I don't know what happens when we die, but I'm 100% sure that we don't just turn to worm food. There is much more to us than just a body. The body, our vessel goes back to the earth, this we know. But the Spirit, ghost, energy whatever you want to think of it as…that must go somewhere.
My Mother is traditionally known as 'crazy' because she has always claimed to be able to see and talk to spirits, she strongly believes in angels and has out of body experiences. Her first was quite accidental.
She was exhausted from an illness and was lying on her bed at home, not quite sleeping because my brother who was a few months old was sitting besides her playing with his toys. When she felt herself leave her body, this terrified her as she thought she was dying. She rose above her body and could see herself on the bed. Her instinct although out of her body was to get help so she floated downstairs to alert my Nan, who was on the phone in the kitchen. My mum told me that she was trying to shout to alert my Nan but couldn't make a noise, she was right next to her trying to tap her when she became aware of the conversation my Nan was having on the phone. She was telling someone that she had cancer and that she wasn't going to do anything about it nor tell my mum because she was afraid of hospitals. If my mum hadn't overheard this conversation she wouldn't have had the chance to persuade my Nan to have treatment. My Nan made a full recovery but never believed my mum's story about her out of body experience; she reckons mum was listening at the door.
As a young teen I was present at one of my mums paranormal experiences, it was quite amazing. My mum and I were watching TV. one evening about 8ish when there was a knock at the door, we lived right by a bus stop and a lady who had been standing at the unsheltered bus stop for over ½ an hour knocked to ask if we knew the bus times, My mum told her to step inside as she was soaked through and explained that the last bus had already gone. The lady didn't come in as she didn't want to impose and instead said she would call a taxi. We had a phone box opposite the house and although mum offered her the use of our phone she politely refused and went to the phone box. As mum sat back down she said to me, I'm sure she was supposed to come in. I thought this an odd thing to say but she had had a couple of glasses of lager that night so I shrugged it off. A few minutes later the lady knocked again and asked if she could use the phone as the public one was out of order. This was enough to freak me out. Mum sent me for towels and a cup of tea for the lady who had to wait another ½ hour or so for her taxi. My mum began talking to the lady who wasn't from the area, she said to her 'is your name May?' at which the lady was shocked and looked uncomfortable. It was her name. My mum went on to ask if her dad had once had a small dog which May nodded to, 'I've got a message from your dad' she said, 'how did you know my dad?' May responded bewildered.
Don't be alarmed my mum said, he's sat beside you and he has his dog with him. At this my blood runs cold and I've got shivers down my spine. May stood bolt upright and headed to the front door telling my mum she's crazy. My mum says 'wait I need to tell you the message, please sit down'. The lady stepped back into the room but didn't sit down. The message is 'he's with your mother' 'don't be stupid' say's the lady,' they divorced when I was a child and anyway my father's dead'. It takes a few moments to sink in then May asked in a shaky voice to use the phone again. She phones her sister and her sister tells her the news that her mother has just died.
My Nan was a devout Catholic. She attended church religiously (excuse the pun) She lived by the bible, never gave credence to the paranormal and mocked my mother for her beliefs in ghosts etc.
In 1995 I went to stay with her for a month. It was a difficult time; she was receiving tests and feared she might have cancer again. During this time she told me of experiences that she had had which she wanted me to write down for her, she said it was to be for her autobiography but I think she was afraid she was going to die and wanted to share her paranormal experiences. Maybe she was preparing me, I'll never know, but what I do know is my Nan never told a lie in her life.
My Nan was born in 1918 and as a young child lived with her parents, 3 older sisters and 3 older brothers. They lived a couple of streets away from her grandparents.
