stairs.  She was startled at first and excited all the same.  She spoke to the owner of the home immediately saying, "I just saw a ghost!" Both the owner and the owner's brother looked at one another with familiarity, as if this was not a new experience.  Neither of them would confirm any paranormal experiences.  And why would they?  It was a pleasant country home in a quiet little neighborhood nestled amongst fields of corn and protected by towering silos.  They needed to rent out their house and Lisa's family wanted a home. 

      The sense that someone was there, a male presence, was already looming close to Lisa and her daughter Ali as they cleaned their kitchen.  Lisa, already aware of her sensitivities to spirits and light psychic abilities soon discovered that her daughter, also, had sensitivities.  Her family began to hear footsteps trailing the house from the attic to the basement.  They caught further glimpses of the apparition sometimes only the legs of a male wearing work pants, other times a man's hand waving through the air; and lastly the outline of a man's head, with hair, but no face.   One evening, Lisa's daughter was in the kitchen putting things away.  Briefly and softly she could hear a man whisper "hey" in her ear.  My sister was not frightened.  She knew what to do.  She first put on a positive attitude and opened the Bibles of her house, making sure to lay them in nearly every corner of the house, upstairs and down. 

However, the air became a little more thick.  It was more difficult to go into the upstairs bathroom or on the stairs without feeling the hairs standing on end on the back of the neck.  A couple of incidents which happened to Lisa's daughter Ali ( a young college student ) convinced her something more was going on in her home.  One evening Ali woke up to find a darkened apparition at the foot of her bed.  Another time she awoke feeling a strong presence above her while she lay in bed.  She could feel a lump in her throat as if she could cry...but she could not.  She felt as if she was petrified and could not really move. 

Ali decided she could not sleep in her room and decided to sleep downstairs.  She just didn't feel peace enough to sleep in her room or even go up to the 2nd floor while alone.  She would ask her mother or father to go up the stairs with her before she would do any task up there.  Lisa had realized that her daughter was sensitive to seeing spirits, sensing the paranormal.  Furthermore, Ali could sense it.  They wanted to feel at peace in their home once more.  Lisa knew what must be done.  One evening she asked me to come to her home with her as she would attempt to contact the spirit and demand it to leave.

     A couple of nights before we would attempt to contact the spirit Lisa visited the county courthouse to gather information on who built her house.  She not only found the owner whose name was Henry, but that he had died around there and was buried in the little cemetery around the corner from their house.  Fred, his son, also owned the house.  Lisa had a list of residents who had the house.  She was under the impression that the spirit may have been Henry (the original owner) or perhaps Fred, his son.  She did not know.  All she could do was hope that this spirit was one of these persons on her list .

Lisa and I agree that a person's body has a soul and a spirit.  The soul, we believe goes on to a better place of heaven or to a place of damnation called hell.  But we also believe that every person has an energy inside them - their spirit.  We believe cat's and dogs do not have a soul but they do have a spirit.  Every living creature that breathes has a spirit.  This is that spirit that I believe which either joins the earth in a peaceful joining upon death.  But for some reason, whether it be sudden death, painful death, violent death, suicide, murder, deep sadness, lingering agony, deep emotional pain, whatever the reason...I feel these things can cause a spirit to linger.  I do not have all the answers only that when spirits are seen and their presence is felt it usually frightens or saddens people or leaves a home atmosphere heavy and sometimes negative.

So here was our chance to contact "this" spirit.  Lisa called out.  "If you are Henry let us know."  She asked this several times.  I knocked on a table next to the bed and asked the same question.  "If you are Henry can you please knock like this for me."  We did not get any reply or sound whatsoever.  All of us sat on the bed quietly, looking around the room.  I remember I took a deep breath and asked, "If this is not Henry and is Fred knock like this."  Immediately following my knock there came a knocking on the attic door.  During this session before the knocking I took several photos of the hall way near the stairway outside of Ali's bedroom.  We were all sitting on the bed.  I have a couple of photos to share with you.  Both photos are the same angle and were taken only seconds apart.  There is something near the top of the stairs that I cannot explain.  I don't know what it was, only that Lisa's cats are not that color. 

After hearing the knocks on the attic door we all looked at one another to clarify that we all did, in fact, hear that noise.  Almost as if prompted, Lisa got out the KJV Bible.  She began to read a special passage from Psalms.  She read the entire chapter.  It was a chapter in which another paranormal investigator had recommended for the removal of a spirit.  She began to read...the air felt dry and almost hard to breathe.  The reading continued on and on and on. Then Lisa looked up and into the hallway, "It's time for you to go into the light and find peace."  Lisa explained to the spirit that it belonged there in the light and it was not scary there and that it was okay to go.  This spirit of energy of what was once an intelligent person...then left behind...was now assumed to be gone into a new direction and at one with the earth. 

I spoke to Lisa the other day.   She told me that ever since that night they have felt comfortable and at ease in their home.  Ali is now able to go upstairs again without having to have someone with her.  That heaviness in the air has been lifted.  It is lighter in the home.  That suppressive feeling of gloom has removed it's hands.  The house is now filled with warmth and cheer.  Lisa and her family always believed that even when living amongst spirits one must always display a positive attitude.  And I agree with her.  The negative fuels and feeds the negative.  A good positive attitude lends to a positive atmosphere.  I enjoyed sitting on the front porch of her Iowa country home.  These silos were to the right of the house.  I felt such peace looking at those towers against the corn and the sky.  I couldn't help but feel the peace. 

I don't know what was at my sisters house.  I have no proof.  I only have the testimony of others.  And I have my own experiences.  I do believe there was something there.  And I do believe it gave my sister and her family peace of mind that the spirit had gone on to rest.  ~~Lana