“VISIONS AT THE HOUR OF DEATH” > Page 1, 2, 3

Uncle Charlie
I found the subject of deathbed visions oddly reassuring as my favorite uncle died this morning at 7:30 a.m. CST. He has been ill with terminal cancer for over two years now and we knew the end was near. My aunt said he knew it was time to go and asked his son-in-law to cut his hair and trim his beard last night, then asked to be bathed. My aunt sat with him all night. A few hours before he died he said, "Uncle Charley, you're here! I can't believe it!" He proceeded to talk to uncle Charley right up to the end, and told my aunt that Uncle Charley had come to help him over to the other side. His Uncle Charley was his favorite uncle, and is the only significant other in my uncle's life who has passed on. So I believe Uncle Charley did come to take Uncle Timmy to the other side, and it brings me great comfort. - Aleasha Z.

The Beautiful Garden
In 1974, I was in my grandfather's hospital room, holding his hand. He had had five heart attacks during a three-day period. He looked up at the ceiling and said, "Oh, look at those beautiful flowers!" I looked up. There was a bare light bulb. He then had another heart attack and the machine screamed. The nurses ran in. They revived him and put in a pace maker. He died about four days later. He wanted to go to the beautiful garden. – K.

Grandmother Reassures
In 1986 I was 7-1/2 months pregnant with my first child when I got a distressing phone call from my grandfather. My beloved grandmother in another state had had a heart attack. While the paramedics were able to get her heart started again, she had been too long without oxygen and was in a coma, where she remained.

Time passed and my child was born. We had been home from the hospital about two weeks when I was awakened from a sound sleep at about 5 a.m. one morning. I could hear my grandmother's voice calling my name, and in my semi-awake state I thought I was speaking to her on the phone. In retrospect, I realize that the communication was actually all inside my head, because I never spoke aloud, but we did communicate. And I did not see her, only heard her voice. At first I was just glad to hear from her, as always, and I excitedly "asked" her if she knew I had had my baby (she did). We sort of chatted about inconsequential things for a few seconds and then I realized I could not possibly be speaking on the phone to her. "But Grandma, you've been sick!" I exclaimed. She laughed her familiar chuckle and said, "Yeah, but not anymore, honey."

I got up a few hours later thinking what a strange dream I had had. Within 24 hours of this event, my grandmother died. When my mother called me to tell me she was gone, I didn't even have to be told. I said right away, "I know why you're calling, mom." It took me a couple of years to really think this event through and realize that something very special and very comforting had happened. While I miss my grandmother, I don't really mourn her because I feel like she's still around and part of my life, keeping an eye on my kids and me. I wish I could share that sense that we go on after death with people who are devastated by the loss of loved ones. - Anonymous

The Baby's Angels
My Mother was born in 1924 and her brother was born a few years before her. I don't know exactly the year. But when we was a little two-year-old baby, he caught scarlet fever and he was dying. His mother was rocking him on the front porch when suddenly he reached both his arms up, as if to be held by someone (there was no one there) and said, "Mama, the angles are here for me." At that moment he died in her arms. - Tim W.

"I'm Coming Home"
My mom, who was terminally ill with cancer, spent the last week of her life in the hospital. That week she would repeat, "I'm coming home. I'm coming home." While I sat with her she kept looking to my right side and began talking to her sister who had passed over the previous year. It was a normal conversation, just as we would have. She commented on how I've grown to look just like her (my mom), but that I looked tired. She also made a funny face and stuck out her tongue to what she said was her brother who had also passed two years before. Needless to say, I had a sense of relief to know that the "visions" of her family were giving her peace and allaying any fear she had of crossing over. - Kim M.

Next page > Lessons from Mother > Page 1, 2, 3 

Previous Features