Graciel M ADC
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EXPERIENCE DESCRIPTION

 I was upstairs in my father's (American) house in the Philippines. I heard my grandmother's voice (died in America, she came from the Czech Republic as a teenager), clear as day, and all she said was my first name. I was afraid, but also comforted by this. I didn't say anything to my dad, because I didn't want to upset him and didn't know how he would react. At dinner, he said to me he didn't want to upset me, but he swore he heard grandma say his name. He was one floor below me. She had died two months earlier, and I was very upset as I promised to see her again with some things for her to do/favourite foods (she was in a nursing home and miserable and said I wouldn't see her again - that the last time I saw her, was indeed the last time I would see her). She said she loved me and not to forget her. I felt like she had forgiven me for not being able to fulfil my promise, but this was communicated by feeling/knowing without any words.

 Background Information:

 Date of experience:          August of 2006

 Length of time between death of deceased and your experience:  2 months

 Was the date of the experience significant in any way?    It was the first time my father, my sister and myself were reunited since my father left to live in the Philippines (about two years since we were last together). My grandmother died in New Jersey (where my sister and myself lived).

 General geographic location of experience:  Philippines

 Details of location of experience and your activity at the time of experience:        I was upstairs in my father's house in the Philippines. I heard my grandmother's voice, clear as day, and all she said was my first name. I was afraid, but also comforted by this. I didn't say anything to my dad, because I didn't want to upset him and didn't know how he would react. At dinner, he said to me he didn't want to upset me, but he swore he heard grandma say his name. He was one floor below me.

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

 Have you had multiple experiences?   Uncertain     After this experience, I ended up at the cemetery where my grandmother and grandfather were buried by coincidence (passing by en route to somewhere else). I didn't know where exactly they were buried. I said to my friend that I'd given up and that we should return home. At that exact second, I looked down and I was standing on my grandfather's grave (my grandmother didn't have a tombstone, but was buried with him).  I thought it was too much to acknowledge as just a coincidence.

 Was this experience difficult to express in words? Uncertain

 What I felt. Volume. Where I heard it - was it external, internal? Pretty sure I heard it externally. How I knew it was her.

 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:          My grandmother's voice saying my first name.

           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?          I'm pretty sure it was external. It was so long ago now.

           If you heard a voice or sound, was it similar or dissimilar from the voice or sound the deceased made when they were alive?    It was exactly her voice as it was when she was alive.

           Is there any possibility what you heard was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience? Not at all. I was entirely alone in all of the upstairs.

           Was there any possible impairment to your hearing at the time of the experience?       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?      It was so quick. A matter of minutes.

 Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?      I didn't expect it at all - sudden?

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

 Felt forgiven for not being able to see her one more time like I said.

 Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?          N/A

 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 was absolutely real. I didn't ask for a sign. It had been two months. I hadn't 'heard' from her. Then all of a sudden, her voice, saying my name and it was over. Then, hearing that my dad heard his name spoken by my grandmother/his mother on the same day, elsewhere in the house - kind of just sealed the deal for me. I didn't question it to begin with, it was sure as sure can be.

           Was the experience dream like in any way?  No

 Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:  Afraid, but also comforted

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

 I felt forgiven for not being able to see her one more time/fulfil my promise of bringing her things/food she missed.

 What was the best and worst part of your experience?          Knowing she communicated with me and my father. Her love was still with us after she died.

 Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience? Yes                Describe:     Twelve years after my grandmother died, I found out my friend died, I was inconsolable because he had been dead for three years and I didn't know it. We fell out and I never got to say sorry and was really upset I would never have the chance. When I met with a friend for the first time to discuss my grief, someone arrived in the coffeehouse we chose to go to and the people expecting him kept repeating 'Joe's here' (his name) over and over, you couldn't miss his name, it was going on for so long. At that time, a song played that made me think of him. It was called 'Passing By' by Zero 7 and the lyrics were almost exactly responding to what I had said to my friend. I have my doubts now, after so much time, but she swears it was something. Another time, she asked me to ask him for a sign whilst a band was playing in the pub we were at. I said the only song would be Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger, and sure enough it played right after I explained how the song went. Since then, I keep hearing specific songs that remind me of him, but I'm always questioning this - also when I see Welsh flags where I wouldn't expect them - including a trip home to NJ and seeing a Welsh flag and his surname above it. I don't know... I was open-minded about this because of my grandmother's voice/the tombstone coincidence whereas I might've not thought so much about it.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience? Uncertain     I always believed more or less what I believe today, but this experience was a firm confirmation to me that it's not over with death.

 Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?         Yes    That death isn't the end.

 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?         Yes My father heard his name being spoken by my deceased grandmother/his mother elsewhere in the house on the same day, apart from my experience of hearing her say my name in the same location/different room/part of house.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?         I really wanted to tell my dad, and was afraid to say something only for him to say he had a similar experience without me prompting this.

 Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?          Yes

 My father heard his name being spoken by my deceased grandmother (his mother) elsewhere in the house on the same day I heard her say my name.

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

 Did you become aware of future events?      Yes

 Not because of this experience - but many years ago before she died - I had a dream she was being carried in a hearse and woke up and tried to contact her. I couldn't contact her. Coming back from school after passing on my concern to my dad, I learned she had a stroke the night I dreamt of her and that she was thought to die. She made it through and lived another five years.

 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?     Yes

 My father heard his name being spoken by my deceased grandmother/his mother elsewhere in the house on the same day, apart from my experience of hearing her say my name in the same location/different room/part of house.

 Have you shared this experience with others?      

Yes    They believed it and had their own ADC to share with me.

 Have you shared this experience formally or informally with any other researcher or web site?       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 

I once saw a floating eye. I came out of the shower and it was just floating, level with my eye. I was probably in elementary/middle school. It was definitely real and definitely terrifying.

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