From Nanna:

When we were children in Idaho it got much colder at night than it does now. Invariably the first snow fall was on Halloween night. The snow never stuck but it was cold and kind of eerie out. Snow silences foot steps and damp makes one feel the cold more acutely. We always saved the big house where the local vet's wife lived for last.

It was a glorious house, stately with  hardwood floors and crystal light fixtures. The type of home every little girl dreams about. It was built as a wedding gift for the lady of the house. A sweet little old lady who liked us. Mother was from the south and raised us with her lovely southern manners. Every halloween she would invite we children in for a cup of hot chocolate and a "sit" by the big old walk in fire place with its leaded and mirrored mantle.

When I was 12 or so dad got a chance to buy that lovely old home. The ankle deep carpets were gone, so was the crystal. The walk in fire place and the mahogany china cupboard were still there.

So was "Granny."

At night she would patrol her home. One could hear her walking up the steps to the big bed room up there.. The floor creaked as she walked across to our bed.  You could see the tiny impression her body made as she sat on the bed beside you.. She was a sweet old woman who loved her home.

The young couple who live there now tell me she is still there 35 years later. She still makes nocturnalvisits to sit on the edge of your bed. To check and make sure you never wanted for anything in her house.  Indeed, in the little town where we still live the place is known as the OLD ANDERSON HOUSE. That was their name.  It was her house, and she very graciously let us stay in it through my teen years.

In the seventies I rented a home in Spokane. It was an older home with an alcove off the living room and a full basement. I had a four year old son. My son would talk to someone in one corner of the alcove, always in the same place. The place was always cold. Very cold!

He never seemed to play with "his friend," just talk with him.

One night a friend was coming to see me.. She ask me where my male friend was. I told her I had no male friend in the house..

"Nanna, I saw him! He was standing beside you in the alcove when I drove up. His hand was on your shoulder. I even thought about not coming in for fear of intruding - he looked so possessive."

There was no one there but two of my children and me. Or was there?