It always makes me sad to drive past the home where my Aunt Grace used to live. Over the passing years, I have watched her beautiful home deteriorate.

First I noticed the new owners tore off the lovely porch that wrapped around the front and down one side of the house. This porch had fancy carved woodwork on each post and a polished solid oak floor. 'Whatever were they thinking of', I thought to myself. It was an absolute sin to remove that porch; the house looked lonesome and vulnerable without it.

Next they tore down the woodshed, chicken-coop, well house, and a shed that ran along the west end of the old barn. As a final insult, they cut down all the beautiful maple trees in the yard and along the driveway. Oops, I said that was the final insult, but it wasn't. As a final insult, they painted the house- PINK.

I have often wished and still do, that I was a rich bitch so I could buy the house and restore it to its former glory. Unfortunately, I can't see this happening anytime in the near future. However before I go any further I want to tell you just a little about the history of this house.

My Aunt Grace was married twice; she lost her first husband at a young age. I don't know what happened to him, I just know it is so. Grace then went to work in a grocery store and it was there that she met her second husband, Claude Kocher. They became engaged and set a wedding date in 1929. Claude was determined that before they married, he wanted to build a house for his new bride. This he proceeded to do.

Back in those days they had barn raisings, or in this case, a house raising, where all the neighbors would come to help from miles around. With all this help, my Uncle Claude had a beautiful home to take his new bride to. It was a true masterpiece; I remember it well.

My Aunt and Uncle never had any children of their own. They did adopt one boy and raise him up. I don't remember their son too well because he was quite a bit older than me. Aunt Grace would often have one of us come over and stay for a few days at a time. I imagine my mother was happy to loan one of us out for a while being as how there were twelve of us.

I spent a lot of happy days with Aunt Grace, picking blackberries, helping her milk the cows, and just being with her. The one thing I remember the most is how particular Aunt Grace was about her house. We had to take our shoes off and wash our feet before she let us come in from outdoors. Her house would have passed the old white glove test.

Another incident that always has stuck in my mind is the one about Grace's neighbor, Alferd Nivver. Alferd used to drive his horse and buggy to my aunt's house and pay a visit every once in a while. Now I have to say that Alferd was not the world's cleanest person, he was quite a smelly individual. When my aunt saw Alferd coming she would place newspapers on the floor in front of the door and make a path to the nearest chair which she also covered with newspaper. After Alferd left my aunt would scrub the chair and the floor where he had walked. Grace was a fanatic about clean. She loved that house and it showed when you looked at it.

Unfortunately, FatherTime catches up with all of us and so it was with my Aunt Grace. Uncle Claude passed away sometime in the late fifty's or early sixty's. Aunt Grace stayed on in her home as long as she could but finally had to go live with her sister Hazel after osteoporosis made it impossible for her to live alone.

Finally, Aunt Grace had to give in and sell her beloved home; I remember that it broke her heart. Grace lived to be 103 and often she would ask about her home when we stopped to see her. Of course, we never told her the truth about her much- loved house.

About a year ago I was passing by Aunt Grace's old home and happened to notice this fellow walking across the yard. He was a pretty scruffy looking character, but I thought "What the heck, I will just sit in the car and talk to him". I pulled into the driveway and introduced myself. I explained to him about how my Aunt had lived in this home and my Uncle was the person who built the house.

"Wow, I sure would like to know some of the history about this place", the scruffy guy said. He then told me his name was Joe and he had been living there for the last twenty years.

'So here is the culprit that destroyed my Aunt's house', I thought to myself.

Well, Joe and I talked for a while and I told him some of the past facts about the house, I also mentioned that I had not been inside the house for some thirty years.

Joe said, "Well come on in and look around; I have been remodeling this house and trying to bring it up to code".

'For twenty years' I thought to myself.

Joe and I went into the house and it was really a shock to see the shape the house was in. All the beautiful varnished oak trim had been removed, the oak floors were destroyed, the lovely hand carved doors were gone from the cupboards; it literally made me feel ill. Even the beautiful banisters were gone from the stairway going upstairs. True, Joe had spent a lot of money dry-walling the house, but the character and original beauty of the house were gone. Also, the house was far from finished.

I asked Joe why he had never completed the work on the house and he told me that he was having some major problems trying to work on the home.

"What might that be", I asked him.

Joe told me there were ghosts in the house and they did not like him. He said there was an old man who had knocked him off of his ladder several times and was always telling him to get out of the house. Joe said there is also an old woman he calls Gramma, and she is constantly locking him out of the house.

"I won't even sleep in there at night, Joe said, that is why I have the camper sitting outside".

'Really', I thought to myself, Can't say as I blame Claude and Grace for kicking good old Joe out of their house. I would have done the same if I were in their place. Joe went on to tell me that he was a very spiritual person and was trying to work out some kind of agreement with Claude and Grace. Of course, Joe had not managed to do this for the last twenty years and I doubted he would ever get the job done; not the way he was going at things. I wished Joe good luck and went on my way. As I walked back to my car I gave Aunt Grace and Uncle Claude a thumbs up. I could almost hear them chuckle.

About two months ago, I simply couldn't resist the urge to stop and see how Joe was getting along with his project. I had a lot of strawberries so I made Joe a strawberry pie as an excuse for stopping.

The first thing I noticed was a for sale sign on Joe's camper trailer and, to my surprise, Joe had actually done quite a bit of work on the inside the house. Joe had done a lot of painting and put up ceiling fans in several rooms. Joe also informed me that he was in the process of selling his camper because he didn't need it anymore.

"So did Claude and Grace agree to let you live in the house", I asked Joe.

"Sorta", Joe replied," I had to agree to replace the porch and paint the house white again, among other things".

Joe said Gramma ( Aunt Grace ) had sat him down and they had a long talk. Gramma told Joe that on no uncertain terms was Joe ever to bring THAT woman into the house again as she was not a good housekeeper and Gramma did not want her in her house.

"And what woman is that", I had to ask.

Joe explained that Gramma was talking about his ex-wife who was somewhat of a slob. Joe said, "Gramma used to lock my ex-wife out of the house all the time and one time Gramma locked my ex in the basement"." Some of this stuff is the reason she is my ex-wife now; my ex- told me it was this house or her; I chose the house".

By this time it was all I could do to keep a straight face; the laughter wanted to bubble up. I really didn't want to laugh at Joe, though, and what if he wasn't delusional and the ghosts of Aunt Grace and Uncle Claude truly do reside in their beloved home. If I made fun of Joe they might take it personally and I would be the one forever barred from their house. I don't want that to happen, I want to keep coming back and watch to see if this Joe ever does put the porch back on the house.

This story is true; there really is a Joe and he really lives in my Aunt Grace and Uncle Claude's old home. I haven't decided whether to believe his story about ghosts or not; what do you think? I will keep going to visit Joe and let you know how things come out in the end. Wish me luck.