I had just laid down to go to sleep.  I was tired, but alert.  A few moments after closing my eyes I appeared in the living room of my grandparents former house.  I looked out toward the plate glass window that led out onto their back deck and saw my deceased grandmother looking out the window.  I began to approach her and she turned and smiled at me.  Then she said very matter-of-factly.  "Heather, you have to tell Brenda to go to the doctor.  She has cancer."  (Brenda was my mom and her daughter)  I did not remember what my grandmother had said to me upon waking, but I immediately went to my mother and told her that her mom came to me in a vision and told me something very important.  I was tortured because I just couldn't remember and then at the very moment I was discussing it with my mom a commercial came on as if by cue for Cancer Treatment Centers of America.  Every facet of my vision immediately came back to me and I told my mom.  Three days later she went to the doctor.  They did not find anything.  I persisted and persisted until finally in the beginning of May the doctors finally found a cyst in my mother's ovaries.  My mom was scheduled for immediate surgery and lived seven years almost to the day of her surgery.  Sometimes I wonder why I received this vision if my mom was going to die, but my mom would never have gone to the doctor.  She would have died in pain never even knowing that she did in fact have cancer.  This way she saw all of her grandchildren born and even some great-grandchildren before she passed.

Was this experience difficult to express in words?  No

Did you ONLY sense an awareness of presence of the deceased without actually seeing, hearing, feeling or smelling them?            No

Did you hear the deceased or hear something associated with the deceased?          Yes

            Describe what you heard, how clearly you heard it and what was communicated:    I heard every word she uttered.  It was as if I was really in her living room listening to her speak.

            Did the voice or sound seem to originate externally or outside of you, inside you, or did you not hear a voice or sound, but had a sense of knowing what was communicated?  Outside of me.  She was definitely a flesh and blood person speaking as if someone alive would be speaking, but no flowery words.  It was straight and to the point and then it was over, just like that.

            If you heard a voice or sound, was it similar or dissimilar from the voice or sound the deceased made when they were alive?           Exactly the same only her voice did not shake.  It was strong, before she died she couldn't speak well.  She sounded the way she did when she was stronger.

            Is there any possibility what you heard was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?           I was by myself at the time.

            Was there any possible impairment to your hearing at the time of the experience?   No

Did you feel a touch or experience any physical contact from the deceased?            No

Did you see the deceased?         Yes

She was wearing her favorite coral pink jumpsuit and she appeared as she did when she was alive.

            How clearly did the deceased appear?            She was flesh and blood

            How much of the deceased did you see?       Every part of her body from her head to her feet.

            Did the deceased appear or not appear to be the age at which they died?       She looked stronger, but about the same age.

            How healthy did the deceased appear to be?            She had Parkinson's before she died and could barely walk, her hands were all deformed and she couldn't speak well, she appeared as she was before her diagnosis.  She stood firm, no shakes or infirmities.

            Is there any possibility what you saw was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?           No

Did you smell a distinct smell, scent, fragrance or odor associated with the deceased?      Yes

            What smell, scent, fragrance or odor did you smell?           Yes, I smelled her house.  It was a full sensory dream.  I could smell her home and I could feel the carpet beneath my feet.  I could see the glare from the sun in the backyard shining through the window.

            Was the smell, scent, fragrance or odor familiar?     Very familiar.  I could smell my grandfather's pipe tobacco.  The smell of the wood burning pit in the backyard and the smell of her laundry soap coming from the laundry room which is right beside the living room.  My grandfather always had something burning in his pit.

            Was anything communicated by the smell?   Not directly.  I mean it brought back memories, but the communication was verbal.

            Is there any possibility that the smell, scent, fragrance or odor was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?        No.  No one in my home smokes.  I live in the city and no one is allowed to burn in the city limits.  Beside it would be highly improbable that anyone would have been burning leaves or what not that early in the morning.

How long did the experience last?        Only for a few moments.

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?         The beginning and the end were sudden.  One moment I was there and when it was over I was not there.

Could you sense the emotions or mood of the deceased?           Yes

She seemed very removed despite her smile as if she was here for business not pleasure.  She delivered her message and then she was gone.

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?  Yes.  She told me my mom had cancer and my mom did have cancer.  Had it not been for the vision I would not have urged my mom who was against doctors to go and get checked.

