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Life After Death
Personal Testimonies
 

My Mom and my Grandfathers Passing

When I was 14, my Mom had a hysterectomy. Since she had worked in St. Vincents hospital for years, that's where she went.  She felt comfortable there. By weird synchronicity however, both of my paternal Grandparents ended up in the hospital at the same time...only it was different hospital than the one my Mom was in. They were in Doctors Hospital.

My Grandmother went to the hospital first and other than being very old and a bit senile I'm not exactly sure what was wrong with her. She did come home after a bit and she did die at home. She was weak and frail and I guess they originally admitted her to the hospital to beef her up. She did get very very thin towards the end.

My Grandfather went to the hospital because of a stroke. He went after my Grandmother if I recall correctly. In her senile state, my Grandmother drove my Grandfather absolutely NUTS at home. They were married well over 60 years together and loved each other very much but that kind of situation is very trying.

My Father was always the closest to his Mom and Dad and even though we're Catholic my Dad was actually what one would call Shamanistic. He was the second to the youngest of his parents children but he was the one that did just about EVERYTHING for them. He did the bills for my Grandparents. He was the one that went to the bank for them. He was the one that did the food shopping for them. He was the one that was there most often to visit too. My Dad was like that for many other people as well though. He was especially so for the others on his job. In fact, at work, many if not most of the other guys even called him: "DAD". To me he was DADDY....and he was of course my actual Father but to so many others he was a Father also...he was a Spiritual Father henceforth my calling him Shamanistic....

Well....as I was saying...my Mom and both Grandparents were in the hospital at the same time. It was VERY rough on my Dad. It was especially rough because of the fact that there were indeed two different hospitals involved. Our nightly routine was to visit my Mom and then go and visit my Grandparents. Even THAT wasn't so easy because my Grandmother had gotten so senile that she didn't know my Grandfather was in the hospital....and it was sad. They weren't even on the same floor. My Grandmother was in her state...and my Grandfather...he was in a coma....

Every night...my Dad and I (and sometimes my Brothers) went to visit them ALL. Our life was a blur of hospital visits. My Mom was having a tough time psychologically with the hysterectomy (as well as it being tough physically) and my Dad was so very concerned about my Grandfather and the fact that he was in the coma for so long.

The two hospitals...the one my Mom was in and the one my Grandparents were in...were very very different. In St. Vincents we had a whole bunch of people in there visiting night after night. The hospital my Grandparents were in visitors needed to get "passes" from a "door guard" and each family was only allowed 2.

That the poor door guard soon came to STRONGLY dislike my Family was frustrating at times and at others downright funny LOL...because coming from a large family like my Dad did...many of the other members of the family tried more than once to ~sneak~ their way in and past the door guard! LOL Little did we know then that later on, that very same man would be part of such an significant moment in time for us.

On the day of the happening...my Dad and I did just as we always did. We went to visit my Mom and then planned to go visit my Grandparents. The visit with my Mom went fine. She was starting to feel a tiny bit better and was due to come home in a few days and so she told us both to go to the other hospital. We kissed her goodbye and left for the other hospital. When we arrived there, my Dad told me to take a seat in the adjacent waiting room. I did just that and watched as he walked up to the door guard. I was already cringing and crabbing about it because if one of his brothers or sisters (my Aunts and Uncles) was there, that meant I couldn't go in with him and that I'd have to sit in the waiting room all by myself and wait to get a turn. Little did I know that none of that would end up meaning ANYTHING at all that day.

I watched as my Dad approached the door guard...and instead of him shaking his finger at my Dad or arguing with him (like he just about always did with members of our family LOL)...I saw him put his arm around my Dad. VERY STRANGE I thought. VERY STRANGE. I saw the mans lips moving as though he were privately saying something to my Dad. Then I saw my Dad lower his head. Next thing I know is that my Dad was walking over to me and told me to come with him because we were leaving. WHAT? I said. LEAVING? You're kidding! How come we're not going up to the rooms? "Grandpa passed on" he said quietly. He was quiet. He was controlled. He was profoundly sad. I was in a state of total shock and disbelief. How could that be true? I asked. How did he know??? He said that when he asked the door guard for the passes the door guard looked at him with surprise. He asked my Dad: "Didn't you get a call from the hospital a little while ago"? "No we didn't" my Dad said! "My wife is in St. Vincent's and so first my Daughter and I were there and then we were in transit". It was then that the door guard put his arm around my Dad and said: "I'm sorry to have to tell you this ...in this way....but your Dad passed away at 5:10 PM this evening."

We went to the car...went home....and then started to make the horrible calls his brothers and sisters. It was late and since my Mom was just starting to feel better we decided not to tell her that night. We'd wait until the morning. We were quiet..and busy...and sad....

Over at St. Vincent's Hospital....something completely different was going on. In those days they kept you in the hospital much longer than they do now. Both my Mom and the woman next to her had had hysterectomies and so they'd gotten close. They'd come to know each other well and even the two families had gotten close.

After my Dad and I left the hospital my Mom was in...she and her roommate Helen were talking. I don't know for how long they were talking but I do know what happened next. All of a sudden in the middle of a conversation, my Mom screamed...and started to cry uncontrollably. Helen buzzed for the nurse quickly because she didn't know what was happening. One by one a whole bunch of doctors and nurses rushed to my Mom's room to see what was going on. She was absolutely inconsolable. She was crying and saying that her "FATHER IN LAW had just passed on" and that she "had to go home". "What's wrong with her Family? Why did they call her to tell her this kind of thing over the phone?...one of the doctors said to Helen. "Nooooo You don't understand. NO ONE from her Family called. Her husband and daughter were here visiting earlier but then they left. Her Father In Law is in another hospital and that's where they went. They went to visit him"...Helen said. Meanwhile my Mother is still crying hysterically and trying as best she can to pack her stuff so that she could "go home"!

