DEATH BED HASN’T SHAKEN ONCE.....YET
It has been the talk of friends and family. Some can’t believe we would bring something like this into our house. Yet there is a peace associated that set this apart from a truly haunted piece of vintage furniture. The recently acquired, and newly employed spindle bed, probably from the late 1800's (a similar bed is photographed in a booklet on heritage bedsteads in Ontario), was used by a Presbyterian, then United Church Minister, in Toronto, to accommodate "the recently deceased" in their home, for a final viewing for family. It was in a small, side-street bungalow, in recent years, not far off the mainstreet of Gravenhurst, Ontario, here in the District of Muskoka.
It’s not every husband who would have the gall to buy his loving wife a "death bed," as the former owner called it without much affection. She had sort of been stuck with it, as an estate piece from her father, and no overnight visitor to the home would dare sleep upon it. While it is true there was some trepidation about bringing a death bed into our happy and healthy home, we are afterall folks who have respect for those who have crossed, and encounters with the paranormal are eagerly anticipated, not feared.
I wanted to give you an update about the bed and its use up to this point. Admittedly there were a few sleep-broken nights getting adjusted to a stiff, custom made mattress for the short, three-quarters width bedstead.....which is gorgeous whether it is haunted or not. There has been a connection with about 3. a.m., when the occupant is awoken by something or other. We can’t really rest any liability for this on the bed itself, or its former occupants. There has been nary a shake or shudder, levitation or tipping. While it is a tad short for us (it’s true they were shorter on an average back then, than us today) it’s none the less comfortable and has a patina of cultural history we adore.
We love history. We love folk history even better. Ghosts. They were folk, once, so we love them too. We’ll keep you posted on the spiritual potential of an antique bedstead, now serving the slumber interests of the family here at Birch Hollow.