There are plenty of stories about loved ones who have passed on and come back to watch over their surviving family members. A friend of mine lost her mom to illness. Her mom had always loved cardinals. After her mom’s passing, my friend suddenly started seeing a female cardinal outside the windows of her home. Not too long after her mother’s death, my friend also lost one of her closest friends. She was there with him when he took his last breath. Prior to him dying, she had asked him to give her a sign that he was good on the other side. She specifically asked him to come back as a red-tailed hawk because he had always marveled at these birds. Following his death, she started to see a red-tailed hawk perched along the route which she took to work each day. Not only would the hawk appear on her ride to work, but it also started to fly around her home.
A similar situation played out when my own mother had passed away in March of 2017. Right before the funeral director was going to close her casket, he had asked her immediate family (me and my sons) to say our final farewells. I and my oldest son approached her casket, and I said to him…” ok love, what should we say to grandma?” He responded, “We love you and we are going to miss you.” I said “I think she already knows that. How about we ask her for something bigger? How about we ask her to let us know that she is ok on that other side by coming back as a unique animal that stands out? One that we would know doesn’t really belong in the area, like a flamingo” My son responded “Ok, please come back as a cardinal grandma. Those birds stand out around here, right mom?” I said “Yes, a cardinal would do fine.” The funeral home director proceeded to close her casket, and we buried her shortly thereafter. This was on a Saturday morning. A few days later, on Wednesday, my son was outside our home playing basketball after school. While he was out there, a cardinal appeared in the tree in front of our home. He got so excited he called me at work, and said “Mom, remember how we asked grandma to come back as a cardinal? Well, a cardinal just appeared in the tree in our front yard! I know that it is grandma. I just know it! I’m going to wave to her. Hi grandma (waving)! OMG mom, I waved at her, and the cardinal flew closer to me. She is here by the garbage cans near the basketball hoop!” I could hear the excitement and disbelief in his voice. I said, “Great sweetie, she is letting us know that she is all good on that other side.” When I hung up the phone, I sat there in bewilderment myself. Wondering whether that could actually be her living energy in the form of a cardinal coming to us as we had requested or simply a coincidence.
My mom had this belief that 9 days after a person dies, a portal opens for them to enter and leave to the next realm. There are religious rituals that go along these same lines of 9 days after death. So, 9 days after my mom died I, along with my 3 sons, went into the bedroom where she had passed away in her sleep. I said a prayer for her safe transition. I said “Well Xavier had asked grandma to come back as a cardinal to let him know that she was ok on that other side. (Facing my 7-year-old son) What would YOU like grandma to come back as to let you know that she is safe?” He replied, “She can come as a frog.” I scowled at that and said “A frog?! How about you pick an animal that is a bit more unique? One that you don’t see every day, so that it stands out.” He thought for a moment, and responded “Ok, how about a turtle instead?” Even though I was not a big fan of the idea of her coming as a turtle, I agreed to the turtle visitation because that animal is unique and not one that you regularly see in our neighborhood. I then turned to my youngest son and asked him what he would like grandma to return as, to let him know that she is doing good. He replied, “A blue and teal butterfly.” And so it was. I summarized our wishes by saying out loud in the room “Mom please let us know that you are doing good over there by coming back as a turtle for EZ and a blue and teal butterfly for Lorenzo.” Thank you for letting Xavier and I know that you’re good by having come as a cardinal.”
In the days to follow, life had settled down back into a steady routine. On a Tuesday, several weeks after my mom’s death, I had returned home from work. I opened the garage door and proceeded to drive inside. As I was getting out of my car, I noticed a small green frog sleeping on top of a shoe that belonged to my middle son (who had originally asked her to come as a frog). We were still settling into our new home, and we had bags and boxes of shoes and clothes in the garage that needed to be put away inside. I called my boys out into the garage to show them the frog, and to inquire as to how it had gotten there. None of them knew anything about how the frog had gotten there. We proceeded to capture the frog and take it outside.
