Grandma Says Goodbye

When I was about 7 years old my Mom (who had gotten divorced a few years prior), decided that we should go to live with her parents in Hawaii.  They would help put her through college and help take care of my sister, brother and I.  Being the oldest, I asked a lot of questions.  Being at that age, I often wondered about death, God, and things of a spiritual nature.  My grandmother became my sounding board during those years because she was handy and I considered her wise. 

"Grandma, do you think people go somewhere when they die?"  I asked.  Grandpa kept silent, as always.  He too was wise.  "I don't really know, Cari," she said.  "But since I will probably die before you, I will try to let you know- send a message or something."  This reply satisfied me.  Grandma wouldn't lie, and she had been terribly honest by admitting she didn't know about heaven or things like that.  I could accept ambiguity. 

In the meantime, we were living in Hawaii and there is a rich tradition of ghost stories and little people (menehunes).  Grandma loved to tell us these stories and encouraged us to "get involved" so to speak.  One story said that the menehunes were little people who only worked at  night.  They were kind of magical and could help you find things that you had lost.  In the old days the Hawaiians would visit the menehune at night and bring an offering of chocolate pudding (no, I don't know where that came from!) in exchange for the finding of missing items.   One particular day we realized that several things were missing - I couldn't find my bouncy ball, Grandma had lost her lighter and my sister was missing something else which I can't recall. 

We decided to ask the menehunes for help, and Grandma thought this was wonderful, so we wrote them a note, made up a batch of chocolate pudding, and put it outside our house that night.  The menehunes wrote back (in English, of course!), accepting the pudding and promising to find our lost items.   Weeks went by and the items remained lost, however. 

Then, the unthinkable happened.  Grandma turned very ill and went into the hospital.  After a few days (from what I remember) she passed away.  I was 12 years old, and in my grief I forgot about her promise to send me a message from the "other side".  I also forgot about the missing items.  I was grief stricken, not understanding that she had actually been ill longer than I knew.  Her death had happened quite suddenly to me.

I don't remember how long, but probably several days after Grandma's death, my Mom let me sleep in Grandma's bed.  I don't remember why, just that I was in her bed.  I woke up in the night, and it looked as if the bathroom light was on, but it wasn't. There was just a stream of light, and walking towards me was Grandma, smiling and holding out her hand.  She looked like healthy grandma, happy.  I smiled at her but didn't know what to do.  Then she disappeared and I thought it was funny that the bathroom light had turned off at the same time.  Now I know that she brought the light with her.   That was her telling me that she had gone on and had returned to let me know.

Shortly after that, all of the missing items turned up, on the same day - the lighter, my ball and the third thing too. 

Over the years she has sent me a few other messages.  Let me explain first - she used to take me shopping with her when she lived in Colorado and her store was Safeway.  We used to sing the Safeway song as we drove over there.  When I was very little, perhaps 5 or 6?  I would hear the song "59th Street Bridge Song"  and sing along.  I loved the part "I'm feeling groo-vy" and I would dance along.  Grandma would laugh and clap her hands, she thought that was really funny.  So it was "our song" - every now and then we'd both say, "I'm feeling groo-vy" and dance and laugh.  I really associated that song with her. 

One day I was in a Safeway and thinking about Grandma for some reason, and that song came on in the store - "I'm feeling groo-vy" and I just knew it was Grandma saying hello!  Another time I was up late watching TV and thinking about Grandma and that song, thinking that you never hear it at all and within 5 minutes there was a commercial on with that song.  I only saw the commercial once...

Perhaps there were other messages from her but I did not notice them, or did not know they were from her.  Ten years ago a friend of mine died suddenly and I received many, many messages from him.  At the same time I learned about how the dead communicate and began to notice more "messages" around me.  Things like the lights blinking at certain times or in a particular way, street lights going out, etc. 

There is no doubt in my mind that the dead are usually able to communicate with us and often try, especially when there is a close connection.  For more information about ADC (after-death communication) visit the website: http://www.adcrf.org/index.html.  I am also interested in hearing about your experiences and whether you believe in life after death.  The events that occurred after the death of my friend have convinced me beyond a doubt.