Did you get a "sign" that your loved one was OK?

[greenmansions]

An odd thing has happened a few times since my dad passed away. Before he went, I asked him to send me a sign that he was OK. The evening after he died, a pretty moth turned up flying around my living room. It was mid-November – not exactly moth season, and we had not had windows open for a couple of months. DH tried to shoo it out the door, but it did not want to be sent out. I had a weird feeling about it, so I told him to stop and let it be. It went and landed on a wall hanging my dad gave me. It stayed there a couple of days and left.

Then the day after we returned from our trip out of town for the funeral, the same kind of moth turned up in my kids’ bedroom (they share for now) and also stayed there a day or two, then flew to the kitchen and stayed there a day or so before disappearing.

Now today, my mom called me and said she had the same kind of moth at her house. The moth kept flying low over a rug that was my dad’s, then settled calmly on her arm and was sitting there for a long time. His birthday is this coming week. I have lived here for 10 years now and never seen moths in the house in winter time. It’s kind of a big one with brown and orangey markings on the wings.

It’s so odd. We all think it’s him somehow sending us a sign. Though he and I in particular were not the type to believe in that sort of thing, but my mom and sister always have been. Has anyone else experienced anything at all where you felt your loved one was with you like that?

[CariOfOz]

My mom passed away a year ago mid march, we knew her death was imminent but the night she died I had a dream that we were having coffee at the mall in the town I grew up in. We weren't talking much... and she sorta suddenly stood up and told me it was time to go, then she walked away. A couple of hours later I got woken up by the call that she had finally passed. She was in a lot of pain so I know that dream was her way of letting me know that she was ready and that it was ok.


This isn't exactly my story... but my adult son was in a catastrophic car accident last december, and his girlfriend was killed instantly. When I flew there and went to meet her mother at her home, I saw their christmas tree was half assembled & decorated with butterflies. Then she told me a touching story about an encounter with a butterfly at her daughters grave..how it hovered around one of the florals the whole time she was there. It was mid december and there had been a frost the few nights before this.. not exactly butterfly season. And the butterfly was yellow with burgundy..yellow was her daughters favorite colour, and she had recently dyed her hair a burgundy red. Coincidence? maybe... but it comforted her a great deal to see that butterfly flutter away, but I think that was her way of letting her mother know that it was ok.

[Monarchgrrl]

My brother was killed in Iraq last March. About two months afterward, his widow said that his son kept saying "Daddy stop! Stop, Daddy. Quit it!" while laughing. He was 18 months old at the time. She asked him why he was saying that and he insisted that Daddy was tickling his feet, which he hated and, of course, my brother would do to him often.

Then about 4 months ago, my dad contacted a well-respected medium. They had a long (recorded) conversation and we are completely convinced that she was talking to him, for way too many reasons to list here. My brother has since contacted her a few times (each time while she was in the shower! ) to have her call and tell my dad something. He is going to have another conversation/meeting with her on the angelversary of his death, March 10. (Quick example of the validity: On Valentine's Day my dad and step mom got "old time cowboy" pictures taken at the same place that me, my brother and my dad got them done a few years ago. The next day the medium called my dad and said that my brother contacted her and made her call and tell my dad that "he really wanted to be in that Valentine's picture, too." She then asked my dad what that meant.)

He has visited me twice in a dream. I used to think that dreams were just OUR way of coping with our imagination. But I now believe that he was contacting me.

The medium really helped us feel that he is ok and happy and will see us when it's our time. Of course, they all say that, but based on everything else she said, we believe it. And that's ok with us.

[orangefoot]

We felt that my dad was ok and happy that we were ok when dd stopped seeing him in her playhouse and we stopped seeing him (just out of sight almost) in the corner of our bedroom. We felt that he was staying with us to see that we were ok and when he felt that he didn't need to anymore he let himself go.

I met my dad in dreams too and we felt his prescence in and around the house even though we couldn't see him. He visited my mum too several times when she was with her osteopath who is also a reiki healer but I don't think she sensed him at their house so much.

[greenmansions]

Monarchgrrl, can you PM me the medium's information? Is she expensive? Money is tight right now with DH's pending layoff, but maybe in future we can contact her.

I'd love to hear more stories like these from anyone who wishes to post. It is very calming to me to hear them - I miss my dad so much and his passing is still very raw. Thank you everyone who has posted.

