by Lisa Steinmetz

Created on: January 05, 2010   Last Updated: January 09, 2010

I am currently living in a house that has a spirit in it at times. Allow me to explain. Years ago we had a dog, an Old English Sheepdog named Sidney. He was like a brother to me. He was our protector and was there numerous times when a shoulder was needed to cry on. In March of 1993 he passed away in his sleep. My youngest sister had just had a baby who used to sleep next to Sidney when they came over. I found Sid lying in his little room. Mum, and I were hysterical over the fact that he was gone. Now I had just cleaned the house a few days before. My sister was at the house all day on the day that he died. Before she left she fed the baby and threw a dirty bib into the bathroom, which is off the kitchen. The night of his death, mum and my sister and I went to bed early. When we woke up the next morning the bib was laying under the table where Sid used to lay down after he swiped something from someone. It wasn't there the night before and he was the only pet in the house.

Then Easter rolled around and my niece was opening her first Easter basket. I was taking pictures and accidentally took a picture of the dining room. There in the corner of the picture was Sidney's face! It was clear as day. After that we heard him running around downstairs while we were in bed. When we were downstairs we'd hear him upstairs running around or we'd hear whimpering.

Ever since then I fully involved myself into the paranormal and have studied a lot on how to become an investigator of the unseen. As it is well known, once you open yourself up to the spirits you will have a lot of things happen to you. I now have two cats and a dog. My cat Spooky sees stuff all the time. I constantly see him in a daze staring off into corners or doorways. Baby runs around downstairs at night playing chase with something. I suspect it is Sid because he used to love playing chase around the house. My dog pretty much ignores the activity, but at times I'll catch him growling at an empty doorway.

Sidney still comes around now, but he's not here all the time. He was a mamma's boy and still is. His ashes are on the mantel along with some of his fur. Mum still says he sleeps with her because the other animals sleep with me and she usually finds someone curled up at her back. The same place he used to sleep and same position. My house might not be haunted to the hilt, but that's ok with me because the one haunting it is still there when we need him. Despite the fact that he's gone, I still feel safe because he's here at night wandering around downstairs protecting us as he did when he was alive.

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