I had this extraordinary dream around the age of 26, though I can’t remember the exact date. It wasn’t a near-death experience but something that felt just as powerful. I grew up in New Jersey, just outside Philadelphia, with a close-knit group of friends. Our lifestyle was rough and, sadly, I lost many of them to death. Two of my closest friends from that time were Willie, known as Little Will, and Tony. Willie had passed away after being hit by a car; there was some suspicion about the circumstances involving a girl he was with, but it was never fully resolved. When I had this dream, Tony was still alive, though we hadn’t been in touch since Willie's funeral.

When Willie died, I was on my way to a job interview. I couldn’t finish it. I remember asking if I could leave halfway through, explaining what had happened, and the interviewer must’ve seen my distress because he let me go without hesitation. I drove straight to Willie’s house, and when I arrived, his mother was sitting by the window, just staring out. From the street, I asked her if it was true, and she nodded. We broke down together, though I was still outside.

Some time later, while my wife was staying with her mother, I spent the night at my father’s house and fell asleep on his couch. It was during this sleep that I had the most vivid dream of my life—a dream so clear that I remember every detail to this day. I was driving through my neighborhood in a car I didn’t own, with the music playing. Out of nowhere, Willie appeared on my windshield, his arms stretched out, his face bloody. I slammed on the brakes, jumped out, and saw him standing in front of the car. As I ran toward him, he kept moving back, almost teleporting away each time I got closer. He told me that I couldn’t touch him and that he didn’t have much time but had asked for permission to see me.

Willie never spoke out loud. Instead, he communicated with me telepathically, and I sensed he was hiding his mouth because of the blood. I told him how much I missed and loved him, and he acknowledged that he knew. It felt like he could see everything—my thoughts, my emotions, my life. He then asked me to deliver a message to Tony, to tell him to call his mom. I tried to explain that I hadn’t been in contact with Tony since the funeral, that I didn’t know how to reach him, but Willie kept pulling away until he disappeared around a corner.

When I woke up, I was struck by sheer terror—a fear unlike anything I’d ever known. I barely managed to get up and went straight to my father’s room to tell him what had happened. It was exactly 3 a.m. when I woke him. Without hesitation, my father handed me his keys and told me we needed to find Tony so I could deliver Willie’s message. I told him I didn’t know how to find Tony, but my father calmly reassured me, saying it would come to me.

That morning, I went to my wife’s mother’s house to tell her about the dream. As I was recounting it, her phone rang, and her face went pale. She handed me the phone—it was Tony calling from Miami. A friend of ours had run into Tony while on vacation and had given him our number. After I told Tony about the dream, I stressed how important it was for him to call Willie’s mother, then hung up, too emotional to continue the conversation. I never found out if he followed through, and Tony passed away shortly afterward. I didn’t get the chance to discuss it with him.

Years later, my cousin, who had recently lost his father, called me out of the blue. He was deeply troubled and began sharing a dream where his father had called him, saying he was cold and that he missed him. As he described the dream, he mentioned waking up with the same intense terror I had felt. I realized that he had reached out to me to validate his experience, and I shared my own. We both cried, realizing that these dreams had left us changed.

My story might not be as dramatic as others’, but it’s deeply real to me. I’m willing to testify to it under any circumstance because it changed me profoundly. I used to live recklessly, but over time, I became more empathetic, more understanding of others’ struggles. I don’t share this story often, but when I do, it reminds me of the depth of that experience and of the unbreakable connections we carry across life and death.

At the time of your experience was there an associated life-threatening event?   No 

Was the experience difficult to express in words?  Uncertain     I don't really know how to process that that happened even though it was 20 years ago I'm just right now coming to terms with somebody reached out to me from the other side and that this is real I don't know if it's traumatic for me or not but I can't help but get emotional whatever I talk about it so I don't talk about it much because I cry. Kind of embarrassing

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness?      3am  When I woke up I looked at the clock and it was a thing I remember the time had significance I don't know how But that is never left my mind

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness?      More consciousness and alertness than normal   Yes will said to me he knew that I loved him but when he said I know I knew that he could see my emotions I knew he could see that I wasn't lying and that he could see everything that he knew everything And I knew that it was speaking to him

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience.   The setting around us seem to be like pictures or how film would look like we looked as if we were in like film versions of ourselves as if like a movie from the 90s early 2000s I may not be explaining that well but

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience.   I don't recall hearing any better  But we were communicating through our mind so I could hear him speak when he was Down the block because he kept backing away from me so that I wouldn't Touch him

Did you see or hear any earthly events that were occurring during a time that your consciousness / awareness was apart from your physical / earthly body?   No  

