Visitors Preceeding Death

Okay, this is a serious topic but one that fascinates me: do you think that sometimes when someone is nearing death, their loved ones who have already died actually come back to visit them in order to calm their fear of death?

This week my friend Pat's mama died. Now this dear lady had been suffering a great deal with declining health for a couple of years, and in the last 6 months Parkinson's had almost rendered her bed-ridden. Early last week she began to get a LOT worse. As her health went downhill, Pat said her mama talked a lot for several nights, distinctly and conversationally to people she said she could see. Then the last night, she actually moved her legs as if to get up when it had been impossible for her to barely move them during the day! Early the next morning, Pat's dear mama passed away. Her suffering is eased now and even tho she will be missed, everyone knows she's gone to a better place.
Pat is fascinated by the fact that her mama seemed to carry on conversations with several family members who had been dead for years, and noticed how calm her mom got after these interactions. When she told me about it, it reminded me of my husband's aunt who died a couple of months ago... after a lengthy stay in the hospital, Aunt Tina took a turn for the worse & two days before she died, in the presence of three other people Tina spoke distinctly to her own mother who had died many years ago. She would suddenly smile and say 'look who's here' and talk so happily to her and several others who she said were in the room..
Then soon Aunt Tina died! But she wasn't agitated, she wasn't fearful... it was like she dozed off and just didn't wake up. Same thing with Pat's mama - no fear.

What if these ladies really did see the dead, what if they were allowed to converse with them perhaps in order to make them unafraid of death which was about to come claim them?? I think that is a fascinating possibility - who better to tell you everything is going to be okay, than your own parent or spouse or aunt who is already there!

SB

When my wife passed in 1983 from the effects of M.S. and my mother in 2000 from the cumulative effects of alzheimers, I am certain that similar things happened. My wife called her Grandmothers name (More clearly than she had been able to speak in a year and a half). She appeared to focus on someone near the recliner along the wall. That was when I became certain she would not survive to get to the hospital. In the months before her death my mother had not spoken a word. In her final few hours her vision was focused on something that only she could see, She called the names of many of her relatives, some from her childhood. We sorted that part out later. However, a "peace" came over her in those final hours.

Another interesting note. during the spring and early summer of 2000 a small albino bird appeared in the trees and bushes around her house where we were taking care of her. Being a photographer, I attempted to photograph it. I was never able to get it on film, My sister continued to feed the birds at the house and pointed out a couple of weeks later that she had not seen the white bird since moms death. Thought provoking isn't it?

Slaìnte

Patch

Hi,

these kind of stories really fasinate me. I totally believe in the here after. When my Mom was passing she kept pointing to the ceiling. She couldn't talk or write, but I finally figured out she was saying "they like me up there". That totally convinced me to this day. A lot of times I feel her presence.

Keep the stories coming this is very comforting..

Slainte

A long time ago we had 3 family deaths all within 6 weeks. First my Aunt died of cancer. My grandmother could not deal with it at all and end up in the hospital (she was in her late 80's at the time). She passed away in the hospital and before she passed she stated that she needed to go because she had to get ready for her son's funeral.

Well, no one mentioned this to her son because he was in fairly good health at the time. Exactly 2 weeks later he was rushed to the hospital as his leg turned black - poor circulation and then he died.

The question remains: How did our grandmother know?

That raised the hair on the back of my neck.. Oh these stories are good. I don't know why I fear death as millions have gone before me guess its the unknown.
Sorry that happened in your family Paul..

Slainte

I'm sorry for all of your losses. SB I have a theory to your story. I agree with you all but this is just something I have pondered so tell me what you think. Okay, taking into account that God does not like us to suffer I believe that he would send us someone as comfort in deaths like these. Although when we get to heaven, I believe, that it will be so profoundly great that earth is not thought of anymore. So the theory is that angels come down to us and show us what we want to see. They appear in the form of relatives to give comfort to our loved ones. Once again just an idea Im not sure I even hold it in stone.

My mother in law's mother died a a few years ago at the ripe old age of 100. She spoke to her mother, a couple of her children (who had passed away), and even told us about seeing her great-grand-daughter (and boy she was getting so big!). The great-grand-daughter died about 15 years ago when she was about 3 months old. She was actually talking to all of these people for about 2 months before she died. What was cool was she would tell us all about it when we went over to take care of her in the mornings. She'd tell us all about who came to "see" her. Those times were the only times her eyes would light up with excitement and her thoughts were nice and clear.

I don't know about visits prior to death, But I do know that the recently deceased will visit their survivors. I've had this happen a couple of times, and it really helps.

