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Speaker 1: And you're here.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for choosing the iHeartRadio and Coast to Ghost Day

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Speaker 2: and Paranormal Podcast Network. Your quest for podcasts of the paranormal, supernatural,

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Speaker 2: and the unexplained ends here. We invite you to enjoy

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Speaker 2: all our shows we have on this network, and right now,

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Speaker 2: let's start with Chase of the Afterlife with Santra Shaanaplay.

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Speaker 3: Welcome to our podcast. Please be aware the thoughts and

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Speaker 3: opinions expressed by the host are their thoughts and opinions

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Speaker 3: only and do not reflect those of iHeartMedia, iHeartRadio, Coast

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Speaker 3: to cost Am, employees of Premiere Networks, or their sponsors

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Speaker 3: and associates. We would like to encourage you to do

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Speaker 3: your own research and discover the subject matter for yourself. Hi.

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Speaker 3: I'm Sandra Champlain. For over twenty five years, I've been

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Speaker 3: on a journey to prove the existence of life after death.

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Speaker 3: On each episode, we'll discuss the reasons we now know

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Speaker 3: that our loved ones have survived physical death and so

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Speaker 3: whoill we welcome to Shades of the Afterlife. Thank you

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Speaker 3: to all that have written to me and emailed me

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Speaker 3: your stories and your journeys. I'm thrilled to be such

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Speaker 3: a part of your life, and I'm hoping this is

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Speaker 3: true for you, but many say that they've stopped being

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Speaker 3: afraid to talk about your interest in the afterlife and

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Speaker 3: are freely talking to friends and family about it. Also,

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Speaker 3: we've had some extraordinary listeners that have been inspired to

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Speaker 3: make a difference. Several of you are now volunteering at hospice.

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Speaker 3: This week, I heard from listener Allison, who has begun

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Speaker 3: her journey to become an IADC therapist, studying under Graham Maxi,

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Speaker 3: who you'll remember from episode sixty six. IADC stands for

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Speaker 3: induced after death Communication, and congratulations to listener Marilyn, she

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Speaker 3: has begun her training as a so to find grief

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Speaker 3: therapist with David Kessler. I had an AHA moment when

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Speaker 3: I heard from Marylyn, because not only is David Kessler

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Speaker 3: one of the best sources of grief information and support

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Speaker 3: at his website grief dot com, He's written a book

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Speaker 3: on the afterlife. David's extraordinary and he's had experiences with

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Speaker 3: thousands of people on the edge of death, and all

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Speaker 3: of this has taught him about grief and secrets to

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Speaker 3: living a fulfilled life even through our tragedies. He's written

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Speaker 3: many books and co authored several as well, including on

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Speaker 3: Grief and Grieving with Elizabeth Koobler Ross. Today, i'd like

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Speaker 3: to give you a taste of his book, which is

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Speaker 3: called Visions, Trips and Crowded Rooms. Who and What You

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Speaker 3: See Before You Die. As you may know about my history,

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Speaker 3: it was my fear of dying that first led me

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Speaker 3: on my journey for evidence of the afterlife. I'd like

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Speaker 3: to begin with you hearing some words directly from David

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Speaker 3: Kessler about how he began on his journey.

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Speaker 4: All of us sometimes begin in our work personally before

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Speaker 4: we begin professionally. And I was one of those kids

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Speaker 4: growing up that was practically raised in hospitals because I

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Speaker 4: had a mother who only had one kidney when I

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Speaker 4: was born, she was always being admitted in discharged, and

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Speaker 4: so I was always hanging out at vending machines and

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Speaker 4: new hospitals. And when she passed away, I was twelve

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Speaker 4: years old. She was in a hospital where the visiting

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Speaker 4: age was fourteen. So she died alone in an intensive

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Speaker 4: care unit without us being able to see her or

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Speaker 4: family around. And at that young age, I knew as

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Speaker 4: tough as death can be in losing a loved one,

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Speaker 4: we have to have a better experience of it here.

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Speaker 4: So I think that was really my motivation to sort

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Speaker 4: of end up growing up and be someone who realizes,

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Speaker 4: you know, you can't take away that pain of loss

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Speaker 4: from people, but I'd like to make it a little

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Speaker 4: more meaningful and help people. So I think that is

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Speaker 4: where I personally came from and doing this work all

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Speaker 4: these years. Kubler Ross used to tell me about people

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Speaker 4: having deathbed visions, and you know, I was still on

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Speaker 4: the younger side and trying to build credibility and wanted

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Speaker 4: to be taken seriously, and here I was with the

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Speaker 4: Elizabeth Koubler Ross. She would tell me how people are

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Speaker 4: and I was like, oh, I don't even want to

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Speaker 4: know about that. And it was interesting kind of as

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Speaker 4: I've matured, I would see more and more healthcare professionals,

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Speaker 4: more and more families saying that their loved ones would

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Speaker 4: begin as they were dying, the last few weeks of dying,

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Speaker 4: even the last few days and hours would begin to

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Speaker 4: be greeted by the dead, that that veil between life

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Speaker 4: and death would seem to drop, and their loved ones

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Speaker 4: who are dying all of a sudden would have a

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Speaker 4: vision of their person who had predeceased them coming. They

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Speaker 4: also would start talking about going on trips and and

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Speaker 4: the original word for hospice means your final resting place

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Speaker 4: before you take your long journey. And they would also

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Speaker 4: talk about there's crowds of people in their room and

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Speaker 4: they wonder who these were. And it was interesting as

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Speaker 4: I started becoming more and more on the circuit for

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Speaker 4: the different conferences. I would go to all these national

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Speaker 4: sort of end of life and hospice conferences, and I

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Speaker 4: always found it interesting being with people from Harvard and

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Speaker 4: Yale and places like that who were very serious about

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Speaker 4: the topic. We'd all go to dinner and after a

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Speaker 4: few drinks and everyone what everyone really wanted to talk

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Speaker 4: about was how their patients were having deathbed visions. And

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Speaker 4: I eventually thought, I finally feel like I'm mature enough

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Speaker 4: and have the courage to write about this. What we

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Speaker 4: see is we see that patients as they are going

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Speaker 4: into their final days and hours will often have a

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Speaker 4: visitation from the dead. The number one person who usually

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Speaker 4: comes is our mother. No surprise there that the woman

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Speaker 4: who was there in those moments. We took our first

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Speaker 4: breath would once again be there as we took our

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Speaker 4: last breath, we will reach our hands upward as we

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Speaker 4: go into those last weeks, days, and hours. People see

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Speaker 4: this vision, usually in the corner of the room. They

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Speaker 4: will also see angels. So these are a number of phenomenons.

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Speaker 4: As I would talk to family members, they would say

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Speaker 4: to me, it's so sad. Our grandpa was such a

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Speaker 4: smart man, but you know, he went crazy at the

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Speaker 4: end of his life. He thought he was seeing the dead.

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Speaker 4: And that's another reason why I felt like we really

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Speaker 4: owe it to people to start the conversation about what

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Speaker 4: really happens at the end of life, so that people

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Speaker 4: think and know when their loved ones begin to see

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Speaker 4: the dead appear, that your grandfather isn't going crazy, He's

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Speaker 4: experiencing something quite normal. And every lecture that I do,

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Speaker 4: I ask health care professionals to raise their hands if

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Speaker 4: they've had a patient who's had a deathbed experience of

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Speaker 4: every lecture, and sometimes I'm even at other people's lectures,

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Speaker 4: and I asked the question, it's remarkable how common this

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Speaker 4: is and yet not talked about. It was interesting that

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Speaker 4: Oprah dot com asked me to write an article about

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Speaker 4: this and CNN asked me to write an article and

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Speaker 4: they had over a thousand pages of responses from people

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Speaker 4: of stories of loved ones doing this and having this experience.

