I am brand new to this site. Having lost several of my very close loved ones, and having experienced a few vivid visits from them in dreams proves to me that they are always with me. Just last year, as I asked my dad in a silent prayer if it was really him visiting in some recent dreams to please leave me some coins on my living room stairs the next day. I thought that would be pretty specific, and after having read that coins are common signs, I asked for them. I went about my day in the morning, forgetting about my prayer several hours earlier, and I was taking care of my three year old daughter, Constance, while her mom was out running errands. I remember thinking, "this just isn't my day."
I was grumbling a bit when I picked up the tornado that my daughter left in every room. She scattered some candy wrappers from the chocolates that she got into all over the living room stairs. I picked up her mess, and threw them away, and went to work on the dishes. Just then, I got a phone call. Nothing was on caller id, but there was a lot of static on the line, so I hung up. After a minute or two, I got a strong urge to look at the trash can in the kitchen. At the top, I noticed that my daughter's chocolate candy wrappers were gold Canadian half dollars. I got the message, Dad....loud and clear.

I can just imagine my dad, crouched on the stairs next to Constance, and whispering in her ear to just leave the wrappers on the stairs. She left nothing on the stairs but those wrappers. I just wasn't getting the hint at first with the static on my phone, so my dad tried something else to get my attention. The signs they send us are so subtle at times, but they do send them. When I think about where my loved ones are today, at Home with God, I am so happy for them. It's so important to always remember that they do hear our thoughts and our prayers, and that they do read our words every time we pour out our hearts.

When I think of each of the dream visits I've had of my dad, and a more recent one from my Auntie Thelma, especially in how I have never seen them actually speak, it all makes perfect sense. I heard my Auntie, but I never saw her mouth move, other than to smile at, what I could only assume, was her beloved cat, Babin. My dad's warm smile spoke a thousand words of unconditional love to me, that he was healthy, and not plagued by depression anymore, and that he was able to sing his heart out, and not get tired for a single second, because of the diabetes that was slowly eating away at him. When I did hear him speak, I couldn't see him as I ran, but I knew he was there. I felt him. When my six year old son was so scared in our car when my wife drove down a steep hill, my dad was there for him all the way to the bottom. When my little boy was seven just three years ago, he saw a photo of my dad on my computer. I was so surprised when he told me this. "He told me I'll always be with you." My six year old was telling me that he saw and heard my dad, who died more than a decade earlier. I am forever grateful, as I have learned so much about life and death since then. Not only have I been able to deal with grief better, but I can help others to deal with theirs, and that is very rewarding. I'm not a grief therapist, but I do share my experiences personal experiences with ADCs.

When I met up with my dad in a mall parking lot in one dream visit, and we hugged, I told him how much I missed him. He just smiled at me, and hugged me back. He died from a brain aneurysm in 1991, and was deteriorating so quickly from years of diabetes and depression. He was only 55 when he passed, although he looked much older. Now, I have seen him in dreams, and he always smiles the sweetest smile I have ever seen. When I ran up several flights of stairs in another dream to a small apartment, and saw his smiling face, I knew he was there.

When my son was two weeks old, and my wife and I didn't know if he would live or die from spinal meningitis, I knew that both my mom and dad were there, even through all of the immeasurable emotion that cut so deep at the time for both of us. How often do people go through grief, never truly knowing how very REAL their dream experiences were, that it WASN'T just "wishful thinking, or just a "coincidence?" I pray for all of these people to come to the realization that they are never alone, especially when they feel like they couldn't be more alone. I apologize for such a long post, but it really seemed important to me to post it.