Halloween decorating

My mom took a picture of her cousin in the casket with a Polaroid camera. We waited for it to develop, and when it did, the only thing in the casket was his suit. I was young and it scared me to death.

BOBBIE SUE COX BROWN, Harriman, Tennessee

I was stationed in Germany and was sitting in my kitchen with my friend. I was telling her how I liked the kitchen except for the ugly green glass ring on the hanging globe light. All of a sudden, the light started to sway side to side. We sat there, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Almost on cue, the green ring shattered and scattered on the kitchen floor. Spoooky!!!

JULIE TRAVIS, Mountain Home, Idaho

My husband and I stayed in a haunted hotel room in the Finger Lakes region of New York. The first night we were there, I saw an older gentleman sitting on the end of the extra bed around 2 A.M. He was taking his shoes off and getting ready to climb in. I told my husband, only to have him tell me it was the wine. The next evening, my husband saw him and told me he was there, and that he was taking off his hat—a detail I had seen but didn’t tell him the first night. Both of us barely slept the third night.

JESSICA GRAVATT, Langhorne, Pennsylvania

After I bought my first house last year, I found something unusual in my back garden area…a headstone! I don’t know who this young man was, but I’m afraid to move the stone. So to this day it is still there.

HEATHER MOYER, Richland, Washington

SUBSCRIBER OF THE MONTH

DONNA SHROYER HER ANSWER: My family had a vacation home at Lake Tahoe, and sharing our small but cozy cabin was a colony of over 250 bats. Their value to the environment is extraordinary and substantiated, but this did not apply to our quality of life when they began squeezing through cedar knotholes and landing on our beds in the dead of night.

STATS: 73; married, with two grown sons and five grandchildren; retired from public education; Oceanside, California.

WHAT CLEANING TIP DO YOU SWEAR BY? I try to use natural ingredients. Trusty vinegar and baking soda work for a variety of jobs.

FAVORITE HALLOWEEN COSTUME? It was Halloween dress-up day at the middle school where I worked, and I wore my son’s high school football uniform—complete with pads, helmet, and fake bruises. I spent an awkward day trying to perform my assigned duties laden down with sports armor.

IF YOU COULD HAVE DINNER WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE? I would love to dine with Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a humanitarian and an outspoken participant in politics, and she paved the way for future First Ladies to become advocates of many important causes.

WHAT’S YOUR BEST TRAVEL ADVICE? I love traveling with a tour group. I meet lovely, interesting people from around the world and enjoy the insight that knowledgeable guides bring to a trip. And you’re transported—bags and all—without a worry. My grandmother passed away two months before my first child was due. My mother had not called me yet to tell me. I woke about 4 A.M. to find my grandmother standing at the foot of my bed. She looked at me and said, “I am so sorry that I will not be here to hold your daughter.” I did not know if my baby was a girl or a boy. When my daughter was born, I did not know what to think. I still do not, 50 years later.

CATHERINE CUNNINGHAM, Redding, California

I thought a voice from in my dream woke me up, but instead I woke from a dream to a voice calling my name. No one was home.

@MALTRYCANTRELL

UPCOMING QUESTION What are you unapologetic about?

Go to realsimple.com/ yourwords and let us know your answer to this question. Your response could appear on these pages.