I was going through an unusually bad time in my life (for my age group) and was contemplating suicide. My life was in the gutter it seemed, and with no hope for the future. I was in a severe depression for quite a while until one night when I went to sleep. Sometime in the late morning hours while I was asleep I went "somewhere". A man who I had never seen before appeared to me and told me that someone wanted to talk to me. He took me to a place in a split second (no tunnels) and we were outside of a white "gate" where another man was standing, he was doing something, but I don't know what. The man at the gate seemed to know why I was there, but I still didn't. Then the man who came and got me told me to come with him. I wasn't at all scared, this place was very calm and peaceful, and I knew no one was going to hurt me, and for some reason I was glad to be there. We were walking, and I was looking at the surroundings in awe, everything was perfect. Everything was a subtle gleaming white, the ground below me was almost iridescent, and there were several other things that were gleaming white, but I didn't know what they were. The were some people milling about, and as I watched them I thought they were "working", attending to some sort of business. They didn't tell me, but I knew I was nothing "new" there, they knew why I was there but they didn't care. The man I was walking with wasn't saying anything, and I could see we were being approached by another man. When he got about 10 feet from me I was stunned to realize that he was my father, I had forgotten what he looked like up until that point, and double stunned to see how short he was and how small his "bone structure" was. (When I was little, he looked like he towered over me.) But it was him, and I could see that he was still "alive", just as he always was. The only thing I couldn't figure out was why he summoned me there, which I knew he did, and why God allowed it. The following is most (if not all) of the conversation that took place verbally:

He said "You know who I am."

"yes." I said

"How are you doing?"

"I'm good."

"I wanted to see you because I know you are going through a hard time and I'm worried about you."

(I didn't answer him.)

"How is your mother?" he asked.

I said "She's okay."

(He then asked me about my brothers and sister and I answered him, wondering why I was there. He then starts to talk about my mother again, who he had left years earlier even though he battled cancer for years prior to leaving.)

"I want you to know that I always loved your mother." he said. "I wasn't perfect when I was there. I was sick and so was she, and we couldn't take care of each other. We were hurting each other. Life was very hard, but it's easy here, not like it was there...... It's not your time to come here yet."

(I didn't answer but I knew why I was there at this point.)

Dad: "I know how hard your life has been, but it's why we're there, to experience the things that we can't experience here.  My life was hard and I suffered with cancer, and this is my reward, but I came here when I was finished there. You have a lot to do yet, a lot of years left to accomplish things and grow older. It's different here, there is no weather, it's never cold or hot, there's no night and day, there is no fighting, no pain, ....there is nothing bad here. I suffered so much pain with cancer, but once I left, it was gone...."(I could see and feel what he was talking about, and I would have stayed if I could have.) Someday, when your life is finished there, this is where you'll be, this is what you're working for. I want you to go back and I will see you again someday, but not until the time is right. You have a lot to do yet."

I understood his every sentence with its full meaning. I thought to myself 'go back and finish your life so you can get back here.'

The man who brought me there instinctively came over.

"Tell your brothers and sister I said hi." he said. I told him I would and I said bye to him. I knew for sure he would still be there and I would see him again.

We went back to the gate and when I went through it I opened my eyes and I was wide awake in my bed looking at the ceiling.

Everything written here is true, but may not be in the chronological order of what was said. Obviously he did all the talking, I didn't know him well. I can still envision and feel it as if it happened yesterday, the color and the peace cannot realistically be described. It is something that does not exist for us here, their world is not like our world.

      If you heard a voice or sound, was it similar or dissimilar to the voice or sound the deceased made when they were alive?  the same

      How clearly did you hear the deceased?  very, as if he were here with me right now

      Is there any possibility that what you heard was from any other source in the surroundings at the time of your experience?  not a chance

Did you see the deceased?  Yes

      Describe the appearance of the deceased:  I had only a vague memory of what he looked like until I saw him again. We had no pictures, and I had only seen him a couple of times within the last five years of his life, the last two times were within the last few months of his life. (I was 11 years old when he passed on.)

      How clearly did the deceased appear?  As clearly as if he was sitting next to me.

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

      Did the deceased appear or not appear to be the age at which they died?  The same age as when he died.

      How healthy did the deceased appear to be?  Very healthy.

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

Could you sense the emotions or mood of the deceased?  upbeat, concerned.
      Describe:  upbeat, concerned.

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?  Yes. He reiterated what I was already seeing and feeling.

How do you currently view the reality of your experience:  Experience was definitely real
     
Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:  I was very calm even though I didn't know where I was or why I was there. And then stunned when I first saw him. I knew I was alive and I was thinking "What I am doing here?" During the experience, I've never experienced that kind of calm or peace, not before or since then.
     
          I know without a doubt that a better life exists outside our world. After that experience, I wished that I could rush through this life to get there. I couldn't wait to get there, but I knew that it was not an option for me anymore.

Was there any emotional healing in any way following the experience?  Yes
      Describe:  All thoughts of suicide vanished.

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?  Yes
      Describe:  Definitely. I knew for sure that God exists, I knew for sure that when I died I would not be "dead". I knew that I did not have to be perfect and that if I made mistakes during my life here, I would not be condemned to hell. (My grandparents were very religious, and I was very afraid of hell when I was very young.)

Did you see a light?  Yes

      Describe:  The brightest bright, but not blinding.

Did you meet or see any other beings other than the deceased?  Yes

      Describe:  I don't know who they were. They were "working."

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

      Describe:  There was no "time" there as we know it here.

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

      Describe:  I knew that this was going to be "hard knocks" here. That "place" was the reward for living in this world and doing the best we can here.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?  Yes

      Describe:  I was more upbeat, my depression lifted.

Has the experience affected your relationships?  Daily life?  Religious practices etc.?  Career choices?  It was difficult that time actually. I couldn't tell anyone out of fear of what they would think. After a few years, life basically went back to normal until my daughter was killed this past June. And then I questioned my own experience until I had an ADC (from either God or my daughter) about 1 1/2 days after her death. If people who have crossed over actually have a "life review", it was from my daughter. If not, it was from God.

Have you shared this experience with others?  Yes

      Describe:  They know me, so they didn't doubt me.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?  Uncertain

      Describe:  Yes, but a combination of this experience and ADC's with my daughter. The ADC with my father was too long ago, so the effect of it wore off in a sense. Once my daughter was killed, the combination is too strong for me to go back to thinking of just the here and now.