Stories Collected While Living in France
Antique angel motif buckles, I kid you not. They were pretty cool, I regret I didn't buy at least one of them.
I have noticed in these last few weeks after my father's death, that I feel my father is right beside me. I find myself talking to him, seeing with him, believing that he is living within me… in my heart, or cells or imagination…most likely all three all at once, do you know what I mean? Have you or did you ever feel like this about someone who you have loved who has died?
My favorite Aunt told me that she would be with me in butterflies after she died and told me to plant a butterfly bush. In fact, I ended up having many lavender plants that are visited by a huge number of butterflies all Spring and Summer. One day I was sitting on my porch and a butterfly came and sat on my arm for a long time. I don’t know if it was my Aunt Lois but I know I think about her every time that I see one.
Yes. Every single day since my mother died 4 years ago.
I have yet to visit the cemetery where her body is laid. She is not there, her body is, but “she” is here with me. I see her in flowers that she loved, in a summer rain, in the possessions that I now have that she loved and treasured, and in the family traditions that she loved and we continue to love as well. These traditions connect us generation to generation. I feel her in my heart and she witnesses the continuation of life through my eyes.
I also have a 18 month old grandson who is the spitting image, personality and temperment of my deceased father who died one year after my mother passed on. I cannot look at this child without seeing my father. This has been healing for me, because unfortunately I did not have the blessing of having a close relationship with my father the way you did. I now can see my father as a child and it seems to be much easier to forgive a child than an angry man. God knew how to heal my heart and sent this precious child to help me through the sometimes painful path of forgiveness. I can with all honesty say that I now look forward to seeing my father again.
Healing comes in so many forms. I continue to pray for you and your family.
When my father passed, he was with all of us it seemed. I could sense his presence.
He kept close to my mother – she moved in with us. An owl would come each evening and sit in the tree in the back yard and watch my mother’s bedroom. (Something that had never happened before.) The owl visited for about 3 months. Now, I can feel my father each time I go to the beach and I sense him with my children. He loved being a grandfather.
My heart, thoughts, and prayers are with you and your family.
I have never lost someone so close to me but I have heard others say the same thing. You will always carry your father in your heart and I pray that this will always bring you comfort. Take care, Nel x
They are always with us my darling.
I feel my Mother around me all the time.
We have our own personal guardian angels in Heaven.
I love you
I love all things Angel.
My priest told me when I prayed in front of Mother Mary (A statue outside of our church)
all winter that when you pray to Mother Mary she sends an Angel to the person you are praying for.
Big hugs
Love Jeanne
yes
my grandma first
my father later
(it is interesting the fact that to my sisters, brother and mother, my father is perceived sometimes as a bird -an actual one going around and visiting us-in different continents and countries-)
and their are also presents in the way you say
A big Hug Corey
All the time – and my parents have both been gone for years upon years.
Indeed. Sometimes the veil between this life and the next seems very thin. I’m often visited by my father or one of my grandmothers in dreams. They are good dreams of rather ordinary happenings. I always wake from one feeling very happy.
Darla
Sometimes I’ll feel my grandmother with me. She was so much fun. She was like a light that shone on those she loved. I was in my 30’s, married and childless when she died. She adored my husband, and he loved her so much. After her death we were both transformed. Our thought was, “Do we really want to go through life without any children?”
Almost a year to the date of her death our son was born. I’m sorry she never got to see him in this life, but I am sure that she has watched over us.
The death of a loved one is like a small earthquake. Everything gets shaken up and when the dust settles things are rearranged.
– Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife
I still feel my adopted grandmother (not related, just a dear friend) with me…and she passed away in 2003. And my maternal grandfather, who was a fabulous cook, is always by my side in the kitchen…I even find myself talking to him.
A few days after my grandmother’s funeral I had to drive the 100 miles back home to London – a journey I was dreading – and her presence in the car was tangible. I still feel her now, at the most peculiar times, but usually at times when I need that extra nudge xx
Corey,
I am lucky enough to have all my immediate family and friends still with me. I did not know my paternal grandparents. My maternal grandparents are gone. When my Mom’s mom passed, it was very hard, still is, escpecially for my Mom. She took care of my ailing Grandmother at home for years while working full-time. I know my Mom misses her dearly, as do I,but it is different when it is your parent.
Dear Corey – 25 years later and my father is still by my side…I kept one of his tshirts because it smelled of him. The tshirt is musty now but I still can smell him!
Christine
Yes, my Dad and I had “conversations” for many days after he passed away. He comes now and again in my dreams, always whole and healthy, and with his mischievous smile. He appears in my Mom’s dreams nightly…such a lovely comfort. I still feel wrapped in his love and protection…maybe even more so now. I’m so glad you’re feeling your dad’s presence, too, Corey.
