"Home for Sale -- Includes Appliances and a Ghost"

I never used to believe in ghosts.

In mid-June 2005, my husband and I decided to bail out of South Florida, which at the time had become Hurricane Central. Quite frankly, after 36 years, I was tired of living in the “cone of death” for two months nearly every year.

Everything went fairly well, despite the arrival of Hurricane Katrina three days before closing – hmm, maybe that was a sign. The Florida house had sold quickly, and it only took two days to find a new home here in TN. Both closings and the move itself went off without a hitch. At that point, I was thinking this long-distance moving thing was pretty easy, a piece of cake, and now that we had arrived we could take it easy with the unpacking, painting, etc. But that’s when the fun began:

Day 1: When we started using water at the new house, we discovered the main line to the septic tank was blocked, resulting in some minor water “over-flow.”

Day 3: The previous owners had also included the washer & dryer in the sale…. hooray, one less expense. Nope. The washer did not work so probably it wasn’t a good idea that the first load was towels.

Day 4: Labor Day -- we noticed our dog was not doing well. We had to rush him to the emergency vet (25 miles away), then take him to our “regular” vet (we didn’t have one yet) the next day. He had bladder stones and had to have surgery immediately.

Day 6: New washer & dryer delivered. Re-wash the towels…. new dryer does not work. Grrrr.

Day 7: The water line to the outbuildings sprung a leak.

Day 14: My husband had just finished painting our bedroom and asked me to come take a look and give my seal of approval. As I spoke to him, I heard a lady’s voice but I couldn’t understand what she said. Then as my husband spoke to me, she spoke again, again unintelligible. Okayyyyy ………..we’ve got a ghost!

So were the incidents of the first two weeks in the new home the work of a ghost? Or just a coincidence? I’m happy to report that nothing else has gone wrong over the past five years other than your typical household maintenance - or was it?