The Funeral Home (stand alone)

This is the extended version of the story that was in my book, Ghost Stories for the Chicken at Heart- Extended Version.

When my youngest child was under a year old, my ex-husband's maternal Grandfather passed away after a dreaded battle with cancer. But he passed away at home surrounded by those who loved him. As they had lived in Brooksville for over twenty years before he passed, my ex-husbands Grandmother had decided to have the funeral at a well established funeral home. The funeral home she had chosen was in the historic area of town, right across the street from a well-known haunted location, and the funeral home also had a reputation for being haunted as well. So, when my ex-husband and I pulled up with our three older daughters, I was not surprised that the hairs on the back of my neck started to stand up. I have been sensitive to spirits all of my life and  I know when they are around. Since I was a young girl I have has the ability to see and hear spirits when they expel the energy they carry.

I can and will say if you have to ever visit a funeral home, you do not need to be a sensitive to feel the spirits around you. Also, if you are to listen carefully you should be able to hear their voices and learn their stories. After we parked I took a moment and readied myself. Then I opened the door to the van and stepped out into the sunshine. When I did I felt the cold surround me and felt as if I stepped into a large crowd of people. Turning to the van I grabbed the light sweater I brought with me and looked over the parking lot. Looking around I saw there was only six people outside of my family, but the area felt so crowded. Before I took my daughter's hand I took a deep breath as I knew that being there for the service would be interesting.

We walked into the building, stopping to say hello to a few people, and I could already feel the tension in the room, it was so bad I was sure people would start fighting at any moment. There were hard feelings between some family members, and being there had already begun to be an extremely stressful time. As I come from a family where no one comes together unless you are part of a click or someone dies, I felt uncomfortable. Being there was pretty rough to watch, and I honestly felt like I could be a game commenter, watching the groups of people within the family. The feeling was so bad that I started watching for a Reaper or two to appear. Please don't judge me, but if you read my other stories, I have had many brushes with Reapers. So please understand I always feel like there is a Reaper in the wings waiting and watching, especially inside funeral homes with tension like this. So, I am sure you can understand my not wanting to be there, at the funeral home and under those circumstances.

I did what most people do when someone does not want to be somewhere, and that was being polite while talking to my ex-husband's cousin for a few minutes when my sister-in-law came and took my three girls from me to sit with her while we spoke with people who were in the lobby. While my ex-husband was talking with his Dad and Mom, I started walking around the funeral home. You have to understand that the funeral home had a lot of memorabilia displayed, and there is was an alcove dedicated to military history, so walking around the building was not such a bad thing. Going through the door to the viewing and service room felt suffocating, and since my ex-husband was sitting with his parents and my girls were inside the viewing area with their Aunt, I decided to stay in the lobby. I knew my ex-Mother-In-Law would say something later as she did not believe in the paranormal either and would not understand. However, my saving grace was my Sister-In-Law, and I caught her eye, and she mouthed for me to go. I stepped out of the room and started to feel a bit better and breathe normally again.

I walked around the bottom floor of the funeral home, looking at all the displays more while occasionally speaking with family and friends who came in. There were a lot of different pieces of memorabilia as this funeral home has been around since the end of the civil war in one way or another. I didn't mention that? Yeah, the building is that old. I had this overwhelming feeling that something was trying to make me feel like a hypocrite while I was in an empty room and my thoughts started to get intrusive. I will admit that I did not want to be there, but leaving the room did not make me have those intrusive thoughts. I will say the energy I felt in the building was intense and I was worried that there would be fights caused by it. Almost like the spirits or presence in the building was trying to push us to see what kind of chaos it could cause. I whispered, "Don't push it. I can feel you." After I said those words, the energy seemed to back off.

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I decided to have a breather outside for a while to shake off the effect of the energy. The family planned the viewing for 3 hours before the actual funeral. As it was still very early, I knew my ex-husband's Grandmother could probably use a drink, so I walked across the street to a gas station and got her a coffee. When I returned, his Grandmother was outside, and I handed her the coffee. She hugged me and thanked me as she drank the coffee. My ex-mother-in-law came out looking for her and asked where I had been. Nana stood up and said, "Leave her alone. She went and got me a coffee which I needed." My ex-mother-in-law commented how I only got coffee for Nana and walked back into the funeral home.