The first experience she told me about was when she was about 7 yrs old. she had a vivid dream. In the dream she was running and playing in the woods with her brothers and sisters, they were all laughing and having a happy time. Then the theme of her dream changed and she was alone in the woods running to escape gun fire, she recalled ducking behind trees and jumping over logs, she remembers the dream clearly, she felt genuinely fearful, her heart racing. She felt a pain in her back and fell to the ground, at this she woke suddenly. She described herself as being soaked with sweat, her nightgown stuck to her back and she felt petrified, she recalls feeling her wet back and checking for blood as she thought maybe she'd been shot. She climbed over her sisters who she shared a bed with and went down stairs to tell her mother who was sat crying in her fathers arms. They had just received news that her Eldest brother had been shot and had died in battle.
The second experience she told me of again started as a dream she was about 9 years old, She and her sisters were skipping hand in hand across the marsh land where they used to play, they come to a large hole and her sisters skipped over the hole with no trouble but my Nan fell down the hole, she kept falling and falling until she woke with a start. She got out of bed without disturbing her sisters who lay beside her and went down stairs. Then she did an unusual thing, although it was the middle of night and everyone including her parents was asleep.
She walked out of the house and ran to her grandparents house where she found the lights on, she opened the door and went straight to her granddads bed, where there was a priest giving him his last rights. Her granddad took her hand in his and said 'I've been waiting for you Elsie', and mumbled something else inaudible before passing away.
The third experience she had was when she was a teenager, she was staying with her grandmothers because her father was ill and not expected to live for much longer. Again she woke in the night although she doesn't recall a dream as such she remembers a voice trying to rouse her. She instinctively went to her house and to the bed which was made up for her father in the front room. Her father was sat on the bed although he had been bed ridden and unable to get out of bed for some days before. He said to my Nan, 'put my boots on Elsie' My Nan tried to get him back into bed because he was very weak but he suddenly found a strength and fought against her he told her again to put his boots on because he was going out, my Nan complied knowing he'd be unable to stand or leave the bed. Once his boots were on he lay back on the bed, 'sing to me' he said and she did when she had finished his eyes were closed and he looked really peaceful. He pointed at the dresser and told my Nan to look at that big black bird, she looked and as she did he passed away.
My Nan never spoke of these experiences before the night she told me, although the dreams had frightened her as a child, the deaths hadn't, she had always believed that the people she loved were going to a better place. My Nan went on to work with terminal cancer patients and I'm sure she brought comfort to many.
Some years later, at 50. My Nan was living with my mum and her 2 sons, I wasn't yet around. She woke in the night to see a figure at the bottom of her bed, it was the image of a woman and she was surrounded in light, my Nan believes it was Mary (mother of Jesus). The figure told her to not be afraid as she was there to give her strength. My Nan went back to sleep, she awoke some hours later to my mother screaming in the next room, her 6mth old son had died of cot death in the night. Despite the horrific news my Nan felt only peace and was my mothers' strength over
The difficult years that followed.
After my brother died, understandably my mum had a complete breakdown. She was totally devastated, she felt responsible, was there something she could have done. She wanted answers. She went to see a priest and asked him quite reasonably why God took her baby. The priest told her that she was not a good Christian if she asked questions and that she should just have faith etc. She lost her will to live; She sent my other brother to stay at my Nans and planned to take her life. She had anti-depressants and copious amounts of alcohol. As she sat and cried, drinking herself into a stupor and taking the pills, she heard a familiar voice. She looked up and standing before her, not solid but clear as day was a young man.
A man she had known in her youth. He told her that her son was with him, that he would have had no quality of life on earth as he was severely disabled and that he is perfect now. The man who appeared to my mum was someone who had died in a motorcycle accident years before. She found peace in what he had said and the strength to continue with her life. A neighbour knocked on the door only moments later and took my mum to hospital where her stomach was pumped and her life saved.
These are my own experiences.
