Does anyone have experiences that have made them believe in life after death?

[Magicpaintbrush]

My DH died in April. He had bowel cancer and was only 46 years old and not ready to die. I made the mistake today of picking up the photo album I made full of photos of him and I am having a really tough morning, my heart is absolutely broken. The only thing that gets me through the days is talking aloud to him and hoping that he is somewhere 'else' and can hear me or see me, but then I have moments where I think I am kidding myself and I am just a sad, grieving woman talking to thin air. I don't know what to believe, I hover between the two. But today I absolutely cannot and do not want to believe that there is nothing after death, I can't cope with the thought that he exists nowhere at all anywhere. He was so strong and had so much personality, it makes no sense. Does anybody have any personal experiences or know of any true stories that have led them to believe there is 'something' after we die? I would find it really comforting to hear from people that believe and have a reason why they believe. To those who believe we are just dust after death, you may be right, but today I can't hear that, and I don't need to be told that as I already know that is possible - which is why I haven't posted this in AIBU as I know the first 30 replies would be people rushing to tell me I'm deluding myself by hoping there is something more than darkness after we die. If anybody has anything to share that would bring some comfort today I am very ready to listen x

I am really sorry for your loss.

There is actually a lot of really interesting and quite compelling research into near death experiences (NDE's). I have found a lot of comfort in reading this over the years. Just because we don't have the scientific capabilities to prove that life after death exists yet, it doesn't mean it doesn't. We once thought the earth was flat!

My father passed away when I was a teenager and I used to carry a passport photo in a little card wallet everywhere I went. I went on my first holiday abroad and lost the photo- I remember going to lie down feeling really upset and then putting my hand down on my stomach and the card wallet with his photo was right there. I have no way of explaining this as it definitely wasn't there when I laid down and no one entered the room to put it there.

Personally I find the idea than there are spiritual explanations for human existence and reality that we aren't able to evidence or understand at this point in human evolution far more believable than the idea we are simply the result of a series of random coincidences.

I hope you find comfort from the comments on here and would definitely recommend reading up on the research that has been done into NDE's

So sorry for your loss OP and for those who have commented too. I don’t see anything wrong at all with speaking to your husband. I often reach out to my nan who died and ask for signs or help and something always happens after. In fact I had some reiki last year after an operation I’d had and the practitioner said then that my nan was with me. That was a real comfort and I’ve really felt her presence even more since then. In fact when I’m walking the dog I like to think of her and my grandad walking with me and will often talk to them. It gives me great comfort. I genuinely believe that we are reunited with lost family, friends and pets when we die. Sending you and your DD loads of love, hugs and strength xx

I lost my DF as a child but was incredibly close to him and was with him when he died. In the following months I used to ask him for small signs that he was there, and they would always happen. This ended when my DM met someone else and started a new relationship, my DF came to me in a dream where we watched my DM interact with her new partner across a valley with a stream in between us.
My DF said that he had to go now, and that I would be alright. I was begging him to stay and crying hysterically; I was on holiday with my DM at the time and she woke me up just as he’d walked away out of sight as I was crying in my sleep.
I never felt him again until I went through IVF for my first child; my egg collection/sedation was 20 years to the day that he died. He came to me whilst I was under anaesthetic - my consultant said I was trying to get off the table whilst they were doing the procedure but I had no recollection of that.
The only other two times he’s come to me in dreams since has been just before I found out I was pregnant with both my further two children (not IVF). It ended up the third time being how I knew to take a test.

This whole tale is probably very outing but it’s what makes me believe there’s something more.

Sorry for your loss.
No experiences as an adult but I think I’m quite closed off to it as I’m a bit of a scaredy cat so actively request I’m left alone!

As a child I was waving to a blank wall in my great grandad’s bedroom - told my auntie it was grandad. He’d passed a few months before.

Also, a family remember used to own a guesthouse which was an old building. They had a couple stay once who were mediums. They told her of a maid in their room who repeatedly cleaned the TV. They also described her grandmother perfectly including very specific features, saying that she had an unborn baby girl in her arms. The family member had miscarried not long before.

The day I had to have my beautiful horse who had been in my life 26 years put to sleep I was crushed, I got back home and I sat in the living room and a picture of her in the hall fell from the wall, it had been in the same spot for years and it never happened before. It hasn't happened since! Also when I was saying goodbye to her a robin sat right in front of me looking at me for ages, can't explain either but I hope she was saying goodbye.

