We Are Never Alone. Anthony Quinata

told me about a dream she had involving her mother who had passed away just two months before.

      “In my dream I was joking with her as I always did. She was directing me to do something as she always did. Anyway, my comeback to her telling me what to do in my dream was, ‘Mom, I might listen to you . . . if someone didn’t go and die.’”

      What she said back to me was serious, but she seemed to be quite confused at the same time. “You’re right, but I’m not dead . . .” Then she shook her head and said, “Well, I am dead . . .” then quickly added, “. . . I can’t explain it.”

      Death comes for us all sooner or later. According to the U.S. Census Bureau someone dies in the United States every twelve seconds. Or do they?

      Before I came to grips with my ability as a medium, or even knew what one was, I wore a T-shirt that said, “It’s not that life is so short, it’s just that death is so long!” Now I know better. According to the souls I’ve heard from over the years that I’ve been doing this work, the journey from this world to the next is as easy as walking from one room into another. Many of them have said that the transition is so subtle that it was hardly noticeable at all!

      Others, whose passing came without warning, have talked about their passing being so low-key that it didn’t occur to them that they were in the hereafter. I did a session in which a young man who had died in a car accident came through to talk to his parents. He said his first thought when he crashed the car was, “Mom is going to be pissed. She’s going to kill me!” When I relayed that to his parents, his mother told me that he had totaled his car just the week before. She loaned him her car to go to work and told him, “You’d better not wreck my car if you know what’s good for you!”

      I’ve also heard from souls who said that, because of what they had been taught about what happens after we die, they thought the transition would be more obvious than it was. They were expecting a blinding light, angels, and saints heralding their arrival or demons pulling at their souls; but it wasn’t like that at all. They were surprised to find out that they had “died” and that it didn’t occur to them what had happened until after they saw loved ones, friends, and even pets, waiting to greet and welcome them back home. They talk about this happy “reunion” with a great deal of joy, seeing their loved ones that they thought they had “lost” to death.

      And there are those souls who weren’t surprised at their passing. They even welcomed it. My mother Rosalia, who passed a year and a half after my father and wanted more than anything to be with him again, came to me shortly after she drew her last breath and compared her transition to taking wet, heavy clothing off. She talked about the relief that came with the transition and the joy of being reunited with my father.

      Others, like my father, are comforted by a glimpse of their life to come in the hereafter and the souls of their loved ones who had gone before them, before they actually leave the earth. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and Dianne Arcangel, among others, have researched these “deathbed apparitions.” Carla Wills-Brandon calls these visions “heavenly hugs.”

       CHAPTER

       7

      Death Is Not the End

      While the souls all talk about essentially the same events, they describe the transition as being individual to them and what best suits their needs to make the transition from this life to the next easier on them.

      The one consistent thing that all of the souls have said when they have talked about the moment of their physical death is a moment of darkness followed by seeing a entranceway open before them and that on the other side of that entrance they feel the peace and love that comes from it. They’re irresistibly drawn to it like a moth to a flame. They move towards it because it just feels like the right thing to do. Even though they know that moving through this portal would mean the end of their physical life, they know that they’re safe and secure, and it’s the beginning of a new and glorious life.

      They often say that on the other side of the entryway are their loved ones and even their pets, waiting to welcome them home. The souls consistently say that once they have crossed that threshold, they don’t feel any need or desire to look back on the world they’ve left behind. They’re happy to be moving forward into this place with its peace, love, and beauty beyond our wildest imaginings—an existence that defies anything that we could have made-up for ourselves during our life here.

       CHAPTER

       8

      How Far Is Heaven?

       What is the hereafter like?

      First and foremost, it’s a place where we receive a far-reaching appreciation for our life here on earth and for everything that happened during our stay here; it provides an understanding of why things happened the way they did and the peace of mind that comes with this understanding. All of our questions about ourselves are answered, including the life we lived while we were here on earth and the world we lived in. Questions, which we thought could not possibly have a resolution, are completely answered and in a way that allows us to fully understand our lives and the issues we faced during this time: the hurts, frustrations, and failings. We not only learn why our life was so difficult, but also what was the value and lesson contained in each one of our difficulties and how those difficulties helped us with our spiritual growth.

      I clearly remember the day when the souls told me that our life in the hereafter will be a reflection of our life here. We are not bodies with a soul; we are souls with a body. We come here taking on a spiritual journey that will test who we are with struggles, lessons, and the circumstances we find ourselves in. Our ability to love ourselves and others, our compassion, and our willingness to make the world a better place, will be put to the test. How well we live up to these ideals will, according to the souls, create the kind of home we experience in the hereafter.