Why would his ghost appear as a young child?
"I believe this is because Nathaniel's father died at sea when Nathaniel was just four years old," Lisa says. "He was given this tragic news by his grandmother in a very matter-of-fact manner (as the story is told). This incident apparently traumatized a very young Nathaniel. And this was when his mother moved him and his siblings from his birth house on Union Street across the Hawthorne lot to Herbert Street to her parent's home, were she claimed they could live more comfortably.
"Maybe Nathaniel's young spirit stays at the birth house waiting for his father's return from sea."
Another reason may be that Nathaniel always remained childlike, even as an adult. In the book Twenty Days with Julian & Little Bunny by Papa, it states how Nathaniel loved to play with his children, not like a father, but more like a child himself.
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www.Expedia.comPlaying hide and seek was a favorite game, and he would hide in the tree in the yard.
Still Searching
This particular game, Lisa suggests, may have pampered his inner belief that his father could just be hiding rather than dead. Is the spirit of that child still searching, trying to find where daddy could be hiding?
"I believe the child part of Nathaniel's mind stood still the moment he was given that traumatic news – and stayed still, causing Nathaniel to express childlike behavior until his death. When he passed over to the other side, he left behind that four-year-old spirit part of himself to forever search for daddy.
"The problem I have in proving the image in my photograph is of Nathaniel," Lisa admits, "is that I can find no portraits of Nathaniel as a child." We have only the portrait of his son Julian at around the same age, but it is reasonable to assume there would be a resemblance.
Extraordinary Sychronicity
As a postscript to this remarkable story, Lisa adds two bits of synchronicity that occurred as she was researching Hawthorne:
"When I was discussing my theory with my husband and my skeptical father, something strange happened," says Lisa. "The Green Bay/Carolina Football game was on. Just as I said I believe this is Nathaniel Hawthorne in my photo, a Green Bay football player walked off the field displaying the back of his Jersey with the name none other than Hawthorne!
"The next day, my husband came in my room with an envelope asking if I ordered something from a 'Hawthorne Village.' I quickly said, 'No! Why?' He handed me an envelope from a Hawthorne Village in Niles, Illinois (no relation to Nathaniel Hawthorne). It was a Christmas advertisement. What are the chances?"
What are the chances indeed. It's a strange coincidence surrounding what we believe to be a great ghost photograph.