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Speaker 4: And you know, it's interesting. From the critics, they will

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Speaker 4: kind of say, why did you choose to write about this?

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Speaker 4: How do we know it's true? And my response is, look,

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Speaker 4: if people who were dying started seeing pink rabbits, I'd

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Speaker 4: be questioning why is everyone seeing pink rabbits. The reality,

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Speaker 4: whether we like it or not, is the dying do

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Speaker 4: see the dead. And I want to report on that.

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Speaker 4: And it's interesting. In the book, I have interviews. I

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Speaker 4: made sure it was strictly healthcare providers, doctors, nurses, clergy, priests, rabbis,

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Speaker 4: social workers, psychiatrists to really give their healthcare on what

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Speaker 4: they've been seeing in the last weeks and days of life.

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Speaker 3: Now, not everyone knows the deceased person that's coming to

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Speaker 3: greet them. Here's a story.

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Speaker 4: There were interviews of people who were greeted by this

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Speaker 4: gentleman who said he was there to take care of him.

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Speaker 4: And let's say his name was Brian. Everyone was like,

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Speaker 4: who's Brian that they're talking to? And the person would

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Speaker 4: pass and Brian would seem to have been there, and

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Speaker 4: then all of a sudden, the mother comes out and says, oh, well,

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Speaker 4: I never told anyone, but he was adopted or whatever.

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Speaker 4: In his biological father was Brian. So there's times people

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Speaker 4: meet people they don't even know who they are. It's

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Speaker 4: not oxygen deprivation. We would get stories from people who

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Speaker 4: were three weeks out from death, who didn't have any

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Speaker 4: oxygen issues at that point, who were oxygenating, well, there

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Speaker 4: was no way to explain them. We hear that it's

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Speaker 4: a side effect of the drugs, the morphine, etc. We

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Speaker 4: have people who were on any pain medication that weren't

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Speaker 4: on medications at all and have them. We hear it's

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Speaker 4: the mind deteriorating. When I looked into that, you think

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Speaker 4: about there are millions, if not billions, of ways for

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Speaker 4: us to live and to die. Everyone dies so uniquely.

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Speaker 4: Why would everyone have the same visions? Because the brain

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Speaker 4: can disintegrate in a million different ways. How in everyone

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Speaker 4: who has these visions could it disintegrate in exactly the

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Speaker 4: same way causing the exact same vision. It's interesting. The

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Speaker 4: one thing that I sort of will get a bit

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Speaker 4: criticized in letters about and people will say, gosh, you know,

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Speaker 4: it just seems like you kind of made your stories

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Speaker 4: all alike. And I respond with no, believe me as

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Speaker 4: an author. If I was writing this and I could

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Speaker 4: just make up stories, I would have made them all different.

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Speaker 4: But that is what we see, and people see it

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Speaker 4: in so many different cultures. For folks that may be

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Speaker 4: interesting who had a chance to see Hereafter Clint Eastwood's

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Speaker 4: movie with Matt Damon, I worked on part of that movie,

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Speaker 4: and it's interesting that my counterpart in the movie says

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Speaker 4: the exact same thing that you know she talks about.

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Speaker 4: The stories from the dying are just remarkably similar that

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Speaker 4: there's no other way to explain this similarity across cultures.

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Speaker 4: Interestingly enough, the dying will often talk about that sense

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Speaker 4: that they have to get ready, they have to get prepared,

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Speaker 4: they need to get their tickets or their passport or

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Speaker 4: something like that, or they just have a sense that

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Speaker 4: they can't seem to articulate to people about they have

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Speaker 4: to prepare and get ready for a journey. I was

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Speaker 4: so curious to see what kind of stories we would get.

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Speaker 4: Interestingly enough, it seems like people see loved ones greeting

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Speaker 4: them that they are comforted by, and you may get

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Speaker 4: someone that you don't know, but no one came along

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Speaker 4: with someone that the person fears, And nothing about the

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Speaker 4: devil or hell or any of those things came along either.

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Speaker 4: And I quite frankly, was surprised because I really expected

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Speaker 4: that there were stories of patients who were expecting hell

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Speaker 4: or expecting to see a husband greeting them who had

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Speaker 4: abused them and they didn't want to see him. But

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Speaker 4: surprisingly that did not happen.

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Speaker 3: So now you've got a little taste of what David

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Speaker 3: Kessler sounds like and his passion behind it, and that

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Speaker 3: no one dies alone. Were often greeted by mom. Well,

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Speaker 3: most people are. There's no scary stuff when we die,

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Speaker 3: nobody from our past that has heard us or anything

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Speaker 3: like that. For me, hearing these stories is one of

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Speaker 3: the very top reasons I believe in the afterlife. I

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Speaker 3: never get sick of hearing them. You've heard me talk

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Speaker 3: about Christopher Kerr and his book Death Is But a Dream.

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Speaker 3: He's the hospice doctor who interviewed over sixteen hundred patients.

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Speaker 3: I love this stuff, and I hope you do too.

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Speaker 3: What we'll do in the next segment is we'll start

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Speaker 3: reading from the book called Visions, Trips and Crowded Rooms.

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Speaker 3: Who and What you See before you Die. This book

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Speaker 3: is one hundred and ninety six pages long and it

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Speaker 3: is packed with stories from healthcare professionals. I'm hoping you

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Speaker 3: do as I did and get yourself a copy of

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Speaker 3: the book. You can find everything out about David Kessler,

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Speaker 3: especially his wonderful grief support and tools at grief dot com.

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Speaker 3: Very easy to remember. You can also find this book

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Speaker 3: in all of the others as well. It's time for

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Speaker 3: us to go into our first break and buckle your seatbelt.

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Speaker 3: There might just be some stories that give you goose bumps.

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Speaker 3: We'll be right back. You're listening to Shades of the Afterlife.

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Speaker 3: Welcome back to Shades of the Afterlife. I'm Sandra Champlain.

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Speaker 3: In the beginning of the book Visions, Trips and Crowded

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Speaker 3: Rooms by author David Kessler, He's got a note to

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Speaker 3: the reader. He says, this book is the result of

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Speaker 3: personal experiences of healthcare professionals and clergy members, as well

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Speaker 3: as those who have lost loved ones. The contributors have

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Speaker 3: not received any pay or recognition. Rather, they have shared

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Speaker 3: their stories in the hope that readers will come away

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Speaker 3: less afraid and with a deeper understanding about what happens

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Speaker 3: in our final moments of life. These first hand accounts

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Speaker 3: suggest that deathbed visions are normal and actually common, and

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Speaker 3: they were called from believers and skeptics alike. With no agenda,

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Speaker 3: This book is simply a report from the front lines,

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Speaker 3: featuring stories of average people, in their own words, experiencing

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Speaker 3: extraordinary events. David Kessler says his book is about hope,

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Speaker 3: and these are a few of his words. Although I

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Speaker 3: lost my mother too soon, my father remained an incredible

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Speaker 3: optimist his whole life, even when he was dying. I

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Speaker 3: was busy trying to make sure he was comfortable and

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Speaker 3: pain free, and at first didn't notice that he had

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Speaker 3: become very sad. He told me how much he was

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Speaker 3: going to miss me once he was gone, and then

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Speaker 3: he mentioned how much he was saying goodbye to his

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Speaker 3: loved ones, his favorite foods, the sky, the outdoors and

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Speaker 3: a million other things of this world. He was overcome

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Speaker 3: by sadness I could not and would not take away

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Speaker 3: from him. My father was very down for the next

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Speaker 3: few days, but then one morning he told me that

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Speaker 3: my mother, his wife, had come to him the night before.

