G.H.O.S.T.

I was on a field trip with my wife and sons to the Ohio Caverns in West Liberty, Ohio. The caves were a great experience in itself. Going into a cave was something I have always wanted to do. After the cave tour, we decided to go into the town to see the local castles. As we left the caverns and was heading to town, I saw a small cemetery when we approached an intersection at the top of a small hill. Looking down at the cemetery I noticed how old it looked, but assumed it couldn’t be too old because of the funeral service going on. As we got closer to the intersection, and while checking for traffic, I thought that it was odd that they seemed to be in black, period dress. While stopped at the intersection, my wife commented on how beautiful it looked and said it would be great to check it out. As I checked for traffic and turned towards town, glancing once again at the funeral, I said to her, it would have to be after the services. A couple of minutes later she asked me what services was I talking about. I told her about the funeral that I saw happening at the cemetery. She told me that she had not seen anybody down there.

     After going into town and finding out the castles where closed for the season, we decided to go back and check out that cemetery. As we approached I noticed that the services were over…or were they? As I drove by, I could see that this place was old and probably hasn’t been used in a long time. Pulling into the last driveway, I was awestruck by this small old cemetery with its tall monuments, beautiful church, ancient oak trees, and antique headstones, all surrounded by a wrought iron fence. My wife made a quick tour through to show me that not only was there no funeral that day, but not one since the 1950’s. After we left the cemetery, I drove back to that intersection on that small hill. I turned the car around and headed back to see what I could have seen the first time. There it was; the cemetery, the head stones more or less spaced equally apart. There was no cluster of trees or anything else that could trick the mind into seeing something that was not there. So what was it I saw? Was it a residual haunt? Or could the intersection on the small hill once have been a place where the dead watched their loved ones one last time before leaving this earth?