A month after my mother's death, my husband and I were clearing out her house. It was a very sad chore, but my mother had been seriously ill with a poor prognosis from aggressive lung cancer for some time, and she had lived an amazing, full life. We were all dealing as well as could be expected from the grief.

To begin, one must understand the woman my mother was (or, perhaps, is). Born on a poor farm, she married my father at 18. He went on to attend university on the GI bill, the first in his family to graduate college, as a civil engineer. Although they'd never been out of the US, they were adventurous, and when they received a chance to live in Bangkok, Thailand, they packed up the family and went. They ended up living all over the world, and my mother was able to set up a household anywhere, from a penthouse flat in Manilla to very basic conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa. She was a force of nature, had a sharp sense of humor, was extremely intelligent, a crack duplicate bridge player, and a matriarch of note. To this day, any of her grandchildren thinking of misbehaving are stopped cold by the question, 'What would Gam say?'

All of this is to say that she could be quite impatient with laxity, silliness, or carelessness when something important needed to be done.

Back to the cleaning out, This was about 10 a.m. on a weekday. I was emptying the cupboard under her bathroom sink, and amid the used  cleaning supplies and other odd, seldom-used toiletry items was an old, ratty makeup case, resting forgotten in the very back of the cupboard. I tossed it into the trash bag with the other items, and handed it to my husband to take outside.

On the way down the driveway, carrying the lightly packed bag of loose detritus, the bag suddenly opened from the bottom, and out dropped a single item: the old make up bag. This was a tough kitchen garbage bag holding only light trash, so the cause of the tear was a mystery, but he put the makeup bag back inside, tied up the little hole in the bottom of the trash bag, and continued. Again, the bag opened, this time near the top, and a single item slipped out: the makeup bag.

This was very odd, and just then, my husband felt my mother's presence very strongly. Responding to some urge he didn't question, he pocketed the makeup bag, dropped off the trash, and returned to me. Together, we unzipped the little ratty bag, and out tumbled many thousands of dollars worth of jewels.

It was only then that I remembered my mother once telling me that, having experienced several burglaries living overseas, it was her habit to hide her valuables in holders that no one would ever suspect, like old containers casually stored in her bathroom.

My husband and I laughed a long time. He said that he could just hear my mother, the second time he tried to discard her jewelry, scolding him to stop being so foolish and to think for a minute: how many times did she have to go through the trash to get his attention?

I don't follow any particular religion, but I know as a certainty that my mother was there that day, a month after her death.

Background Information:

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 Response

Did you smell a distinct smell, scent, fragrance or odor associated with the deceased? No

How long did the experience last?      One half hour.

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?       Sudden.

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

Presence and a sense of annoyance.

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?  Yes, the location of a collection of valuable jewelry that was being discarded.

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:   The physical object involved, containing the jewelry, dropped alone out of a sealed garbage bag twice, once from a sudden opening in the bottom, once near the top. That wa objectively real.

          Was the experience dream like in any way?  No

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:  Resigned to the job of cleaning out the home of the deceased, a month after her death. Grieving, but calm.

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

Comfort knowing some aspect survives death, but loss the same.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?          Just knowing she continues.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience? No     

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?      No     

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?  Uncertain     Comfort of knowing something survives death, but no great life-chsnging awakening.

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?          Uncertain. Would you consider the presence of the jewelry a verifiable element? I assume this question is aimed more at indications of future events.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?          Amusement, comfort.

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    Family members were amused but unsurprised. The general reaction was that if anyone would come back to assure things were done correctly with her estate, it would be my mother.

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? No 

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