It started in the Morning I believe  close to noon , It was warm so I went to take a quick swim to cool off , before having to drop Nancy off she was a server at a large pool hall/lounge. a nice person who along with her room mate allowed me to have their couch for a short time till I got a place. I had been down in the dumps because of a recent separation from my wife of 1 1/2 yrs. so any way I remember going out in to the water , I am a great swimmer ex. Navy so I never had a fear of water , But when I was about maybe 7 or 8 ft. deep I remember closing my eyes and facing the sun and feeling it on my face when a sudden dread came over me then a strange fear and awareness of my surrounding, I could feel weeds or blades of grass at my feet and felt I needed to leave quick ,like something was going to happen and I swam away from their so fast. I told Nancy about this and just treated it as a strange experience. so everything went normal that day until the evening . I was sitting at the end of the bar counter and no, I was not drunk.

I was just down on my self and because of the holiday their was a big concert I remember going on that night that a lot of people were going to so the place was almost empty and I was still feeling a bit strange from what happened that morning. I remember staring at the end of the counter at a TV that was off at the time waiting to see if my brother was coming by after dropping off his girlfriend like he would normally do. when Suddenly a fear/panic came over me then what felt like forced thoughts and they came like waves one after the other, first was my Aunts name, Ludes then my cousins, Angel then my other aunts name Assila, then my Dads, and New York, and Bakery, and back to my aunt then back to my dad, this was just coming in waves of forced thinking I could not think of anything else. I was just frozen with a kind of fear/ panic and Nancy said I was just wide eyed she thought something was wrong with me, and just as all this was happening my brother comes in and Nancy calls out Danny something is wrong with Eddie.

I remember seeing him and telling him Danny something bad happened we have to call Assila, , My aunt in west palm beach who lived next to my grandmothers and felt like we had to reach her. but Danny tried but could not. I just knew something was wrong but could not connect it. you see I was started to live a bums / life I felt since my separation from Rita, And my Dads family were very well to do. in West Palm beach. My dad would come by at times and see me always there at the lounge sometimes with the same clothes, letting my hair grow long , just a poor example, and I felt low and like he would not want to bee seen with me. so I avoided him most of the time. But after what happened that night with Nancy and Danny I knew something was not right and why would I have feeling to call my Aunt who I might have seen many years ago and her son my cousin who the last time we talked was when we were kids around 11-12 years old playing with his lab set mixing diff. color liquids. This was just too strange and my Aunt Ludes who had died many years before. and why thoughts of New York, and the Bakery and my Dad, Danny even tried to call it in New York but it was closed. Danny asked if we should go to my Dads but it was late and we knew how strict he was and I was to confused to think straight. I did consider it but just not convinced he would take me serious.

I wanted to just lay down and forget this and I went to Nancy's and laid down on the couch, she gave me a blanket and went to her room and I tried to sleep , Then another fear came to me like If I kept my eyes open I would see something and my aunts name came to me again, then my cousins, and my dads, I covered my head like a young boy hiding in the blanket And I could feel the sweat. rolling on my neck but would not take the blanket off for fear of seeing something, and slept that way. In the morning I had mustered the courage to go to my dads and moms Apartment, They had just moved to maybe less then a month and I remember going up the stairs doubting my self if it was smart of me to do this or will he be upset with me, how will he look at me, I did not want to do this but felt I had to. I knocked on the door my mom answered , she was always happy to see me said Eddie nice to see you , as I looked at her with a kind of blank feeling I noticed at the table my dad was sitting having cereal I remember  drops of milk falling back in to the bowl as he looked at me with what seamed a puzzled look like what are you doing here. I just faced him and said Dad I think Ludes talked to me last night I think something is wrong. so I got it out and he looked straight ahead over his bowl and said Eva get the kids ready were going to my mothers, just like that.

My younger brother Mike and sister Kristeen got ready and before I knew it we were off to West Palm Beach about 40 min. away. He never asked me any other questions on the way in fact nobody talked. and here I was looking a bit tattered with my longer hair feeling what have I done, what will they think of me , what a fool I feel like, later my mom told me my dad had thought something had happened to his father. anyway were got near to the house which was next door to my Aunt Assila's and as we got to the front we notice a lot of cars along the  side and my grandmother and uncle a some other people I did not know coming from the direction of my Aunts , And when they saw my dads car pulling up they rushed us my grandmother with her hands on her head crying out my dads name, crying out where have you been we could not find you poor sister, Angel drowned yesterday. and she went on and on my uncle Freddy with his arm over her and then all of them embracing my dad and mom, walking towards my grandmothers I recall my dad saying it was me who contacted him because of my aunt Ludes, and they all just looked at me it was a very strange moment and my grandmother who speaks Spanish mostly with my dad said imagine that. as we made our way to the house my uncle Freddy who I never see, said to me it is a gift to be contacted like that .

My uncle Freddy and his wife were in to the Edger Cayce books and gave me one, but I after that day looked at things a bit different. I started to look in to the Bible and anything that had to do with this strange event I went thru. I found a book on death and dying by Moody and  Ross, I put everything together, My dad Moving and not having a phone and no body knowing how to reach him, My Aunt Ludes who was the youngest of my dads sisters, My Aunt Assila whose son my cousin Angel died while saving three boys when their canoe flipped over , Angel was a cadet at a military school, and had a 3 month old daughter at the time who was in the arms of her mother while Angel and a friend were helping the boys , as I understand they got two of the boys and on the 3rd. one as the friend was pulling in the rope angel took off his life jacket putting it on the boy and losing his grip, being tired as they were doing this on a river with a rough rapids like flow Angel ended up being taken down stream and it was a couple of days before they found his body.  And as I look back at that I think when I was in the water that day I felt the fear/dread how my life was going nowhere and Angel had a wife and daughter his whole life , God could have taken me but took him, you see I looked at it this way and now write songs as a hobby and share my story and somehow feel I have some yet unfinished business with God.

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?            Yes

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?        Maybe  3-6 min.

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?         it came strong and lasted that way the full time

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

I only knew I had to do something but was not sure if these were my or her emotions

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?  Only to get hold of my dad and I was aware of Angel.

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:           After it happened I am convinced that there is something other then what the science world believes, I am living proof to my self, and who can explain what I went thru. it was Gods will for whatever reason ,it saved my life and gave it meaning.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   No

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:           Panic, fear, confusion, frustration,

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

I felt god was telling me something and he had me go thru this to convince me there is a better world , and he has work for me to do here before I leave.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      best - learning of faith and duty to God ,  worst - learning of Angels death and his family's loss

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         Yes                 Describe:      I see things in a diff. light more meaningful.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   N0 comment            God, afterlife.

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?            Yes     Like I mentioned There is another place we will see in time , and am certain of this

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?            confusion, unsettled,

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?           Yes

Friend Nancy, brother Danny, Then confirmed by Dad, Mom, uncle ,grandmother

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

Well I after putting it all together I know my purpose was two fold 1 to get hold of my dad, 2nd,to let me know I have a greater purpose in life.

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     amazed, most all of the time.

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?       Yes there is something grater then life as we know it because . We will be born into it someday.

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?           No 

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.    No thank You