"Big Ed" is still there ~ Its all Good

~ Submitted by Kathy Mahar-Stephenson, September 19, 2013
 & Printed with permission by author ~

On Labor Day weekend, in 1981, Kathy writes, "My father-in-law, Edward Hawthorne, and our neighbor, George Bassler Sr., were murdered in our front yard. It's a long and tedious story, but suffice it to say that the murder was premeditated by a man who hated my neighbor. My father-in-law was in the wrong place at the wrong time...And we have lived with the horror of that night for 32 years."

Grave stone of George Bassler: 1931 - 1981, East Wells, Vermont

"You may remember that in September of 1981, my father-in-law and next door neighbor were murdered on my property in Wells where we were building a home. A few years later, my now ex-husband was working overnight out of town. I was alone in the house with two small children. The house is quite a ways out in the country. I had put the girls down for the night and was enjoying a good book on the sofa, sitting so that I could see their bedroom doorways from the living room. A motion in the hall way caught my eye. I looked and saw my father-in-law standing there, smiling at me. He was dressed as he always was, plaid shirt and green Dickie work pants. He nodded and proceeded to go into my youngest daughter's room. A wave of peace and calm came over me and I knew then and there that, no matter how much I hated being alone in that house at night, my children and I would always be safe. We had put the property up for sale immediately after the killings, but it took 6 years to sell. Current owners are friends of mine and they often see and hear things that they can not explain. I have told them that "Big Ed' is still there. It's all good."