A news article surfaced recently about a friend receiving an email from his dead buddy. Five months after his death of his beloved friend Jack Froese, Tim Hart received an email from Jack. The subject heading was "I'm Watching." Cynics might declare this a gruesome joke or that someone hacked into the dead man's account (ew!) but the recipient can't shake the distinctive personal nature of the note. And to paraphrase the deceased's mother, you can take it as a joke or take it as gift. To date, there remains an unsolved mystery.
Should you feel that you want to insure that this happen to your friends and relatives, there is a company that allows you to prepare emails before you die called Dead Man's Switch. And on DigitalBeyond you can read helpful articles that answer those nagging questions like "What happens to my Facebook page after I die?"
I was five years old the first time I saw an apparition. I was half-asleep, the pre-dawn crickets had gone silent, and I was stirred into waking by a gentle pulling on my toe. When I opened my eyes I saw my paternal grandfather standing at the foot of my bed. He smiled. I slid my toes out of the covers into my slippers, preparing to lean into a nice big hug, but he was gone. I thought it a little strange, but to a five year old the very regular world can seem like a strange place, so I drifted back to sleep. The next morning when I told my mom about my nighttime vision, she burst into tears. My grandpa had died just after midnight, perhaps an hour before he visited me.
As I grew up and started collecting strange stories of the supernatural variety, I found that this kind of manifestation is actually fairly common. An after-death farewell. Yet the idea of visitors from the great beyond is a subject that few dare to discuss in open company (unless you are hanging out with me) lest their experiences be ridiculed or their ideas sound crazy.
My friend Jan shared this story with me just the other day, with with a hearty laugh:
I was just thinking of my great (step) grandma yesterday. She died at home in her bed. She was dead half an hour, when she sat bolt upright, and told her gathered daughters, "Pray for Grandpa. He's still in Purgatory." Then she lay down and died again.
In my book Beyond Bizarre I included a story that had been shared with me by a caller during a radio interview about the paranormal. We'd been discussing ghosts and haunted hotspots when a he felt compelled to call in and talk about his experience with a scent-related visit from his recently deceased mother. I too have smelled ghosts -- the night after the recent passing of a friend the room was filled with the unmistakable scent of roses. And from time to time I smell the distinct rich perfume of my grandmother, often accompanied by chills. Author and psychic Judika Illes says that bad table manners can be a message from beyond. Food falling off your fork and dropping on your clothes can actually be your ancestors trying to get your attention!
I suppose this all begs the question, what would you say, assuming you could, from the Other Side? And to that end, what have you heard?