Ghostly Figures
Margie Hofman
© Copyright 2018 by Margie Hofman
|  |
I
live in Canterbury which is 2,000 years old, at times occupied by
Romans, Vikings, and French protestants fleeing persecution in France.
Canterbury gave sanctuary to many faiths. The places where they have
lived must surely leave an imprint.
Since
I was a young child, I think I was five, I always had a vivid
imagination. I would hear people talking about someone, and the next
day it was mentioned in conversation.
I
shared a small bedroom with my sister. The walls were painted white
and I used to stare at the walls and imagine I saw people against the
white backdrop.
My
father was in the army and we used to mention him in our prayers
every night. My mother said “Now your father is in Germany “
One evening at about 7pm I stared at the wall and saw a vision of my
father driving his tank, but he turned to me and smiled. I knew he
would be all right. I did not know where Germany was . I told my
mother that I had seen a picture of my Dad in a tin box (I had never
seen a tank) and she said “Don’t ever tell me if you see
anything like that again” and I never did.
Ever
since then I have been aware that the strange things that I saw had some
meaning. When I was 22 I nearly married a policeman but I was not
sure. One day I looked at my left hand and said to myself “Will
I marry him” I did not see a wedding ring and saw a large
letter H on my hand, My maiden name began with H so I thought I would
not marry and decided to travel but later in Australia I married a
Dutchman whose surname began with H and my wedding ring is on the
right hand as it is Dutch protestant.
Canterbury
has so many medieval and older buildings. With my history group we
went to a pub called The Parrot, it dates from 1400 and is probably
the oldest pub in the south of England. I am aware of a buzz of
voices, even though there are only 7 of us having a meal. I said to
the waitress “Do you ever hear anything strange here” Yes
she said “This used to be five houses all together and it is
actually built on a Roman house. The lines of bricks outside is where
the Roman house stood. We often hear voices although we cannot
actually hear what is being said.”
I
am amazed at the historic background of this pub. The next day I went
to meet a friend and went to the little restaurant down the road from
the pub. I am sitting there on my own – when a monk walks in
complete with long brown cloak and sandals. Am I seeing a ghost! I
said to the waitress “Did you just see a monk walk in here”
Oh yes, she replied. “They are doing repairs to the monastery
and they have moved to a building a few doors down.”
Well
I wait for the next interesting event.
Contact
Margie
(Messages
are forwarded by The Preservation Foundation.
So,
when you write to an author, please type his/her name
in
the
subject
line of the message.)
Margie's
Story List and Biography
Book
Case
Home
Page
The
Preservation Foundation, Inc., A Nonprofit Book Publisher