My parents did, not me. My dad used to randomly smell lavender - we never had any in the house - it was his mum’s scent. After my dad died my mum thinks a medium picked him up - she described him to my mum and had a message which was something he used to say.
I have to say both my parents passed a long time ago and I’ve never had any feelings that they’re still here. I do love reading through my mum’s letters to me when I was at uni 30 years ago and looking at old photos. Hopefully you’ll get to that point at some stage.

When my ex mil was dying we were staying at his family home. My son Brian was 6 months old and his cousins Ted (3) and 7 (Ann). Ex dh, his sister and dad were at the hospital and I was in bed. Ex bil was downstairs. His seven year old woke up crying and Ex bil went to see her. I knew then that Ex mil had died. 10 mins later the phone rang. When I went downstairs Ex bil said hed known too, his daughter had been half asleep but had said ' Ted's ok, Ann's ok, Brian's ok. You're all ok'. Ive changed names obviously but believe 100% that it was Ex mil coming to check on her grandchildren after she died.

My dad was with my grandma when she died. She'd been mostly sleeping but just before she died she was coherent and happy amd talking with her mother. Dad believes she had come for my grandma. I find it very comforting and I know that lots of people have the same experience.

If you read up on Jason Rothwell, he was the medium who came and located Nicola Bulley, he knew where she was as she had “told” him.

I’m so sorry for your loss 💕 I believe there is something after death & we don’t just stop ‘being’. I have a couple that spring to mind right now.

My Dad passed in 2002, as my Mum & I were organising his funeral we were trying to decide on songs. We’d played quite a few & were sitting crying etc trying to decide, at the next song the door on her porch flew wide open with a bang. The door was wood & was a pig for sticking, you had to lean heavily on it to shut it & give it a few good pulls to open. It wasn’t windy. There was no one at the door. When the song was played at the funeral it had apparently been played at his mother’s funeral which my Mum & I hadn’t known.

My Mum passed in 2019. On the anniversary in 2021 my daughter & I got a takeaway to share & just be together to remember her. It was, say, £28.75 & when we got back from collecting it we were a dish short, so it would have been around £34.50 with the full order. The following day I got a tax return for Mum from HMRC, it was for £28.75.

There have been other strange little things. One was with a seance, but people say they’re unreliable & ‘evil’ so I won’t elaborate.

Sending you love & hugs x

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I once read that as long as people talk to you and remember you, you never really die. Your husband is still with you. X

So sorry for your loss, my Dad passed away when I was 18 of bowel cancer he was 48, Some very strange things happened prior to his passing so I definitely believe there is something after death. Sorry for your loss it’s such a horrible time

when my dad was dying a friend came to give him reiki to help him relax. She suddenly said Frank was there waiting for him and that she could feel it so strongly. That was his granddads name and there was no way she would have known that.

after he died I was having such a rough day and was overwhelmed by grief. I felt a really cold chill around my shoulders. That night my brother came round with photos and in every one my dad was cuddling me from behind with his arms around my shoulders so I like to think he was cuddling me when he knew I was struggling.

im so sorry for your loss. It’s so cruel. I won’t bore you with all the cliches but just try and get through each day and don’t think too far ahead for now.

About 15 years ago, I went to a not very close school mum's house. She was interested in woo and had been on a course for people interested in exploring their mediumship skills. She hosted an evening with them at her house. To clarify, I didnt know the host very well apart from chatting at the school gate about our older kids in the same year, I'd never met any of these "mediums" and no charge was made.
There were a few group readings and afterwards some of the mediums went to talk to individuals. One came to me and said a few generic things about a man who liked fishing, etc. This could obviously be any number of blokes but my mind went straight to DH's deceased Dad who I barely knew except from a photo of him with a huge fish his mother had on the mantel piece. I didn't confirm it and she said some more generic stuff. However she then said to me " he thinks its hilarious about the catapult" and will be with you all at Christmas. Younger DS aged about 7 at the time, had made his Christmas list two days earlier and number one on his list was a catapult.

When my mum died I was very sure that I would soon learn if there was life after death. Because I knew that if it was at all possible she would come back and say hello. But there was nothing: no visitations, no voice in my ear, no hair standing up on the back of my neck. So I thought that was that.

