My father was born on July 4th, 1932 and he passed away July 4th, 2004. My father would often privately give a report each July 4th to the family about the spiritual condition of the country joking that he was the spiritual President. It was just a family, private discussion. He would yearly talk about spiritual topics on New Years and July 4th. He passed away under hospice care. My sister was with my father at the moment he passed and as she looked up after his last breath she saw the United States flag being lowered to half mast at that time. Interestingly, the President Reagan had died earlier and for some bureaucratic reason it had been delayed and the half mast occurred on July 4th. My sister reports it was poetic because she looked up after he took his last breath and the first thing she saw outside the window was the flag being lowered to half mast. It was a sweet way of communicating in the language of events that represented a symbol to our family about a unique history related to our father.

About a week prior to his death, I, his son, had a dream in which I was in a vast dark space and I heard a Being say in that vastness: 'The Great Being stilleth his lips' in reference to my father.

About a year later, my mother and sister were visiting his gravesite at Lonesome Dove Cemetery. They decided to make a tape recording as they said prayers and talked at him at his gravesite. Later, they called me, I was living 300 miles away, and excitedly played a recorded message on the tape recorder: you can hear my sister saying a prayer and asking 'Dad, can you hear us?'. Now, my father was a former minister, and while in the Middle East learned an Arabic phrase 'Inshallah' which translates 'God Willing'. He often used this phrase when people would ask if he would come or do something stating that way he could reference God with most peopele in America just thinking he mumbled something and in that way he would not offend them. The point is, that it was a unique identifier for my father. In response to my sister's question, you hear a other worldly and beautiful voice respond and say, 'He will be with you shortly, Inshallah'.  I wish to emphasize how beautiful that voice was on the recording. It sounded so sweet and heavenly. I was not living near them and only heard it played over the telephone. I have asked my sister to find that cassette recording which is dear to us but she has moved four or five times since then and is looking for it. I will post it once it is located. My father, during life, had a heart condition since childhood and all the doctors always said he would not live to be 10, 12, 15, et cetera. However, he lived to be 72. However, because he was always uncertain if he would live each day he researched lifed after death and became quite spiritual. He agreed prior to his death that if he could he would contact us. It has been 15 years since his death and I would like more contact, but I do feel he has made contact with us.

Oh, I should add two other events. When we were at the cemetery at the time of his death the family and relatives where waiting on the hearse to deliver his body to the gravesite. We where facing East looking at the main entrance to the cemetery waiting. My 3 year old niece turned and faced the opposite end of the cemetery that mostly went into country surrounding and began pointing and saying 'Here comes granddaddy'. We looked and it was just the back of the cemetary with no observable roads to the back of the cemetery. Yet, she pointed again saying 'here comes granddaddy' and surprisingly, a few moments later,  here came the hearse from the back of the cemetery from a dirt road we couldn't see from where we where standing.

Then, when his casket was placed in front of us and various plants placed on his casket we sat down. Part of our religious tradition is that you stand and say a prayer. My aunt, his sister, had been very hostile since my father left the ministry and changed religions and refused to stand making an obvious statement. At that moment, a big gust of wind blew and knocked off two plants and rolled right to her feet where she was sitting. It surprised everyone. Sadly, she still did not stand but it obviously startled her.

The very last experience happened a few years ago. My sister had moved in with me while she was going back to school. Sadly, I lost my job and she wasn't working and so we where somewhat depressed. One morning, I woke up after a dream in which I saw my father in a city and I went down to a room where a table was present and someone reviewed with me paper work about a contract that had come due. I was told 2/3rds had come due. I woke up and was filled with an unearthly peace and joy. I observed this happiness and decided to just rest there but was very excited about this wonderful glow of joy. I didn't want it to leave so rested there for about an hour experiencing this joy I had never had before. It was early and I was excited and wanted to share the experience with my sister but didn't want to wake her up. After about two hours, I got and she heard me and got up too. She shared that she had a dream of our father. She stated she was flying through rings and praying to God to help her make it because she felt she was going to see our father. She reports she also was in a city and went down into a room and reviewed a contract. She said she awoke with a wonderful happiness and wanted to share it with me but didn't want to wake me up. She said she also felt a happiness that was otherworldly. Within two days we both got jobs and be pulled out of that financial dive we where in at the time. Later, I read on this website how visits from our loved ones often leaves a glow of happiness which I then connected to that experience.

These events have happened over many years with many dry spells. I imagine I have needed a lot of contact because I have been distressed thinking that someone who spent their life thinking about dying and preparing for their death and the after life should be able to communicate clearly with us. As I write this, I realize he has communicated with us in several ways. During life, my father used to say about spiritual experiences that he never wrote them down and shared them because each day God speaks in the language of events and that many wonderful experiences await us.

Background Information:

Date of experience:          Several Times after His Death

Length of time between death of deceased and your experience:  At the time of death, then a year later

Was the date of the experience significant in any way?            Father born on July 4th and died on July 4th

General geographic location of experience:  Lonesome Dove Cemetery Southlake, Texas.

Details of location of experience and your activity at the time of experience:        Mother and sister at gravesite with tape recorder

Degree of bereavement for deceased immediately prior to the experience:  Slight sadness and/or grief feelings

Degree of alertness immediately prior to experience:        Fully alert

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

Have you had multiple experiences?   Yes    Was this experience difficult to express in words?     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:          On the tape recorder, we could hear a heavenly and beautiful voice say: 'He will be with you shortly, Inshallah'. The word 'Inshallah' was one our father often used which translates 'God Willing'.

          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?          The voice was recorded on a tape recorder at his gravesite.

          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 not his voice, but it sounded like the voice of an angelic person. Someone working with him or speaking on his behalf.

