Sunday, June 07, 2009

When someone we love dies...

When our people go to the other side, when they drop their body and become that beautiful essence of what we truly are made of, they have not left us, they have merely changed form, and so has our relationship with them. As we learn to have our new relationship, we find peace of mind. However, it’s not always an easy journey, and sharing with others can really help us feel that we’re not alone.

When my Spencer was seven years old, his grandma died while he was at school. When he came home that day, I took him to a quiet spot and I told him what had happened. He was very close to her. He stood there for a very long minute, his beautiful big green eyes looking off into the distance, and then he looked at right into my eyes and said, “Mom. Grandma is still here. There is nowhere to go. When people die, it’s like they have gone into the other room. We can’t see them or hear them, but they are still here, because there’s no where to go.” You can imagine how grateful I am that he said that to me, because twenty-two years later, he was killed in a car accident.

I welcome your comments and questions, and if you have had a reading with me, please feel free to share your story of how you connected with your loved ones on the other side. For me, after Spencer left, these stories brought me comfort, and mediumship was the only thing that I sought.

 

 The Death of a Child

After Spencer died, people would say things like, “Oh, he’s in a better place now.” Or “Don’t worry, he’ll be waiting there when you get there.” Or “He’s gone home to heaven”. Our friends and family mean well, but if they haven't had the experience, they don't know. And, in our culture, death has very much been kept in silence, because we fear what we don't understand.

When you are a parent, you want to know two things, first, where is my child, and then, is he or she okay. That’s it – it’s very simple. You don’t want to hear that he or she is in a better place, or that he has gone home, or that she is in Heaven. That’s not the deal. That’s not what you signed up for. Suddenly, you find yourself a member of a club that you don’t remember joining, but life has enrolled you, and there’s no way to negotiate your membership.

After Spencer died, I went to a compassionate friends meeting. There I was in a room full of people who had all lost children. There were probably 30-40 people in the room, sitting in metal folding chairs, in a large circle. It was an activity room at a local church. The couple running the group was young, and they had lost their baby four years prior. They still could not look at a picture of her, and they hadn’t changed her room. Here I was, two months after my son died, he was 29, at this meeting for the first time, and I brought a picture of him with me to show everyone.

After the evening was over, an older couple who had lost there son ten years before, and were there to support those of us who were newbie’s to the club, called me over to them. The woman looked at me and said, “You’re in shock my dear. And when you come out, you must remember one thing; you will either get better or you will become bitter, and that is a choice that you will make”.  Her words of wisdom, saved me many a time, because when I started to come out of shock, I was a total mess, a complete nightmare, and so was my new life.

Many of us use religion or our spiritual beliefs to avoid the real devastation of death; we use them as a crutch rather than for support. There is a great difference. My spiritual beliefs were great. I’d been meditating for twenty-five years when my son died. I’d been a spiritual advisor and counselor for as many years, and on occasion, a medium for those on the other side who wanted to speak to someone that was still in body.

About four months after Spencer died, one of my clients, Mary France – a lovely, and very strong French woman, called me. She instructed me that I had to get back to work immediately, that I had taken enough time off, and that if I didn’t get back to work, she was going to die. I agreed to see her, and certainly she was nowhere near death, but just trying to get me back into my life. I started seeing clients again, a few each week to begin. What was so odd was that suddenly, and I can’t remember from where, I had perhaps twenty new clients all at once, and when they came for their sessions, each one of them was accompanied by someone from the other side. I saw how I was being used, and when I wasn't working, I was trapped in a nightmare of a new reality that I couldn't grasp with my mind. Life had become erie and strange; even the familiar was unfamiliar and everything was surreal. I felt like I had been buried alive.

While reading this, if you remembered an experience you have had with someone on the other side, please click on "comments" and share your story with us. Believe me, these stories are what keep people going, and that is why I created this blog. I will post stories every day from my own experience and from the readings I have done with others, and what happened for them; some  of them are funny, all of them are heart wrenching, and each one keeps all of our loved ones alive in our lives here in this plane of existence - because remember what Spencer said, "There's no where to go". 

14 comments:

  1. When I was 24 I was getting ready for bed and I started to feel strange. I had this small gut feeling that something was wrong, but I didn't know what. It started out small and moved into to something that is hard for me to explain, but I was having major panic attacks and was crying uncontrollably b/c I felt in my heart that something terrible was happening. I called my father and he told me to throw myself in the shower and sit on the ground. I couldn't breathe everything felt out of control. This went on till about 6 am. I moved from the bed to the couch while pacing back and forth. Something had overcome me and I felt like I was going out of my mind. Around 6:30 am I had to get ready for work. I was exhausted, but still made the effort. I was so shaken up that I had a glass of water in my hand and when I walked from the bedroom to the kitchen It slipped through my fingers like a piece of ice and broke on the floor. As I bent down to pick it up my cell phone rang, it was my father. He told me that his mother (my grandmother) had passed away last night. When he told me the time it was the exact time I started feeling anxious. I fell to the floor and was devastated. She and I were very close an she was the third woman in my family that was a monumental center of strength in 2mths to have died. My cousin Judy called me and said she had a similar experience the night before, but something had told her it was our grandmother. When we had the funeral two days later I remember we were in the church and I was standing in the first pew with my parents. The pews directly behind us were empty for some reason. Just as the father lifted up the host A light shined through the stained glass and made the most peculiar and beautiful sight. It was unlike anything I had ever seen and just as I was marveling at this someone placed there hand on my shoulder and touched me. I turned around and no one was there. I knew it was her and it would be the last time she would touch me again. She was telling me it was ok and that she was in a better place. I don't know why she reached out to me, but I will never forget the experience and I know she is always with us.

