Thursday, December 2, 2010

That's Right, Not Left

While attempting to build a Megablok train track on her own this morning, my toddler struggled to put together two mismatched pieces.

"Are you sure that's right?" I prompted in an effort to make her realize her error.

"No, that's left." She said stoutly.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Of Ghosts and Angels

Although most ghost stories send shivers down my spine, there are a few that make me believe in the presence of "good" spirits.  My parents fondly refer to them as the bantay ng bahay, spirits that watch over our house.   There have been 3 incidents in our house that I like to share:

(1) The Door and The Light

Years ago (they've migrated to greener pastures now :)), my mother's family (brothers, sisters, and their kids) would stay at our house every holiday and practically every other weekend.  It was a tight squeeze, so two of the families would usually crash in the living room. 

My 4-year-old cousin was wary of two things whenever he and his parents got stuck in the living room - the door and the light.  The door being the one that led to my brother's room; the light the one that hung between the blades of the ceiling fan.  The door always creaks open in the middle of the night - even when everyone could swear that there was no wind - while my cousin always imagined that the light would eventually fall amidst the fast spin of the fan blades.

That night, my cousin pestered his father endlessly, insisting that the light was going to fall.  At the same time, his mother was disturbed by the continuous creaking of the door.  Fed up, my uncle grumpily stood and shut the door, making sure it was firmly in place and couldn't be moved by the wind.  A few seconds later, the door slowly opened with a loud creak, jerking them awake.  They all scrambled to move their beds as far away from the door as possible.  To my cousin's delight, they were quite far from the light as well.

(Incidentally, one of my aunts was sleeping so soundly they decided not to wake or move her.  She was furious the following morning.)

In the morning, I stepped out to find them all still asleep.  On the ground was the light bulb that used to hang from the ceiling fan.  It apparently did fall sometime during the night, but by that time, everyone was far from the range of its descent.  Odder still was that the bulb was in one piece - not a scratch or crack on it.  We expected it to break given the height of the fall.

Given how young my cousin was at the time, we also chalked up this incident to the presence of guardian angels.  I like to believe in such angels and hope my little one has someone watching over her as well :)

(2) The Woman in the Room

We came home late one night from a family dinner to find the maid waiting for us in the garage - an unusual occurence given the late hour.  She told us that she went into my parent's room and saw a woman in front of my mother's dresser.  Scared out of her wits, she ran out the house and waited for us to come home.  We could only surmise what she was up to, going to my parent's room late at night while we were out.  A few other maids have claimed to see that mysterious woman.  My grandma used to say that that was the ghost of her late mother, watching over us.

There was one incident that I'm sure was not caused by an ancestral ghost. A maid claimed to see a white lady walk across the living room at midnight and that this has happened everyday for a week. It took a while, but we figured out that she was seeing my brother wrapped in a bedsheet and making his way to my room to sleep in one of the extra beds. He'd been reading Stephen King that week (this was the time when he still wrote scary novels) and was too scared to sleep alone (not that my brother ever admitted it).

(3) Leave well and well enough alone

This last incident occured shortly after my father died. A new maid saw his wallet, which my mother left in his bathroom, untouched. She opened it and suddenly saw the reflection of my father in the mirror behind her. Terrified, she confessed to us what happened. When we asked what compelled her to open the wallet, she said she was merely curious about my father.  This is highly doubtful given how my mother lined up several ID and passport sized pictures of my father by the bathroom sink, next to the wallet.  (Yes, we have told my mother repeatedly that this was a disturbing shrine to my father that freaks out all our houseguests. It's still there and has become a running family joke though.).