“When I was little, my grandma befriended her neighbor who was schizophrenic and they became best friends until she passed away.  Then, I was sleeping at my grandma’s house one time and I saw a woman in all white walking around upstairs.  I told my mom about it and she said it was my grandma’s friend.  Ever since she passed away, she never left my grandma’s house.” – Anonymous

As Anonymous experienced this firsthand as a child in their grandma’s house, it was intriguing to hear about their perception and view of a ghost visit, especially one that is recurring.

Anonymous had a neutral stance on their grandma’s friend’s visits and reiterated the neutrality of ghost presences.  Although horror movies and stories may fluff up the bad things, there are rarely stories of the good things that ghosts do and value, which is why the spread of this folklore is very important to share with one another.  The ghost’s friendship with the grandma was one that was unconditional, in life and in death, and it is almost endearing to know that they found comfort in staying in their friend’s house even while battling mental illnesses that make people stray away.  This ghost has never done anything to harm Anonymous or their grandma and instead walks around peacefully.  It is also interesting to know that the ghost decided to stay with their friend rather than in their house which gives peace of mind to new occupants.  This ghost was caring and valued their friendship and it is nice to know that they can be present without causing disarray.

In comparing this to other forms of folklore, I can relate it to a line that is handed down to “not judge a book by its cover”.  As ghosts are always seen in a negative light, it can be insightful to take a step back and view them as normal beings who have needs and values just as humans do.