Oh yes I do!! Also, so many symbolic things happened and still do. Makes me feel peace and hope. The two things I send to you today!
xox
Constance
Sweet Corey, I feel my grandparents with me alot… I swear I can feel them over my left shoulder, facing my back (so I cannot “see” their faces), and they continue to give me words of wisdom (though inaudible). It happens ALOT, when I don’t even expect it… like they are right there standing behind me, looking at me and talking to me. I think they are angels holding me up!
Yes, Corey…I know what you mean. Such a wonderful feeling to feel loved one so close to you. So many times after my dad past away I would imagine myself talking to him…then at times catch myself going to the phone to call him.
Yes Corey, I have and I do. I think this is a wonderful gift to sense the nearness and presence of those we were so close to in life. I like to think they are just as close in death.
Please don’t think me horrid but a terribly funny thing happened a few weeks ago at my grandmothers graveside and I laughed. In that moment I sensed that she too was laughing. She so would have enjoyed the scene and the conversation. I thought to myself, this is our last laugh together and it was right and good.
Rest in the nearness of both your fathers in heaven.
I’m sorry for your loss. Just a few weeks after losing my dad I was laying on the couch, not really thinking of anything, and, feeling just as natural and comfortable as can be, suddenly felt his hand enclosing mine–couldn’t see it, just knew it was his hand. Words weren’t needed, nor thoughts, such was the comfort and understanding that everything was going to be all right. Since then he pops in and out here and there. I don’t question it. He is with me is all I know. I hope the same for you. I do.
Yes, often. My Dad was a McGyver/home improvement/artist type in his spare time. Often when I’m trying to build something make do with something or do artwork I can feel his presence behind me. I also sense sometimes that Grandma is with me. Whenever I smell Chanel for Men I think my Dad is near as it was his signature scent. Very comforting to know they are with us and in heaven at the same time.
Dear Corey, My dad would have been 65 today, he died thirteen years ago. I still occasionally hear his laugh as if he were in the room with me. My imagination? I don’t really think so because I’m not aware that I’m thinking of him at those particular moments. A little glimpse from heaven? I like to think so…it brings me comfort…hope it does to you, too!
Sure have, Corey. For the first week after Mom died (three years ago yesterday), it seemed like she wasn’t really gone. Some might call that shock or denial, but it seemed more likely, to me, that it was because she *wasn’t* really gone… only her body was.
Then there were the actual “signs” she gave … turning on the CD player when I was alone in the house one afternoon about a month after her passing; turning on a night light on the afternoon of her memorial service one week after her passing, when my sister was alone in Mom and Dad’s house and silently calling out to Mom, where are you?
Oh yes! After my father died 5 years ago I was driving home from his house and I talked out loud to him all the way, which was about an hour and a half. It felt like he was right there, listening and leading my thoughts. He had been in and out of consciousness the last couple weeks of his life and there were things I hadn’t been able to say, but that drive allowed me the chance to say them and I felt so much the better for it.
Sure I have, my sister died unexpectly two years ago, for the first year, I dreamed every night of her, like she was trying to tell me something, always the same dream.
My grandmother has been dead for over 25 years. We were very close and there isn’t a day goes by that I don’t feel her presence beside me. It’s very comforting knowing that even though I can’t touch her or see her, she’s still with me.
xo,
Lynda
Yes Corey, I know what you mean. I have had that same thing happen to me. My dad, grandfather, and grandmother.
I think it’s good, and nice.
Rosemary
Oh yes! My grandmother was the most recent and continued to teach me things in my dreams.
One of her comments to me when I was sad over the distribution of her belongings was, “They’re just things, Liz. Let them go.” I’d wanted them to stay together because the distribution would really mean that she was no longer here. She said she was going to be here forever, in memory, in my dreams, in my heart. And, it’s true.
Oh yes, Corey. My sister lost a baby, and she said he visited with her from time to time, as if he was on or just behind her left shoulder with a word of advice or comfort. She could feel him near. At a certain point he said, “You don’t need me now so I am going. But you can find me if you need me.” My mother gave me the same message in a dream after her death, that I could find her if I needed her. She had “visited” once before, coming to me and my new-born son as I sat rocking and nursing him. I perhaps slept, I don’t know. But she came and said, “Now, who is this little fellow?” She didn’t stay long, just checking in. I haven’t “seen” her since the subsequent dream, but I do not doubt that I can find her if I need her. It is a great comfort. The feeling of such “visits” or closeness is a very warm life-affirming one, not at all uneasy.
Oh yes Corey ~ I know exactly what you are talking about. I will never forget I was cleaning the outside of my dads house after he had passed away and I could tell you what he was wearing. He was with me in that backyard, busy too. He is with me, in my heart, mind and soul. He tells me things in my dreams and blantantly outloud in my thoughts. I feel him in the wind and the rustling of the leaves.
😉
sweet healing to you
Absolutely…..absolutely…
Yes, I feel Nana with me frequently.
All my life my Dad had his woodworking, machinist shop, dark room etc. in the basement. And he spent much time down there…as a child I would go down and put wood or metal curls from his lathe in my hair. I still absolutely love the smell of sawdust. When he died and I would go to their home I truly felt he was in the basement and felt his presence. My poor mother had to dispose of all his basement treasures…which sometimes made her angry at him for leaving her and with all that…another stage of grief.