[splotchy1]

I lost both my father and best friend at different times. Both times, about 2-3 days later when I finally let the grief get to me, or when the reality really set in, or whatever you would call it- I had an experience that I had never had before. Both times, I was laying in my bed, and my entire body got an incredibly strong tingly feeling, like nothing I had ever experienced before. It was so strong that it was almost too much to experience....it made me want to shake it off. Like someon was actualy physically showing me their presence. But, I knew in an instant the first time that it was my father there to let me know that he was OK. It never happened again until my best friend died. It happened almost the exact same way..and with her, I have felt the same thing several times since she has passed. Although I don't see her or have anything other than an incredibly overwhelming experience, I just "know" it is her. I don't know why..I just do.

[AFWife]

When I was around 13 I lost a guy that I considered my older brother. (Long story for that background) He was shot and killed at 19. It was really hard on me.

Two different things happened.

I was outside and the word "Love" kept popping into my head. I finally said, "Okay, what about LOVE?" and looked up at the sky. There was a cloud in the shape of a key. I thought it was odd so I said, "Love is the key to...?" and it started raining. I love warm rains that come out of nowhere. I stood for a second and then said, "Love is the key to happiness?" and it stopped raining.

I was very distraught that I'd never said, "I love you" to this guy. He wasn't the "love you" type and it was just always understood that he loved us as his family. I prayed about it and always said that I wished I could see him one last time. One night I had a dream that had him in it. It was just a normal day kind of dream (I think we were at a party of some kind) When he left the house I suddenly thought that I'd never told him I loved him. I raced out of the house and ran up to him and said, "I never told you..." and he stopped me and said, "I know. I always knew. I love you too." That's when I woke up. It always seemed so real and it put me at peace in so many ways. When I spoke to my DH about it many years later he said that he believed that sometimes God can give us one last moment with our loved ones to help us be at peace with their deaths. It not only helped me to let go...but it solidified that he was in a good place and I'd get to see him again.

[GoGoGirl]

Before my grandfather died, my grandmother told him that he'd better not come back to haunt her, because it would scare her too much. The morning after he died, she woke up with her bedroom full of the smell of roses--her favorite flower. She said that she felt like it was my grandfather telling her it would all be ok, but without appearing and scaring her!

Another grandpa of mine died a few years ago. That night (I hadn't found out yet that he'd died), someone buzzed our apartment buzzer again and again. I didn't get up out of bed to check the door--I just had a feeling that it was my grandpa saying goodbye. My mom told me the next day that it happened right after he died.

[Monarchgrrl]

Originally Posted by greenmansions

Monarchgrrl, can you PM me the medium's information? Is she expensive? Money is tight right now with DH's pending layoff, but maybe in future we can contact her.

I'd love to hear more stories like these from anyone who wishes to post. It is very calming to me to hear them - I miss my dad so much and his passing is still very raw. Thank you everyone who has posted.

I PM'ed you.

[kblackstone444]

When I was a little girl, I always went to my Grandparents' home to watch the first snow of the winter with my Grandfather. I did this until I was 11 or 12, then I kinda "outgrew" it. That was more or less 20 years ago. Last October, my Grandpa passed away. His funeral was hard, but when I went up to say goodbye, I could have swarn I felt him smile. Hard to explain, but I FELT him smiling when I placed the forget-me-nots in his hands. Anyways, a little while later, the funeral was over and when I went outside, it was snowing the first snow of the season... and it was not supposed to snow at all that day. Okay, Grampa B, I get it, no worries.

Three years ago, my dog, Shayna passed away suddenly. I took it very hard. It took me nearly five months before I wasn't sad most of my day because of it. One afternoon, my family went to the library and everyone checked out books, and I found a book that I had to get for myself, in the children's section. It was about a little boy who's best friend, his dog, Daisy, died and he was very sad, but then she sent a puppy down from Heaven to take care of him and let him know that she's okay. On the way home in the car, I kinda pulled into myself and read the book in the front seat while my Hubby drove, and then, a song I'd never heard before came on the radio, One Sweet Day, by Mariah Carey. For those of you who've never heard it, some of the words in the song are, "I know you're shining down on me from Heaven" and "I know eventually we'll be togeher". A coincidence? Maybe, but it could just as easily be a sign for me to stop killing myself emotionally over the loss of my doggie. I felt very peaceful after.

