The Other Side

I’ve never experienced a visit from “the other side” but I know of people who have. The family often told the story of my cousin Marjorie who passed away as a child. 

        Weakened by a damaged heart from a siege of Rheumatic Fever in 1930, ten-year-old Marjorie lay prostrated on her bed at home. The family kept a death vigil by her bedside. She could no longer raise her head to receive nourishment and her mother patiently held her up to feed her small amounts from a baby spoon.

            Suddenly Marjorie cried out “Mama! Look at them all”. She sat bolt upright on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

            “Look at them; aren’t they beautiful,” she said, lay back down and continued to stare upward. She smiled and looked happy. “So pretty,” she murmured. She died shortly afterwards. My Aunt Belle always believed Marjorie saw angels coming to take her home.

            When my sister Dorothy expected her fifth child, her blood test showed a high rise in her titer count. It meant a danger to the baby. The doctor arranged for a ceasarian section in the seventh month of pregnancy. 

            During this time, my mother became ill and died. Dorothy postponed her hospitalization until after the funeral. The doctor expressed grave concerns and urged her to have the ceasarian immediately. Dorothy entered the hospital two weeks later, had an uncomplicated C section, and gave birth to a healthy boy.

            When I visited her she said, “I knew everything would be okay. The night before I came into the hospital, I woke up when I felt a hand on my arm. I sensed Mama’s presence in the room.  She told me not to worry, that both the baby and me will be alright.”

            “You must have been dreaming,” I said.

            “No Mary, I wasn’t dreaming. I was wide awake. I didn’t see her with my eyes and I didn’t hear her with my ears but I know she came to reassure me.”

            I didn’t answer because Dorothy seemed so sure of her experience but I still felt skeptical.

           

While in the hospital for non-Hodgkins lymphoma, my niece’s husband Bobby’s heart stopped. They called a code and the medical personal revived him. When he regained consciousness, he saw his wife next to the bed. He said “Where did everybody go?”

            “What do you mean everybody?” She thought he referred to the doctors and nurses.

            “Dad and Grandma and Uncle Joe and all of them.” He named people who had died.

            “They were all here.” he said. “And Toby was so glad to see me.” Their dog Toby had died the previous year.

            They call what Bobby went through a “near death experience” or NDE and some scientists attribute it to hallucinations of an oxygen- deprived brain. I’m not so sure. If Bobby really did get visitations, I’m glad to hear that our past pet companions will greet us on “the other side.”