Colorado Ghost Stories. Antonio Boone's Garcez

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СКАЧАТЬ I awoke from my dream. It was all that sudden.

      After I awoke that morning, the crying baby sounds never returned. I knew that my attempt to communicate with the spirit, and lighting the candle triggered some sort of cleansing that cleared my house of that poor innocent baby’s anguished soul. My dream sealed these thoughts for me, and I was so happy to know that my aunt’s spirit was also helping me get through this. I was very happy to have dreamed such a beautiful dream about my aunt and the baby in her arms.

      A few months later, as the weather warmed up a bit, I decided to bring from the garage, into the house, one of Aunt Billie’s cardboard boxes. I wanted to finally search through my aunt’s personal papers, and whatever else she might have stored. There were about 10 boxes and two big, old trunks. I decided to leave the trunks for last.

      Aunt Billie with “Freddie” during the winter of 1941.

      I discovered a few surprises such as photos of relatives, and an old photo of my aunt, my uncle and my mother, which was taken in the year 1910. I also found a hand-beaded necklace, and two pewter spoons that belonged to my great-grandmother. There were linens, Christmas cards and a collection of small hats, and other non- valuables, but that was about it. It was not until I decided to open the remaining locked trunks that things got very interesting indeed.

      Because they were so heavy, and I was not able to carry them into the house, I took a folding chair into the garage and seated myself before the first trunk. I looked all over for the keys, but was unable to find them. I asked an older gentleman friend of my aunt’s who lived nearby to help me open both the trunks. He used a large screwdriver and hammer, and after spending a few minutes, he eventually opened them both.

      While attempting to open the second trunk, the poor man missed hitting the screwdriver and accidentally struck his hand, breaking his skin, which caused a nasty cut. Because he was taking a prescribed blood thinner, he bled quite a bit on the cement floor.

      It wasn’t a serious wound, but it did need attention. So, he left me and returned to his home to clean the wound. After cleaning up the spots of blood on the cement floor, I sat myself by the first trunk and began my discovery of what other items my aunt had stored.

      The first trunk contained papers, mostly cancelled checks and additionally included a beautiful quilt. The quilt was unusable because it was damaged from mouse droppings and moldy spots. The trunk also contained a large tin box that was filled with Christmas ornaments. That was the extent of its contents. Now the other trunk was next in line.

      As soon as I opened its lid, I knew that this trunk’s purpose was for much more important items. The small boxes it contained were stacked neatly and my aunt had taken great care by stuffing wadded newspaper between them, in order to secure them from movement. Slowly, I opened the first box and discovered letters that were typewritten from a hospital in Kansas City, detailing its cost for services rendered. The invoices were made out to my aunt, and were marked ‘paid in full’.

      One box contained a baby rattle and blanket. Another box contained the most surprising items of all. As I opened its lid, I found placed on top of it a small stack of invoices, a four-by-five-inch picture of an infant who appeared to be asleep on a large white pillow. I picked the picture up and turned it over, on the back my aunt had written in pencil the words, ‘My precious, Elizabeth Lavender Owen. Age 11 days. Mother’s dove and life.’ My jaw dropped wide open!

      The papers that the picture rested upon, I discovered, were paid invoices describing funeral and cemetery services rendered from a funeral home and cemetery in Kansas City. My heart was broken. I must have cried and cried for a full hour. I was emotionally on the verge of collapsing. Everything was now making such sad sense to me. My dear aunt had gotten pregnant out of wedlock, then moved out of state, to Kansas City, to give birth to a child she would eventually lose to a very early death. I was devastated. Although I was so sad, I could only imagine how terrible of a time it must have been for my Aunt Billie, to have to deal with this difficult situation on her own, so many years ago and in secret. It must have been an awful period for her.

      Then, as I was trying to process it all, the realization of hearing the crying sounds, and the dream I dreamt, hit me like a ton of bricks. I now knew the meaning of my experiences at my aunt’s house. There was a reason for it all. I believe it was a divine reason. I believed that when, and only when, I would discover the truth behind my aunt’s hidden life, would be the moment she, her daughter, the cousin I never knew, would achieve a final peace. Although I felt that I had reached a sort of personal family discovery, more than that, I wanted to believe that there was a divine hand that had played a major role in the whole process.

      Several days later, I would look at the picture of my little dead cousin on that dark pillow and would start to cry all over again. It was a long time before I was able to look at the picture and smile with a sense of peace, knowing that she, Elizabeth Lavender Owen, and her mother, were now forever together.

      Today, I keep both my aunt and my little cousin’s picture by my bed and I light a candle to both their memories on their birthdays. On Christmas, I decorate a tree and place their pictures within the branches of the tree. Aside from the other decorations, to me, they are the ornaments that matter the most.”

      Holy Cross Abbey

      Since the printing of this book, the abbey has been sold.

      The following text was reproduced here from the abbey’s visitor brochure:

      “Welcome to Holy Cross Abbey. The Monks (Priests and Brothers) wish to welcome you to the Holy Cross Abbey. As this is our home, we have living areas for the monks that are cloistered (private) and not available for public viewing. These areas include the second floor and above and many rooms on the first floor, some of which are offices. The simple Latin word PAX (peace) is the Benedictine motto. The fundamental purpose of Benedictine monastic life is to seek God, ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus: “That in all things God may be glorified.” We are of the ORDER OF ST. BENEDICT (O.S.B.), also known as Benedictines. The areas that are open for viewing include our chapel, parlor, gift shop and museum. Please proceed down the hall to our Chapel that is to the left at the south end of the Monastery. You will find us in Chapel six times a day for either mass or prayer. The public is always welcome to join us at these times. In the chapel, please do not enter the altar area. Silence is observed within the monastery at all times.

      In the Chapel you will notice the large wood crucifix that is suspended from the ceiling, it was carved in Oberam-mergau, Germany and given as a gift to the abbey in 1961. The carved stature near the corner depicts Jesus as the Sacred Heart. Another stature, Our Lady of Montserrat, is mounted on the balcony just over the main entrance to the chapel. On the columns of the chapel stand the statues of the 12 Apostles. The stained glass window was donated by the Simon P. Smith family. The Blessed Sacrament altar and the main altar are the work of monks of this abbey.

      The South Parlor of the Abbey has genuine, Victorian furniture that came to the Abbey following the closing of the Stratmore Hotel in Cañon City. The parlor is also used for wake services upon the death of a monk here at the Abbey.

      The first Benedictine Priests СКАЧАТЬ