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  2. I have had this experience every time someone I know or one of my relatives died. I believe that they connect with each and everyone of us as they are leaving, and we feel that. The emotions or feelings aren't always clear to us, but what we are experiencing is departure from this plane, as they leave their bodies. I'm not sure we realize just how connected we are, and it's these experiences that confirm it. I think it's our interpretations of what we're feeling that confuse us.

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  3. Your blog is wonderful. As I read it I felt that deep sense of searing pain that made me know that I still have some deep grief to release from my body. I miss my parents so much and, after their deaths, always felt that I had to hide in a closet to weep....way out of the sight of men.....it makes them so uncomfortable. Talk about stuffing emotions. I think I should have found someone to pay just to hold me and let me cry. That sense of life seeming surreal and feeling literally buried alive is one I relate to intensely. That feeling of suffocation is sooooooooo intense.

    (Nice pause. Good cry!)

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  4. Most of my experiences with my loved ones who have passed, most recently my father, and my 2 grandmothers, have been in my dreams. They usually will come to me in times of stress just to chat or offer a hug. My father left me his home and I live there now. I often can look at one of his belongings and here his voice, a previous conversation we may have had together. Sometimes when I'm just sitting watching TV, I feel his presence enter the room. I've also heard him call my name while in that state when youre on the verge of falling asleep. Once I was in the livingroom having a conversation with my boyfriend about my father all of a sudden out of nowhere a music box that was sitting on the piano about 10 feet from us just started playing a few notes. It was not open nor had anyone touched it in a very long time, it just started to play music for just a moment. It was an awesome confirmation that he was still with me.

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

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  6. Dear Sharon,

    I have not had any personal, first-hand experiences (that I am aware of, or of the sort described above) with loved ones who have passed. However, I do remember being at Spencer's memorial on the beach and seeing a dolphin jumping in the ocean and knowing that he was there.

    Love,
    Julie

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  7. Dear Sharon,

    I have not had any personal, first-hand experiences with loved ones who have passed (that I know of, or of the sort described above). However, I remember being at Spencer's memorial on the beach and seeing a dolphin jumping in the ocean near the shore and knowing that he was there.

    Love,
    Julie

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  8. A year or so after my best friend Cecelia had died in a car accident--- I asked her to let me know if she was still around--I needed a sign. The image of a light bulb came to me and I thought it was silly but that's what it was--just like Cecelia--giving me an image that could mean nothing. A few days later I got on the elevator in my builing and as the door closed the light bulb went out-- and I rode the six floors down in total darkness--it was a little scary-- as I walked away-- happy to be in the light again-- I smiled as I remembered the light bulb image. I chose to take it as Cecelia was still around and still had her sense of humor. Corrie.

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  9. What a great story!!! Thank you for sharing Corrie.

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  10. It must have been meant for me to find this blog. My grandma died Friday morning. That morning at around 2am, my stomach was hurting and it woke me up out of my sleep. I can't explain the pain but I just thought I ate or drank something bad the day prior. But I just couldn't go back to sleep. I felt something was wrong but I was not prepared when my phone rang at 320am and my mom was screaming and crying. I just knew would happened. My cousin who lives with my gma said he went to kitchen around 12 for something to drink and she was fine in bed but then around 3am that his girlfriend was coming from the bathroom and checked on my grandma and that she was laying a totally different way with her open but she was gone. I think I felt her leaving. Me and my grandma were extremely close and everyone said that I was her baby out of all her grands and even children. We are so much alike. This was by far my worse nightmare. I have been crying for days, sometimes tears of joy because I'm so blessed to have had her as my grandma and then also tears of just intense pain that i can't explain. I just miss Everything about her. I'm at her house now and I would do anything just to spend one more day with her, just to lay in bed with her watching law and order, just to drink orange with her at the crack of dawn, just to hear her laugh or feel her hugs. I knew we were close, but her leaving me, I know that we were connected on a level that doubt anybody will ever be able connect with me. I love her and I know she will help to guide me through the rest of my life, just like she has inspired me to be strong and kind and a diva:) all at the same time.

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  11. How I've missed this blog baffles me. Obviously, the timing is perfect. I so appreciate the words of all who have shared, and will share an experience when I find the words. - gratitude

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  12. I found this blog because I was searching for Spencer. I knew him at CFS. You know, just looking up people on Facebook that I used to know. I am so, so sorry for your loss. I was probably 14 years old (30 years ago) the last time I saw Spencer. I have thought of him over the years. He was always so gentle and kind. I had no idea he had such a talented and gifted Mom!
    Samantha Hartford Royster, shroyster@gmail.com

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