Saved by an Angel (25 page)

P
OP
-P
OP
, M
Y
M
IRACLE
A
NGEL
by Jessica Grzybowski

As a young girl struggling in the sixth grade, I was a very disorganized student. I would come to school and think,
Oh no! I have a test today, and I didn’t even study for it!
I continued this behavior every week, unable to get it together. The teachers knew that I had the ability to excel in school, and they had me take part in enrichment programs, but I just couldn’t apply myself.

One early morning, I awoke to the ringing of the telephone. I just knew that something had happened to my grandfather, whom I called “Pop-Pop.” Somehow, I knew he had died. And, indeed, he had.

My family immediately headed to my grandmother’s house in Long Island, New York, for the wake and burial. The emotions of grief were so strong among our large family. But there was one specific moment that I remember the most.

My two younger brothers were talking with my grandmother in her bedroom. She was giving them some of Pop-Pop’s World War II memorabilia as a gift to help them remember him. I was really upset because I wished I had something to keep close to my heart as well, but I didn’t receive anything.

Because of the funeral, I missed over a week of school, and it was extremely difficult to catch up. As I sat in my bedroom, trying so hard to complete all my missed assignments, I started crying uncontrollably. I felt like I was pinned under something heavy, and I had no concept of how to get out. My emotional outburst lasted for probably two hours until I just couldn’t cry any longer. I felt so lost!

That night I went to sleep, and I had the most amazing dream. I was at my grandmother’s house with all my relatives. We were sitting in the dining room having a big dinner, as we had done so many other times before. My grandfather sat at the head of the table, and he ate his favorite food: mashed potatoes. I remember looking up at him, and then he spoke to me. He said, “I’m sorry, honey, that I don’t have anything for you.” I just looked up at him, and I felt like everything was okay.

After that experience, my life turned around in so many ways. Academically, I was a completely different person. It was as if the old version of me didn’t even exist. I was awarded “Most Improved Student” for the year. The following two years, I became valedictorian of my seventh- and eighth-grade classes. I graduated from high school 10th in my class, out of 460 students.

I attribute my success to my Pop-Pop. His visitation was a true gift. I still have dreams of him to this day. I can feel his presence when I visit my relatives in New York. He was my angel, my guiding spirit who cleared all the fear out of my heart. Without that fear, I was able to accomplish miracles!

G
RANDMA
’
S
R
ED
R
OSE
by Susan E. Watters

It was 1972, the year I graduated from high school. My maternal grandmother had been ill for some time. She lived in another state and had wanted to see me for quite a while. We didn’t have much money, and not even my mother could go that distance to visit her. My aunt, who lived with her and took care of her, said she asked to see me all the time.

My mother had two jobs and was working her second one when I came home one night with Butch, my boyfriend at the time. We were sitting on the couch, and the strangest feeling came over me. I told him that my grandmother had just died. He laughed and told me I was crazy.

Just then the phone rang. I told Butch I didn’t want to answer because I knew it was my uncle saying that my grandmother was gone. Again, Butch just laughed.

I answered the phone, and it was, in fact, my uncle telling me that she had passed over. I called my mom at her job, and she came home. Mom went to my grandmother’s funeral, but when she came back, she never said anything at all about it.

The night after Mom came home, I dreamed that my grandmother was walking through my bedroom door. My first thought was:
How can this be? She’s dead.
She continued to walk toward me, and I was afraid. I thought that I shouldn’t be, because it was just Grandma. But then I would think,
She’s dead!

She looked younger than I had ever seen her, wearing a navy blue dress with big white polka dots, and she was smiling. I sat up on the edge of my bed, and she sat beside me. It was if we were talking, but through our minds, not our mouths. She knew I was scared and was telling me that it was okay. Grandma had a red rose in her hand that she wanted to give me, and I was afraid to take it. Again, she told me (with her mind, it seemed) that it was okay. I took the rose, she smiled, and I woke up. Or was I asleep, really? I don’t think so. I believe that she visited me because she had wanted to see me. I woke up screaming, and my Mom came into my room.

