A Story About The Ghost Who Follows Me Around My Apartment

In 2016, I lived in a downtown studio apartment that sat just above a Starbucks. Every coffee addict’s dream, I know. This building sat on the corner of 3rd and Broadway and had been there since 1884. The original business that operated here was Lee’s Pharmacy and remained in business for over 100 years. In 1994, when Lee’s finally closed its doors, it took the title of the oldest continually operated pharmacy in California and shortly after was renovated and turned into a beloved Starbucks.

Above the pharmacy sat two floors of lodging that was used by The International Order of Odd Fellows, an organization that states on their website that their mission is to “visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan.” These were later turned into private offices, apartments, and one beautiful ballroom. Walking into this building, you could immediately feel a sense of history, and yet, a heaviness was the air.

Since I was young, I have had many encounters with the supernatural. This has come in many forms, such as having premonitions, dreams of long conversations with people who have passed on, and seeing things move in the opposite way that gravity works.

Once I realized what was going on, I didn’t let this kind of stuff scare me. I had a therapist once that told me it was important to acknowledge the spirit’s presence, and if I choose, to tell them that they are not welcome and need to leave. I found this method to work very well and only let myself be open to loving, teaching spirits.

Shortly after I moved in, I climbed into my bed, rolled over on my left-hand side, my back facing the front door, and I immediately had the feeling that someone was standing directly behind me. I rolled over, and although the energy still felt like someone was standing inches away from me, I saw a woman standing back by the front door, about 10 feet away. She was tall, about 5’8. She was thin. She looked like someone who only ate organic and did lots of yoga—good for her. She had long curly dark hair and was wearing a navy blue top.

I knew immediately that she was not a threat. There was no dark, eerie feeling about her, she was simply just there. Looking right at me.

I did what my therapist suggested, because truthfully, I was ready for bed and didn’t want to deal with it at that moment. I told her, “I see you. We are not going to do this right now; I’m going to bed.” I rolled back over and felt the energy leave, although I knew she was still in the corner of the room. I drifted off to sleep, and when I woke up the next morning, she was gone. I saw her a few more times over the next several weeks, sitting on the edge of my bed, standing in the same original corner by the front door. She was quiet and never caused any trouble; I think she just wanted to be seen. I could not make out the details of her face, but I knew that other than the first visit, she did not want to look directly at me.

A few weeks later, I was downstairs in the Starbucks. While standing in line I noticed an old photograph of when it was Lee’s Pharmacy. Lo and behold, I notice a child standing in the middle of the photo. She was about 12 years of age and had long dark brown curly hair. Her face was blurred out due to the poor quality of the old photo, but something in my heart told me that was her. That was the woman in my room as a child. I didn’t know until recently that my specific room was used as a lodge for the sick. This information brings up so many more questions for me. Was the woman a patient? Was she indeed the little girl from the photo who perhaps visited the patients upstairs from time to time? Although I will never truly know, something tells me that she still hangs out in that little apartment just waiting to be seen.