Moving to Okinawa was going to be a challenge. Everything was going to be different for our family. We packed up and I braved the adventure. We left America and came to Okinawa and we were welcomed with no cars, no home, no phones. I had no idea where we would be living and I desperately wanted to live on base but I knew the chances of that were slim.
We went to the newcomers brief, and of course, there "was no housing available" and I was told to find a home out in town.
It was so difficult to research homes and see them with four young children that were jet lagged. It was difficult with the language barrier. It was difficult to understand the layout of the island neighborhoods and difficult to determine what I wanted out of a home.
We saw one home in Okinawa City and I adored the purple kitchen, but I feared the lack of play space for my children. I feared the commute to the Northern camps too and the Southern camp, since originally I was assigned to Camp Kinser for work.
We saw a few more and none of them fit our needs. Then we finally saw Rever Town B. It was huge. It was newer. It was close. It had a yard, a driveway, a culdesac almost. It was going to be incredible.
I immediately said yes to the home and rushed to sign papers in order to secure our new home. I was so relieved to soon have our household goods and to be able to set up our long awaited home and start establishing routines for the babies.
I remember leaving the home that first day we said yes to it and glancing up at the large Shisha Dog structure on the roof. I said to Bobby, "Oh look! A Shisha dog! I wonder why it’s only on this home? I love Japanese culture! Its so different."
While signing the lease, I laughed at how different it was compared to an American lease. Specifically the line stating, "You May break your lease due to Acts of God or Acts of Evil." Bizarre, right? I assumed that "Acts of Evil" meant a typhoon or fire... not ghosts.
A few days later, I moved in and began to settle our family into the home.
The first few days were typical. We were greeted by incredibly large and terrifying spiders. Boxes were everywhere but the home slowly came together. Government furniture was delivered and the house was starting to feel like home.
I met my neighbors and some were locals, some American. They were great.
Life in Oki was coming together.
One night after I had out all four kids to bed, while unpacking boxes, I heard little footsteps running up and down the hallway upstairs. I rolled my eyes, went up to yell at whatever child was awake. To my surprise, the girls were still in their cribs and the boys were sound asleep.
I noted that it was strange, but I shrugged it off.
The following evening, while watching tv, I heard the same little toddler sounding footsteps in the hallway upstairs. I sent Bobby up to take them back to their bed and put them back to sleep... except they all were sound asleep. Again, I noted that was strange because the noises were undeniable, but I continued to watch my tv show and not think of it.
The next night is when things began to change. I was carrying a basket of laundry up the stairs and as I turned to corner, I glanced up and saw a silhouette of a young child run from the master bedroom and vanish before my eyes. I was frozen in fear. Every hair on my body stood up, and my voice shook as I frantically called Bobby to come and check on the kids. I sternly said, "I need you to go upstairs and tell me which kid is out of their bed right now."
He must have known something was wrong because he quickly went up. He came back down the stairs and said to me, "Mollye... They’re all in bed asleep. What’s wrong??"
I tried to brush it off as my imagination but my gut knew and my heart sank. That was a child. in my home. That child was young and scared, but yet slightly playful. How did I know this? I can’t describe how I knew this, but it was so apparent to me.
I told Bobby what I had seen and he gasped and asked if I thought the other nights of the running footsteps were related.
We both tried to ignore what we had heard, seen, and spoke about. I just couldn’t shake the feeling of having a spirit in the home. It was tolerable, but uncomfortable. I tried to laugh it off as I told neighbors what had happened and my next door neighbor said that she was friends with the woman that lived there before. That woman had experienced similar sightings and even noted scratches on the floor. I nervously laughed and internally started to panick. What was I dealing with?
Things seemed to calm down for a week or so, but the noises continued. The sightings continued. The last straw was the night I was sitting in my bed and around 11:00 pm, my son came into my bedroom. This wasn’t unusual, but what he said to me was. He calmly and innocently said to me, "Mommy, I don’t like that skeleton that lays inside my covers and touches my face. Sometimes she sits in the corner of my room and I don’t like her." 😳
I was fucking terrified because he has never said anything ever like that. It was so raw and innocent and honest. I hugged him tight and slept with the tv on and all the lights on. I had to do something.
I couldn’t handle it anymore. I called my housing agency the next day, as my neighbor had suggested. I was mortified. If I called a rental agency in America about a ghost, they’d laugh at me and call the police to send someone to evaluate my mental wellbeing.
So I called and nervously laughed as I talked about my experience. "Hai... Ahhh... Hai..." was the quiet and gaspy response I received on the other end of the phone line. My housing agency told me to be home at 5:00 pm that evening to meet a woman that would help me.
I packed up early from work that afternoon. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Who was coming over? What was the plan? 5:00 on the dot came and an elder Japanese lady came. She deeply bowed to me. She had an interpreter. The took a deep breath as she stepped in the doorway. She sat and asked me promptly if the spirit I had come in contact with opened doors, turned on lights, opened cabinets, or if it was a sighting. If it was a sighting, what did it look like? A shadow?