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Speaker 3: I was looking at all. I was losing, and I'd

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Speaker 3: forgotten that I was going to be with her again,

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Speaker 3: and that I'm going to see her soon, he said.

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Speaker 3: He looked at me as if he realized I would

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Speaker 3: still remain here. Then he added, We'll be there waiting

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Speaker 3: for you. Over the next two days, his demeanor changed dramatically.

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Speaker 3: He had gone from a hopeless, dying man with only

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Speaker 3: death in front of him, to a hopeful man who

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Speaker 3: was going to be reunited with the love of his life.

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Speaker 3: My father lived with hope and also died with it.

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Speaker 3: Beautiful words. Our first story is by Heather. She says,

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Speaker 3: I've worked in the medical field for years as a nurse.

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Speaker 3: I try to know the ins and outs of the

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Speaker 3: healthcare system. But nothing challenges a person as much as

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Speaker 3: when his or her own family members become ill. My mother, Mabel,

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Speaker 3: and I were out on a Saturday afternoon. By the

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Speaker 3: time we'd finished our errands and had driven back to

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Speaker 3: my parents' house. It was nightfall. We were both surprised

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Speaker 3: by the sudden darkness, and then remembered we had just

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Speaker 3: turned the clocks back the night before. As I brought

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Speaker 3: in a grocery bag, I called out for my dad

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Speaker 3: Joseph to hold the door open, but there was no response.

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Speaker 3: My mother and I looked at each other, wondering what

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Speaker 3: was up. I started to put away the food while

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Speaker 3: Mom went to look for Dad, whom she was sure

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Speaker 3: must have been napping in front of the TV. She

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Speaker 3: found the TV on, but no Joseph. She checked all

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Speaker 3: the rooms and both the back and front yards, but

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Speaker 3: he was nowhere to be found. Mom called a few

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Speaker 3: neighbors who hadn't seen him. After an hour, we were

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Speaker 3: both pretty panicked. At the age of eighty five, my

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Speaker 3: father had stopped driving due to his failing eyesight, and

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Speaker 3: we were afraid that he had attempted to drive. Although

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Speaker 3: we were quickly relieved to see that the car was

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Speaker 3: still in the garage, we couldn't imagine where he had

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Speaker 3: gone or why. Our concern deepened when we saw his

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Speaker 3: wallet sitting on the dresser. Mother called the police and

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Speaker 3: I drove around the neighborhood searching. Four frantic hours later,

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Speaker 3: we got a call that an officer had found my

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Speaker 3: father across town and that he seemed confused and wasn't

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Speaker 3: sure where he was. The next few days were filled

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Speaker 3: with doctor's appointments to confirm what we suspected Dad had Alzheimer's.

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Speaker 3: My mom, of course, had realized that her husband was

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Speaker 3: getting older, but when she noticed the odd little things

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Speaker 3: he did, she'd say, no, one in their eighties is

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Speaker 3: a rocket scientist. Even so, she never expected him to

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Speaker 3: wander away and forget where he lived. After the diagnosis,

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Speaker 3: we found ways to make sure that he was never alone,

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Speaker 3: and even replace the locks so that you needed keys

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Speaker 3: to get in and out of the house when we

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Speaker 3: were sleeping. Family and friends also pitched in during the

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Speaker 3: day if my mom had to go out or if

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Speaker 3: I was working. If things weren't already hard enough, my

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Speaker 3: mother began to have stomach problems and was feeling very fatigued.

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Speaker 3: Now I was dealing with two elderly parents in declining health.

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Speaker 3: On top of my father having Alzheimer's, Mom was diagnosed

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Speaker 3: with pancreatic cancer. I soon found out that juggling my

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Speaker 3: job as a nurse and caring for my own children

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Speaker 3: as well as my ailing parents was more than I

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Speaker 3: could handle, and quitting work was not an option. My

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Speaker 3: coworkers had been mentioning for a while that perhaps it

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Speaker 3: was time to put my dad in a facility, and

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Speaker 3: even though I'd resisted the idea at first, it now

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Speaker 3: seemed like my options were dwindling. So my parents and

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Speaker 3: I began looking at nursing homes and found Sunset Gardens,

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Speaker 3: which was a really nice place. Dad was content as

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Speaker 3: this facility had a perfect mixture of comfort and security.

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Speaker 3: After all, he was still a strong man in otherwise

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Speaker 3: good health. It was a blessing that the move was

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Speaker 3: surprisingly uneventful. Mom was more upset about living apart from

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Speaker 3: her husband, so when she wasn't at her own doctor's appointments,

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Speaker 3: she was there at Sunset Gardens with him. At eighty

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Speaker 3: one years old, my mother decided not to undergo chemo

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Speaker 3: or other aggressive treatments, preferring to let nature take its course.

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Speaker 3: The doctors told her that she probably had a year

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Speaker 3: or so, but no one expected her to suddenly fall

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Speaker 3: on the way to the bathroom one day and break

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Speaker 3: her hip. After a lengthy hospital stay, she now required

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Speaker 3: around the clock care since her needs were different from

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Speaker 3: my dad's. However, she ended up in a separate facility.

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Speaker 3: I was now shuttling between my kid's school, my job,

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Speaker 3: and two nursing homes for my mom. Things quickly went

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00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:57,359
Speaker 3: from bad to worse. After the broken hip came a

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Speaker 3: urinary track infection, then a respiratory infection. As her illness escalated,

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Speaker 3: I was getting over to see my father less and less.

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Speaker 3: Other family members would make sure he had a visit

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Speaker 3: at least two or three times a week, even though

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Speaker 3: at this point he no longer recognized his loved ones.

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00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:23,480
Speaker 3: Mom's doctors met with us and explained that there were

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Speaker 3: just too many things going wrong with her body at

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Speaker 3: once that returning to the hospital for more testing didn't

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Speaker 3: make sense. While we agreed, we ultimately left the decision

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Speaker 3: to Mom. She said, I've lived over eight decades. I

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Speaker 3: can't complain too much. It's my time. I was searching

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Speaker 3: for a way for my parents to be together, but

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Speaker 3: my mother's facility didn't accept Alzheimer's patients, and while my

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00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:59,200
Speaker 3: father's only accepted patients with Alzheimer's and dementia, We were

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Speaker 3: unsure if we should even tell him how bad Mom

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Speaker 3: was because there was basically nothing he could do. We'd

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Speaker 3: hope to find a way to get him out for

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Speaker 3: a few hours to see his wife. When the call

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Speaker 3: came that Mom's condition had worsened, her blood pressure was

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Speaker 3: dropping and her heart rate was increasing. That evening, my

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Speaker 3: family and I sat by my mom, who was still

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Speaker 3: very alert, but her breathing was more audible than usual.

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Speaker 3: She suddenly looked up and said, Joseph died. Why didn't

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Speaker 3: anyone tell me this? I jumped in and quickly corrected her, Mom,

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Speaker 3: Daddy isn't dead. He's still in the nursing home. Startled

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Speaker 3: by her statement, I suddenly realized that I'd better find

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Speaker 3: a way to get Dad over here. We were afraid

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Speaker 3: that my mom was beginning to lose her faculties, and

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Speaker 3: we wanted her to see her husband while she could

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Speaker 3: still talk with him.