"So let me get this straight" one of the doctors said to Helen. "She was in the middle of a conversation with you Mrs. ____ and all of a sudden she started crying like this and saying that her Father-In-Law passed away????" Yessss Said Helen. That's exactly what happened. The doctor, seeing on my Mom's chart that she was Catholic, shook his head and called for a priest.

The priest came to the door as my Mom was holding on to her stomach and still trying to pack her things. He asked her what she was doing. She told him that her FATHER IN LAW had just passed away and that she was going HOME. He said to her: "I don't know why you're saying that but I've heard that your Father-In-Law is in another hospital. If I personally call that hospital and get verification for you that he's alright, will you PLEASE get back in your bed?" Call if you want... My Mom said...and gave him the name of the hospital as well as my Grandfather's name....BUT I KNOW WHAT I KNOW...and I'm going home!

The priest left to make the call, returning a very short while later. He returned, stood in the doorway of her room...and just lowered his head for a few seconds after which he said: I'm so sorry. I'm so very very sorry!

My Mom did stay that night. They gave her a tranquilizer I think...because she was in such an upset state...but she did come home the next day. How did she know what she knew? Even she doesn't know. SHE JUST SUDDENLY KNEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Betty

     When my friend Betty had a heart attack I arrived at the house just as they were taking her out in the ambulance. She looked so frail and near death. Her neighbor Mary and I went into the house to clean up after the EMT's. I decided to do the dishes so that when Dick came home the house would be neat. Betty had a praying hands figure on the window over the sink. As Mary and I did the dishes together a pretty white moth appeared on the praying hands. As soon as we saw it Mary and I both know that Betty had died. I cupped the little moth in my hands and took it to the door, Mary and I said a prayer and released the moth outside. We both know that the moth was Betty's spirit coming to say goodbye to us. When Dick came home he said that Betty had passed away.....something that we already knew.

This story was generously shared with me by my Friend Elfina.  Thank You!
Malachi's  Visit



Luckily I have never lost a family member *yet*.... I'm still pretty young :) but I have lost a good friend.... His dad and my mom use to work together, and we were pretty close in Jr high, he graduated early in high school so I didn't see much of him.

he died my junior year, it was close to thanksgiving, like the first week of December. he's been gone for almost 5 years now I think.... I don't remember the exact date. Malachi was one of those "good guys" was always nice to everyone no matter what... even the guys who picked on him.

anyways... he was basically like a brother to my husband (they lived next door to each other growing up... their parents still do) when we got married in May of last year, I was so totally worried about things and stressed out I wasn't sleeping well.

The Wednesday night before our wedding, I swear, Malachi was standing at the end of the bed I was sleeping in, and we had a pretty long conversation...... it was soooo real, I remember, my soon to be husband *at the time* rolling over while I was talking to Malachi. our conversation went from the wedding, to Chris (my husband) and I's relationship and how happy us being together made him, and how I had to tell his mom he was okay and she needed to be strong (he was an only child). and he walked out of the room like he was going right up the road to his house. it was weird!!!

BUT the clouds outside cleared that night, I was at peace w/ my grandma STILL sewing my dress together, and I had no worries about what my mother in law to be was adding.... It's something I can never forget, and I swear I felt him standing on the other side of my husband @ our wedding!!! :)

(LOL the line from the movie 6th sense always comes to mind... "I see dead people"...... but it wasn't cold!!!!!!)

Mij

***Posted with Permission.  Thank You Mij***

The Yellow Bird and the Picture
 
My father died June 2000. I loved that man with all my heart. He was very special to many people. His funeral was 2nd biggest Funeral I have ever been to.
 
When my father passed away, I was there. It was Monday. Something new had happened to me that day, that I had never experienced before. The morning of his death, I went outside and the sun was shining. We were all crying. There are 8 kids in my family and 4 of us were there with my mother.
 
I saw a yellow bird fly over right above in the sunlight. This was within Ten minutes after he died. For some reason it was so significant to me.
 
Friday morning was his funeral. Although I am a Christian I struggled to know where my father was. This feeling of "Death" of a close one was foreign to me and I kept wondering... "Where is he. Is he ok?" "Is he scared?"
 
When I got home after the funeral, there was a yellow feather on my door step. Honest to God!
 
Was that God? Was that my father? Was that Spirit? Coincidence - No Way!
 
I do not know. I do know this.... something put that there and that was a sign that he was ok.
 
My older sister told me later that my father used to sing a song to us when we were little about a yellow bird.
 
ALSO... a week after that, I was at my parent's place and my mom and I were going through my father's wallet. As I said before there are 8 kids in my family. 20 years prior we had taken a picture of us kids as a present to my parents. There were many of the wallet sizes out there and my Dad had a half picture of the wallet size of us 8 kids. It looked old and ripped in half. The kids in the picture that were left in is wallet was half. Those half were the kids that were there when he died.
 
Hospice told us that the dying choose who is there when they die even if they're in a comma. How do they do that?
 
How can that be? I have that picture now.
 

***Author: Dancer (Thank You for sharing your Story with me! *S*)

 

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