The Man in the Blue Overalls

Last Thanksgiving, after the pie was finished, my aunt Clara and my cousin began talking about things they had seen. My aunt told us that a few years back, near the date her own father had passed, she started noticing a presence in her home.

She described a man with no clear features, dressed in faded blue overalls and a denim shirt. The first time, she was coming down the stairs and saw him standing quietly in the formal dining room, a place the family hardly ever used. The second time, she was carrying a newspaper to the recycling bin in the basement. As she reached for the light switch, she saw the same figure again, standing in the corner near the old furnace.

She was sure her eyes were not playing tricks. She mentioned it to her sister, who immediately said, “That sounds like Papa.” My aunt was surprised. “But he never wore overalls,” she said. “He only worked on the farm as a young man.” Her sister replied, “True, but what did he wear every single day in his workshop? Those old blue overalls.”