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Speaker 2: Mom.

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Speaker 3: I said, we'll see if the nursing home will let

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Speaker 3: us pick up Dad so he can visit. I nodded

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Speaker 3: to my cousin Jackie to call the nursing home to

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Speaker 3: make arrangements for one of us to get him. Joseph

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00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:20,520
Speaker 3: already came to say goodbye. Mom insisted, and he told

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Speaker 3: me that I'd be with him soon. We all just

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00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:28,560
Speaker 3: looked at each other, acknowledging that my mother was hallucinating.

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00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:33,480
Speaker 3: I gently repeated, Mom, Dad is in the nursing home.

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Speaker 3: We're going to bring him here. Once again, she repeated, no,

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Speaker 3: he's dead, but this time she also sat up. Look

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00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:48,960
Speaker 3: there he is. She seemed to be gazing past everybody,

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Speaker 3: and then she said, Joseph, you came back for me.

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00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,399
Speaker 3: Her eyes filled with tears, and she lay back on

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Speaker 3: the bed. Just then, the nurse and my cousin motioned

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Speaker 3: for me to come over and talk with them at

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Speaker 3: the nurse's station. I met them just outside the door

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Speaker 3: when Jackie said, Heather, I don't know how to tell

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Speaker 3: you this. I called the nursing home and Joseph died

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Speaker 3: about fifteen minutes ago. He had a heart attack. Mom

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00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:27,960
Speaker 3: died two days later. Even though I hadn't seen the

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00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:32,119
Speaker 3: vision of my father, I found great comfort in the

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00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,439
Speaker 3: fact that he had come to my mother and now

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00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:39,639
Speaker 3: they were together again. Since my parents are gone, I

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00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:42,800
Speaker 3: rarely tell this story, but it feels as if I

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00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,800
Speaker 3: went from a medical nightmare to the universe. Stepping in,

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00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,800
Speaker 3: allowing mom and dad to pass away peacefully with each other.

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Speaker 3: I admit it's beyond my understanding, but I believe I

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Speaker 3: had a special glimpse into a world rarely seen. I

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00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,120
Speaker 3: know I'm not alone. That many of us have parents

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Speaker 3: in their eighties and beyond, and we consider what's going

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00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:14,760
Speaker 3: to happen when they get older and health changes. I

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Speaker 3: hope these stories comfort you as they comfort me. We

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Speaker 3: take things one moment at a time and trust that

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Speaker 3: our future selves will be able to deal with whatever

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Speaker 3: comes our way. But rest assured our loved ones and

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00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:34,720
Speaker 3: ourselves will have a greeting committee there to meet us

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Speaker 3: when it's our time to go. Time for our break,

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Speaker 3: and then we'll be back with more stories. You're listening

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Speaker 3: to Shades of the Afterlife on the iHeartRadio and Coast

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00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,639
Speaker 3: to Coast AM Paranormal podcast network.

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00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:58,000
Speaker 2: The Art Belvault never disappoints classic audio at your fingertips.

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00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,240
Speaker 2: Go now to Coast tocostam dot com for fool details.

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00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,680
Speaker 3: You're listening to the iHeartRadio and Coast to cost Am

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00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:16,880
Speaker 3: Paranormal podcast network with the best shows that explore the paranormal, supernatural,

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00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,760
Speaker 3: and the unexplained. You can enjoy all shows on the

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00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:26,840
Speaker 3: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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Speaker 1: My name is Mark Rawlings, president of Paranormal Date dot Com.

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00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:36,879
Speaker 1: Over five years ago, George Nori approached me with a

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00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:40,719
Speaker 1: unique concept, a dating site for people searching for someone

433
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:45,320
Speaker 1: with interest in UFOs, ghosts, Bigfoot, conspiracy theories, and the paranormal.

434
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,439
Speaker 1: From that, Paranormal Day dot Com was born. It's a

435
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,040
Speaker 1: unique site for unique people and it's free to join

436
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:53,240
Speaker 1: to look around. If you want to upgrade and enjoy

437
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:56,080
Speaker 1: more of our great features, use promo code George for

438
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:58,480
Speaker 1: a great discount, So check it out. You got nothing

439
00:27:58,520 --> 00:27:59,920
Speaker 1: to lose Paranormal Date.

440
00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:17,320
Speaker 3: Welcome back to Shades of the Afterlife. I'm Sandra Champlain,

441
00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:20,719
Speaker 3: and I'm just thinking about how I operate When I

442
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,439
Speaker 3: watch a TV show and they mentioned a good book.

443
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,280
Speaker 3: Sometimes I have that book ordered on my Kindle or

444
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,840
Speaker 3: from Amazon for the next day delivery before the show

445
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,359
Speaker 3: even ends. Listening to this episode, I wouldn't doubt that

446
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,520
Speaker 3: you might have done the same thing with David Kessler's

447
00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:42,840
Speaker 3: book Visions, Trips and Crowded Rooms. Our next story is

448
00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:47,880
Speaker 3: by Jack. He says after graduating from medical school, I

449
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,760
Speaker 3: wasn't sure which branch of medicine I wanted to dedicate

450
00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:56,240
Speaker 3: myself to. Then I did my oncology rotation at a

451
00:28:56,280 --> 00:29:01,560
Speaker 3: hospital in Michigan and something grabbed me. Seeing patients who

452
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:06,000
Speaker 3: are so sick was difficult, but when the oncologists were

453
00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:09,640
Speaker 3: able to give them more time or improve their quality

454
00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:14,080
Speaker 3: of life, it was wonderful. And seeing patients in remission

455
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:18,200
Speaker 3: going back to their everyday lives seemed like the best

456
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 3: kind of medicine for me. I decided this was my calling.

457
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,320
Speaker 3: It's interesting being a doctor in my family. My family

458
00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,960
Speaker 3: still sees me as Jack, and my medical degree doesn't

459
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,880
Speaker 3: give me any advantages. It's funny when your mother's home

460
00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:40,160
Speaker 3: remedy beats out scientifically tested medicine. It keeps you humble

461
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 3: and grounded. When I went into oncology, it never occurred

462
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:47,520
Speaker 3: to me that I might see one of my own

463
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:52,040
Speaker 3: loved ones terminally ill. So when I got the news

464
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:55,920
Speaker 3: that my younger brother Mike, who was just forty one,

465
00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:59,960
Speaker 3: had cancer, it was really hard for me to act

466
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,880
Speaker 3: like a doctor and not a saddened man who was

467
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,880
Speaker 3: afraid to lose his brother. Mike was just hitting his stride.

468
00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:11,280
Speaker 3: He enjoyed his career and was seeing a lot of

469
00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:17,480
Speaker 3: success in his real estate investments. It seemed incomprehensible that

470
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:22,040
Speaker 3: his cancer was advanced, and it was almost impossible for

471
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,560
Speaker 3: my family to face the reality that it might be

472
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:29,560
Speaker 3: too late. I tried to remain hopeful, but I knew

473
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:34,160
Speaker 3: too much. As my brother became sicker, family and friends

474
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,959
Speaker 3: would turn to me for an update on his condition,

475
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,600
Speaker 3: but I wasn't his physician. They just assumed that I

476
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,120
Speaker 3: would know what to do or think of some new

477
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,840
Speaker 3: way to treat him. It was strange to suddenly have

478
00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:52,080
Speaker 3: the respect I'd always wanted from my family, Yet this

479
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:55,840
Speaker 3: wasn't how I wanted to get it. I wanted to

480
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,400
Speaker 3: be the one to show the best way to heal

481
00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:02,520
Speaker 3: a cut, or to determine whether my nephew needed to

482
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:05,880
Speaker 3: get his tonsils removed, not to be the one to

483
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:10,360
Speaker 3: explain that Mike was dying. Watching my younger brother go

484
00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:14,520
Speaker 3: through all of this was ripping me apart. One day

485
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,560
Speaker 3: near the end, my mother and I were sitting with Mike,

486
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:23,280
Speaker 3: who was quiet but not sleeping. Then he suddenly started talking,

487
00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:27,280
Speaker 3: as if there was someone standing right in front of him.

