I have been always interested in paranormal subjects and have always believed that there is always something more than what meets the eye, in everything we so or do. My husband died on December 2, 2000. the real story started one month before my husband died.  That year I had been dreaming very vivid dreams and was recording them in a journal.  The night of November 2, 2000 was no different.  I dreamt that I woke up in bed (in fact, in my dream, the bedroom was exactly the way I had  actually left it when I retired that night, so initially, I didn't know if I was dreaming or awake). I got out of bed, and looked around the room.  In the light on the night light, I saw animals in my room.  A mother monkey was on top of my bureau holding her sleeping baby.  She serenely looked up at me and went back to rocking her baby.  I walked over to the window and saw a nest on the window sill.  In the nest was a mother quail and several chicks, all asleep and cuddled up next to the mother.  She looked at me with soft loving eyes and then shut them and went to sleep with the chicks.  I then looked over my husbands head an saw a nest floating over his head as he slept.  In the nest were three baby vultures.  they had large soft soulful eyes and were actually quite adorable looking.  I then walked to the side of my bed and laid down on the carpet next to a huge brown sleeping dog and went to sleep.  The next day, I told my husband about the dream and said to him " Richie, I think you are going to die soon".  he laughed and said "well, I'm going bald, and getting a pot belly-  now I'm dying- that's just great!"  one month later, to the day, we found my husband dead on the living room floor.  There is much more to the story, but I will skip some of it.

four months later, after getting a book about numerology and figuring out my "number" and my husband's number, I realized that we shared the same number which was "11".  As I sat on the bed, I said aloud " Gee, Rich, we share the same number-  when ever I see the number 11-11, I'll know that you are there with me".  I laughed at the thought and put the book away.  That night, unbeknown to me, we had a power outage.  when I opened my eyes that next morning, my digital clock was flashing 11:11.... this in itself was odd because this clock always reverted to 12:00 if it lost power and we always had to reset it.  from that point on until now, 11:11 follows me and I see it as a form of communication from my husband.  I know many people on earth are seeing the 11:11 phenomena, but my experience is different in that I verbally asked my husband to appear with the number 11 and other people have said that this just happened to them.  Also, two or three days after my husband died I had a really vivid dream where my husband and I were sitting at the end of a long table.  We each had a radio made of concrete and written on the radios were Egyptian hieroglyphics.  My husband was tuning his radio on a particular station as I was doing the same action.  My husband said to me "now remember, you will be able to contact me, but I wont be able to contact you".  I often think if this is his non verbal way of saying, "I'm here".  By the way, when we found him in the living room it was 11:00 am.

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:    two days after he died and for two weeks after, footsteps were heard walking from the kitchen, into the living room, up the stairs, stopping at the top of the stairs, there would be what sounded like the shifting of weight from one foot to the other, then foot steps coming down the stairs and then another round of the same thing.  What was amazing was that if you were on the living room couch (which my sons and I were for the next 2 weeks in anticipation of

  this thing), you could feel the floor shake  slightly) as the footsteps went past the couch, like in normal life.

            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 all felt the shaking of the floor as he walked by.  Also, this happened near 12 midnight for the two week duration and then after that, nothing.

            If you heard a voice or sound, was it similar or dissimilar from the voice or sound the deceased made when they were alive?           the sounds coming from the floor ( creaks etc) was the same sounds we all made walking on the carpet.

            Is there any possibility what you heard was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?           no, we were perfectly still sitting on the couch, no one moved or fidgeted.

            Was there any possible impairment to your hearing at the time of the experience?   No, and being that there were three of us , one son 21 years and another 17 years old at the time with good hearing, I would say no, we all had good hearing

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?      Yes

            What smell, scent, fragrance or odor did you smell?           my husband used old spice and from time to time the scent would be in the air. my sons never liked old spice, so they never wore it.

            Was the smell, scent, fragrance or odor familiar?     yes, old spice after shave

            Was anything communicated by the smell?   yes, he was sort of saying, "I kept your promise and I am here for that one minute each day"

            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 threw out the old spice as it brought on too many memories and even

 actually his clothes were given away.

How long did the experience last?        up until 2004 when we moved out of the house

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?         sudden- when we moved, the smell stopped

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

one aspect was love, and one was obligation.  My husband was the type of person that when he made a promise, he totally went through with it, no exceptions.

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?  No information- just a feeling of" here I am , please tell me only good things and don't complain, because I am not in a position to really give you the help you need- just know I am here for you and I am aware of things"....

