Mr. Westland, The Friendly Ghost
This week has been a really off week. I am way behind and I had no idea what to post about this week. Many topics ran thru my mind, but most needed to be properly researched before I posted and I just didn’t have the time, not to mention energy, to do that this week. So this week I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite personal experiences. I had already been obsessed by the paranormal at this time, but this experience is the one that pushed me into wanting to do paranormal investigation.
Before I began doing investigations I worked at a big hotel in Denver. I was around 19 at the time. The hotel was quite large and had the usual suites and penthouses. It was near the Denver Bronco’s headquarters so the team stayed there a lot when they had team practices. (This really has nothing to do with the story, I just wanted to brag that I knew some of the players back then!)
So, the story begins about two years before I started working there. An older couple, the Westlands, had checked into the penthouse for an extended stay. I believe they had family in Denver and were going to be staying in Denver for about a month. About 3 weeks into their stay Mr. Westland passed away one evening in his sleep. I don’t recall how old he was but I would guess that he was in his 70’s.
Poor Mrs. Westland was so heart broken. They had been high school sweethearts and had that kind of magical connection that we all look for. Because she didn’t want to leave the place where her husband had passed she decided to stay. She moved into the penthouse and had lived there for two years before I got there.
When I started I noticed that the elevators would open when you approached. Not for everyone and only one out of the three would open. This being a fancy hotel and me having just moved to the city from the country, I thought it was a high tech feature of the elevators that just wasn’t working properly.
A few months after starting my Mother (she worked there as well) told me that the elevators were just regular elevators. The magical part was courtesy of Mr. Westland. She proceeded to tell me the story about Mr. and Mrs. Westland, (I had been curious about the lady living in the hotel), and about his passing. It seemed that Mr. Westland, not wanting to be away from Mrs. Westland, (I’m assuming) stayed around to be with her.
As I was always a believer I just accepted this as fact and went about my business. I’m not one to be afraid of the dead. The living terrify me MUCH more the any ghost could.
When I would approach the elevator and the door opened I would say, “Thank you Mr. Westland”. I didn’t feel odd talking to him although I tried not to do it in front of guests!
As time went on I noticed that the doors opened for me more and more regularly. I always thanked him and on my way up or down would ask how he was, hoping for a little knock or some other form of communication. Nothing happened with that until about 1 yr after I started.
I was down in the basement where the laundry room for guests was and I was punching in on the time clock. I had to pass through the laundry room to get to the elevators on the other side. As I walked toward the laundry room entrance the door opened. This stopped me in my tracks. This door was a very heavy metal door. NO draft short of a tornado was going to budge this door. Yet there it stood, holding itself open.
After a few seconds I began to laugh. I don’t know why but this delighted me! I walked through the doorway and turned around. I said, “Thanks Mr. Westland” and as I finished the sentence the door slowly closed. From then on I kept an eye out for any other signs of Mr. Westland. I noticed that the elevators stopped opening for people after a certain time of day. It seemed that this coincided with what time Mrs. Westland got home. I guess once she arrived he went up to the room with her.
For the rest of the time I worked there Mr. Westland opened many doors for me. I don’t miss working there, but I do miss Mr. Westland.
Mommy D
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Brenda