Two days later, on Thursday of that same week, I was pulling out of the garage to drive off to work. As I turned the corner of our home, I saw a huge (possibly 50-pound turtle walking toward our home). It was the kind of giant turtle that one would see at the zoo. I was shocked to see such a creature heading in the direction of our home. I pulled my car over to the side of the road, as did another car that also saw the large turtle. I took pictures of it and was startled to find seaweed in the form of the letter E stuck to the outside of its shell. My mom’s name was Estela and my son who had asked her to return as a turtle was Ezequiel. He had just left the house on the school bus that morning. I wasn’t sure if he had seen the turtle as the bus drove off, so I took pictures of it to show him in case he had missed it. The other witness and I worked to lift the turtle and direct it to a shadier spot as we were worried that it might get hurt under the warm sun. I believe that my mom came as both the frog and turtle in the same week because Ezequiel had specifically asked her to come as a frog, and then switched it to a turtle per my guidance. She honored both of his requests to make it even more convincing that it was her who was communicating to us in the new ways that she now could.
Several months had passed, and there were many bewildering events that had taken place during that time which confirmed to me that there is so much more to the afterlife than we currently understand. My boys and I went on a mini road trip vacation that summer. While we were enjoying the summer sun outside at the pool of our hotel, my youngest boy noticed something following him around. As he jumped in and out of the shallow end of the pool, a butterfly was fluttering all around him. He became so excited to see grandma finally come to him to make it known that she is still with us. My mom used to join us on all of our family vacations. He had asked her to come as a butterfly after she died, and sure enough she granted his wish and came to him.
Not only is it unusual that their specific animal requests appeared to each of them, but the behavior of the animals is what’s really telling. The behavior does not seem like that of typical animals, which scurry off the moment someone approaches them. These did not seem to be fearful. They behaved as if they knew us and were unshaken by our presence. The butterfly flew all around my little guy even though he was splashing water and jumping in and out of the pool. It looked like the butterfly wanted to jump in with him! While he was in the water, it would land on the side of the pool and wait for him to come out. Once he was out of the pool, it fluttered remarkably close to him almost as if it wanted to land on him. Then when he would jump back into the water, it would again land waiting for him to exit again. On and on this went for several rounds. It was quite amazing to witness!
Our loved ones leave their human body behind when they transition to the next realm. This is similar to the air within a bubble that returns to the surrounding air from which it came, once the soapy bubble encapsulation breaks away. After we pass on, our life energy returns to that from which it came. Since it seems our soul is a form of energy, we are then free to tap into various energy sources. Our deceased loved ones can communicate with us via flickering of lights, songs on the radio, telephone lines in what sounds like a silent prank call, and even temporarily inhabiting the body of an animal or insect. I have heard countless stories of people suddenly seeing hummingbirds, dragonflies, and other such creatures after their loved one passed away. If we keep an open mind, we are able to recognize the new ways in which our deceased loved ones attempt to catch our attention and communicate with us.
Some people have actually seen apparitions of their deceased loved ones. Others have witnessed objects being moved or suddenly appearing (almost as if out of thin air) that remind them of their loved one. Many people have vivid dreams of their deceased loved ones. It seems that dreams are a common “gateway” that they are able to use to connect with us. Again, our deceased loved ones will use whatever new means they can in order to let us know that they are still with us, but in a new form. We must be open and receptive to the various ways in which they attempt to connect with us from that other dimension. They no longer have a human body from which to communicate, so they do it through certain lyrics in a song or passages in something that we are reading. If we ask our deceased loved ones for guidance on a particular topic, they will answer in unique ways. We must not be closed minded, nor dismissive of these unusual “coincidences.” Generally, when something unbelievable happens, such as us getting the answer to the question that we had posed to our deceased loved one through let’s say a fortune cookie, we tend to try to justify it with more acceptable explanations. Synchronicity and coincidence are commonly used to help explain situations that are outside of our human comprehension.
Unfortunately, each of us experiences the loss of someone who is near and dear to us sometime during our own lifetime. It is part of the human experience. It is not a pleasant experience, but it is necessary. When we do lose a loved one, it is almost certain that they will attempt to contact us from “that other side.” Our job is to stay open to the modes in which they try to communicate with us. We must appreciate their efforts and welcome their messages. These are not necessarily ghostly hauntings nor spiritual hoaxes. These are energetic frequencies and vibrations that are pushing to reconnect with us. There is generally nothing to fear and much to gain. We get a sense of peace, joy, and excitement to know our deceased loved ones are still present and all is well with them. They help to provide a bit of closure to their passing. This helps us to “unhook” our soul from theirs so that they can fully transition to that next realm without us holding them back. Our deceased loved one is then able to “visit” us when they can, and we are able to continue to live the remainder of our human life here on Earth to the fullest. These soulful communications are so reassuring. They are a magical blessing.