When my father
was dying of cancer I took him for his final visit to church to light a candle,
(a ritual he did weekly). As we reached the front door of the church we noticed
a dead monarch butterfly on the ground and had to step over it to go inside the
church, which we did without mentioning it, but I knew we had both been
uncomfortable in doing so. When my Dad's last hour came I was 2000 miles away so
said my goodbyes to him by phone, then went to the church to light a candle for
him ,(not a ritual for me), and then to the catholic cemetery nearby to be alone
so I could cry. As I was sitting there in my car with the radio on the station
played my father's favorite song, "Time to say goodbye", by Andrea Bocelli and I
watched as a beautiful monarch butterfly flew in front of my car, and landed on
a heart-shaped flower arrangement with the word DAD in the middle, and then back
over to my car, landing on the windshield. For the next several weeks I would
see butterflies on a daily basis, one of them landing on my shoe while sitting
outside on my break at work. I would like to think that it was my Dad, letting
me know that he is as free as the butterflies, and never too far from me.
Was this experience difficult to express in words? Yes
It
was hard to explain without worrying what others would think
Did
you ONLY sense an awareness of presence of the deceased without actually seeing,
hearing, feeling or smelling them? Yes
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: his favorite
song was on the radio
Did
you see the deceased? No
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: Cannot accept
it as a coincidence
Was the experience dream like in any way? No
Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:
felt sad
at not being able to be with my Dad, and sad that he had suffered
Was
there any emotional healing in any way following the experience?
Yes
can't
really describe, I guess it helped me to believe more in life after death
What
was the best and worst part of your experience? there was no
worst part
Has
your life changed specifically as a result of your experience? Yes
Describe: have stronger
faith, take less for granted, value people more
Did
you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?Yes
more
faith
Did
the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death,
afterlife, God, etc.? Yes
Was
the experience witnessed or experienced by others? Yes
Did
you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or
purpose? Yes, a sense
of peace
Have
you shared this experience with others? Yes,
ranged from gratitude to you're wacky
Have
you shared this experience formally or informally with any other researcher or
web site? 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? No
Did
the questions asked and information you provided accurately and comprehensively
describe your experience? Yes