Story Weekend: Afterlife?
Story Weekend kicks off again with a light and whimsical topic–not! Okay, here is your challenge: tell us your afterlife story (or lack thereof) IN 100 WORDS OR LESS. Can you?
I just received my authors’ copies of the reissued Her Mother’s Shadow (Book 3 of the Keeper of the Light trilogy) and I’m in a prize- giving mood so one of you will be randomly selected to receive a copy prior to its mid October release date. I’ll pick a winner Monday at 10pm EST. Good luck!
If you’re new to Story Weekend, here’s how it works: I pick a theme and you share something from your life that relates to that theme, however you interpret it. Thanks to all of you who’ve been contributing. As always, there are a few “rules”:
▪ The story must be true
▪ Try to keep it under 100 words. Embrace the challenge! That’s about six or seven lines in the comment form. I want others to read your story, and most people tend to skip if it’s too long. I know how tough it is to “write tight” but I hope you’ll accept this as a challenge.
This did not happen to me, but was told to me by my grandmother whom I loved dearly and never doubted anything she said. She said that when her baby sister was born, her mother told my grandmother that the Lord spoke to her and said she had her but she couldn’t keep her. Mae died mysteriously at the age of 3. When my great grandfather (Mae’s father) was dying, he told the people in the room that Mae was sitting at the foot of the bed waiting to take him home. People do not make these kinds of stories up. My mom said some kind of presence saved her from drowning in an undertow–that she felt herself being pulled toward the shore and no one was there.
My after-life moment involves my deceased mom. For the record, I am now 54 years old, and I was 30 years old when my mom died. Since that time, I have continued to be affected by this significant loss. One night I dreamed of mom, but in this dream she actually spoke to me. She said, “Linda, I have to go now,” and I replied that I wasn’t ready for her to go, because I would miss her too much. To which she replied, “but, I’m ready.” At that moment I noticed my deceased grandmother standing silently just behind her in a doorway. They then both turned and walked through the open doorway, and I woke up. After this dream I feel like my mother wanted me to know that she’s always remained close by to watch over me, and once my life was better she felt she was ready to let go.
A friend of a friend was in near deadly a car accident. Immediately after the impact he was given the choice to return a quadriplegic or to die and be reborn so that he can master skills he hadn’t in this life. When he was resuscitated, he never complained about his impairment, because he made the choice. I believe when we die, we become spirits if we have lived a life of emotional (not material) giving or we are reincarnated to become better people.
(I already own the book, so if I win please give it to someone else)
In the four years since we lost our oldest son Chip, I have had a growing number of afterlife experiences involving him. I will write of my latest, which happened a few weeks ago.
I was driving on the narrow country road where Chip lost his life on May 12, 2008. It was being re-paved and I was the only person driving on it besides the paving tractor. I was keeping a safe distance behind it so as not to get a rock thrown on my car. The young man driving the tractor pulled toward the side of the road and turned around to wave me around him. When he looked at me, I thought I was seeing my son Chip! As I passed him, I slowed down to get a better look he looked right at me with a big grin on his face and waved to me! As I made my way down the road I wondered where the flagman to slow traffic was at. I should have known. The man with the SLOW sign was standing at the place where Chip’s soul had left for Heaven.
I’ve not had much experience with the after-life but I did had one strange thing happen to me that I can’t explain and will never forget. I was 19 and it was a normal day. I was standing on the sidewalk in front of my mom’s house, ALONE and waiting for someone when I heard someone (out of nowhere) *whisper* in my ear, “You will be the mother of 3 boys.” What?! Now, 22yrs later, I’m the mother of 3 boys.
For 35 years I have helped wonderful people inflicted with Alzheimers die with dignity. Sat by more bedsides, held more hands, held more weeping children than I care to count both during the illness and at its time of passing. One night on one of my units, the staff were waiting for their relief to come and a carer grabbed my arm in fear and pointed to one of the wards that was bathed in a soft light. There we saw a woman floating from bed to bed pulling up the covers over the shoulders of the residents in them. She was bathed in a white light, had long flowing hair and was dressed in a long nightgown. I knew her instantly. Pandamonium ensued until I called for calm and explained that she too had died here and had not crossed over yet. She came to care for those who could not care for themselves. She came to say goodbye. I felt honoured to be in her presence.
These stories give me chills…
I agree Diane..
My little girl was at her Grandma’s house as usual while I went to work (I think she was about 2 or 3 at the time) On my return this particular day my mother-in-law mentioned that she had left the room and returned to find my daughter in a full scale conversation with ‘no-one’. When she asked “who are you talking to?” she replied “Grandad”. Only thing is that her Grandad had died a couple of years before she was born yet she was talking directly at the chair where he always sat. Who knows, maybe he was just checking in on his wife and her little day-time companion?! We like to think so anyway.
I believe that our loved ones look after us after they are gone. I have one ghost that lives here, but that is another story. My Dad died the day before Thanksgiving in 2003. I always had Thanksgiving dinner at my home and decided to continue with those plans. He kept me company that day and helped me get through it. I talked and laughed with him all day long. Yes, I have been called crazy. We had just gotten our China cabinet when I asked him to show me a sign. The lights are controlled by a touch sensor on the hinge. That year the day before Thanksgiving, those lights came on and off all day long by themselves. I have tried shaking the cabinet and banging around close to the hinge to get the lights to come on. No.. The lights will do this until the bulbs burn out. I can feel him other ways, but this is the one way I know he is with me.
I have no after-life story but believe that somewhere there is a place where deceased gather and go to. I believe my dad, both grams and my grandpa are there looking down. They are looking after my cousin Brian who died far too young. It is a party, just like the ones we used to have years and years ago when I was a child – the New Year’s Party with speeches from my aunt and uncles and yes wine! My sil once said we would not meet in heaven because I wasn’t born again. To that my father laughed and said he would be in heaven with the italians and the catholics drinking wine and where family was all important. I will meet all these incredible relatives in that afterlife – I miss them but I believe I will see them all again in some form or another.
my stories aren’t as dramatic, but a couple of things have convinced me of Mother’s continuing presence in my life. The first was just over a few weeks after she died. She’d always wanted a grandchild she could spoil from birth. I was watching some adorable kids in church one day and found myself telling her how my decision not to have children was never as easy or casual a decision as it seemed. I heard her say, “I know”, not just in my head, but as clearly as anyone sitting next to me and with ore understanding than she’d shown about it when alive. Then last spring I dreamed that she walked in one day – a convoluted dream story of explanation, but her being dead was all a misunderstanding. I was overjoyed of course and I woke as we walked out the door to go tell my brother and sister. While she wasn’t saying just that, it told me she lives on and she’s always with us, though she might be busy with other things when we don’t need her as much. The day after that dream was wonderful, nothing could upset me or get me down.
I was 8 weeks pregnant when I had learned I miscarried. From the time I found out I was pregnant I thought I was having a boy. My husband’s cousin had died a few years prior. My mother in law called me and told me her niece’s friend had a dream that her niece was up in heaven taking good care of a little boy right after I had my miscarriage. Probably about a month later. It gave me chills to hear that story and it has been almost 3 years and I still get chills as I type this story.
Thank you all for sharing these touching stories. I used a random number generator to select a winner of Her Mother’s Shadow and the winner is Marie. Marie, I’ll be in touch by email. Congratulations!
Thank you so much xx