 

After I walked Nana back into the building, I hugged her again and told her I was staying in the lobby for now. As much as we had our issues, she understood how I felt. Exploring the funeral home's entrance and what was displayed, I was looking at the stairs and found two beautiful wingback chairs. I love old architecture and older furniture and was in awe of the construction and detail. One of the workers walked past and said I could sit in the chairs, as the funeral home used them to block the stairs due to safety issues. She shared that those chairs had always been in the building, and although they are old, they are sturdy. I thanked her for the information and went to sit in one of the chairs.

 

Sitting in one of the chairs, I talked to a few family members who came in from the viewing part of the services. I always have a notebook in my bag with a pen which makes it easy to keep the little ones entertained, and I'm always writing stuff down to remember later. I had been sitting and writing a to-do list for the upcoming week with things I needed to do. I was engrossed in my list as I had started it a few days prior when I had listed the days, work schedule, and doctor's appointments. As I worked, freelanced, and had a small resale business, listing daily goals and things I needed to get done. I had been so busy going through all the days notating my work and chores I became easily distracted, and as I finished notating everything for the week, I started to hear a child giggle.

 

Laughing, I looked up and thought one of my daughters had come out to use the bathroom. As I was distracted planning our week and had not seen her, they decided to hide and giggled because I had not noticed them. I looked around and did not see her, so I peeked through the curtain to the viewing room and saw my girls sitting with my sister-in-law talking. I sat down again and added a few more things to my list I had remembered when I heard the giggling again, and this time the sound was much closer. As I continued to write, the sound continued. When I was sure I had finished my list for the upcoming week, I put the notebook and pen away and stood up, looking around the lobby. When I heard the giggling again, I looked up the stairs and saw a little girl peeking behind the banister rail. The little girl reminded me of my youngest daughter, who was with my parents and sister due to being too young to be at the funeral. 

 

This little girl was wearing jeans and a white shirt and looked like she was hiding upstairs. As a mom, my first thought was maybe one of the staff members could not find a babysitter and had to bring her to work. One of the staff members walked through the lobby and asked if I was okay. I said I was, and I thought it was nice that the funeral home must be very understanding to allow a staff member to bring their child with them if they could not get a sitter. The staff member had no idea what I was talking about, thinking she was feigning ignorance as they didn't want to get someone in trouble for having a child there. So I smiled and said oh well, tell the parent that she is such a beautiful little girl, and with her blonde ponytails, she reminded me of my youngest daughter who was with family at home. I said goodbye and went outside to call my sister to check on my children before the funeral started. 

 

I saw the worker I had been talking with talk to another woman, who I found out later was the Manager. She followed me out and asked how dare I even bring up the thought of ghosts to her staff. She made a point to tell me that there were no children other than the ones there for the funeral service that night. I put my hand up to stop her and told her I never said the little girl was a ghost. I had said I thought it was nice that a staff member was lucky to be able to bring their child with them due to a babysitting issue. I smiled and told her I knew the history and occurrences that happened in this building as it was part of the walking tour. Following up with, as old as her establishment is, to have ghosts is nothing to be weary about, and the little girl was beautiful, and all she did was play peek-a-boo with me, nothing to be ashamed about. The Manager made a point to tell me again they do not have ghosts. I laughed and said you do realize where the building is? I pointed across the street to our town's most historic and haunted buildings. I laughed and said, if you don't have ghosts, you have a problem with children sneaking into your building. Oh, and I'm sorry that little girl and the few other spirits I felt and saw that day beg to differ. After our interaction, my ex-husband's cousin rescued me from the Manager. He told me he had heard the whole conversation. He said, "They are just covering their asses." We went inside as the funeral was starting.

 

This building is no longer a funeral home. The funeral home had moved to another location in town, and I have unfortunately had to attend a funeral in the new building, and it is just as haunted as the previous building. As for the building in our story? It is now a church. I hope that the church is more open to the homes unseen residents than the funeral home was.