I told her exactly what had happened and what I had heard, seen, and what my son claimed. I told her it felt like a child, a boy maybe. I could identify the shadow I saw running had a short haircut, almost like a chin length bowl cut. I told her I could feel the spirit seemed curious and mischievous but not ill intent. It wasn’t comfortable but it wasn’t mean either.
She stood up and asked to go outside. I let her out and she told me she needdd to be alone. I peeked on her about ten minutes later and she was bending over the railing, talking and burning sage I think. She kept bending and talking. A while later I peeked again, and she was sitting on my patio in silence.
After about thirty minutes she came inside. She had her interpreter tell me that it was a young girl, looking for her Mother. She lost her mother in the war and she desperately was seeking a motherly figure. She chose me and my family because of my open heart for children. However, she said she told the young girl, whom we nicknamed Gigi, that she was unwelcomed in it home and she must move on.
I thanked the elder for coming and as she left, I felt sad for Gigi, relieved for my family, and curious for our future.
A few weeks went by and things seemed to be more calm. I still slept with the lights on and I was still miserable, but it was better. Friends had mailed me sage, prayer cards, and coworkers gave me crystals and candles to burn. Lavender sage spray became my go to cleanse spray and life was getting back to a new normal. It seemed, anyway.
Bobby returned home from his work trip and one night when my car broke down, he asked our neighbor to come over to watch the babies while they slept so he could come to my rescue.
While he was jumping my car, my phone rang and my neighbor was frantic asking when we would be home.
We asked if everything was okay, especially with the kids. She said it was fine, but wanted to know if we had a tree in our backyard. A tree? No. Definitely not. Why would she ask that???
She said that the tree branches were scratching the glass windows downstairs.
I told her, "Sam... we don’t have any trees. Are the kids ok?" She told me they were okay but to please hurry home.
We rushed as fast as we could back to the house and when we got into the door, Sam was shaking while sitting in a chair in the middle of the floor. She apologized for being so scared but she was adamant that there was someone or something scratching the window. We never did know what it was, but we all couldn’t help but wonder if it was Gigi.
Bobby left again, and shortly after, the second typhoon came. Electricity was gone, and being alone in the house wit the kids was difficult. That evening, I had my nanny and neighbor both over helping me with the bedtime routine. They were with the 3 older kids and I was nursing the baby in her rocking chair. From the chair in the baby’s nursery, I could see into the master bedroom. I had a flashlight propped facing up to illuminate the entire bedroom since we were without power.
I glanced up while nursing to see a man pacing slowly back and forth in the master bedroom.
It’s difficult for me to reflect on that moment still... it’s hard for me to write it... I wish I could capture the feeling of doom and fear I felt in that moment. The man was not kind. He was tall, slender, and so angry. He was hunched over pacing and you could tell he was intense.
Click the link above to watch the intense moments after I saw the man in my bedroom.
I became overwhelmed with the sense of urgency to leave the home, immediately. I called for Sam and Ariana to take the kids while I threw essentials into a bag.
Within five minutes, I was out of the home with four kids and a bag. I knew in that moment that I needed to move, right away.
And that’s what I did. I told my story. I shared my experiences. I quickly got a home offered to me on base and I immediately took it. I moved myself and the four kids alone. And let me tell you... it was the best decision for myself and my family. We are settled and happy and we don’t share our home with other spirits.
A few months have passed and I still can’t believe that was my life. My good friend that was my next door neighbor at Rever Town sent me a picture of an Ishigantu, which is placed on homes or businesses that are trapped in a triangle or on a corner. Legend says that ghosts and spirits move only in linear lines, therefore they get trapped in corner lots, which Rever Town B was.
I definitely now can look back on a few instances growing up that I’ve had encounters with spirits.... one being a silhouette in the bathroom mirror as a child. Melanie, my sister saw this too. Another was a silhouette in my parents basement. Both of those were in my parents house and both were very similar in demeanor... angry.
The other time was when my Meme died and my Grandfather, who was also deceased, called on the telephone frantically asking for "Fran? Fran??!!!" (That is what he called my Meme.) When I tried to tell the man on the phone she had passed away, the line hung up. I attempted to call back the number but it was not a valid number... eerie.
Now that I know these things and I am connected with this sensitivity of mine, I can clearly identify when and where there are spirits present. For example, Uken Beach. I love walking there but every time I go, there is a definite presence amongst us. It is strong, it is plentiful. However, the spirits there are not angry. They feel more confused and lost. It’s devastating to feel... I can’t explain it.
Some people may read this and think I’m crazy. I probably would have thought the same... but what I can say is that what I experienced was undeniable. I can’t believe that was my life and I truly hope my sensitivity passes because I prefer communicating with breathing and tangible humans... not energy driven silhouettes with unidentified intentions.
This blog post was written over several weeks, so I hope it doesn’t seem too sporadic.
Comment below about any experiences you may have had. I’d be curious to see if they’re similar to mine!!!
Happy reading :)
