What could this have been?

I am one of the last people that I would have expected to be posting this right now, but I'm going to give it a shot. I have been debating on whether or not I should even try to get the opinion of ATS, since there seems to be so many haters, but I gotta know now. I want to preface this by saying that I normally do not believe in the paranormal and am not religious.

Someone very close to me was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of 2011. It devistated our entire family as she was the "rock" in the family. She went through chemo and surgery and all the other standard cancer treatments, none of which worked.

It was very sad seeing her like this, and being a very religious person, she still had a great attitude and was stronger than most of the other family members.

Her house was where the entire family met up for holidays, and Thanksgiving 2011 was no exception. We again were supposed to go to her house for Christmas, but on Christmas Eve she was admitted into the hospital once again.

Luckily, I was in the town of the hospital where she was admitted, and was able to see her that evening. She was in good spirits, but said that she didn't want to deal with the pain anymore. After seeing her like this I couldn't even imagine life without her. She had esentially raised me, and always been there for me. She had little money, but always made everyone in the family a present and a card for every occasion.

She was sent home from the hospital on December 30 2011. I went to visit her the next day (New Years Eve). She was so drugged up that she was unable to talk, but she did acknowledge that she new I was there by squeezing my hand. I stayed with her for only three hours that day, and before I left I said my goodbye. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, and she was really the first person that I have been close to that has passed away. While saying my goodbyes, I asked her to come visit me when she passed. As I stated earlier, I don't normally give in to this type of behavior, but at that point I would try anything.

When I returned home after a two hour drive, I proceeded to loose it emotionally. I finally gave up and fell asleep at around 9:00pm. During the time I was sleeping, I felt an amazing sense of calm, and peacefulness, and saw a very bright white light ......extremely bright. I then awoke to the sound of my phone ringing, and I already knew what the person on the other end was going to say......she was gone. I was still so calm, and peaceful when the person told me, they asked if I could hear them because they were expecting a completely different reaction from me, as they new my relationship with her. It was an surreal experience, and I have never had anything like it before or since.

Now I am faced with the dilemma of whether or not this is a sign of something paranormal or if it is just the human brain coping with the stress of the whole situation. The cynical side of me says it was just a coping mechanism, but the other side of me says she came and visited.

Any insight would be much appreciated.

I really think you got what you asked for...

I would say her spirit was giving you one last gift, a token of the love you had for her...

Peace. Being at peace with her absence.

That may not be it, but what better answer could you ask for?

Im sorry for your loss first of all. As for the visit, I think she probably did keep her promise and came to say goodbye. If I were you, I would probably just tell her to go to the light (which she probably did) and do not attept to keep her spirit around. Im sure she is looking at you from wherever she is but I wouldnt go ahead and not let her spirit 'rest in peace" by asking her to continue giving you signs. Just cherish the memories and regard her as your guardian angel now.

Not really quite the same experience as yours per se, but when my dad (who lived around 150 miles away) died my mother got a phone call in the living room, i was in my bedroom at the time and immediately rushed to the top of the stairs to earwig, and somehow deep down i knew what had happened. I din't know it was my dad until my mum told me but i knew someone had died before my mum said anything on the phone...

But i was very calm when my mother made the walk upstairs to meet me at the top, i was rather emotion-less, we exchanged words and a hug and that was pretty much it...

I think you may already know the answer But, you are afraid of being judged by popular belief or what you have been told is the right way to think.
trust your inner most feelings. don't dwell on this experience. Accept that it happened and enjoy the memories of your departed friend.

Condolences to you

Sorry. There is no insight I can offer.

What I will offer is a story somewhat strangely similar:

When my father passed due to cancer he was brought home for his final weeks. My sister, a nurse, stayed with my mother during this time. She took care of my father and helped my mother in any way she could. What a God-send that was for all of us. (Don't know what we would have done without her!)

She slept in a room above my father's deathbed and the room she slept in had a vent right over my father's bed and she could hear him below. One night she was startled out of her sleep in the wee hours. She couldn't explain what made her wake up so suddenly. However, within SECONDS of waking she could hear my father's breathing suddenly stop. She went downstairs and sure enough he was gone and was still fully warm to the touch.

The next day, while working the IT Help Desk, the private line rang. This typically happened probably a dozen times a day. When that phone rang I knew. I truly knew what the call was.

I answered and sure enough it was my sister on the phone informing me that Dad had passed. Strangely, it was more relief than sorrow I felt. (Cancer for those of you who have never seen it in a loved one is a complete b*tch!)

I'm glad you did indeed decide to post this. It felt good to write this.

Peace.

I'm glad you did indeed decide to post this. It felt good to write this.

Peace.

Thank you for sharing your story. It felt really good for me to write this as well, even though it is still quite difficult to deal with. I do believe she made a short stop on her way to wherever it is she was going.