Subject: Grandma Bater's Ghost
Content: Prelude: I posted this story long ago on this site, but decided to put it into the forums to get things started with relating some of the stories of my youth when I had some of my first encounters with the unknown world of spirit - Tomcat... Many years ago, in the early 20'th century, a woman by the name of Grandma Bater was a fixture of the community in the little town of Sterling City in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Grandma Bater was known throughout the area and she was somehow associated with the principle industry of logging that was the main business of the town. Grandma Bater spent many an afternoon rocking on the porch, probably knitting or crocheting while watching life pass through the streets of Stirling City. Hers was a typical life and she was quite a lovely person from the way it has been told to me. Going on the recollections of family, my mother told me of her encounters with the ghost of Grandma Bater. She died sometime in the 30's or 40's and her home passed through a number of hands over the years. My mother had the occasion to visit the house as many of our family hunted and fished in the area and spent time in Sterling City. Not long after Grandma Bater died, the next inhabitants of the house, whom I presume were immediate family, began to notice that at 4:00pm every day, the rocker that Grandma would sit in would take to rocking by itself. No one ever thought to remove the rocker. It just seemed that it was an unspoken thing that went without saying. No matter where the rocker was placed, it rocked. Didn't matter if in the attic, basement, porch or kitchen, the rocker would suddenly, and like clockwork, begin rocking. People would also hear other noises and strange events ensued, but mostly revolving around the noises that a normal live person would make as their live in their home. My mother witnessed the chair rocking and she had known Grandma Bater as a child, so it was assumed that she just loved it there in Stirling City so much that she just never left. So the years passed with Grandma being part of life in that home and it was well known that she still watched over the community. One day, the house came up for sale and a young couple moved into the house. The furniture stayed in the house and, of course, Grandma Bater's rocker. From what I gather, the couple knew of the strange daily otherworldly rocking initiated by Grandma as she watched over yet another family. However, the couple was soon with child and I guess it somehow became a point of conversation that Grandma's rocker would need to go. The story becomes hazy at this point, but essentially it ended up that Grandma was pretty darned upset at this turn of events, and she made no secret of her displeasure. Things got so bad that a priest was called in and the house finally exorcised. I guess the priest had quite a battle with her. She evidently shook the hell out of the house and set about tossing all sorts of things in order to stay, but I guess the power of the other side was too much and she finally was separated from the rocker. From what I know of the story, the haunting continued for some time, but eventually, Grandma Bater was finally driven to the other side by a young couple who mysteriously found no comfort in the caring gaze of this spirit woman. I always thought it was such a sad thing to send her on, but alas, it was far passed when I came to know of this story. Sometimes, I wonder if she walks the streets of Sterling City, but I'd guess she finally made the trip to the other side. I honestly wish someone in that town would find her old rocker and give her an honored place to rock daily at 4:00pm. It would certainly make this family of mine happy to see her provided her rightful place watching over that beautiful little town. Whatever became of the rocker and the details of her personal life are lost to history, save for this story that captures the main details of her afterlife and interaction with the living. I, for one, would love to know more about her and how she came to her place in that town and what brought about her passing. For now, these details are best left to imagination and supposition. Of course, there are other ghosts in the town and region, but that is another story for another time... One day I shall tell of my own grandmother's ghost and her release into the Feather River Canyon and a shocking photograph that launched me into paranormal investigation seven years after her passing. I sometimes feel her about and feel that she would like to be written about, so we'll be back soon enough with that story of the Sierras.... Tomcat
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