EXPERIENCE DESCRIPTION 2512:

After returning from choir practice on Tuesday afternoon I sat in the Living room to have tea and read the newspaper, and watch the snow and wind begin. We have been hit by a storm nicknamed 'The Beast from the East' and the snow was beginning to lie. Suddenly the air was filled with a lovely perfume which didn't last long. At bedtime I was kept awake with the wind and hail battering against the windows and worry about my husband who had phoned to say he had arrived in London for a business meeting but had gone with the bare minimum as usual and didn't heed my advice to maybe take an extra layer of clothing!  I was charging my electric toothbrush in the bathroom.  I tossed and turned and fretted about the road conditions the next day and how I was to collect my husband from the London train line a half hour's drive away. I opened my eyes and saw a figure right next to the bed and exclaimed, thinking my husband was unexpectedly back home. The body was outlined in the flashes from the toothbrush charging next door. Immediately I saw this was a larger person (my son was 6 feet 5 inches tall and broadly built), also not wearing my husband's formal dark trousers, but beige casual trousers, the last ones he wore. As soon as I exclaimed, the vision vanished.

Another time recently, it was at the back of my mind that both times, the one when I heard his voice in December and the one on Tuesday when he appeared beside the bed (!) I had been idly looking at a tribute page set up on a business website by some university friends of my son shortly beforehand. These are the only two occasions when I had looked at the website recently and both times have triggered this paranormal response very quickly. The voice on the first occasion and the lovely perfume on the second, followed that night by the appearance.

After your experience, did you consider the contents of your experience:         Mixed

Have you had multiple experiences?  Yes    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? No

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

Did you see the deceased?       Yes

As soon as I recognized the build and general clothing of my son I kept my head still as I was shocked and scared. I had no time to move my head and take in the whole appearance, which was very close to me, so only saw the lower half. I had the impression the top half was lost in darkness.

            How clearly did the deceased appear?           It happened so quickly that I have only retained impressions, but quite solid as outlined against the flashes, but somewhat transparent.

            How much of the deceased did you see?            The lower half (grateful for that!!)

            Did the deceased appear or not appear to be the age at which they died?        Age at death

            How healthy did the deceased appear to be?            I always think of Stuart as healthy as he was struck down so quickly, five weeks from diagnosis to death.

            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?   Yes

           What smell, scent, fragrance or odor did you smell?          A lovely fragrance earlier in the day.

           Was the smell, scent, fragrance or odor familiar?      No, Maybe floral

           Was anything communicated by the smell?           No

           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?           No, I usually open a window, but not that day as snowing and blowing a gale. No flowers in bloom! I don't use scented candles or room sprays.

How long did the experience last?      2 seconds

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?          I opened my eyes and the figure was there, but disappeared quickly

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

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?  None, but I just thought this was a classic Stuart prank: to appear like this to scare his mum on a dark and stormy night. He was dramatic and had a sense of fun, appearing in the town panto as a chief comedy character for 8 years running, and in plays at university.

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:     I have had a previous experience in December which is documented on this website and before that I was complete ly a doubter, but not any more.

           Was the experience dream like in any way?           No     

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience: Immediately prior to the experience I was lying awake because of the noise of the wind. During the experience I was firstly surprised then absolutely shocked and scared.

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

What was the best and worst part of your experience? Truly I would rather he would not appear. It is most disturbing. I have spoken aloud to him to ask him not to do that again (feeling mad!) and his Dad has done the same, as in life I would ask his father to 'have a word with him'.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience? Yes                Describe:     Yes, I am no longer particularly sad when I hear of a death. This is as a result of the first experience in December when I heard my son's voice. This last experience was only on Tuesday.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?          Uncertain     Just that I now believe in life after death.

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?  Uncertain     I now believe in an afterlife, but this poses more questions than it solves and in a way death as a complete finality is easier to understand.

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?        No

What emotions did you feel during the experience?           Amazement, wonder, frustration at not being able to know the why's and how's, scared that it will happen again, and my husband is away again on Monday!

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?        No

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    Just three others. Surprise, some disbelief, asking how I can be sure I wasn't dreaming.

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'm telling myself that it was only Stuart, not to be scared.

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 

Heard son's voice in December 2017, as described on this website

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

Please offer any suggestions you may have to improve this questionnaire.       None, thanks for the opportunity to read other people's stories. It is good to know that others have these experiences.