EDITOR’S NOTE
Boo Crew –Hunting for Memories
I got a ghost detector for my birthday, but I’ve been too scared to use it.
The size of a TV remote control, The Ghost Meter ($49.95 on Amazon) requires only a 9-volt battery and an open mind. It was a gift from my husband, the same man who gave me a pearl necklace when we were dating. Thirty-seven years later, our lives are in a different place, a far more frightening one, judging by his gift.
The Ghost Meter detects EMF waves (electromagnetic field radiation), known as ghost energy among devotees. I’ve never encountered a ghost, but I know people who have, so the meter’s been on a shelf for months.
Fast forward to the other weekend when my cousin and her husband came in from Pennsylvania for a visit. We rode bikes, stopped by our parish festival for a few Bingo games, watched fireworks then wandered back to our patio. That’s when I mentioned The Ghost Meter. My cousin was on board to try it; our husbands, not at all.
She and I tested the meter in my backyard, but the sensor didn’t budge and the lights didn’t flash. We ventured around town, seeking dark spaces and haunted places, two cousins ghost hunting on a summer night, looking to scare ourselves like we did as kids when we walked on dirt roads through twilight woods.
It occurred to me, there’s not much difference between childhood memories and the gentle ghosts they leave behind. The scary part is how quickly time passes. My cousin and I share much-loved, long-gone relatives and snapshot experiences: playing cards on the porch, skinny dipping in the dam, swinging from vines over a gully. We were looking for ghosts as adults without realizing we have plenty of sweet, good-spirited ones that have been with us all along. We don’t need The Ghost Meter to find them.
Meanwhile, we’re in the thick of summer with Northeast Ohio Boomer’s July/August issue. Ghosthunting may not be in your vacation plans, but regional festivals and fairs will keep you busy from now through fall. We highlight some of our favorites in this issue.
As you can see by our cover, we caught up with former TV anchor Romona Robinson. She’s been busy spreading her inspiring message to people here and throughout the country. We found her charmingly candid about her encore career and her next chapter.
If technology is making you crazy, you’re not alone. At a recent tech fair for older adults in Geauga County, we heard all about how folks struggle with their smartphones, tablets and apps. Read what they had to say and then find out how technology can help people who are hard of hearing. Our columnist Tak Sato fills us in.
I hope you have a scare-free summer. Take a walk at night and see what benevolent memories you can stir up.
I almost forgot to mention, my cousin and I found two ghosts. I won’t say where; you know how weird ghost people are.
~Marie