When I told her about the dream, she said that I was weird, and walked out crying. Then she came back into my room and told me that Grandma had indeed looked a lot younger and been buried in that very dress, and that she (my mom) had placed a red rose in her hands before they closed the casket.

Yes, I believe in the spirit world that is beyond “life.” No doubt about that.

A
LL
I
S
F
ORGIVEN
by Jacki Whitford

My father passed away in January of 1981 at the age of 56 from alcohol abuse. We stayed with him over the weekend, but on the day of his death, he told us all to go to work. It was a Monday, and he didn’t want us to miss work on his account. I called frequently that day, up until about 8
P.M.
He passed away at 10
P.M.
I was devastated that I didn’t have a chance to say good-bye and a final “I love you.”

Ten years later, I dreamed that I was standing on the street of my childhood home, next to the mailbox. I turned and looked through the night mist, waiting to see who was coming toward me. It was my father, looking like a healthy 30-something man.

He said nothing, but just pulled me into his arms and held me. I felt an intense rush of bliss. Every fight we’d ever had, every negative thought and emotion, every trauma that had ever occurred between us … disintegrated into pure love. I heard someone sobbing, and realized I had awoken with a start. I felt as if I had been shoved back into my body. I no longer had issues with my father; I had a sense of closure. I also had a sense of what it’s like in heaven: pure bliss, pure love, pure rapture.

A D
IVINE
M
ESSAGE FROM
D
AD
by Judith Waite

My father, Colin, died in 1987 from a heart attack and also hardening of the arteries. This condition was caused by his two vices: drinking beer and smoking. He would say these two habits “never hurt anyone” but himself … how untrue. When someone dies unexpectedly, the family is devastated.

My father was not a religious or spiritual man, and I only knew of him going to church at funerals, weddings, and baptisms. But he came to me in dream form several times and was much more spiritually knowledgeable than he had appeared when in earthly form. He spoke to me about his being there to help Mom and also to help me with personal problems. When I woke up, I could still feel the warmth of his hand holding mine.

Sometime later, I heard my father speak to me. I was astounded by how spiritually wise he was. He said, “There is no ‘early,’ mistimed death. It is all worked to plan—not God’s plan, as such—but each individual as they come to earthly life also chooses their time of departure. No baby is born without this understanding.

“We come to give; then we leave. I have helped out many since I have been in this state, and I continue because I love this work. I have never been at my grave site for very long. The grave is a repository for bones and ashes, but not spirit. We ‘honor the dead’ by ‘visiting’ them at a grave … hogwash! I am more alive than I ever was in body. If you believe death to be a sentence with a full stop at the end, that’s okay, but the pain is in the suffering of those left behind. If we can move on, however, the suffering will ease, and many more can learn that Spirit is always there to help.”

W
ARM
, L
OVING
E
NERGY
by Laura Riffel

I had been very close to a lady for quite some time. One day my daughter was babysitting her children and had some problems with one of her sons. I happened to be next door, so I stopped by to say hello. While I was there, I talked to the boy who was misbehaving. Later, when my friend heard that I’d talked to her son about his behavior, she became very angry. She thought my daughter had specifically called me over to lecture him. My friend then yelled at my daughter, which led to an argument between the two of us. After that, we stopped talking to each other.

Then at the age of 29, my friend died very suddenly. I felt horrible about our unresolved fight. I fretted about it frequently. About two weeks after she passed on, I had a very vivid dream “encounter” with my friend.

In the dream, we were talking face-to-face in a very sunny and beautiful place. We discussed our fight and agreed that it was silly, and that we were both just protecting our children. She said it didn’t matter, that everything was beautiful, and that I should forget about it, as she was not upset and I shouldn’t be either. Then she giggled, and I felt fluttering wings all over my back and saw a brilliant light.

At that moment, I awoke and was burning up with heat. My husband woke up at that exact moment for the same reason. We checked the thermostat, and it was turned down. I feel that the heat came from the extreme energy of my angelic visit. I truly believe that my friend visited me to ease my suffering over our fight.