I am a teacher.  On my way to work this morning I started to feel very ill with shivers, chills, nausea and a very sore throat.  It spread to my ears.  I was shivering uncontrollably and I developed a fever,  but it was too late to call in sick.  It takes a few hours to arrange a substitute teacher.  My teaching duties ended at 1:30 pm and I was supposed to stay at work until 3:10 on my preparation / break time.  I was so sick I asked if I could leave at 1:30 and I was given permission to go. 

I started to head home at 1:30 and remembered that I had to pick up my daughter from high school near my work.  Her day doesn't end until 3:10.  I texted her that I was sick and I would pick her up early but she didn't get the text or reply.  I was too sick to go into her school and sign her out / call for her.   

I went in a grocery store to kill the time because my cupboards were bare at home. I knew I would want hot soup, beverages, toast, etc. over the weekend.  I knew that once I got home I wouldn't have the energy to go buy food for another few days, so I had to do it then. 

My older child, my son, is 17.  He has been in Europe touring WW 1 and WW2 sites such as Berlin, Amsterdam, Poland (Auschwitz), Belgium (Flanders Field), Dieppe and Normandy.  He is coming home in two days and I know he will want a lot of comfort food so I was also picking up lots of food for his return in 48 hours. 

In the store I kept on crossing paths with a very  old lady.  She kept saying things to me but she had an accent and I couldn't hear her. I thought she was likely mumbling to herself so I pretty  much ignored her but everywhere that I went, she was there, pushing her cart with shaking hands.  She was very slow but I was also slow because of my illness. 

She smiled at me every time I saw her, even though my  head was down and I was bundled in my winter coat with shivers and a fever. 

At the check out she was right behind me again.   She said hello to me and said this, out of the blue, with perfect clarity and conviction:  "You are a beautiful mother.  Your son is very lucky.  He is coming thousands of miles to see you and you have bought such hearty food for his return.  You are beautiful and you are a good mother, a very good mother...."   I was speechless because how would she know this?  I said "you are right, he is in Europe and coming home".  I said he is in Normandy today and flying home from Paris on Sunday.  She said, "I know, dear.  He is coming home to you. You are a beautiful mother. He is very lucky".  She told me that she was from Hungary and that Normandy is beautiful. 

I loaded my cart to leave the store and turned around to offer her help with her own bags.  She was right behind me in the line when I was paying, and I had seen her start to check through the cashier, but when I looked back (only steps away from where I had paid), she was gone.  A different customer was in the line with a full pile of groceries. 

I asked the cashier where the old lady went (she had heard us talking) and she said she had looked away for a moment and the lady vanished (and her food -- which had only been a couple of items).  She said maybe she went back to get another item in the rows of groceries.  I can't imagine that she could have walked that quickly that neither of us would see her.  She appeared about 90 years old. 

I scoured through the store but couldn't find her. 

There is only one exit from the store and I watched the exit while searching the rows for her.  Even when I went out of the store to my car, I sat in the parking lot watching the exit of the store to see her come out.  I had to kill time waiting for my daughter so I waited in the parking lot for about fifteen minutes.  The old Hungarian lady did not come out of the store.  She virtually disappeared. 

I am convinced that she was some sort of an angel, there to reassure me that my son will come home safely, that he loves and misses me, and that I am doing well as a single mother despite the exhaustion and stress I usually feel. 

I think this woman was an apparition or an angel.  Today is 11 11 11 and there is supposed to be some kind of divine wisdom imparted today.  I am sick in bed now but can't stop marveling about what happened at the check out line. 

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:    The lady told me I am a beautiful, good mother, and that my son was travelling thousands of miles to enjoy the food I was buying.  She had no way of knowing this.  She was a virtual stranger.

            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? 

We had a perfectly vivid conversation.  She was a solid woman (not transparent or ghostly), but then she vanished.

            Is there any possibility what you heard was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?           No, even the cashier heard and saw her.

            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 a very old lady with a winter coat and a hat with a flower on it.   I mostly remember her waxy hands clenching the shopping cart, and the way she smiled so brightly.

            How clearly did the deceased appear?            Totally real.

            How much of the deceased did you see?       All of her.

            Did the deceased appear or not appear to be the age at which they died?       80 - 90 years old.

            How healthy did the deceased appear to be?            She was independently mobile, yet slow and a bit shaky.

            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?      No

How long did the experience last?        I had to kill a whole hour in the grocery store, waiting to pick up my daughter from her high school.  The old lady was there the whole time, I kept bumping into her.  Our conversation in the check out line was about two minutes long before she entirely disappeared.

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?         It began just normally (seeing a fellow shopper in a store), but she vanished when I rolled my cart away from the check out.

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

She was joyful, and very happy for me to be seeing my son.

She knew (inexplicably) that I had a son, that he was far away, and that I was buying food for him.

Nothing in my cart was obvious about being for this occasion.

I am only 43 and many people don't think I look old enough to have children, let alone teenagers, let alone a son old enough to be off in Europe on his own...  So the comments were totally shocking.

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?  She said it was a beautiful day in Normandy, France (today) but we were in Toronto Canada and she was from Hungary, so why did she know this?  I checked the weather network at home and it was considerably warmer in Normandy today, than Toronto.

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:           The cashier also saw her, and knew that she had vanished with her cart in the few seconds that we both looked away.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   No

The only thing is that I did have a fever, but the cashier validated that she had seen her, too.

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:           I was totally shocked, thinking she was just a psychic.  I didn't realize she was an angel until she vanished.

Was there any emotional healing in any way following the experience?           Yes

I have been missing my son a lot, and she let me know he will come home safely.  She also reassured me that I am beautiful (feeling so ugly today with my fever), and a good mom (I am a single mom, so I am always doubting myself).  I needed to hear this.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      I wish I could see her again.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         Yes                 Describe:      I am now interested in angels, guardian angels, etc.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Yes     I have always believed in ghosts, but I hadn't thought much about angels before.

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?            Uncertain     

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?     No

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          N0 response Yes, the cashier heard us talking.  The old lady was excited about a $6.00 chicken she was going to purchase.  Then she vanished.


What emotions did you feel during the experience?            Considerable wonder.

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?           Yes

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

The only weird thing about "time" is that she was always there with her cart, no matter what aisle I went down.  She was very slow and even though I was sick, I'm sure I was moving faster than her.  Then in the check out all I did was move my cart five feet toward the exit and turn around to help her, but she was gone.  All the cashier did was turn her head for a moment and the lady was gone.  The timing was impossible.

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?    Yes

I think she was an angel to cheer me.   I have no idea who she would be.  It was interesting that she was European when my son is in Europe.

Did you become aware of future events?       Yes

Yes, that my son will come home safely in two days.

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

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     No

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     I told my boyfriend.  He had an NDE in 1979, where he saw the light and was given all the answers to every question in the universe.  He was told to come back.  He knows that there is another side and he believed my story as 100% truth.  I did not tell my daughter when I picked her up.  By then I was too sick and Just wanted to go to bed.

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