When I was 8 we moved house, at first I loved the house, I decorated my room as I liked it and settled in well. Soon after my 9th birthday I started having 'irrational' fears. I wouldn't go to the toilet alone and I would insist on having the light on in my room and would often get into my mums bed at night. I remember feeling cold at the top of the stairs and the hair on the back of my neck standing up if I even looked upstairs. I had to see a child psychologist because of these 'irrational' fears. My mum even swapped rooms with me, nothing helped. It got so that I was so worked up that I would wet myself. There had been a picture at the top of the stairs with faces on it, someone suggested to my mum that she should move it as it could be the cause of my anxiety; she replaced the picture with a large mirror. One day I was walking past the stairwell and I froze, I felt cold and again the hairs stood up on my neck. I told myself that I was being silly as so many adults had told me over the past 6 months and I forced my head round to look up the stairs and face my fear, my body still frozen rigid. As I looked up I saw a girl about my age in the mirror, dressed in white, long blond hair, suddenly I felt ok, I wasn't afraid anymore. She didn't speak but oddly I knew her as Helen. I told my mum about her and she did some investigating. A girl had died on the road where my house was built before there were houses there. She was 9 when she died and her name was Helen seaborne. My mum called a priest to bless the house and she left. We later discovered that the people who lived there before moved because there 9 year old son was experiencing similar problems and claimed there was a ghost in his room. I believe her spirit was stuck and she just needed help crossing over.
In 1999 I was working in an elderly people's residential home. I had finished a late shift at 10 pm and was due back at 6am, it was a difficult time for me as one of the residents I was close to, jack, was quite ill and I was struggling to get to sleep for worrying about him. I must have fallen asleep eventually as my husband woke me up at 4am. I had awoken him by crying and shaking in my sleep, I was sweating and my nightclothes were soaked through. I don't recall having a bad dream but I instinctively wanted to go to work, My husband told me I was being stupid, I kept repeating I'm needed at work. My husband convinced me to wait until morning and I lay awake watching the clock. When I got to work it was confirmed that Jack had died, just after 4am that morning.
In November 2003 I woke in the night because I'd had an odd dream about my Nan who although I'd been close to as a child I hadn't seen since 2000. I spent the rest of the night worrying and called her first thing in the morning, My cousin answered her phone and told me she had been taken into hospital but it was nothing serious just an ear infection that had upset her balance. I wasn't satisfied and so the next day I got a train to Bristol from Kent with my youngest child (who she'd never met). We spent a few days with her and although she was confused a lot of the time, some times she spoke a lot of sense. She fussed over my son who was 2 and she told me to mend my relationship with my mother who I'd not spoken to for 2 years. While I was there we discovered she had a brain tumour but we were assured it was slow growing and that she could live for years more.
In January 2004 I was staying at friends in Essex, although at that time I didn't go to church and had very little faith in religion I was compelled to go along to their local church with them. I was deeply touched by the worship that morning and left the church in tears. 'I need to see my Nan again', I said to my partner before we'd even left the car park of the church. 'Well we'll arrange it for Easter' he replied. I accepted this as we couldn't afford to go any sooner and called her to let her know. My aunty answered her phone and she sounded distressed, she told me my Nan had taken a turn for the worse and my mum had travelled down from Manchester that morning. We drove straight to Bristol that day. I got to my Nans late so I gave my mum a big hug and a kiss and told her I loved her and was there for her. We put all our issues behind us that night and we've been friends ever since. The next day I spent some time with my Nan, (although she was heavily sedated on morphine) before driving home to Kent. Soon after getting home our lounge door opened and closed as though someone entered the room. My partner said 'do you feel cold?' and I replied 'I think my Nan just died' we hugged until the phone rang and he answered it because I was already crying. She came to say goodbye. I'm glad she met my son and I made up with my mum before she went.
The days leading up to my Nan dying, she was heavily sedated on morphine and although she felt no pain was unable to speak or communicate, My mum sat by her side holding her hand as her breathing got shallower and shallower. A few moments before she left this world, she opened her eyes and turned her head towards my mum. My mum said 'I love you mum, you can go now' and my Nan said quietly 'stop watching me' then she passed away peacefully.
Everyone has to come to their own conclusions about life after death but on the evidence I've had. I believe, thank you for reading my first review. Please leave a comment.
My paranormal family 
Excellent review. Very interesting and I'm so sorry to hear about your losses