I am the now the eldest surviving member of my extended family. I have observed that death is harder for the survivors than the deceased. There are many things which we do not fear that are much worse than death. My wife passed in her late twenties leaving two young children who she loved dearly. M.S. in its later stages is a horribly debilitating disease, in my opinion much worse than death as is alzheimers disease. To see things worse, take a walk through any nursing home. I firmly believe that a higher power assists us if we accept it. Those last four words are the key

Slaìnte 

Patch

Visiting dad a month or so prior to his departure, he mentioned that the McKeeman clan had visited him during the night. I didn't question this since we shared many moments like the above. We lost mom 4 years prior and she "visited" on more than one occasion~perhaps to let us know that we do indeed continue the journey. To you all, good thoughts!

I think this thread opens up a greater question. Who are we, why are we here and what happens to us after we die.

The possibilities are endless and we will never know for sure until it happens. All I know is that whatever lies out there beyond the darkness is far greater and more powerful than can be described in earthly terms. It is beyond our simple mortal minds to ever imagine, let alone comprehend. I do not fear death, I only fear if I will be with the ones I love...........

Wow, you people are so cool in sharing these stories! Thank you, each of you. It's very enlightening to know that this kind of thing has happened to other families besides mine... it is significant, DEFinately...

Celtic cat, your theory may be right. Either way, these appearances seem to offer a great deal of comfort, don't they?!

Patch, listen honey - you are absolutely right, "M.S. in its later stages is a horribly debilitating disease, in my opinion much worse than death as is alzheimers disease" I totally agree with you there. And I am saddened that you had to witness your wife's suffering... words don't really express it, but I hope you know I'm sincere. I've watched the disease rob a friend of strength and mobility and its heartbreaking.
Come to think of it, I know of other instances where a bird had significance at the time of someone's passing - what comes to mind is my friend Ann, whose grandmother was at the same nursing home as my own grandma back in the late 80's. Ann had a barred owl come to her house in the day time for three days, and on the third day when her gram passed away the owl left & was never seen again. Ann and I have both heard that superstition says the presence of an owl means an impending death; both of us are devout Christians and do not believe in superstition, but Ann felt like the owl's presence was to let her know that her grandmother's death was near so she would be ready for it & not be distraught. Perhaps it was!

SB

The answers to those questions are in the Bible (surprise, surprise! )
1 - we are the beloved creation of God, each of us created to be a unique child of God
2 - we are here to enjoy the world that God created; also we are here to encourage, love and interact with each other and when needed, be the one who tells others about God's grace
3 - if we're believers in Christ, we go to that same paradise He told that thief hanging on the other cross about: "Today you shall be with me in paradise."

I get my strength from that, and it helpes me not to be afraid of dying.

Thanks Siobhan Blues for the perfect answer to the perfect question!

Everyone, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. It is inspiring to know that there are Christians out there that can tell these types of stories without the fear of negative feedback. There are so many people that would call you guys names, mock you, or say you are flirting with evil. That is nonsense. We don't know what all lies beyond. As Paul said in scripture "we see through a glass darkly."

Also, to go a step further; somewhere in the Bible it talks about angels meeting us upon our death and carrying us through the heavens to the Father. I won't use quotation marks at all, as I haven't read this myself. But as a trucker, one gets plenty of time to listen to Christian programming. That reference was from a sermon I heard from Dr. David Jeremiah and his Turning Point broadcast. To access his website,Click here. To listen to his broadcast archive, click here.

I doubt you would be able to find that particular sermon, for that one was a few years back. I include them in case anyone who has never heard of Dr. Jeremiah can get easy access. Anyway, in the sermon he discussed the fact that Satan is "the prince of the power of the air", and went on to explain the various levels of heaven. Some of those levels are considered "the air", and that the purpose of the angels was to provide us safe passage from here to eternity. To me, that is a very interesting and intriguing thought, not that I necessarily believe it without reading the text for myself. I would be interested, in case any of you know these references in the Bible, and can point me to them. Siobhan, that may be a good area for you!

The point in my bringing this up is, to share with you that these occurrences of the dying individual may be more rationally explained than most people want to talk about. For the non-believer, or especially for the new age type, I would think that this is extremely interesting. However, for the Christian, this type of near death encounter could serve the purpose of making death seem not so isolated or lonely. I have personally always thought of death as something you do all by yourself. It may be otherwise. And in case anyone is thinking sure, as long as you're dying from a disease, and not a tragic accident, I will say that if angels or dead relatives, or whatever, are sent to us at our death, and we die from say, an automobile accident--and that God knows our past and future, then I'll bet that those angels or spirits would already be at the crash site, waiting for us.

Something to think about. Peace.

I've enjoyed so much reading your post this morning - I was wondering if we'd have any more comments and hoping that we would!

SB