We were sisters, I was 9 years old and my sister was 6. We didn't understand that our father was in the hospital after having suffered a massive coronary. We only knew that for some reason or other we were staying overnight at Aunt Tessie's house.
Aunt Tessie was a nice, sweet lady, she smelled like baby powder...she always smiled. Everything at her house was perfect..so orderly. Her furniture was old, yet comfortable, and lacy - yes, lacy. Lace curtains, and those little lacy doilies on the backs of the chairs and sofa. Upstairs, we were staying in the spare room - the one with the HUGE bed, more lace, too - on the pillows. Also on the bed were about 20 of those miniature "dolls of the nations" all set tout quite carefully.
Aunt Tessie let us play with the dolls before bedtime, cautioning us to be very careful.
Later, as we laid ourselves down in the comfy bed, my sister went right to sleep. I guess I did too, until I was awakened by a strange humming sound.
Since I was a visitor, I didn't want to bother anybody...I just kind of froze there...listening - trying to "listen harder" to see if I could tell what it was. The sound got louder and louder and closer - weird thing tho - I wasn't afraid...just curious.
I must have dozed off...
Then I woke up, and I could still hear the humming, and I saw a beautiful light shining on the ceiling - as I looked around the room, I could see the eyes of the miniature dolls reflecting the light! Awesome.
Just then, Aunt Tessie opened the bedroom door..I asked her, what is that sound? Where is the light coming from? Aunt Tessie replied..."There is no sound. I see no light! Go back to sleep, everything is just fine!"
Obediently, I went to sleep.
The next morning, our older brother came to pick us up to take us home. He told us that our Daddy had died last night.
What I did not know (until I was older) was that Aunt Tessie had INDEED heard the humming sound, and had seen the strange bright light as it was only coming from the room where my sister and I had slept. The sound was loudest at 2:45 am. The exact time that my father died.
I believe he stopped in the room to say "Good-bye"... šÄ