488
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:32,360
Speaker 3: He definitely wasn't addressing my mom or me. Mom and

489
00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,720
Speaker 3: I looked at each other in a way that said,

490
00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:39,600
Speaker 3: what is this. We soon realized that Mike was indeed

491
00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:43,240
Speaker 3: talking to someone, and as we listened to the conversation,

492
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,560
Speaker 3: it dawned on us that he was speaking to my

493
00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:50,560
Speaker 3: father's parents. He had been very close to them and

494
00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:55,600
Speaker 3: loved them both very much. When Grandma died, Mike started

495
00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:59,680
Speaker 3: spending more and more time with our grandfather. Since my

496
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 3: cousins and I were away at school. We were grateful

497
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,800
Speaker 3: that my brother was there and could visit with him

498
00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:10,240
Speaker 3: so often. After Grandpa died, it hit Mike very hard.

499
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,800
Speaker 3: So the notion that it was my grandparents who came

500
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:17,680
Speaker 3: to my brother as he was dying wasn't that surprising.

501
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,840
Speaker 3: As a doctor, it's very easy to dismiss this sort

502
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:26,040
Speaker 3: of thing until you see it firsthand. Could my brother's

503
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:29,640
Speaker 3: vision have been a dream state? Was it a result

504
00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:34,880
Speaker 3: of oxygen deprivation, a side effect of the medications. All

505
00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:38,800
Speaker 3: were possible, but for my mother and me, none of

506
00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:44,320
Speaker 3: those options felt right. It felt profound, it was real.

507
00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:48,920
Speaker 3: None of us wanted to interfere, so we just observed

508
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,680
Speaker 3: for the next few hours. Mom and I watched Mike

509
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:57,360
Speaker 3: on and off. We could never quite make out exactly

510
00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,320
Speaker 3: what he was saying, but we could hear him called

511
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:04,880
Speaker 3: both of my grandparents by name. He also had a sweet,

512
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,440
Speaker 3: tender look on his face. All of the things that

513
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,440
Speaker 3: we were doing for him, from end of life care

514
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,120
Speaker 3: to making sure he got the best of everything, this

515
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 3: visit seemed to bring him the most comfort. Before this episode,

516
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:23,880
Speaker 3: there was a sense of struggle and tension in the air,

517
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:28,560
Speaker 3: but now there seemed to be only peace surrounding my brother.

518
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,840
Speaker 3: I truly believe that it was a result of my

519
00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:37,720
Speaker 3: grandparent's visit. As he died. One family member asked, as

520
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:41,520
Speaker 3: a doctor, what do you make of this? And I responded,

521
00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:46,360
Speaker 3: I don't make anything of it. As a doctor, I

522
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:51,400
Speaker 3: don't have a scientific explanation. I only have my own

523
00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:55,920
Speaker 3: experience to draw from. It was an authentic part of

524
00:33:55,960 --> 00:34:00,880
Speaker 3: the process. When my patients have similar experiences, I don't

525
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:04,920
Speaker 3: question it as a doctor. I just accept that this

526
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:09,280
Speaker 3: is what's going on. If it feels right to a patient,

527
00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:13,000
Speaker 3: so be it. But this is definitely not the kind

528
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:18,160
Speaker 3: of thing they teach us in medical school. Our next

529
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,239
Speaker 3: story comes from Zach. I'm a thirty two year old

530
00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:25,560
Speaker 3: who works in end of life care as a nursing

531
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:30,600
Speaker 3: researcher in the psychology of trauma and loss. I became

532
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,800
Speaker 3: interested in this during my last year in the Army

533
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:38,759
Speaker 3: and now focus on the grieving process, particularly related to

534
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:44,840
Speaker 3: fathers who have lost children. However, my experience with deathbed

535
00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:49,279
Speaker 3: visions involves a woman named Dora who is dying from

536
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:53,520
Speaker 3: kidney failure. Dora put up a good fight, but during

537
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:56,719
Speaker 3: her last week of life, she started to go in

538
00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:02,080
Speaker 3: and out of consciousness. Time it happened, she faded out,

539
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:06,680
Speaker 3: but then suddenly seemed lucid and started talking to someone

540
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,960
Speaker 3: no one else could see. As time passed, she started

541
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:15,960
Speaker 3: looking over or around her family members and me as

542
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,160
Speaker 3: if we were in the way, and up at the ceiling,

543
00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:24,960
Speaker 3: more often carrying on a conversation with her invisible visitor.

544
00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:29,719
Speaker 3: When her kidney failure had reached the terminal stage, the

545
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:36,000
Speaker 3: critical point, she began talking out loud to her deceased mother. Mommy,

546
00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:39,440
Speaker 3: she asked, as if she were still a child.

547
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:40,880
Speaker 5: Is that you?

548
00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:47,320
Speaker 3: Those of us watching were amazed as Dora continued talking, Mommy,

549
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:51,959
Speaker 3: You're back. She was clearly seeing her mother as if

550
00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,799
Speaker 3: she were right there in the room. Dora's voice was

551
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,880
Speaker 3: so genuine an adamant that I often had the urge

552
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:03,239
Speaker 3: to turn my head to look for the person she

553
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:07,160
Speaker 3: was talking to, even though I knew I wouldn't see

554
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:12,560
Speaker 3: anyone there. At first, Dora's daughter, Mara, was upset when

555
00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:16,200
Speaker 3: she heard her mother talking to her grandmother, but then

556
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:21,120
Speaker 3: she became enthralled as she listened to her mom describe

557
00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:28,160
Speaker 3: a robe of light surrounding her mother. My goodness, Dora exclaimed,

558
00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,440
Speaker 3: look at the robe you're wearing. It's so bright. I

559
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:36,479
Speaker 3: can hardly keep my eyes on it. I've never seen

560
00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:41,640
Speaker 3: anything like this. Myra, who didn't see the vision, simply

561
00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:46,200
Speaker 3: told her mother, I love you. That seemed to snap

562
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:50,560
Speaker 3: Dora out of her vision, and she looked directly into

563
00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:56,200
Speaker 3: her eyes, saying Mara, I love you too. Yet soon afterward,

564
00:36:56,880 --> 00:37:01,239
Speaker 3: she began talking with her invisible mother again. It was

565
00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:05,440
Speaker 3: extremely beautiful to watch and was quite different from what

566
00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:10,360
Speaker 3: I had ever experienced because the patient herself was completely

567
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:15,400
Speaker 3: stunned by the vision. Dora was as amazed and surprised

568
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:19,439
Speaker 3: as anyone could be that her deceased mother was right

569
00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,600
Speaker 3: there in the room with her and draped in robes

570
00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:26,640
Speaker 3: so spectacular and bright that she had to look away.

571
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:31,240
Speaker 3: At one point while this was going on, I asked

572
00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:35,480
Speaker 3: Mara what she did for a living. I teach special

573
00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:40,319
Speaker 3: needs kids in primary school. And what did your grandmother do?