What emotions did you feel during the experience?   I felt his love I felt shame for not expressing it to him would he was alive I felt very high anxiety And when I woke up out of my dream again I felt pure terror  

Did you pass into or through a tunnel?   No  

Did you see an unearthly light?   No  

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice?   No

Did you encounter or become aware of any beings who previously lived on earth who are described by name in religions (for example: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.)?   No  

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings?   Yes   It was just my friend will it was just me and him but he was not being a attack as it might sound he was wearing the clothes that he would wear if he were Going Out I'll remember his outfit till today he

had on a light blue Eddie Bower jacket with a white and blue pullover some blue jeans and some white and blue Jordans. I remember thinking that his outfit was nice and that it was white and blue because he was in heaven

Did you become aware of past events in your life during your experience?   No  

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world?   No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down?   No

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything?   Everything about myself or others.  Again when will told me that he knew I loved him it was like I can't explain it I just was certain that he knew everything like more than our lives he knew everything about the universe about history he knew everything from the metaphysical to the physical just as if he went somewhere to a school of learning

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?   No

Did you come to a border or point of no return?   No

Did scenes from the future come to you?  No 

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness suggesting that there either is (or is not) continued existence after earthly life (“life after death”)?   Yes   Just that will had told me he wanted me to tell my other friend Tony something and then the next day I got a surprise phone call from Tony

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness that God or a supreme being either does (or does not) exist?   Yes   I could tell from how will was dressed that he was next to God I know how stupid that sounds my dead friend in a dream had on white and blue Jordans and white and blue outfit so he knew God but I felt that

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness that you either did (or did not) exist prior to this lifetime?   Yes   Only that he knew I loved him but that 1 statement was profoundly deep

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness that a mystical universal connection or unity/oneness either does (or does not) exist?   Uncertain   I didn't have a near death experience and again just when my friend spoke to me is the dream I could feel that he had had a experience At the highest of levels

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness regarding earthly life’s meaning or purpose?   No  

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness regarding earthly life’s difficulties, challenges, or hardships?   No  

During your experience, did you encounter any specific information / awareness regarding love?   Yes   I could feel that love is a big deal I don't know how But love is the glue or the phone or something

During your experience, did you encounter any other specific information / awareness that you have not shared in other questions that is relevant to living our earthly lives?   No  

Did you have a sense of knowing special knowledge or purpose?   No  

What occurred during your experience included:   Content that was entirely not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience.   I will follow and study better physical stories in commentary or testimonies today but I didn't know anything about them at the time of this dream I don't even know much about them now I'm probably using the wrong words I'm not a very religious person or some spiritual guru type a guy I'm just a dude

How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience?   I remember the experience more accurately than other life events that occurred around the time of the experience   Like I stated before I can remember every second and every detail of that dream 20 years later

Discuss any changes that might have occurred in your life after your experience:   My empathy towards others it wasn't an overnight experience it was something that developed over time the stories as they came and everything that's coming into my life as of lately I am extremely empathetic selfless I don't care about money or fame or women anything of that stuff everything inside of me today just wants do help others

My experience directly resulted in:   Large changes in my life

Did you have any changes in your values or beliefs after the experience that occurred as a result of the experience?   Yes   I was a drug dealer and a gang member of sorts and and again it wasn't an overnight process is just overtime I've become more in tune with my fellow man just I don't want to create any NE else's life and if I cannot want to bring positivity into someone else's life I feel like that's What this is about me writing here is just somewhere where I can share this story been in my brain for 20 years

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience?   Uncertain   I have always been very good at reading emotions or characters of people and I'm uncertain if it was because of an experience or not but I'm I know that I am an empath

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you?     The whole experience was meaningful it's why I'm writing to you

Have you ever shared this experience with others?   Yes  I shared my experience with my father the second happened I shared my experience with my wife the next morning and I just told it to my sons in speaking about my beliefs towards the afterlife or the spiritual

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience?   No  

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened:   Experience was definitely real   No like I said I felt that the experience was real but me as a person didn't involve for years

What do you believe about the reality of your experience at the current time:   Experience was definitely real   Hearing other people's testimonies through this website and others plus my cousin calling me and having an entirely similar situation set it in Stone for me I believe

Have your relationships changed specifically as a result of your experience?   I tell the people that I love them while I have them here   Yes

Have your religious beliefs/spiritual practices changed specifically as a result of your experience?   Uncertain   I wasn't religious at all before and I'm turned off by preachers but The preacher isn't the church and the church feels safe to me

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience?   No  

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience?   Well the deaths of my friends and who they where would have been recorded but nothing of my experience

Did the questions asked and information that you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?   Yes  I feel like I got to explain myself in detail