At the time my mother met Bill, he was married. Bill had a marriage filled with stress and tension. His wife Eloise has been having bouts of mental illness since early in their marriage. Eloise's illness had progressed until there was no other option but to have her institutionalized. She had been fast becoming a threat to herself and those around her. She was in the institution for a couple of years when the doctors agreed that she should be allowed home for New Years Eve. Bill had planned a quiet evening at home. Eloise came home and walked from room to room. She still seemed to be filled with the resentment and hatred that was the major part of her personality. She had forgotten the meaning of New Years Eve, so celebrating it was not on her agenda.
Bill quietly went into her room to at least wish her a happy new year. It was just a minute or two before the bells all over town would be ringing. Eloise seemed to be asleep. As the bells started ringing, Eloise sucked in one long bitter breath. She took in each breath with resentment for years now, so it was right and proper that her last one was a bitter one.
Bill was now free to marry Mom, which happened a few months later. Bill would tell Mom that he was waking up in the middle of the night to find Eloise standing over the bed, looking at him with such disdain he was beginning to become frightened. If Bill slept soundly, he would be awakened by a vicious shaking. It was always Eloise standing there.
At the time all this was going on, I was married to a military man. I went home between duty stations while awaiting housing for us. Mom had given me the back bedroom. This was not Eloise's bedroom, however I had to use the bathroom which was hers. No one was ever allowed to use her bathroom. Since the weather was hot and humid, we would leave the bathroom door slightly open. There was a wall of mirrors which ran across from the tub and over the sink and toilet.
As I was bathing, I saw someone in the mirror. Someone was standing there looking at me. I jumped out and peaked my head out the door and saw no one. The first time I excused it as a phantom image, but every time I bathed it happened. I began shutting the door. The door would open. I would hear the door open and then see the woman looking at me through the mirror. She would always disappear before I got a good look at her. Locking the door did not keep her away.
Why she picked me to bother, I didn't know. Did she think I was the one sharing Bill's life?
Bill sold the house and he and Mom moved into one that was their very own. One that never had any connection with Eloise. Now when I visit Mom and Bill, I no longer have a visitor lurking in the mirror when I bathe.
I understand that across town in the house that Bill and Eloise shared, the new owners had all the wall mirrors in the bathroom removed. Kind of strange, don't you think?