[Ifluffedthree]

When my husband died -- he was alone. I knew something was wrong and pulled over the police at 5:50 in the morning.
We buried him. The next day, our dd at the time 15, our son 6 and myself each had a very vivid dream. In my dream he came to me was holding the 6 year old on his lap and told me he had a heart attack and was ok -- but he was not happy, he looked so sad to go. My daughter's dream he was met by him in the hallway, she followed him to the kitchen where he sat down and ate Pizza (a familiar routine for him). I don't know what the 6 year old dream included and the 4 year old was too young to under stand. But that same night our furnace went Cold. It ran, there were no problems as my friend and neighbor H/C company came right up and could not figure out what the problem was. Also we had light bulbs burn out -- CFL's -- different rooms. They came back on 4 days later along with the furnace that went cold several more times that season.
Bill's hard hat fell off the wall in the garage about the same time.

My friend is a medium -- she saw my husband about the time he crossed and described who greeted him. He was smiling and ok, as he stood next to his grandmother who had passed 18 months prior.

I have orbs in many pictures of monumental events that he would have normally been physically present for.
#1 Was the room my husband died in -- I took this in November while I was talking to him outloud and taking photos before the new tenant moved in. (who is intuitive and feels good about the home) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3480/...512278fc_m.jpg

#2 was my first event public after his death, only 16 weeks post. I was really upset he was not there with me and I cried all the way on the Turnpike telling him he better be with me --- this is what I got.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/...aa844709_m.jpg

#3 another similar event -- different hotel -- smack dab in the middle of the wall. There were 4 pictures takes -- only this one had an orb.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3111/...bf54402b_m.jpg

#4 is our dd high school graduation -- in the 42 million dollar auditorium my husbands Union Brick Crew Built. The orb is in the upper right corner above my head.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3304/...eccd257b_m.jpg
there is another one just minutes later in a different picture in a different part of the room and directly over my mil's head. I don't have the photo uploaded into my host right now.

I have more images with orbs too.

I wish I was open to not being scared of seeing, I think I could if I could let go of my fears.
I feel, sense, and have dreams as it stands now. They are very comforting feelings knowing my family stays sorta close.

[luv-my-boys]

yes, I believe we have had *signs* from our family that has passed on. It has in turn helped me deal with their loss and with my faith has healed my heart.

I love my FIL very much, I often said he reminded me of my grdfather (raised me as his daughter) who had passed yrs before. Well when my FIL passed away I was broken hearted, I felt in ways I had lost 2 fathers. One day, I had an especially hard night, Ds was sitting at our dining table bench. When I came up to him to give him his plate, he said " you cant sit there mommy" "grandpa is sitting there" I just stood there and then he followed it by saying "he loves you mommy, dont worry he's still taking care of us. dont be sad he see brother" My FIL had passed away the week after I had baby#2 he never got to *see* him. That statement hit me, that was a thought I had that I never said out loud and was at the root of my sadness. That he hadnt *seen* the baby. DH and I believe that our children have had moments with loved ones, some say its because of their innocence or pure heart. Im not sure what it is, or what to call it. But it does give me a sense of peace.

[MamaJenese]

Since my mother passed away every time my sisters and I are all together and outside we see a butterfly. Without fail. We could be at the windy beach or in a mall parking lot.

[AlwaysByMySide]

Yep!

After my daughter died, a photographer from Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep came out to the hospital to take photos of her with us. At one point, he had us look out over a hill, and the sun came down below the clouds, and I immediately had an incredibly strong feeling wash over me that she was okay. That she was in Heaven and she was okay. It was very profound, and stuck with me.

Fast forward to her funeral, and it was cloudy and drizzling that morning. I told someone that Chloe was going to make the sun come out. After the service, we walked out to her gravesite, and lo and behold, the sun came out from the clouds. It was UNreal.

A few weeks later, we got the photos from our NILMDTS photo shoot, and in the picture that the photographer took when I was having that feeling, there is a big round light around my back (I was the one holding her), kind of like the orbs mentioned by a previous poster, but much larger. (http://chloe-fontana.memory-of.com/U...4462500000.jpg) (Ignore the UAV that is in the picture with me.) In the photography world, that's a "bad picture". But it solidified exactly what I was feeling at that moment, and I feel it's definitely NOT a mistake that it ended up in the picture.

After my grandmother died, I read something that said that when you get the feeling that you need to look at a clock, and all of the numbers are the same (4:44, 11:11, etc.) that it's a loved one saying hello to you. I swear, 9 times out 10, since I read that, all of the numbers are the same, and I usually smile and say, "Hi Grandma." I feel like I say it ALL day...

What's interesting about that is that I used to call my grandmother, at least once, but usually 2 or 3 times a day. There are times now that my DD will say something funny, and I really want to be able to pick up the phone and call my Grandma so Taylor can say it to her over the phone. I'm thinking the clocks are her way of giving me a phone call.

