06/01/2026
We believe you Colin and Justin!
There are plenty of spirits on Cape Breton Island!
Perhaps a bowl you spotted at Donna’s magical antique shop belonged to the grey haired figure!
Donna MacGregor
👻 🎬
First things first: ghosts are not, generally speaking, my thing.
I've never been particularly interested in the spooky, the spectral, or the otherworldly. I've always considered myself firmly rooted in reality, largely because there's more than enough happening in this world to keep my attention occupied. That said, each to their own. If ghostly matters are your jam, then fill your boots. But until today, ghosts have never played any meaningful role in my consciousness. Apart from one time - many years ago - when I was 'regressed' under hypnosis and talked of a life when I was a French soldier stationed at Louisbourg. That was a decade before Colin and I discovered Cape Breton... and I did indeed feel 'something' when subsequently I visited The Fortress Louisbourg Association after we bought Point of View Suites.
And yet...
TODAY I ACTUALLY SAW A GHOST.
Note that I'm not saying: "I think I saw a ghost." Nor "I may have seen a ghost." I saw a ghost. Categorically. Unequivocally. Indisputably.
Driving home from Cheticamp, we stopped to load the truck with antiques from a couple of outlets. First visit was to Myles From Nowhere, where we unearthed an absolute trove, chatting, therefter, with owner Myles. In a wonderful demonstration of trust, he let us leave with far more than we had cash to pay for, because he wasn't set up for credit cards. "Just send me a cheque when you're back in Louisbourg," he said. "It's all good."
That level of trust felt magnificent, and the human connection was palpable. Needless to say, a cheque will be in tomorrow's post. Further along our journey we stopped at Antiques and Aspirations. And it was there I encountered the aforementioned ghost.
Fact.
As I climbed out of of our truck, my eye was drawn to an upstairs window above the antique shop. At first glance, I thought I was looking at the tail of a white cat. A moment later, I realised it wasn't a cat at all.
It was an elderly woman. Grey-haired. Seated by the window. Her hands appeared busy with a bowl or perhaps a basket. She looked up. We made eye contact. She smiled warmly at me. I smiled back, thought nothing of it, and headed inside with Colin.
Once in the shop, we did what antique hunters do best and began gathering an alarming quantity of small treasures. At the cash desk we struck up a conversation with the store's proprietor, Donna MacGregor.
The chat soon wandered onto business. Donna told us she hosts an antiques-themed TV show, also called Antiques and Aspirations, that airs on Bell Fibe. Business, she said, had been good, and having the shop directly beneath her living quarters made life wonderfully convenient.
Naturally, I asked if the smiling grey-haired lady upstairs was her mother. Donna looked puzzled. "What lady?" she asked. "The lady upstairs," I countered. "I live there alone, said Donna."
Well. You can imagine where the conversation went from there.
Here's the thing: I know what I saw. I saw a smiling elderly woman with grey hair. It wasn't a trick of the light. It wasn't a reflection. I wasn't tired, distracted, emotional, intoxicated, or primed to see ghosts. If anything, I'm probably the least likely person you'll ever meet to come out with stories of apparitions and hauntings. From me you'll get no bu****it or idle chatter to sound 'interesting'. Sure, I enjoy a good yarn as much as anyone else, but this wasn't/isn't that.
I saw someone. I categorically saw a ghost. Which is rather inconvenient, because now I find myself re-evaluating everything. About absolutely everything...
Thoughts?
