The Rocking Chair

The Rocking Chair

Inspired by real Events

I was 19 years old when I got my first apartment. I was in my second trimester of pregnancy both nervous and excited as I was very young and inexperienced in the world. My place was a small first floor unit in a commercial building with one other apartment on the second floor. The remainder of the space was home to a used car dealership. There was no yard just a lot with second hand cars for sale.

My place did not have a lot of furniture as I was just beginning my journey living on my own. I had a pull out sofa bed, a television with stand and a rocking chair that my parents gave me. It had been in the family for years and I always enjoyed sitting on it as a child. The rocking motion going back and forth was always so soothing and I looked forward to rocking my baby in the future. The chair was still in great condition although the floral design a bit worn it looked so quaint in my living room corner.

It was the month of January in 1991. I will never forget it. I made spaghetti for dinner but only sauce and pasta. The smell of all kinds of meat made me nauseous so my diet was very vegetarian. That night was a typical cold winter night in the Berkshires. I did my evening chores, took my shower and read for a while. The mood was relaxing with a candle lit in my living room window and the aroma of jasmine incense filled my simple living space. At about 11:00 I pulled out the sofa bed and blew out my candle as I routinely did every evening.

In the wee early morning hours around 3 I woke up startled. I felt something at the foot of my bed. A fair amount of light shone into the room as I kept the bathroom light on for my frequent nightly trips. In addition the lights from the store lot kept me comfortable, an added security when living alone. I slowly opened my eyes when what felt like someone had just sat down on my bed. I saw a black figure but with no definitive features. I closed my eyes quickly then opened them again. The figure was gone. I was a bundle of nerves and pregnant so of course I had to pee! Before I got back into bed I did a swoop of my apartment to be sure no one was inside. Both my main door and emergency exit door were locked and everything seemed normal so I shrugged the incident off and went back to sleep.

I think about an hour went by and again I woke up to a feeling that someone was sitting on my bed. This time the dark figure did not move when I closed my eyes and reopened them. I pulled my covers up over my head and my heart felt like it was in my throat. I waited a couple of minutes which felt like forever and slowly removed the blankets; my hands shaking uncontrollably. The figure was gone but my attention immediately was taken to the rocking chair which was rocking back and forth in such rapid motion. It was like the times when I was a child and would rock so fast and jump up out of my seat. I could not believe my eyes and I was frozen, unable to get off the bed to investigate the matter further. I did not move until the chair stopped rocking completely. I slowly got up and walked over to find the cushion warm as if someone had been sitting there. Again, I did a swoop of my apartment. No-one was there but me.

A few days passed by and with the weekend my mother came to visit. Reluctantly I told her my story and her face became very pale like she had just seen a ghost. My mother began to talk about my grandfather who passed away when I was a baby. He was hit by a car one night walking home from a bar. The rocking chair was the very chair he would sit in when he came to visit the family. She told me he loved to come over and feed me my bottle while holding me, rocking in this chair. Mother told me he absolutely adored me and this brought him so much joy.

When I first heard the story from my mother I was a bit freaked out. Gradually I became more accepting and thought that this was my grandfather’s way of checking in on me, especially since I was pregnant at that time and with a girl. Perhaps this was him reaching out from beyond to comfort me or watch over me while I slept. I have seen pictures of him holding me seated on this chair. His warm spirit felt in the photo was with me then and will forever be by my side. Maybe the simplest explanation is that he is my guardian angel. All I do know is that my once doubtful notion of the supernatural changed due to this event.