Great Grandmother Visits

She slipped into the house silently, but stealthily. We had no idea she was there Until we became knowing instant answers. We are all three in college, studying to be nurses. Words that were incredibly unrecognizable suddenly appeared In our vocabularies, and we knew things we should not know. I think my great grandmother is here, our housemate Vera said. Her great grandmother had been a knowledgeable nurse. She had worked during the Viet Nam War, overseas. For years after her return, men wrote her letters of thanks. Why do you think that? We asked. Because we know so much now, and we knew so little before. But why her? Because I have not been able to get her out of my mind lately. That night I could not sleep. I came downstairs to get a snack, and maybe work a crossword puzzle. It was not an easy task, for the hair on my neck rose. I felt like someone was here watching me. I turned and for one second I saw a ghost nurse. Only half a second. She disappeared as swiftly as she had arrived. Two or three months later I was flipping through Vera’s photo album and I saw her again. It was her great grandma Vera, the one for whom she had been named. It was a comfort.