Several years before I met my wife, her mom had passed away. Her mom was a highly regarded RN at the local hospital and worked with surgeons and doctors. She had learned that she needed a heart valve replacement surgery and had scheduled it and was confident it would be an ordinary operation. The operation was being done by the surgeons she worked with, so there was an added comfort that she was in good hands. While the surgery itself went without a hitch, after it was completed the doctors could not get her heart restarted to beat on its own. They transported her from Cincinnati to Louisville, Kentucky to a well known heart hospital but after several days it was apparent they would not be able to get her heart to beat on its own and so decided to turn off life support and let her pass.

Flash forward to several years later when I met my now wife. It was uncanny all of the similar things we shared in common. Though she was living in Louisville, she was from Cincinnati. Her best friend's dad owned a church right up the street from my house. We knew similar people and we just clicked and felt like the other was the one we had been searching for all of this time. On my first visit down to Louisville to see her, it happened to be the anniversary of the loss of her mom. It felt like a sad day was given an option to be a better day. It was like mom had tried to bring her joy to cheer her up. We joked that her mom must have been 'aligning the stars' to bring us together.

We eventually got married and had the first of 2 boys. There were many times that my wife struggled with not having her mom around. Not there for the wedding, not there for her the birth of the kids or to be there to play with them and do the things grandmothers do. At the time, my wife had to work occasionally on the weekend at her job as a mental health therapist. It was one chosen by her to try and help others based on the grief she had worked through on her own.  My son Grant was probably just a few months old if that and so it was just him, the cat and me alone in the house on this particular Saturday.

Grant had always been a nightmare to get to sleep. It was frustrating...spending 30 minutes rocking him to get him to close his eyes, trying to silently back out of the room and stepping on a squeaky floor plank to have him snap back awake..the life of parents. After probably an hour of trying to get him to nap, I was finally able to tip-toe backwards out of the room without him waking. I left the door open as new parents do, afraid to leave him out of my sight on my watch.

Nothing was on in the house. No radio, no TV, and the sound of no crying felt great. Shortly after, I walked into the bathroom to wash my hands and for a moment was standing looking at my reflection in the mirror, thinking about nothing in particular, when I heard in a normal speaking voice, the sound of a woman coming from my son's bedroom (but also maybe in my head) say, ' I love you.' It was in a very tender, sincere way a loving mother admires her child. A chill ran up from my toes to my hair and I froze, because I knew no one else was home and the house was otherwise silent. I slowly got the nerve to back up and peak into the open bedroom and no one was there!

Since then nothing really has happened again. The house never felt ominous or haunted in any way. I believe that she had come to see her first born grandchild in person and the experience was pretty amazing. I told my wife and she is still skeptical and questioned why her mom did not appear to her. I believe it is because I am more open to the paranormal whereas she is more logical and fact based.

After the birth of our second son we moved to a new house and here and there have had little events happen. Lights turning on by themselves, the dog staring for 15 minutes straight at the corner of the room on multiple occasion...so maybe she is still there, watching over and being grandma from above.

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:          Very clear woman's voice at conversation volume saying, 'I Love You!'

          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 perceived it as coming from the bedroom, but also kind of just 'there' right in my head as well.

          If you heard a voice or sound, was it similar or dissimilar from the voice or sound the deceased made when they were alive?    I never got to hear her voice to compare, sadly.

          Is there any possibility what you heard was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience? None. The house was silent.

          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?       Yes

Maybe a touch or maybe just a chill from the shock of it.

            Was the touch familiar or unfamiliar? No.

          Was anything communicated by the touch? No.

            Is there any possibility what you felt was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience? 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?      About 10 seconds.

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?      No.

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

It sounded like a woman seeing her child and communicating pure love.

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?          No.

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 as real as if a living person was standing next to me talking.

          Was the experience dream like in any way?  No    

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:  Was a bit scared, amazed and confused all at once.

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

What was the best and worst part of your experience?     That I got to meet my mother in law in a way and to know she is getting to see her grandkids grow up. The only bad part is I wished my wife could have been present to experience it.

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