My very good friends daughter, Shelley, died suddenly of a drug overdose on Saturday. She had been in and out of rehab for years. No one could ever say she didnt try hard to conquer her demons but in the end she lost. The last rehab she went to was a one in which that my daughter, also Shelleys friend, worked in the rehab office. This was Shelleys last resort as she had tried every rehab locally available. Unfortunately, Shelley left the rehab before the program was completed. While she was there she had been making quilts as part of her rehab. She was making a special one to give to her parents, who had stood by her through all of her trials.

My daughter called me the following day after Shelleys death to let me know Shelley was gone. My friends, Shelleys parents called me soon after. I felt very sad and spent the rest of the day watching copies of old Long Island Medium shows my husband had gotten for me since he knew I am skeptical yet open to such things. I found the show entertaining but not totally convincing.

Later on that night, while settling down in bed, I kept noticing an unusual smell which was just like the musty smell of an old storage trunk we had when I was a child. We stored Christmas ornaments in ours but most people kept blankets in theirs and whenever I saw one I assumed it held blankets.

I ignored the smell but when it returned I said to myself, Maybe it is one of my symbols like the Long Island Mediums symbols and what does this symbol mean to me Storage. I then remembered that Shelley had been making quilts in rehab where my daughter works so I called my daughter and asked if she would look to see if Shelley had left anything behind like a quilt because I thought her parents would like to have something like that to remember her by. My daughter said that there was nothing left there but then she suddenly remembered that Shelley had called her a while ago asking her to look for a quilt she had left behind. My daughter promised me she would look for the quilt and I felt satisfied that if there was something to it then I had done my duty by passing on the message.

My friends, Shelleys parents, told me on Tuesday that a quilt had been found with Shelleys personal belongings and I promised them I would let my daughter know that she no longer needed to look because the quilt had been found. So I had a little laugh at myself for thinking that it was a communication from Shelley. That night the old storage trunk smell came back. Now I knew I had been silly because that smell must be just something in the house since the quilt had been found.

The following day I sent my daughter a text with the time and date of Shelleys funeral and told her that the quilt had been found. She texted back, Huh? I found a quilt. There was a second quilt. That quilt was a good metaphor for Shelleys life: Patched together, yet beautiful but unfinished. Her parents were very happy to hear from the rehab manager that there was another quilt made by Shelley. Her parents later told me it would be cherished as much the first quilt.

I dont know why I smelled that old storage trunk but it did enable the forgotten second quilt to be given to Shelleys grateful parents.  

Was the 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? Uncertain 

Did you hear the deceased or hear something associated with the deceased?   No                                   

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

Did you see the deceased?   No                      

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

What smell, scent, fragrance or odor did you smell?    an old musty storage trunk that we had when I was a child

Was the smell, scent, fragrance or odor familiar?    yes familiar, as describe above

Was anything communicated by the smell?    That it was for storage and storage made me think of "Shelley's" storage and that made me think of her quilts

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?    None that I am aware of. I have not smelled it since the Wednesday following her death and since the quilt was found. I don't rule out that the smell may come back again and the source would then be discovered. I didn't smell it before or since but then it has only been a few days since I last smelled it.

Could you sense the emotions or mood of the deceased?   No    

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?   Yes, that there was a quilt there at the rehab. Everyone involved believed there was no other quilt until it was found.    N0 comment    These things are never 100% proof. They always leave a little doubt.

Was the experience dream like in any way?    No   

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

What was the best and worst part of your experience?    The best was the surprise that there was another quilt and it possible would not have been found had I not smelled the storage trunk and asked my daughter to look for one in the rehab house's storage.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?    No        

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?    No   

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?    No    

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?   Yes found a forgotten quilt

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?    Uncertain    Other people were involved and I mentioned to my daughter that the smell had prompted my call but she seemed to pass it over as insignificant as it may be

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?       No   

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

Did you become aware of future events?           No   

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    My daughter and my husband. Not much of a reaction. I didn't actually mention the whole event as they were there and heard everything as it happened. Only I am impressed by it because I smelled the old trunk and I thought to follow it and I was aware of the whole episode and only I attributed something to it.

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

Is there anything else you would like to add regarding your experience?    I think it is interesting but certainly no proof. It would take a lot to convince me.

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?   Uncertain    I smell all sorts of things like everyone else but don't attribute them to anything.

Did you ever in your life have a near-death experience, out of body experience or other spiritual event?      Yes    Spiritual events. Knowing that all things in life are as they should be. The wind blows, things grow and die, wars are fought, good and bad things happen and it is all part of some plan. Nothing is not part of the plan. This knowing came to me as I watched the wind blow the trees and saw the rhythm in it.

I have the originals but I blocked out my daughters phone number and the deceaseds name and the name of the rehab where my daughter works which is on the dedication sewn onto the missing quilt after Shelley death. I also removed my daughters phone number from the text. I didnt make any other changes to the text. I thought you might be interested to see them. The green quilt ( the green is not very evident from the indoor photo) is the forgotten quilt that was found as a result of the old trunk smell which set the search for the quilt in motion.

Experience description 1/24/2014:  

I have always been afraid of death but over the years with a lot of reading I have relaxed somewhat. One morning I decided to ask for a sign that life goes on. I had never tried that before.  I said in my head, Dad, please give me a sign there is life after death. Dont wait too long. Please let me know within twenty-four hours. I went about my daily business and nothing happened.

When I was young my dad told me that he would order a pentagraph for me from the back of a comic book so that I could enlarge and copy drawings.  I was very excited about this pentagraph and waited and waited but it didnt come. I asked my dad about it once and he told me it just didnt come. Even though I was young I suspected that he didnt get around to ordering it and I thought about this from time to time over the years. It was the only time my father had let me down. I grew up and became a graphic artist and there were many other things to enlarge images but I never forgot the pentagram that never came and had even complained about it to my husband.

So the following morning I went to the community centre to start a course and when the instructor opened up the supply box sitting on the top of all the supplies was a brand new pristine 1960s style boxed pentagraph exactly like the one in the back of the comics. I exclaimed, Where did you get that from? and the instructor said, I dont know. Ive never seen it before.

My husband thought it was a great sign that my dad finally came through. I have come to the conclusion that nothing short of dying will convince me 100% that there is life after death. Ill just have to wait and see for myself when I die.

Did you hear the deceased or hear something associated with the deceased?          No

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

Did you see the deceased?         No

Did you smell a distinct smell, scent, fragrance or odor associated with the deceased?      No

How long did the experience last?        a few seconds

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?         sudden

Could you sense the emotions or mood of the deceased?           No

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?  that he finally "gave" me the pentagraph he had promised me.

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:           It happened when I was wide awake and in public

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   No

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:           Amazement

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

I stopped hoping for signs of continued life after death

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      The best was that it happened at all. The worst is that I will never be convinced.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         No               

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Yes            Understood that I can never truly know the truth about life after death

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?   Yes     We can only, at best, be 99% certain that life continues without having a near death experience.

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

a compact with my sister and my husband. Both are alive.

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?     No
What emotions did you feel during the experience?            Felt it could be the sign I asked for. I realized then that no sign would be enough to convince me that life continues after death.

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?           Yes

The instructor but she was not aware of the significance of the item.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   No

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

Did you become aware of future events?       No

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     My husband. He felt it was a strong and definite sign that life continues and my dad had finally come through with the pentagraph.

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

 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 

After death communication through dreams or awake.