The "Cou" Story

I'm of Portuguese, Irish and English descent. Like in many American/European families, my family often lived with each other or very close by. So the whole family had a hand in raising the children. We lived with my maternal grandparents when I was young. I soaked up everything Portuguese, food, stories and almost the language. Let me explain, my grandmother wanted to teach me Portuguese because children learn a foreign language more easily when they're young but my dad didn't want me to learn because he didn't want me to know more than he did. My grandmother (Nana) still taught me words here and there. For example, she and my mom would have me say good night "boa noite" and other words and phrases. They taught me the word for rearend "cou". One day while in kindergarten I fell down and started crying, when my teacher asked me what happened, I told her I hurt my "cou". She looked at me like I was an alien from another planet. I couldn't get her to understand what I meant. I was so frustrated. When I got home I told my mom the story in my little girl way. It then hit her and she started smiling. When teaching a child words in a foreign language you have teach them the words in English also. Boy, did I feel like a giant "cou" that day. It's now a lovely family story.

A Haunted House Tale

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With Halloween just around the corner I thought I would write a spooky post. I grew up in an actual haunted house. Really!! Many freaky things happened there. Papers blowing around in the attic when not one window was opened, furniture moving by itself, bright lights shining through windows when there wasn't a soul outside. Well, maybe a soul, just not in it's earthly wrapping. There were also voices and an other-worldly humming in the middle of the night. My great-grandfather claimed he was pushed down the attic stairs. I for one believe him because I myself was pushed down the attic stairs. Not gently I might add. One night in the darkened hallway my mom saw my grandfather coming out of my room. She thought he was just checking on me but when she went downstairs minutes later, he was sound asleep on the couch and my grandmother said he had been asleep for hours. My mom ran upstairs and of course there wasn't anyone in my room, that she could see that is. *insert goosebumps here* My family said I had imaginary friends that I insisted were real and one of them was an older man. Years later when speaking to a very gifted psychic, she said that I had talked to spirits when I was a little girl. Who knew? We had blessings by priests and my grandmother spoke to a psychic friend of hers that said we had treasure buried in our basement so my family dug up a major part of the dirt cellar floor and didn't find anything. I do believe there was something there, they just weren't looking in the right place. When I was very young I didn't understand the stories and what they meant , but the last year we lived in the house I could hardly sleep at night because of a nightly knocking at my window. I was so scared that I spent most nights in the bathroom, reading, with the light on. In my opinion that house was a vortex for the unusual. I have more stories to tell about it but I will save that for another time. Boo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!