            Please explain why you view the reality of your experience as real or not real:           Basically, one of the things was the clock.  How do you get an item that is mechanically made to do one thing and suddenly it does something that it is programmed not to do.  Also, how do you explain the actual hour and minute (11:11).  the probability of that happening is amazing when you think that it could have been

  11:12 or 11:32- why 11:11? the 11:11 number shows up in various ways, not just the clock- on receipts, on the phone, especially when the news is good or not so good,  I'll notice the call is made to me at 11:11. This is above and beyond the normal 11:11 contact that I receive on a daily basis.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   Yes

yes, it was initially prompted by a dream.  when the communication happened in the earlier months after he died, yes I got a surreal kind of feeling, but shortly after it went away.

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:           when I woke up and saw the 11:11 flashing at me, I was initially scared, then happy and slightly confused as to why this was actually happening.  like, really? you really answered me?

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

yes, I know he is there for me- I feel stronger. like I have someone protecting me. which I don't understand because of the "no bad news please " attitude he gives me.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      the best was knowing that rich was there and is here.  the worst part is not getting any feed back from him, with the exception of "I'm here to listen" or "I am just here".  I wonder if it is time to tell Rich he can stay in heaven and enjoy himself? I am afraid to let go of him.

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     I still cant figure out why I am still afraid of death, even though I know better.

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?            Yes     I have more questions.  for example- why is he allowed to come back to earth to check on me?  Doesn't God have the final say by saying to my husband "Ok Rich, you did a great job on earth, but now you can rest- your family is ok- I will look in on them or send an angel to help".  Do we really have that much freedom as to travel from heaven to earth at any time?

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

yes, I always said to him that I would try to communicate with him.  he would laugh and say he would try but make no promises.

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?            excitement that he would be visiting me- excited about what to tell him and still keeping those "rules " that I felt he gave me like, no bad news please.

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?            Yes

during this time frame I did speak to my deceased aunt in another vivid dream.  In my dream, I was about 12 years old and being interviewed by two theater producers who were listening to me sing and act for a new show. I was in a small room.  Suddenly, my aunt walked out of the wall into the room.  the strange and funny thing that I will remember about this dream, was that when my aunt walked out from the wall, the two producers jumped and looked at each other as if to say " wait, this shouldn't be happening!".  I saw her in what was what they call a spiritual body.  She was my Aunt and at the same time didn't look exactly like her. When I looked in her eyes, I knew it was here.  When I asked her how heaven was she said "It's beautiful!".  when I asked who was there she said "Everyone".

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     they were opened minded people who accepted what I said.  my sons are different. one believes and the other one (who studies philosophy, myths and world religions, does not)

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?       Nothing, except, I hope you do consider this a form of communication, as I feel that it most certainly is. On the other hand, if people choose not to believe my story, it is only important what I think- right?

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?         Yes 

yes, I have had two vision like dreams and a dream in which a murdered person whom I never knew came to me and wanted to relay a message to me. I journeyed the dreams and at first just chalked it up as a random dream.  one day, while re reading my dreams, I came across the dream, and went on the internet with the info.  I was so shocked to read about the family murder of the Caffey family in  Texas, as this was the dream I had . My first vision sent me to the doctor and I went for a cat scan or MRI (not sure as it was a while ago) as I thought I was having a seizure or I had a brain tumor.

Did you ever in your life have a near-death experience, out of body experience or other spiritual event?           Yes 

during my vision( and I only call it a vision because I do not know what it was ), I fell asleep and once asleep, felt my body lift off the bed, go head over heels (in fact, I heard the sheets move and I felt myself grunt as my body went head over heels) into what I can only try to explain as my "minds eye". I cannot find the proper words for what happened, but I was actually in another realm.  I was breathing, felt the sand beneath my feet, the place had an atmosphere and all I can say was that I was really there.  It was not a dream.  I was physically petrified.  my heart felt like it was beating out of my chest- the sights I saw were in a neon color. I was facing an ocean whose waves were lined with neon colors.  bright gold fish were jumping out of the water.  the sky was starless and black and the sky seemed very close, as if I could touch it.  eventually, a huge neon like eye descended out of the black sky and that's when I screamed and "flipped" back into bed.  I tried to open my eyes, and flipped over into this realm a second time.  I was able to flip back and at this point, I sat up in bed and was completely disoriented.  It was like I just arrived back in my bed from somewhere else.

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.    I think this questionnaire is very precise and put together well.