By: Georgia Bowes
“Thank god for ghosts, otherwise my pop-pop would’ve gotten hit by a car.”
Ava’s grandfather has always told the most entertaining stories. Not just normal stories, though: ghost stories. He has the most interesting stories about his encounters with ghosts. Every time Ava and her family come together they get to hear these stories and ever since she was a kid, she believed them.
Years ago Ava’s grandfather, Joe Longo, told her a story that delivered chills. When he was just a young teen he was doing one of his favorite activities. Playing basketball on the street in his neighborhood in Philly. He shot the ball and it bounced right off the rim, rolling fast past him and into the middle of the street. Without thinking, he starts a jog up towards the ball. All of the sudden a car comes zooming towards him, revving their engine. There was no saving him and his life flashed before his eyes. The car got closer and he closed his eyes and covered his head by habit. Right before he knew it he was getting pushed with tons of force to the side of the road, leaving just his toes to get run over by the speeding car. Baffled and pained by what just happened, he looks around for who pushed him out of the way. He checks the ground thinking they must have gotten hit by the vehicle. Nobody is in sight around him, he immediately knows. It was a ghost that saved him, pushing him out of the way of the car.
“He still tells the story to this day with a tone of amazement,” Ava says.
Joe Longo seems to love telling his grandchildren and others this wonderful story about how he was saved by a ghost. Everyone knows it by heart and truly does believe it. He teaches a lesson about how everything happens for a reason. He wasn’t just saved by a ghost, he was given another chance to live and grow. This was a life-changing experience for Joe and it has held as his motivation to keep working hard and treating everyone with kindness and respect. He tries his best to pass it on to his grandchildren and teach them that everything happens for a reason and purpose.
Ava talks about how much this has affected her life and chooses to allow it to guide her through difficult times.
“Whenever I am going through tough times, I like to think back to this story and I am reminded of how everything happens for a reason.” She says.
With this wonderful story from her grandfather, she is able to maneuver easier through her hardships. She plans on telling the story to her children also and spreading it on to teach them all, the important lesson her grandfather, Joe Longo, taught her.
by 
