Our guest author this week, Gail Sobotkin writes frequently on HubPages, and is known affectionately by her pen name of HappyBoomerNurse. Sometimes her friends even shorten it to "Boomer," and we still all know who's the subject of conversation! When Gail gets interested in a subject she jumps in, and her enthusiasm knows no bounds. |
Gail is known for her compassion and friendliness, obviously also for her fine writing.
I'm truly proud and pleased to introduce Gail, with her search for the truth about a topic that has been one of much debate through the ages.
“We are the heart of God and hold the energy of God within us.” ~ Anita Moorjani
In search of answers
What if it really was possible to communicate with them after death? Would that change our whole perspective of what death is? Would it lead us to the realization, or belief, that there is life after life? And if that’s true, would it change the way we go about our daily existence here on earth?
In search of answers to such questions, I recently attended a workshop at the Delaware Hospice Center titled, Hello From Heaven: Near Death Experiences & After Death Communication. It’s a topic I’ve pondered, and read about, for many years, and I knew Dr. Judith Pierson, the clinical psychologist giving the lecture, would give a riveting presentation that included a great hand-out with an extensive bibliography. Dr. Judy, as she’s affectionately called by the locals who love her, is a dynamic speaker and her workshops are always thought-provoking.
Sharing after death-communication experiences
The second part of Dr. Judy’s workshop focused on After Death Communication (ADC). Once again, we can learn a lot from people who share their experiences with us.
Bill & Judy Guggenheim, who wrote Hello from Heaven, did over 7 years of research and amassed more than 3,300 firsthand accounts of ADCs. According to the Guggenheims, the bereaved describe that during an ADC they: |
- Sense or feel the presence of their loved one.
- Hear their loved one’s voice or feel they get a verbal message from them.
- Feel the touch of their loved one.
- Smell a fragrance associated with their loved one.
- See their loved one.
- Have a vision that includes some kind of telepathic communication with their loved one.
- Have a twilight ADC that occurs just as they are falling asleep or waking up.
- Have a sleep state ADC that involves encountering their loved one while asleep. This is described as something more real and vivid than a dream.
- Have a telephone ADC in which they hear a loved one’s voice on the phone.
- Have an ADC involving physical phenomena, such as lights going on and off, light bulbs bursting, or doors opening and closing.
- Have a symbolic ADC that involves something in the physical realm that the bereaved experiences as a sign from their loved one, such as the appearance of a bird, butterfly or rainbow.
Sharing my own after-death communications
A few minutes after I learned that my dear friend, Mary, died I sensed her presence and heard this stanza of a William Wordsworth poem in my head:
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower,
We will grieve not; rather find strength in what remains behind.
Although that is one of my favorite poems, I had never discussed it with Mary, nor did I know it was going to be at her funeral until I saw that same verse on the back of her memorial card.
After Mary’s funeral loved ones gathered at her house and the lights kept going on and off. I remember joking that it must be Mary’s spirit with us, but now I believe it probably was an actual ADC.
The night my mother died, I had what I now recognize as a twilight ADC. I sensed mom’s presence at the foot of my bed and felt she was telepathically letting me know she was okay and was happy to be reunited with my father.
I take comfort in the ADCs I’ve had, especially now that I know many others have had similar communications with their deceased loved ones. My experiences are my personal Hello(s) from Heaven and I’m grateful for them.
Please feel free to share any ADC or NDE experiences you may have had in the comment section and let me know if your personal experience(s) changed your beliefs and attitudes about these kinds of events.