[lelabeth]

In 2003 my mother died after a year's illness. It was a bitter experience watching her be sick, but I value having been there with her.

I remember the first night that we openly discussed that she was going to die. We lived in Atlanta, which is a tree rich city, and there were several large oaks in our yard. There had been a pair of owls hanging about and as we spoke, I could hear them calling one another back and forth from outside. As we spoke, I thought to myself that we were owls... how would we call out to one another, how would we speak, after she was gone?

Indeed, I was with her when she died. Her last words were "I wonder what the forms of communication will be...". (Her second to last words: "I guess it's time to tell you that you're all really extraterrestrials.")

About a week after her death, I was staying over with a friend in another part of the city. There were woods behind that house, too, and after we put the lights out I heard an owl begin to sing. It wasn't merely calling - it was singing its heart out, a melody rich and warm and complex, like nothing I've heard before or since.

I was filled with love, and I knew she was telling me she was okay. After a year of watching her suffer, I cried with joy.

My mother was a small woman with a great moon shaped head, so the owl was a fitting visitor. And her last name, Uhl, is German for owl.

[fishface]

My friend Morgan was in a car crash on Christmas Eve eve and died on Christmas Eve. It's been well-known among my friends that every night when I go to bed, I wish for a dream with her in it. I haven't had one yet. Last week, one of our friends did, and Morgan gave her a message for me:



As I was laying in bed that night completely exhausted I started drifting off. I was NOT awake, but I know I wasn't in a full sleep because I knew I was in a dream...

Morgan was there, but it was like she was alive, and was giving a message with a hidden meaning. She was like "You guys (you know how she always said it) You don't have to do this" and its all fuzzy now, but I think or at least felt like it meant you don't have to mourn this much. And then thats when I was like "***** really wants to have a dream about you" and she was like "Aww, Tell ***** it will be okay" and then that was it, it was like I blacked out or completley fell asleep or I dunno. But it was unlike any other dream. It felt so real, and it wasn't like she came as a ghost, it was like it was her. When I remembered my dream on my way to work I got all teary eyed.


I'm not a religious person at all but I know it was her and I know I'll have my dream someday.

[ChampagneBlossom]

Originally Posted by AlwaysByMySide

After my grandmother died, I read something that said that when you get the feeling that you need to look at a clock, and all of the numbers are the same (4:44, 11:11, etc.) that it's a loved one saying hello to you. I swear, 9 times out 10, since I read that, all of the numbers are the same, and I usually smile and say, "Hi Grandma." I feel like I say it ALL day...

That's creepy, my sister said that happened to her when she was told of my (our?) father's death.

I myself had a bit of a... I want to call it a trance. I can do this sometimes with living people, kind of like wordless communication. It was the same meditational trance bit. But I got my father, maybe an hour or so after he died. He looked young and he said that if he knew dying was so easy he wouldn't have been afraid of it after all. And that he had forgotten what it was like to not be tied to your body. (He had been very ill for a long time, and bed ridden and such.) My mother just told me recently that he had really wanted to see me before he died, that he was asking for me and didn't want to see anyone else. We had been pretty estranged for a long time before that, so I wasn't exactly "grieving" but I definitely felt better after my little half-vision/trance/whatever you want to call it. Later on at the funeral I found a picture of him looking young - like he had in my "trance" - I hadn't seen pictures of him young before, so it was like, whoa. Heh.

[BethSLP]

My freshman year of college, our close friend died suddenly at 18 years old. It was completely shocking to all of us. Also, because her mother is schizophenic and she was not speaking to her father at the time of her death, we were not privy to details on exactly what happened. From all our collective gatherings, it appeared she died of a well hidden eating disorder that caused her to go into a diabetic coma. There are rumors that she may have overdosed on her mother's medication as a suicide. I still don't believe that's the case. I know her mom found her in a comatose state. I also have heard rumors that because her mother is mentally ill, she did not act as urgently as she shoud have. Also, I know a few of our friends were disturbed when family friends of the deceased said she "killed herself" but I believe they could have been referring to the eating disorder not an intentional suicide...if that makes sense.

Regardless, you can probably imagine how hard it was as young kids just starting college and being best friends with her, yet being outsiders as far as her family was concerned.