How do you currently view the reality of your experience?           Experience was definitely real

            Please explain why you view the reality of your experience as real or not real:           I dream quite a bit and I know that this experience was not a dream because I was lucid ad the dream environment was lucid and everything about the dream was palpable.  I woke up instantly reliving the experience as if I had really been there, though I could not remember my grandmother's words I remembered everything else.  I also would not have dreamt of my grandmother because we were not close.  I grew up in the military and only saw her on a few Christmases and a few weddings.  I did not even really know her that well and felt only sadness for my mom when she passed.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   No

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:           It was kind of funny because I didn't think it was odd at all to be in my grandmother's living room.  My grandfather had sold the house after my grandmother passed and I had not been in the house for years, yet it was exactly the way it was my last visit.  I didn't have time to really delve into wows and what not's because everything happened rather quickly.

Was there any emotional healing in any way following the experience?           No

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      At first my mom was skeptical because she wondered why her mom came to me.  I had to stay firm to convince everyone that I was indeed telling the truth.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         Yes                 Describe:            Yes.  I got to have seven wonderful years with my mother.  Years I would not have had otherwise and I enjoyed every moment of those seven years.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   No       Not fundamentally.  It more or less confirmed what I already believed.

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?            Yes     It made me realize that God allows family to return to warn their loved ones of certain things.  It gave me hope that I am being looked after from up above.

Death Compacts are when two or more living people promise among themselves that whoever dies first will try to contact the other(s).  Have you ever made such a compact?        Yes

No.  This was between my mom and me when she was dying.  Before she died I said you need to do something when you pass to let us know that you are okay like something that wouldn't ordinarily happen.  My mom passed May 18th 2008 and as she passed she threw up bile and other stuff from her insides and it got all over her bed and pillows.  I was there when my dad and sister put them in the garbage bag, for crying out loud I held the bag!  I went to bed later that morning and I noticed this green checkered pillow on my bed.  I took it out of the room and asked if it belonged to anyone.  My dad almost fainted.  He said where did you get that?  I said it was laying on my bed.  They went and checked the garbage out back and there was only one pillow in the bag.  That was my sign from my mom that she was okay!  I sleep with that pillow every night.  I love you, mom!

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          Yes .. the warning about my mom.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            I was very excited.  I knew it was a visitation and I couldn't wait to tell my mom, however I was very upset to find out she had cancer.  I never doubted the message at all.  I knew they would find cancer and when they didn't a voice within me told me to keep urging her on.  I knew that what I had been told was the truth.

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?           No

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   Uncertain

It seemed to feel as if I was in a vacuum or a bubble.

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?    No

Did you become aware of future events?       Yes

I was told my mom had cancer.  That was correct.

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?         No

Nothing changed about me at all.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     Uncertain

I don't feel as if I separated from my consciousness.

Did you meet or see any other beings other than the deceased?           No

Did you see a light?           No

Did any part of your experience seem to occur in a place other than the location described above?            No

Have you shared this experience with others?        

Yes     My family was very excited to hear a message from my grandma.  It is almost like getting a card from them because it is contact.

Have you shared this experience formally or informally with any other researcher or web site?   No

This is the first site.

 Is there anything else you would like to add regarding your experience?       No.

Were there any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience?            No

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?         No 

Did you ever in your life have a near-death experience, out of body experience or other spiritual event?           Yes 

In 1999, I was sitting at the table eating lunch with my mom when I hiccupped.  I had been drinking Dr. Pepper and drank too fast.  I hiccupped for a second time before I could take a deep breath.  Normally all this does is give you a terrible pain in your chest but this time I felt myself fading away.  Almost like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future when his parents are trying to kiss at the dance.  I said I don't think I feel well and then sloped over my plate.  I was instantly in another place.  I was at a beach.  there were five or six people to my left and a lady from church in front of me smiling. (The woman had recently passed away)  She reached out and tried to lift my head but it was so heavy.  I was still tied to my body.  I noticed that there was no surf.  Just still water even though we appeared to be on the shoreline.  I knew that I must somehow know these people to my left.  It felt like a receiving line of sorts.  Before I could interact fully with this small group of people I came back into consciousness with my mother standing over me.  It was like my mom was pulling me back.  She was shaking me and I could hear her calling my name.

Did the questions asked and information you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?               Yes

Please offer any suggestions you may have to improve this questionnaire.    No