574
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:44,480
Speaker 3: I asked, wondering why she was appearing in the midst

575
00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:48,600
Speaker 3: of so much light. She was a housewife, but also

576
00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:52,759
Speaker 3: spent a lot of her time volunteering at the local hospital.

577
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:57,760
Speaker 3: Myra told me, I'll never forget the day that Dora died.

578
00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:02,680
Speaker 3: I asked Myra afterward what she thought about the experience,

579
00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:07,960
Speaker 3: and she told me, through tears, that it was beautiful

580
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,200
Speaker 3: for her and not awkward or strange. She felt this

581
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:17,280
Speaker 3: way mainly because she could envision her mom being carried

582
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:22,080
Speaker 3: over in a sense, by her own mother. When I

583
00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:25,360
Speaker 3: look back, there's no doubt in my mind that Dora

584
00:38:25,719 --> 00:38:28,520
Speaker 3: was seeing her mother, a kind of guest from the

585
00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:32,759
Speaker 3: spiritual realms. I'm not a religious guy, I never was,

586
00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:37,240
Speaker 3: yet the vision didn't seem impossible to me. In fact,

587
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:41,880
Speaker 3: it seemed like a natural progression. Parents usually die before

588
00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:45,560
Speaker 3: their children, and I see them sort of leading the

589
00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:49,520
Speaker 3: way when it's the child's turn. It's as if a

590
00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:52,520
Speaker 3: father dies before his son, so that he can come

591
00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:56,439
Speaker 3: back and show him that death really isn't so bad.

592
00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,759
Speaker 3: After all, our parents are waiting for us on the

593
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:03,279
Speaker 3: other side. When I really think about it, I have

594
00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:06,840
Speaker 3: to admit the idea that our loved ones are watching

595
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:11,759
Speaker 3: over us makes perfect sense to me. Over time, I've

596
00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:16,000
Speaker 3: seen that visions can be very comforting for patients. I

597
00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:19,919
Speaker 3: will always remember Dora and the piece she felt from

598
00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:26,320
Speaker 3: gazing upon her mother wearing that spectacular, rightly shining robe.

599
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,840
Speaker 3: As you're listening to these stories, do you find yourself

600
00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:33,719
Speaker 3: imagining when it's your time, who is going to be

601
00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:36,360
Speaker 3: there to greet you? I just got an image of

602
00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:42,920
Speaker 3: my grandmother and my dad very special. Talk to any

603
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:47,560
Speaker 3: hospice doctor or nurse they have no fear of dying.

604
00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:53,400
Speaker 3: Talk to any hospice volunteer, neither do they. What's the

605
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:58,440
Speaker 3: common denominator being by people's sides as they pass away.

606
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,960
Speaker 3: This happens more are often than not. It's a difficult

607
00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:06,680
Speaker 3: job to be a caregiver in this situation, So thank

608
00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:10,879
Speaker 3: you to all of our caregivers listening today. We're off

609
00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:15,640
Speaker 3: to the break and then more stories from the book Visions,

610
00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:20,160
Speaker 3: Trips and Crowded Rooms by David Kessler. You're listening to

611
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:24,440
Speaker 3: Shades of the Afterlife on the iHeartRadio and Coast to

612
00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:35,200
Speaker 3: Coast am Paranormal Podcast Network. The Internet is an extraordinary

613
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:40,480
Speaker 3: resource that links our children to a world of information, experiences,

614
00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:45,920
Speaker 3: and ideas. It can also expose them to risk. Teach

615
00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:49,560
Speaker 3: your children the basic safety rules of the virtual world.

616
00:40:50,280 --> 00:41:13,400
Speaker 3: Our children are everything, Do everything for them.

617
00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:08,120
Speaker 5: On the iHeartRadio and am Paranoral Podcast Network.

618
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:10,680
Speaker 4: Listen anytime, any place.

619
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:19,960
Speaker 5: Hey, it's the Wizard of Weird Joshua P.

620
00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:20,480
Speaker 1: Warren.

621
00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:24,680
Speaker 3: Don't forget to check out my show Strange Things each.

622
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,040
Speaker 5: Week as I bring you the world of the truly

623
00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:32,080
Speaker 5: amazing and bizarre right here on the iHeartRadio and Coast

624
00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:35,160
Speaker 5: to Coast am Paranormal Podcast Network.

625
00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:50,800
Speaker 3: Welcome back to Shades of the Afterlife. I'm Sandra Champlain,

626
00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:55,600
Speaker 3: and our next story from David Kessler's book Visions, Trips

627
00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:58,920
Speaker 3: and Crowded Rooms shows us that we don't have to

628
00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:02,920
Speaker 3: believe in the after life to have one of these visions.

629
00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:07,400
Speaker 3: This story is by Angela. I'm a psychologist and I

630
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:12,520
Speaker 3: specialize in addiction and chemical dependencies. When I counsel couples

631
00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:15,680
Speaker 3: with so many problems I often think back on my

632
00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:20,440
Speaker 3: own parents, Helen and Milton. It makes me realize what

633
00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:25,600
Speaker 3: a unique and wonderful relationship they had. My parents were

634
00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:30,320
Speaker 3: married for sixty two years and could finish each other's sentences.

635
00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:35,000
Speaker 3: They shared everything. One of their enduring qualities was a

636
00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:38,880
Speaker 3: quirky sense of humor. Mom told me that when she

637
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:42,600
Speaker 3: found out she was pregnant with me, she'd asked, Dad,

638
00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:46,640
Speaker 3: you sure you don't want to carry this baby? And

639
00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:49,960
Speaker 3: when my father got a speeding ticket, the police officer

640
00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:53,279
Speaker 3: was still standing there when Dad looked over to my

641
00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:57,359
Speaker 3: mom sitting behind him, and said, Honey, you speed too,

642
00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:02,040
Speaker 3: Would you like this Ticket's sense of humor also carried

643
00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:05,200
Speaker 3: over to his work as a dentist, and his patients

644
00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:09,080
Speaker 3: loved having a doctor who could make them laugh. I

645
00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:13,000
Speaker 3: loved laughing with both of my parents too, and decided

646
00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:16,480
Speaker 3: that they were the funniest parents a girl could ever have.

647
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:21,960
Speaker 3: My parents used humor for life's serious moments as well.

648
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:26,320
Speaker 3: For example, when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer

649
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:31,400
Speaker 3: and needed a radical mastectomy, she equipped, oh, Milton, be

650
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:35,480
Speaker 3: a man, volunteer your breast. You don't need yours like

651
00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:38,960
Speaker 3: I need mine. One morning, when Mom was getting up,

652
00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:43,799
Speaker 3: she had a sudden aortic rupture and died instantly. She

653
00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:47,640
Speaker 3: was eighty. Dad did his best to cope, but he'd

654
00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:50,840
Speaker 3: miss his beloved partner for the rest of his life.

655
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:56,040
Speaker 3: He never made those jokes with anyone else. Five years later,

656
00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:59,080
Speaker 3: my dad was in a hospice unit after a long

657
00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:02,840
Speaker 3: battle with ladder cancer that had spread throughout his body.

658
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:06,920
Speaker 3: My father and I had become especially close after my

659
00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:10,120
Speaker 3: mom died, and I stayed by his side as much

660
00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:14,000
Speaker 3: as possible. Dad was feeling well and reading the Sunday

661
00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:17,400
Speaker 3: paper one day when I said, Hey, you're looking a

662
00:44:17,440 --> 00:44:21,120
Speaker 3: little rough around the edges. How about a shave? Sure,

663
00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:24,719
Speaker 3: he replied, since he was having trouble holding a newspaper,

664
00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:28,680
Speaker 3: holding a razor would be even more difficult. So I

665
00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:33,319
Speaker 3: quickly blurted out, welcome to Angela's barbershop and started looking

666
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:36,480
Speaker 3: around the bathroom. Dad, did you bring your razor?

