I was recently at a funeral for someone who was beloved by my beloved.  She was a beautiful person, both inside and out.  She was well respected, loved and admired by many. (Including many high profile politicians and celebrities who counted themselves lucky to have known her).  Margaret was a family friend, a second mother to my husband and if we dare say it in this day and age, a “helluva gal.”

I hadn’t known her well, but I knew her enough to like her.  She cared about our family and I liked her infectious way she would walk into a room and people would just migrate towards her.

I had been to funerals before.  It is an unfortunate part of life.  It usually means the end of one’s life and the beginning of the pain for the family left behind.  And just like with any sad ending, I had usually felt overwhelming sadness and pain from not just my own heart, but from everyone else’s heartache.  Today was different.  A very strange, very unknown feeling came upon me.  Yes, I had empathy for everyone who was crying and feeling the loss, and yes I value life more than I ever have before, but I found myself smiling for this body we just lost.  I say BODY, because that is all it was. (She was actually cremated). It wasn’t Margaret’s spirit.  It wasn’t her life.  It was her body’s death and we said goodbye to the physical representation that she was.

I smiled because throughout my regression therapy I had seen places and people I had never thought I would be able to see when I had my near-death experience. I didn’t “really” know this sort of place existed.  I saw those places through my spirit’s eyes and I knew today Margaret was amongst those I had seen in this airy, beautiful, open space.  I could visualize where she was and how fabulous and young she would look.  So while her family and friends in the physical world said goodbye, her late husband and son welcomed her on the “other side” with open arms.

So yes, I smiled, hoping Donald Rumsfeld didn’t see me.  I smiled thinking about this feisty woman who loved to hop on an airplane and fly somewhere at a moment’s notice. How she was up for any adventure and how she couldn’t sit still because she needed to conquer the world. This world where we stood was far too limiting for her with her physical pain and her tired body.  But where she was headed, her spirit would soar and the boundaries would be limitless.

 

Do you or anyone you know believe in the afterlife? Have you seen it? I would love to hear your stories.  Please feel free to contact me directly and share them with me.