my dad passed from cancer in 2005, 1 month before my daughter was born. then mom passed away at the end of 07. that winter 07/08 in wa where we lived, we had snow on moms birthday - march 25. i remember i looked up and said OK MOM! enough of that - and i laughed because she knew i hated snow. then on their anniversary - april 19 it snowed again ... at which time i laughed again and said OK YOU TWO! Knock it off!!! and then i thought for a second and looked up again and said if it snows on dads birthday, Im outta here!!! (june 2) LOL

i believe in the afterlife
very much so
and i am not afraid to die because of that
now don't get me wrong - i wanna stick around for my kids and those i love but i am not afraid for the dying part and i kinda get homesick for that place i have never yet seen because i miss so many that have gone there BUT i have work yet to do here so i will be thankful for whatever time i have here and try to be a good steward of that time - and when that time comes, i will say farewell - see you soon to those i leave behind.


i read the book called heaven is for real ... can get it on amazon ... out of the gazillion books i have read, i think that one impacted me most ... and 90 minutes in heaven is also awesome ... perhaps they would bring you comfort?

Thanks everyone! Your stories have all been so comforting and supportive. I am still waiting for my mom to communicate with me... or maybe she's waiting for me to communicate with her?!

For us it is butterflies. Ken has bought me a key chain with one and we decorated Morgan's room with them. The day after his funeral I took Morgan up to the cemetary and brought home a red rose to put on the front step where he took his last breath waiting for the ambulance. As I walked up to the step a monarch butterfly landed in the exact spot and just sat there awhile. I had this overwhelming sense of peace and I knew he was with us. I saw one again on my birthday a few weeks later. This Saturday we had Morgan's birthday and there wad one flying around all afternoon in the yard as we celebrated! I definitely believe! You will find your own signs when the time is right!

Jill - You butterfly experience prompts me to share this: A dear friend of mine died two years ago last January. She had been such a source of strength to me and to my son Paul, especially as he struggled to survive his OC. Before she died, we shared many moments together at the hospital and talked of many things including the possibility of life after death. She told me she would definitely find a way to contact me. In early Spring following her passing, my garage door was open and a large, beautiful blue butterfly flew into my garage and alighted on the sill of the back window. At the time, I didn�t think this was a sign that Ann could have sent. I was expecting something more concrete like a dream, maybe? a vision? The butterfly never moved from his spot on the window sill at the back of my garage. I checked it often and it was always in the same position with its beautiful blue and black wings spread as if ready to fly. Even a year later, the butterfly was still there just as beautiful as the day it flew into my garage. It finally disappeared some time after that. I decided recently to Google this blue butterfly to see where it was native to and found out that the closest place where it is found is in Mexico which is some distance to TN. Don't know how it could have travelled that far but I like to think that this was my friend's sign of contact. And I am comforted.

Aimlee -when you are thinking about your Mother, and especially when feeling sad, you can speak to her in your mind and tell her your feelings. I'm sure one day she will make known how close she is and is loving you through those sad moments.

It must be something with butterflies. My husband passed away 13 years ago. He was at Hospice House for a few days we had a view of the butterfly garden. Afterwards I was driving down a major highway a butterfly (yellow) was right next to my window. It seemed like he wanted to get in the car. I was hysterical I had to pull over to the side of the road to calm down.

Every now and then a butterfly comes around my picture window where I sit. I look at it knowing it's my husband checking up on me. It's the same color yellow. Yellow wasn't his favorite color it's not that.

It sure makes me feel good inside when I see the butterfly.

That blue butterfly was sitting in the garage for a year? And it was alive and never moved? Wow that's crazy. Cool but crazy.
I got an animal one that still freaks me out when I talk bout it. My one Torti calico kitten her name was Callie of course well she ended up getting hit by a car. That evening I went to my sister in laws house and Callie was sitting on top of my grill outside my back door and I rubbed her head and opened the door to see if she wanted to go in and she didn't which is unusual. She was a little bugger, she always went up on my sink and unrolled and scratched up my damn paper towels almost every night! Well the night she died, I swear to God as do my kids the damn paper towels were torn up as usual after my son had buried her earlier. And never happened again after that.

oh and the reason for my kitty story is I wasn't there to say Good Bye to her and was very upset but she showed me she was fine and still being a little brat but not with me anymore!

Thanks for those stories everyone! The butterly stories seem to be pretty common. When my cousin died at 16, he was 4 months shy of watching his sister graduate high school. On that day a butterfly landed on her leg and stayed with her all through the ceremony. She always believe that was him showing his older sister support on her big day.

In terms of my own recent loss of my mother, butterflies have never really held any significance for either of us... other than that story about my dear cousin but that wasn't something we experienced personally. But the first day I visited her grave after the funeral, the flowers still alive and laying across the fresh dirt, in my thoughts I asked "mama where are you?" and seconds later a butterfly flitted over to the flowers, rested on one of the petals for a moment, then moved on. I have no idea if this means anything, I was skeptical then and am skeptical now, because I don't want to believe that any little sign is her just to make myself feel better. I am struggling through each day trying to learn how to live my life without my amazing mother and best friend, and every night praying that she will come to me in a dream... I don't want to have to wait until I die to be with her again

Aimlee - Your Mom IS close to you and she would want you to feel feel better even if the sign is a very little butterfly. I've been skeptical, too - about many things but I usually find out that trusting one's own inner feelings very often is the correct one even if it's not "scientific". A French philosopher, Blaise Pascal (also physicist and mathematician) once said "Le coeur a see raisons que la raison ne conna�t point" - which translates to: "The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know". Follow your heart, Aimlee.

Dear Aimlee,

Have you considered getting some grief counseling? I did after my Mom died (it was one on one not in a group) and it really helped. Something to think about...

Hugs,

Shelley