Grandpa's Ghost

I was probably six when I had my first encounter with the paranormal.

I was staying the night with my Grandmother while both of my parents were working the night shift. I had been tucked into my dad's old room and I could hear my grandma start her snoring from her room when I started getting thirsty. So I jumped out of bed and walked down the hallway to the kitchen to get a Coke.

After I got the Coke out of the fridge, I couldn't find the bottle opener. Remember at this time in 1980-81, sodas were in the bottles that required a bottle opener or strong teeth to get the caps off. Well, I didn't want to wake my grandma up (since she would make me settle for water or milk) so I sat at the table and tried to open it anyway I could.
The next thing I know, there's this man standing there that freaked me out since my grandma had lived alone since my grandfather died in 1974 and my parents were married later that same year. After "he" saw me upset, he took the Coke from the table, sat it in front of me and said, "So you're Chris."

How did he know my name? Who was he? More importantly, how did he just appear in front of me?

For some reason, his use of my name made me feel more comfortable with him. I answered him and started drinking my Coke. For the next few hours the two of us talked about everything from my parents to how I liked school to the baseball team I was on that my dad coached. After a few hours he said, "I have to go now, but just remember I'm proud of you and love you." I don't know how long went by after that but my grandma found me asleep by the kitchen table when she woke up to have her morning coffee, so it must have been about 4 am. Sitting on the table were two empty Coke bottles.

Years passed before I told my parents about this and I was sure they were going to think I made it up. That is until my dad got this odd look on his face and told me about an experience he had not too long after his dad died in 1974.

His mom (my grandma) had gone out with her friends to play cards and try to get on with life after losing her husband. My dad was waiting on his friend to pick him up so they could go running around. As he was sitting in the front room waiting, he heard footsteps in the back of the house so he went to check it out. He didn't see anyone but heard the same noise elsewhere in the house, he then realized that it was coming from the same route his dad had taken to check the doors before he went to bed. He said, "Dad?" and the footsteps stopped.

I've had many experiences with things that can't be explained. This was just my first and the one that I think back on when I want to remember the one person I've always wanted to meet. My grandpa.