After her wake, I came back to my dorm room terrified to close my eyes and nap because I kept having images of her body....which were not pleasant as 1. the undertaker did a less than stellar job and I could see wires in her cheeks. and 2. her mother had dressed her like a 7 yr old IMO. We had a lot of distress as her friends about how basically her whole funeral felt like a sham and did not represent who she really was. No one who really knew her was asked to speak at the funeral, etc. Just cheesy "prince of tides" type stories from a choir partner from highschool. that sort of stuff.

SO, I'm in my dorm room and feeling very scared. And I picked up a book by my Lama about his travels bringing Buddhism to the West. I just picked it up for some kind of comfort I guess. I randomly opened to a page and the first word on the page was her name! It said "Maya flew home today. Sharing me with so many was too much for her and she flew home to be with her son." I felt awash with relief and fell asleep.

After the funeral, I had a dream that night that all of us were hanging out in the middle of campus crying and hugging. We were all talking about what a crappy day it had been and how awful the funeral was. Then Maia said "Why was today crappy?" and we all kind of froze realizing she was there with us. We gently explained that she died and how much we would miss her. We all cried together and told stories about all the fun times we had together, etc. Basically like a big send off for her.

I actually don't think she intentionally killed herself. Because I think that exchange really happened on some level. Does that make sense? I think she didn't know she was dead and came in the dream. I felt a huge relief when we were able to come to that understanding and send her off in peace.

And I still don't know what happened to her. My best friend and I discuss it a lot and in some ways really want to know, but don't know if we will ever get closure.

Also, I attend my first Phowa course (a course on death and dying) 3 days afterward with my lama. It was planned months and months in advance. 3 days after death is highly auspicious in Buddhism. My lama kept her photograph next to him throughout the whole course and the 200+ attendees all did the practice helping her go on. In fact, I've done 4 Phowa courses, and the first three people I lost in my life were right before those courses. I started to wonder if I should stop doing Phowas! The second one, my great grandma died at the age of 100.5. So I experienced two extremes. an 18 yr old and a 100.5 yr old. Very different feelings of course. With my great grandma, it was emotional but felt very round and right. And the last night of the course, I poured a glass of wine for everyone at the course and we all toasted my great grandma and celebrated her life. It was awesome.
XOXO
B

[meemee]

i have lost a lot of family and pets and everytime i was either given a warning before hand or i experienced something afterwards. i too am afraid to see so tell them i dont want to see them.

with my gpa he came as a whiff of his favourite cigar smell, my favourite uncle and best friend as beautiful rainbow clear weather right when his funeral started, my brother in dreams.

the latest was my xstepmil. i was her fulltime caregiver. she was at home with hospice. and she showed me exactly how she would die and where i would be. which really helped me a lot when it actually happened coz i knew what was going on and was able to support my xfil and help him be there as it was too painful for him. she appeared later as this beautiful white dove flying at an altitude they dont usually fly. alone. the synchrococity of that part was a dove had laid two eggs near the window of my mil's bedroom while she was alive. she had had two miscarriages. and my mil was thrilled to see and know about them. even the neighbours were somehow inspired by teh dove trusting us so much and it was quite a wonder in the retirement complex.

my fil passed soon after and appeared in my dream laughing and joking and all 3 of us having a wonderful time that we used to many years ago.

since i have lost close ones since i was a teenager and they all come to say goodbye or give me warnings before hand or some reassure me afterwards, as more passed i was no longer curious to see if they were ok. it was more of a 'i miss you' feeling. and so i no longer question if they are well. so i always experience a dream where we are together or i get a feeling when i am doing something we all loved to do.

but its my dad who stays with me all the time. i associate feathers with him. whenever i am in a hard place - really scared, or upset or extremely fearful - i always somehow see a feather (in the most unlikely places like in a library) and the emotion subsides and i get the everything is going to be all right feeling.

[philomom]

A couple of months after my son was stillborn in ' 92 I had a vision. My grandmother had crossed the river Styx the wrong way in Charon's boat to pick up my baby. To receive him. And Charon said to my grandmother "that's about the prettiest baby I've ever seen". In this vision, my grandmother looked younger and tall and strong. My son beamed at her and the boat took them back to the other side. Charon drops them off at a meadow looking spot. The kind of place you'd want to romp and picnic.

At the time, my knowledge of Greek mythology was slim. I've since looked up the underworld myths and my vision seems to be accurate to the myths.

I've also considered myself an agnostic with pagan leanings. I've had a only a handful of "spiritual" moments in my life. This was one of them. I feel this vision was gift from my son to me.. a way of his spirit telling mine that he was okay.