I do believe that he is beside you.
Absolutely! I talk with my Dad all the time and I feel his presence with me continually. I heard him when I was in his house when I was getting it ready to sell and he said that it was OK to let it go, that it was time to let the “next guy” take care of it. That’s what he always said to me when we talked about selling it when he passed away. I felt his arms around me when I put my beloved dog, Fraggles, to sleep and I hear him in my dreams. I talk with him a lot and I tell him what’s on my mind and I still ask for his advice.
What you feel is very, very real.
Wait until you detect his particular perfume/odor . . . it will happen, and it is amazing.
I lost my father less than a year ago. I still expect to hear his voice when the phone rings while I am preparing dinner—he would ask me how to make this or that dish all the time.
I was with him after his stroke and most of the time he was in the hospital and hospice. I spoke for him when he was not able to speak for himself. I was with him when he died.
Shortly after, he came to me one night and told me that he is happy. And I knew it was ok.
The sadness and pain are still there, but not as intense. I lost my mother 10 years ago, and the hardest thing is not to have any parents.
I send you warm wishes and blessings.
I know absolutely how you feel. After more than a year I still get these feelings. For me it’s pennies that do it and I just know Mom is there watching over me…ciao
It is because when they die, they go back in. They don’t go away…or up…or outwards….they go back inside us, where they came from originally.
When we die, we go back in too…and get to be ONE with them again.
I truly believe this, that we are outward projections of one loving God. You will always feel your father in your cells, because he is YOU. He is in you.
Perma-angel.
xoxo
Corey,
They are always in our hearts. WE carry them with us. It is a wonderful way I believe God helps us. Treasure it.
love and blessings
My dad visits me in the form of white butterflies. It happened right after he died 11 years ago and many times and places all over the world since. It’s very comforting. Thank you for your beautiful words and photos. You are incredibly talented and I admire you for keeping up through the last few months. My heart goes out to you at this sad time.
A year ago now, my sister and I were returning from 5 fantastic days in Paris – a once in a lifetime trip. Your pictures bring it all back and that’s what brought me to you at first. Take care.
Sue
HI Corey,
My gran is with me frequently and she has been gone from this earth for nearly five years. She lives in my heart forever- I know the things she would have loved and the things that she would not. Her presence gives me comfort and reminds me that I was loved by someone unconditionally. I have been blessed by loving parents and a wonderful husband and son. Life is indeed rich and those gifts can not be measured in gold for the people who love me are priceless. Thank you for sharing your journey and journal of thoughts.
May you continue to find comfort in things that help you celebrate your father’s life.
Regards from a Western Canadian Quilter,
Anna
Yes, Corey, I know what you mean.
My sweet mother is with me…
My main day dream is to imagine what she would feel/think/say about my children… as she never saw her grand children. I wish she could.
I have kept telling them stories from my childhood… not to talk about myself but to make them meet her and know her.
When they see a nice sky, they say: “…that’s a beautiful sky Papi(=Granpa) would love to paint”.
When the Tour de France runs, my son always watches it on tv. My husband is not a fan and often questions this, to which our son replies “I’m not a fan, Dad, but Granpa is and I want to know all that he talks about when he phones.”
That’s pretty nice but I feel it very sad not to get such remarks about their grand mother…
_________
Corey, I have read all the comments to this post with care and interest. I want to thank your readers for sharing their own lives so sincerely. I was moved and “taken” (English?) by every single story. Hope they read my message, or this very last part, at the least.
And I want to thank you for initiating this rich exchange of experiences.
Your father is with/within you.
He’s an angel on your shoulder, on your back, on your mind, on your heart…
He’s THERE !
… i have and still do!
Corey, my Dad and my Grandmother are always with me. Often they visit in dreams but sometimes during the waking hours I see a glimpse of them or feel their presence. They are not gone from my life at all.
I kept waiting for a significant dream – but then I realized -I felt as though my mother was right there, within…it’s an odd but comforting sensation. “That which is essential is invisible to the eye.”
((hugs)) to you~
…that is why little tokens of his affection appear and talk to you.
Sending sweet, loving, caring thoughts.
Corey – Oh I definitely felt this after my dad died. I used to go out in the garden and talk to him, I’m sure my neighbors thought I was nuts. 🙂 But yes, I used to feel him there, most definitely. Marva
Yes, Corey, I have experienced this with the loss of my dear brother 4 years ago. The moments come in small signs – a butterfly that will not leave my presence … or now a morning dove that does some pretty amazing things. I know it is my brother coming to visit me and how can I not believe?….
Joy
Shortly after my own dear father died, I sensed that he was beside me in the passenger seat of my car. I did not *see* him with my eyes, but I certainly felt his presence. I find comfort in those times.
Blessings,
Becca
Your dad is alive in your heart. Thats how I feel about my mother. She’s with me every day.
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