Tim

Received June 1, 1997

Scott,
I have shared my combined near death experience and after death communication that occurred years ago with quite a few people. It seems to have helped others. Please feel free to use it if you think it would be helpful to others. Thanks for the great WWW site and the wonderful work you are doing. Please feel free to identify me by: Tim-Chicago. If you need more info, you know where to reach me. Best wishes, Tim TimVezeau@AOL.com

Visit By My Deceased Father In brief, my story began about sixteen years ago. I was divorced at the time and was living in Chicago in a condo. I was dating a lot, but basically I felt quite lonely. My two sons were living with their mother in a suburb of Chicago. One night, I was feeling generally depressed and, to obtain some relief, ingested too many intoxicants. I was alone, in the dark, sitting on my living room couch. I knew I was near death and felt that if I went to sleep, I would not awaken. I soon felt the presence of my father, who had been dead for about ten years, in my condo. I did not see him, but I knew he was there in the dining room. This was quite unusual because I had not been particularly close to him while he was alive and, since his death, I had never felt his presence before. I knew he was there to help me. He was not there to be judgmental. I did not hear anything audible from him, but, basically telepathically, he held out a choice for me. I understood that if I joined him in the dining room, I would be dead and he would help me with the transition. There was no fear on my part. He was not influencing me to make a decision one way or the other. He was just there to help me if I needed it.
I was very tempted to walk into the dining room and join him. I thought about it and decided it would be far too selfish on my part to leave my two young sons, whom I loved very much. So I decided not to go into the dining room. I soon became aware that I no longer felt his presence. After several hours, I was fine.
At the time, I thought this was a very interesting event; but I really did not appreciate its full significance. It wasn't until 1994 when I was trying to deal with the loss of my youngest son that the event many years ago with my father became much more meaningful for me. I was trying to find out "why" and to deal with the deep sorrow a parent feels when a child dies. Somehow, I began to read about paranormal events and phenomina of all types. I couldn't read fast enough. Some things I simply could not believe. However, what moved me the most was the research by very serious and apparently well qualified researchers into Near Death Experiences. A whole new world opened for me that gave me comfort, understanding and hope. I continue to study NDE's and (to a much lesser extent) other paranormal phenomina. I have come to terms with the loss of my son. I still miss him dearly, but I do feel he is happy and is growing spiritually elsewhere. He has visited me on about four occasions in very vivid dreams. In one that was particularly vivid and moving, he told me (in a much more caring and mature tone than he had when he was alive) that he was fine and that he did not mean to hurt me as much as he did by his death. I do consider those visits with my son to be precious gifts.
My own "NDE" years ago with my father validated the materials I have read and the near certainty (perhaps, 95%) that death is not the end and, therefore, should not be feared.
Sometimes I get concerned that I cannot be 100% certain in my own mind that death is not the end. I have concluded that the small amount of uncertainty is the price we pay for being human. If we could know with absolute certainty that a wonderful experience awaits us upon the death of our bodies, perhaps as humans we would accomplish very little. We would simply sit back and wait for the "good life" to follow.
Well, that is the story of my NDE that became very meaningful to me years later when I was mentally and emotionally able to focus on it. I hope it is meaningful and helpful to you.

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