It was about five months ago, when I attended the most recent of our Bunko Babes  parties.  

No, of course we never really play Bunko at these gatherings of the girlie girls, but it is the best doggone excuse for us to get together, celebrate a birthday, go into the city to check out the most talked about transvestite strip club in San Francisco, share recipes, drink wine, talk smack about our husbands and kids and just get away from it all.

We can call a gathering of the Bunkos for any reason at all and we do, nearly every other month or so...or when the wind changes.  We all come together to celebrate living life, no matter the season; no matter the reason.

This particular party was to celebrate the new house of one of our best friends and a charter member of the Bunkos.  She and her husband had moved out of their dream house of several years, by a sudden job loss about a year and a half ago.  The market was slow then as it is now and especially for a home valued at over 4 million dollars!  It sat on the market for over 7 months when a qualified buyer finally made them an offer that satisfied their retirement plans, should another job be slow to materialize, if ever.

They soon moved to a very much smaller and more modest house that was turn key and perfect for their empty nest years ahead.  It was just the two of them now and their wonderful but aging Golden Lab, "Gracie."

Renting the house first to settle in and see if they would buy was the order of the day and for the months ahead.  Yes, they were determined to buy this house before the market turned upwards again and the owner would then surely raise the price.  The area was perfect, walking distance to shops and restaurants to the quaint town of San Anselmo and it was perfect in every way.  An offer to buy was soon to be on the table.

A few months passed and we all heard with great anticipation, that they had in fact decided not to buy the house and had hastened to move once again.  This time to another neighborhood in the same town, though more prestigious as it was the smallest property on a street lined with mansions and zero lot line mega-remodels, popular in this prolific county which boasts such residents as Huey Lewis, Santana and  Sean Penn.

They were ecstatic over this newest real estate find and once again, believed this house to be the perfect home for their down-sizing needs.   The landscaping was flawless and opulent, a state of the art irrigation system in place, shrubs and trees that offered privacy while leaving enough space for sunny windows and views of the architectural dream house.  It had what is commonly referred to as "curb appeal," and it surely had that!

From the outside, this home looked perfect in every way and begged entrance into its inner riches, well appointed furnishings and hand picked objects d' art from their years of international travel.  Upon entering this home, we were all dazzled and delighted at the incredible find of our dear friends and hoped out loud in unison that they should indeed, "buy this house!"

After mingling in the small but perfect Tuscan kitchen, mixing a batch of Margaritas and putting out the culinary fare of assorted appetizers in a summer theme of Mexican favorites, most of the girls went on a house tour with our hostess.  I remained in the kitchen to make a second round of Margaritas.  

After everyone returned from their mini tour, I politely requested that my friend take me around the house quickly before we all sat down to eat, knowing that time would surely fly by.  Margarita glasses were topped off and off we went, out of the kitchen and down a narrow hallway to one end of the house.  

Following my hostess and another friend who was happy to do a second tour, I was immediately struck by the smallness of the hall and many tiny rooms with too many walls.  The inside of the house took on an opposite feel that perplexed me and got my mind and imagination into theoretically knocking down some of the walls for more space.  Yet our soon to be owner, thought it charming and original as the house had been built in the early 1900's.  I did not see that as a plus and felt some immediate concern over the integrity of the structure, the plumbing and electrical, likely not up to current standards and to code.

The home suddenly took on a facade of sorts and an interior of smoke and mirrors that I hated to imagine or suspect.  I kept my mouth shut as we rounded a corner to see a small half bath with a bad paint job and another red flag for me that the previous owners updated parts of the house for appearance while leaving other areas of the house a hodge podge of quirks. I didn't want to be negative in any way or ruin the apparent excitement and pride my dear friend was exhibiting over this new home.

We entered what was a back corner guest bedroom, crowded with furniture and nick knacks with an attempt at making this room look cozy and inviting.  My first impression was of how narrow and small the room was, scanning the cracked window frames and heavy oil based paint job that left the recent odor of a hurried attempt at renovation of the simplest kind and a quick property turnaround.

Stepping into the interior of the small space, standing behind my two friends who were bubbling over about how cute the room was, a feeling of oppression came over me and a rush of weight and light headedness over came me.  The hair on my arms was raised in a second,  a dark chill overwhelmed me and nausea rose from the pit of my stomach.  I was frozen and felt an undeniable presence.

Was it only me that felt this?  I looked at them and they had no apparent signs of ill feelings or strangeness that surrounded me like a cold damp fog that clouded my sight for a few long moments of uncertainty.  Would I have the nerve to ask such a question?  It blurted out of my mouth with no censorship whatsoever...

"Did someone die in this room?"  Nancy and Rose looked at me with disbelief for a few seconds.  "As a matter of fact," Nancy said, "Yes!"  How did you know that?  The 82 year old owner of the house died in this room a few months ago!"  I found myself asking bluntly if he died of natural causes or of traumatic illness and if the broker disclosed the details of his death, which is state law.  She said that, indeed, they had been told of his death but no particular details to lead them to worry or wonder about the circumstances of his demise.

I backed out of the room just seconds later and told Nancy that I could never sleep in that room.  I found myself apologizing profusely for feeling this way in her new house, although they had not bought the home and were renting it for the time being.  She and Rose looked genuinely shocked over my very real intuition and fear over what I felt in that room.  Rose looked at me deeply and told me she thought it was so cool that I could feel this with such conviction and intuitive knowingness.  But it was a real shock to me as I had never felt anything like this before in my life.  A true first, that left me with an almost sick feeling and a dread for the rest of the house.

Nancy hurried down the hall and was anxious to know if I felt anything in the master bedroom.  Now, I was feeling very weird about the whole thing and hoped I would feel nothing more in her new home.  We walked into the center of the bedroom, which had great sun exposure, space and an obvious remodel where two rooms had once been, now opened up to create a roomy master bedroom with lots of windows, French doors to the back and a very inviting interior.  The words that came from me next were like those coming from another person and caused a heat to rise to my face in embarrassment, "This room is clear."  And then to them I said, "I have no idea why I just said that!"

Nancy was satisfied to know that her bedroom was OK and the rest of the tour was somewhat uneventful, except for a room which was once an open porch, now enclosed to make a media room.  She explained the remodel a bit, watched my face for reactions or concern, to which I said,"He spent most of his last months in this room."  She pretended to agree with my "findings" and expressed similar feelings about the presence in the house.

She believed overall, that the energy of the house was positive and was satisfied to continue believing that they would buy this house very soon.  She is a nester of the highest degree and accomplishes this natural talent in every home where she has lived.  Undaunted by my observations and obvious concern, we went on to have a wonderful time, eating, conversing, laughing, discussing the pluses of the home and neighborhood and complimented every detail of her house and decor.  Not a word was hinted that they perhaps needed to call, "Ghost Busters!"  That was never an option...

Alas, we live on in time and without knowing it, there is a certainty that we must be sharing space with some spirits who are still lingering amongst us. The documented haunted houses are real and remain steadfast in the legacies of family histories and folklore that is passed from one generation to the next.  It hides in the walls, it stagnates the air in particular spaces and is crowded with hints of past struggles, joys and pain.  The certainty that not all pass through this life and on to another without some detention, is ever present in certain structures of ghostly containment.

                                                                         ~~~ 

It has been about 5 months now since we all gathered at Nancy's home. She and her husband have not purchased the house and now plan to move to a new condo in downtown San Francisco in the coming months. 

We'll see.