667
00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:37,400
Speaker 4: I asked.

668
00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:41,440
Speaker 3: He couldn't remember, so I called the nurse and asked

669
00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:44,919
Speaker 3: if she had a spare shaving kit. I walked over

670
00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:48,239
Speaker 3: to the nurse's station and waited as she gathered the

671
00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:51,640
Speaker 3: supplies for me. I suddenly heard my dad talking to

672
00:44:51,719 --> 00:44:55,880
Speaker 3: someone and realized that the nurse hadn't turned off the

673
00:44:56,000 --> 00:44:59,239
Speaker 3: intercom in his room. I couldn't make out what he

674
00:44:59,280 --> 00:45:02,040
Speaker 3: was saying, but figured that one of his friends must

675
00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:05,799
Speaker 3: have dropped by. The nurse walked back with me, and

676
00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:09,799
Speaker 3: we found my father in the room all alone. Who

677
00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:14,840
Speaker 3: are you talking to, dad, Helen? He casually replied, Helen,

678
00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:19,600
Speaker 3: as in, my mom, who is dead? That's the one.

679
00:45:19,719 --> 00:45:22,800
Speaker 3: Do you know that she's dead? I asked, as gently

680
00:45:22,840 --> 00:45:26,560
Speaker 3: as possible. Of course, I was with her when she died,

681
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:31,319
Speaker 3: and she's here now. Yes, I know it's strange, but

682
00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:36,640
Speaker 3: it's true. Then the nurse chimed in, it isn't unusual

683
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:39,520
Speaker 3: for a dying person to have loved ones come to

684
00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:43,680
Speaker 3: greet them. I've heard that, Dad said, but I don't

685
00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:46,479
Speaker 3: believe in it. But you just said Mom was here,

686
00:45:46,719 --> 00:45:50,160
Speaker 3: I reminded him, Well, I must have been hallucinating from

687
00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:54,040
Speaker 3: the drugs. The only medication you're on is to help

688
00:45:54,040 --> 00:45:57,480
Speaker 3: with your nausea, the nurse told him, and it isn't

689
00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:02,960
Speaker 3: known to impair a person's thinking. Dad seemed a bit irritated. Okay,

690
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:06,520
Speaker 3: so maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we do get visits. Am

691
00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:09,280
Speaker 3: I going to get a shave or what. I gently

692
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:13,160
Speaker 3: patted some shaving cream on my father's face. He glanced

693
00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:16,720
Speaker 3: back to look over his left shoulder and said, Helen,

694
00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:19,799
Speaker 3: are you sure you don't want to shave too? When

695
00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:23,319
Speaker 3: I just stared blankly at him, he explained, your mother

696
00:46:23,400 --> 00:46:27,160
Speaker 3: is laughing. What is it, honey, he asked, as he

697
00:46:27,200 --> 00:46:29,960
Speaker 3: could see that I was starting to tear up. I

698
00:46:30,080 --> 00:46:34,560
Speaker 3: just realized how much I've missed listening to you and

699
00:46:34,719 --> 00:46:38,480
Speaker 3: Mom joke around. During the rest of the time, he

700
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:42,240
Speaker 3: continued to talk to my mother. After he'd been quiet

701
00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:45,279
Speaker 3: for a while, I asked if she was still in

702
00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:49,160
Speaker 3: the room. I see her, but I still don't quite

703
00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:54,280
Speaker 3: believe it, he said. Maybe I really am hallucinating. I said,

704
00:46:54,719 --> 00:46:58,359
Speaker 3: I work all day with people who hallucinate because they're

705
00:46:58,360 --> 00:47:01,880
Speaker 3: hooked on opiates and pin meds. But you're not either

706
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:05,400
Speaker 3: one of those, and this doesn't seem like a hallucination.

707
00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:09,640
Speaker 3: I know you so well, Dad, and this is exactly

708
00:47:09,960 --> 00:47:13,440
Speaker 3: how it felt when you and Mom were together. I

709
00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:16,640
Speaker 3: just wish I could see her too. He looked in

710
00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:20,160
Speaker 3: the direction where my mother was. Can Angela see you?

711
00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:24,640
Speaker 3: He suddenly asked. It seemed as if he were interpreting

712
00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:28,799
Speaker 3: a foreign language when he finally replied, she loves you

713
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:32,000
Speaker 3: very much, but it's not time for you to see her.

714
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:36,760
Speaker 3: Is she solid looking or does she look like a ghost.

715
00:47:37,719 --> 00:47:41,680
Speaker 3: She's a solid figure, honey, and a nice figure at that.

716
00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:46,520
Speaker 3: No ghost here, he assured me. You know, when I

717
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:49,640
Speaker 3: was a kid, I learned that the smallest thing in

718
00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:53,239
Speaker 3: the world was an atom. End of story. That was

719
00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:57,040
Speaker 3: a fact. But now we know that there's so much more.

720
00:47:57,520 --> 00:48:00,680
Speaker 3: So maybe your mom really is here. How do you

721
00:48:00,719 --> 00:48:06,200
Speaker 3: feel right now, I asked, always the therapist. Happy, my

722
00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:09,960
Speaker 3: dad said with the smile. I'm with my wife of

723
00:48:10,040 --> 00:48:14,000
Speaker 3: more than sixty years. He paused for a moment and

724
00:48:14,040 --> 00:48:17,320
Speaker 3: then went on, you know how much I love you, Angela.

725
00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:21,400
Speaker 3: If your mom can be here for me, then we'll

726
00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:24,960
Speaker 3: both come for you when it's time. But for now,

727
00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:27,520
Speaker 3: I think i'd like to take a nap with my

728
00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:32,560
Speaker 3: clean shaven face. That sounds fine. You go spend some

729
00:48:32,719 --> 00:48:36,439
Speaker 3: time with mom. I love you. I love you too,

730
00:48:36,520 --> 00:48:40,399
Speaker 3: he said, closing his eyes, almost as if he were

731
00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:44,080
Speaker 3: in a dream. His lips mouthed some words as he

732
00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:48,080
Speaker 3: dropped off to sleep that night. Dad died the next day,

733
00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:53,040
Speaker 3: and I now know that love is more powerful than

734
00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:57,759
Speaker 3: I ever thought possible, because not even death could diminish

735
00:48:58,040 --> 00:49:02,160
Speaker 3: the bond between my parents. We have time for one

736
00:49:02,239 --> 00:49:06,560
Speaker 3: lass story. This is by Diane. I am a counselor,

737
00:49:07,320 --> 00:49:11,319
Speaker 3: and at the young age of sixty, I learned that

738
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:15,839
Speaker 3: deathbed visions are real. The experience taught me that who

739
00:49:15,960 --> 00:49:20,799
Speaker 3: we meet might be totally different from whom we expect

740
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:24,439
Speaker 3: to meet. My birth father died when I was six

741
00:49:24,560 --> 00:49:28,600
Speaker 3: years old, and I was raised by my wonderful stepfather, Jim.

