Some ghosts I left behind

When I was five years old, my family lived in an old neighborhood on South Willard street in San Jose. There were a lot of old houses we would walk past and once in a while my sister Linda would insist we explore some of the houses that looked empty and deserted of which there were a few. During those excursions we would sometimes find old bottles, vases, tools and other things that were of no interest to us as kids. (Of course as an adult who loves antiques I wish I could go back and see those items again.) In case you are wondering., no one questioned why two little girls were wandering around an old house. They probably thought we were nothing but silly kids playing. In a way we were. But something deeper drew us to those places. We knew they were haunted. It wasn't that we saw or heard anything. We just knew. Once on our way home, I said to Linda there is a ghost in there. She nodded in agreement and then we talked of other things. That is what my childhood was like.We just accepted these assumptions as a fact and never questioned it.

Not too far from us was historic downtown where we would get a funny feeling every time we went past the Hotel Saint Claire and St. James park. Of which both places were later reputed to be haunted. Of course there is a famous story about a lynching that happened in St.James park in the 1930's. It was the Brook Harte kidnapping case where two men confessed to kidnapping and murdering the famous heir to the department store Hart's. An angry mob dragged them out of the courthouse and lynched them. As young children we had not learned the story yet but we always had a creepy feeling walking past there .

Some years later we  moved to Los Gatos where there were many old buildings and estates. On our way to dinner, we would drive past the old Cats estate (pictured above) that use to belong the writer Charles Erskine Wood and the poet Sarah Bard Field. We were not sure who owned it at the time again being young kids, new to the town and still learning about it. But once or twice in the early evening dusk we saw someone by the gates. Of course it could have been the grounds keeper or the current family that lived there. Except that they just looked a little out of place. It was hard to explain. Their clothing and appearance were off. Maybe a little out of date. We could never prove it but later when I was reading that this place is haunted the first thought that came to me was: I knew it.

Other places that had a ghostly feel was an old house on the corner of a well known neighborhood in Campbell . It was very elegant, surrounded by fruit trees and no one was ever home.It was also near a shoppping center where there was a Safeway. It was a really beautiful house but there was an uncanny feeling to it that we could never explain. For the sake of the privacy of the neighborhood I won't mention the street or cross street here.But if anyone reading this lived in the Campbell area in the 1970's, you will know which house I'm talking about.

Other memories included Oakhill cemetery where at night we saw a woman run past us when we were teenagers (and we were so surprised we freaked out and probably scared her away.) and Winchester house where we lived near by. Once when we drove past there with our mother, Linda and I saw someone standing there looking out one of the windows. It was very late at night when the place was closed so we knew it was not a worker. Even our high school was reputed to be haunted. Apparently a teenage boy got murdered in what later became the athletic field. The neighbors reportedly could hear screams at 3 in the morning coming from there. We heard the stories but never payed attention. As adolescents our minds were on other things like boys, and music.

I could name many more places where the atmosphere seemed filled with spirit energy like The Rosicrucian Museum or the old homes on Bird Avenue in Willow Glen but for the sake of time I will stop right here. Little did I know that these places would stay in my memories and they served as a training ground for the investigating work Linda and  I got involved with later. Back in the day, it was rare to talk openly about these subjects. I certainly never saw myself writing a blog about these places.They were just part of my life.

Some years ago, a friend drove Linda and I past the old neighborhood on South Willard. We felt the spirits of our parents strongly. So strongly we shed a few tears. It's never easy to go back.

For those wishing to explore more go to this link: http://www.sanjose.com/guides/haunted-places-and-spooky-urban-legends/

I look forward to exchanging places and stories with our listeners on the air