          Is there any possibility what you heard was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience? No. The voice on the tape recorder was truly unearthly sweet. The melodic way in which this voice said 'He will be with you shortly, Inshallah' was deeply moving and penetrating.

          Was there any possible impairment to your hearing at the time of the experience?       I was not present when my sister and mother made the recording at the cemetary. They did not report hearing the voice in person. It was recorded on the tape recorder that they had recording as they said prayers and talked with my father asking 'Can you hear us?'.

Did you feel a touch or experience any physical contact from the deceased?       Uncertain

When our father came in a dream to both my sister and I at the same time we both awoke after the dreams with a happiness that we had not experiences before in our lives. The happiness was hard to put into words. It seemed to pervade the room. I remained still for an hour or more just observing this happiness and wondering where it came from. Later, I read on this site that when a visit happens from the other side often it is accompanied by an unearthly happiness that may last hours or days.

            Was the touch familiar or unfamiliar? I did not ever feel a touch in any of the experiences.

          Was anything communicated by the touch? No touch.

            Is there any possibility what you felt was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience? On the recording, no. It was a rural cemetery and the voice on the recording was beyond sweetness that you hear here on earth. It was obviously an angelic voice.

Did you see the deceased?       Yes

In the dream with my father, I did see him but his image is somewhat vague.

            How clearly did the deceased appear?            Somewhat vague, I knew he was present.

            How much of the deceased did you see?       I saw him standing there as we reviewed the contract.

            Did the deceased appear or not appear to be the age at which they died?   He seemed about the age he was when he died.

            How healthy did the deceased appear to be?           He seemed to be healthier than when he died. He seemed inwardly more vibrant but his form still showed him older than me.

            Is there any possibility what you saw was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience? When I saw him it was in a dream.

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

How long did the experience last?      I have listed several experiences that are self explanatory save for the dream. The dream was brief. The happiness after the dream last about an hour or two.

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?      Each experience seemed to happen naturally......

Could you sense the emotions or mood of the deceased?          No

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

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:   When the flag was lowered to half mast it was documented historically. The poetry is that it was the moment our father died and with the back story of his private talks with family (whimsically shared with family) about the spiritual President of the USA. The plants shifting and falling after a sudden gust of wind observed by multiple people. Our 3 year old niece pointing in the opposite direction from where we felt the hearse was coming was witnessed. The voice is recorded. The dream had very sudden and positive changes from being unemployed and fearful about paying rent to suddenly both of us getting jobs two days later.

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:  Multiple feelings on different occasions. Sad at his death, surprised and even delighted at the plants flying off the casket when my Aunt refused to stand for his funeral prayer, happy with the dream.

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

I have been conflicted since his death because I really felt that he could do more--LOL. It tested my faith because the experiences I listed came years apart and not on times when I was asking for him to contact us. Putting them all together here seems refreshing and I can see more clearly that he has reached out to us on several occassions. However, I still feel that I want more proof and hope someday he will appear in person and talk.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?     The best part is that the events that did occur are sweet and subtle. My father often said God speaks to us in ways that often leave a little doubt so as to maintain our free will. The best part is he has strengthened my belief in the after life. The worst part is I didn't get the lottery numbers LOL.

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 had hoped for a vision and verbal communication. I have struggled with the gifts or experiences he has given because I feel he could do more based on his life of studying after death. Yet, I know if he could, he would. Therefore, either he can't or there is a good reason why he is not doing so with a thunderous or mind blowing experience.

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?         Yes    If anyone on earth was prepared to have after death communications it was my father. He spend his life studying life after death and scriptures. I believe he can do better :) to communicate what the life is like after this earth school.

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

Both he and my mother agreed to contact us if they could on the other from the other side. I have shared experiences here about my father. I have some that are more vivid with my mother and will share that in the next post.

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?         My father studied religions all of his life due to a heart condition that reports he could die at any second. All of my memories of him are of him either reading, discussing, or studying about the spiritual life. I always felt that if anyone on earth would be trained or equiped to communicate after death it would be him. My emotions, however, have somewhat been disappointed because I feel he should appear in a vision and communicate verbally. However, he has given many signs and I imagine there must be a reason why he he has not done more. Yet, what he has done, is confirming.

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?          Yes

Made a recording at the cemetary and heard a recorded voice with crystal clarity.

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  In the dream in which I was reviewing a contract, I was standing in a room similar to the ones you have in New York when you go down from the street into a dwelling or apartment. I was in a dream and was moving paper work on a round table with a man.

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    My sister, brother, and mother.

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. I have had other dreams of my father that indicated he was not doing well. I have struggled to reconcile those dreams. It doesn't make sense because he was a very spiritual or really I should say godly person in his life. So, the dreams where he is distressed have not made sense. However, taking the whole picture, I assume those distressing dreams are probably either 1) his earthly attributes falling away, or 2) some form of healing he is going through on the other side. I don't believe the distressing dreams are accurate about his condition primarily because of all the NDE experience I have since read on the other site. It seems the vast majority of people are in a beautiful place.

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 pray daily but don't talk about private spiritual experiences in public. I believe we are spiritual beings having a human experience. The prayers often bring great comfort and peace. On some occasions, you might say the prayers catch you up into a higher plane of consciousness where the energy of love is more strongly felt.

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 plan to find the voice recording and try and upload it. I didn't see a place to upload wav. files. I shared multiple experiences. It might be helpful to have different sections to organize the various experiences in one spot versus uploading different stories. I selected to upload them all here about my father. Love your website. It is a true blessing. I would suggest that the formatting on the narrative been changes so that indentations can be present so that it is easier for the reader. Many of the ones I have read hear are in block format and it makes it hard for me to read them (due to my eyes) sometimes. To be able to indent would be helpful.