My father Robert grew up in Shaker Heights outside of Cleveland Ohio. I have been to the house where he grew up numerous times to vast my grandparents: his mother, and his step-father Terry. The house itself is three stories tall, with old lighting and bathroom fixtures from the 1930’s. The driveway, which leads to … Continue reading Spirit Reports Chapter 8: Robert
I think my friend James was born in the wrong time in history. He and his violin were made for the palaces of the Habsburgs as they stood before the Great War. He was meant for the world described by Winston Churchill in the opening passages of his book, “The World Crisis," when he wrote, … Continue reading Spirit Reports Chapter 7: James
On a Spring afternoon during my final year of college, I was approached by a young man while I waited for a crosswalk signal to turn. He had a passage from one of the gospels marked out with a bit of string with a loop tied at one end for his thumb as a bookmark. … Continue reading Spirit Reports Chapter 6: Her
The dirt driveway that leads up the hill to Lizzie’s house is marked by an enamel sign that reads “Lucky Pines.” I remember when I first saw it. It was the first time I’d stopped by to drive Lizzie to school early one fall morning in our senior year of high school. It’s been … Continue reading Spirit Reports Chapter 5: Lizzie
When I think of my younger brother, I picture him when he was just a little kid, no more than ten or eleven years old. Back then, he had long straight blonde hair and a gentle round face with defined dimples when he smiled, which was often, even when he was trying not to. Always, … Continue reading Spirit Reports Chapter 4: Cooper
When I was in elementary school, I stumbled across a book in the North Falmouth Elementary School library on Sir John Franklin's Lost 1845 Arctic Expedition called "Buried in Ice" by John G. Geiger, Owen Beattie, and Shelley Tanaka. I remember I returned the book to the library several weeks late, partially because I had … Continue reading Spirit Reports Chapter 3: John
I’ve wondered for a long time now what it meant to be Joseph Cressy’s grandson. I’ve written a lot about him since he died six years ago. On the night his lungs failed, I found myself in the front yard of my parents’ house on a swing hanging from the branch of a maple tree … Continue reading Spirit Reports Chapter 2: Joseph
Chapter 1. Haunted. My childhood bedroom was on the second story of the house which now belongs to my mother. The room was against the outer wall so that the slope of the roof was that of the ceiling of my bedroom. In winter it was always the coldest room in the house. I used … Continue reading Spirit Reports Chapter 1: Haunted
Ryan Shockey Davis 