742
00:49:29,120 --> 00:49:31,920
Speaker 3: He married my mother when I was ten, and my

743
00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:36,640
Speaker 3: sister two brothers, and I took to him instantly. Jim

744
00:49:36,719 --> 00:49:40,640
Speaker 3: had seven siblings, so we also got five new uncles

745
00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:44,200
Speaker 3: and two aunts in the deal. Jim stepped into his

746
00:49:44,320 --> 00:49:48,040
Speaker 3: role as father naturally, being there at my high school

747
00:49:48,040 --> 00:49:51,800
Speaker 3: graduation and walking me down the aisle when I got married.

748
00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:54,759
Speaker 3: I didn't think about it at the time, but I

749
00:49:54,840 --> 00:49:59,520
Speaker 3: never realized that all those aunts and uncles who brought

750
00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:02,640
Speaker 3: so much much life and joy to my family would

751
00:50:02,719 --> 00:50:07,560
Speaker 3: also bring death, grief, and heartache. I watched over the

752
00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:12,279
Speaker 3: years as Jim lost sibling after sibling. We were all

753
00:50:12,360 --> 00:50:16,800
Speaker 3: comforted to learn that Hugh, his eldest brother, had seen

754
00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:21,760
Speaker 3: his deceased mother shortly before he died. As my remaining

755
00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:25,280
Speaker 3: aunts and uncles passed away over the years, I couldn't

756
00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:28,400
Speaker 3: help but wonder if they were forming their own greeting

757
00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:32,200
Speaker 3: party in the afterlife. Sometime later, I got an urgent

758
00:50:32,280 --> 00:50:35,480
Speaker 3: call from my mom that Jim was in the hospital

759
00:50:35,719 --> 00:50:39,400
Speaker 3: and he was doing poorly. I flew home, hoping for

760
00:50:39,440 --> 00:50:43,200
Speaker 3: the best, but knowing that health and age weren't on

761
00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:47,560
Speaker 3: his side. He'd been fighting chronic heart failure for many years.

762
00:50:48,080 --> 00:50:51,200
Speaker 3: My stepfather was released from the hospital, but he was

763
00:50:51,239 --> 00:50:55,319
Speaker 3: so frail that he seemed to be practically melting into

764
00:50:55,360 --> 00:50:58,920
Speaker 3: the bed. He was surrounded by his wife and four children,

765
00:50:59,200 --> 00:51:02,759
Speaker 3: all of us grown up. We knew his steady decline

766
00:51:02,840 --> 00:51:07,080
Speaker 3: was irreversible, but despite how weak he felt, Jim still

767
00:51:07,160 --> 00:51:10,280
Speaker 3: managed to get out a joke or to to lighten

768
00:51:10,320 --> 00:51:13,440
Speaker 3: the mood. Over the next few days, however, I watched

769
00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:18,240
Speaker 3: Jim's body grow weaker. He spoke less often, and paragraphs

770
00:51:18,280 --> 00:51:22,040
Speaker 3: became sentences. I thought about his siblings who had died

771
00:51:22,080 --> 00:51:24,719
Speaker 3: over the years. Would they all come to meet him,

772
00:51:25,200 --> 00:51:28,920
Speaker 3: would there be a family reunion? As my stepdad's last

773
00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:33,280
Speaker 3: days were upon him, I stopped thinking about it, mainly

774
00:51:33,360 --> 00:51:37,200
Speaker 3: because I was so focused on helping my mom. One day, though,

775
00:51:37,520 --> 00:51:41,120
Speaker 3: one of my parents' friends was visiting, and she and

776
00:51:41,160 --> 00:51:44,319
Speaker 3: her mother were chatting in the kitchen. I was with

777
00:51:44,560 --> 00:51:48,400
Speaker 3: Jim when he suddenly looked up and asked, who are you?

778
00:51:49,760 --> 00:51:53,600
Speaker 3: Then he began a conversation that only he could understand.

779
00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:57,600
Speaker 3: I just listened as he talked and said, I was

780
00:51:57,680 --> 00:52:00,120
Speaker 3: honored to be there, and I'm so glad you you

781
00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:03,719
Speaker 3: saw it all. You're welcome. I'm grateful to you too.

782
00:52:04,840 --> 00:52:07,920
Speaker 3: My thoughts were racing. Could he be having a vision?

783
00:52:08,600 --> 00:52:11,120
Speaker 3: Was his mom here? Or maybe one of his siblings?

784
00:52:11,719 --> 00:52:15,160
Speaker 3: Was it perhaps Hugh, the older brother who had died first.

785
00:52:15,640 --> 00:52:19,560
Speaker 3: I couldn't contain myself any longer and asked, Dad, who

786
00:52:19,560 --> 00:52:24,480
Speaker 3: are you talking to? Buddy? Who's that? He was thanking

787
00:52:24,560 --> 00:52:29,120
Speaker 3: me for being a good dad. I was confused. All

788
00:52:29,160 --> 00:52:32,040
Speaker 3: of my siblings were still living. Did Jim have a

789
00:52:32,160 --> 00:52:35,080
Speaker 3: child that I didn't know about who had died? Since

790
00:52:35,080 --> 00:52:37,920
Speaker 3: he didn't say anything else, I left the room and

791
00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:41,600
Speaker 3: went to the kitchen where my mom was. Mom, do

792
00:52:41,680 --> 00:52:45,640
Speaker 3: you know someone named Buddy? I asked her. My goodness,

793
00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:48,800
Speaker 3: I hadn't thought of that name in years. She replied,

794
00:52:49,160 --> 00:52:53,280
Speaker 3: where did you hear that? Dad just said it. Jim

795
00:52:53,480 --> 00:52:55,960
Speaker 3: used to tease your father when they were in high school.

796
00:52:56,200 --> 00:53:00,759
Speaker 3: Mom said, as a joke, he called him buddy, as

797
00:53:00,800 --> 00:53:05,840
Speaker 3: if he couldn't remember his name. Dad knew my biological father.

798
00:53:06,640 --> 00:53:06,920
Speaker 5: Yes.

799
00:53:07,640 --> 00:53:11,600
Speaker 3: Suddenly I realized what had just happened. My birth father

800
00:53:12,280 --> 00:53:15,400
Speaker 3: had come to greet the man who had raised my

801
00:53:15,480 --> 00:53:19,640
Speaker 3: siblings and me. He wanted to thank Jim for taking

802
00:53:19,680 --> 00:53:23,279
Speaker 3: care of his children. He was talking to Jim and

803
00:53:23,320 --> 00:53:26,920
Speaker 3: thanking him for being such a great father. Mom and

804
00:53:26,960 --> 00:53:30,640
Speaker 3: I cried together and were so grateful for my birth

805
00:53:30,680 --> 00:53:35,080
Speaker 3: father's visit and his message of love. Well, my friend,

806
00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:38,719
Speaker 3: I hope you enjoyed our time today. Don't forget to

807
00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:43,600
Speaker 3: visit David Kessler's website grief dot com and come visit

808
00:53:43,640 --> 00:53:48,200
Speaker 3: me that We Don't Die dot com. I'm Sandra Champlain.

809
00:53:48,600 --> 00:53:51,440
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for listening to Shades of the

810
00:53:51,480 --> 00:53:56,560
Speaker 3: Afterlife on the iHeartRadio and Coast Tocoast a m Paranormal

811
00:53:56,840 --> 00:53:58,240
Speaker 3: Podcast Network.

812
00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:04,920
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to the iHeartRadio and Coast to Coast

813
00:54:04,920 --> 00:54:07,919
Speaker 2: a and Paranormal Podcast Network. Make sure and check out

814
00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:11,200
Speaker 2: all our shows on the iHeartRadio app or by going

815
00:54:11,239 --> 00:54:17,719
Speaker 2: to iHeartRadio dot com