About a year later I was pruning the roses in the garden. Mum had always been a keen gardener and had forced me, much against my will, to help her when I was young. And suddenly I was overwhelmed by memories of her. It didn't feel like a presence, I didn't feel as if, if I turned around, she would be there, but it felt very different from an ordinary memory.

So since then I feel that she lives on in me; not as a spirit that's flying around, but that she is part of me now. And I find that very comforting

I'm a scientist, and a doubting Thomas. I need proof and evidence for everything. But here we are

I'm very sorry for your loss

@Magicpaintbrush So sorry OP. My DH died at the age of 47 ten years ago now. It was a sudden and unknown brain haemorrhage and he literally dropped dead. A few days before that, a digital clock that was on a shelf in the kitchen started to tick. This little clock was one of those cheap promotional things but we'd kept it for sentimental reasons that I won't go into and it had stopped working about 22 years previously. My DH came into the sitting room and said, guess what the little clock has started to tick. We were both amazed. It only lasted for maybe a couple of minutes and then stopped dead again. About 2 weeks after my DH had died I was standing in the kitchen, my head full of memories and tears streaming down my face, when suddenly that little clock started to tick again and once again only for a few minutes. I'm sure that was my DH. It's been 10 years since then and it hasn't happened again. I believe a person's energy survives for a while before it's absorbed into the collective energy of the world.

Also to add, the last time I saw my father was at a festival that I was at with friends. I'd said goodbye to him the day before I was due to go home but when I woke up the next morning, I had an overwhelming feeling that I needed to go and see him to say goodbye again- I can't explain this as I had never felt like this before- it was such an emotional pull. I went to where he had been camped but had just missed him. This was before mobile phones were a thing and we didn't live close to each other so I didn't see or speak to him again before he died. I can't help but think that something inside me knew that was the last time I would ever see him.

Absolutely. I saw a medium which changed everything for me. They described my mum to the letter, her personality, her looks, her compulsive shopping habits!! They knew I sat on the left of her when she passed, my brother on the right. Knew my Dad was not there and asked me to forgive him (he couldn't cope with most of it). He knew how she died and could describe the scene in our house. He mentioned the fact she lived far away but was happy now that she could be close every day. He mentioned dynamics with my kids and just things he could not know. Just random stuff but specific and true. I took my friend who does not believe to be an objective observer and she ended up crying her eyes out!! There is more than this life.. A few months later my dad went on life support, he came off but was very ill. One night he kept staring at the corner of the hospital room saying my mum and her Dad’s (my Grandad’s) name. He kept saying why are they there? What are they doing here? It was the only time he seemed coherent but he stared intently. He recovered but I am certain they were there that night…

So very sorry for your loss OP. I was very close to my grandmother who died 15 years ago. She loved dolphins, so much so that people would buy her gifts featuring them during her life. I was with her when she died, had sat with her for almost 2 days and was exhausted so stayed in a hotel that night before travelling home. I woke in the night around 2 am,and felt compelled to turn on the TV which is unusual for me. There was a nature programme and a beautiful scene of dolphins joyfully jumping in the water.

I'm really so sorry for your loss. The night before my children's father's funeral, I decided to go the garden at night and pick some greenery to go around some flowers we'd been putting together for them to take. We used to humourously bicker about the name of this particular plant (he'd always said we could eat it, but there was no way that was happening!) As I leant over, I spoke to him, wished him well on his journey, saying we'd all be ok, especially as we were never going to eat this plant! I then clearly felt the warmth of his hand on my lower back, as if he was leaning in to check what I was doing. I knew he was there and continued to talk to him.....and as I've been writing this, I looked up and have seen a white feather through the window has randomly appeared from nowhere and has floated around the garden. Yes,I know it could be from a pigeon, but I take comfort in the timing and do believe that the spirit lives on xx

Really sorry for your loss OP. My father passed away last week and I’m really struggling but trying to keep it together for everyone else. I believe the people that have passed are all around us in all living things. I hope I’m making sense x

❤️

I'm so sorry for your loss.
I saw things while my mum was passing that made me think. But the it was the anniversary the other day. We randomly decided to go to a cheap restaurant as it day went wonky. My mum's best friend who doesn't live in the same town, had taken her dad there and we bumped into each other. I hadn't seen her since the funeral.

I’m so sorry OP for your loss. My husband died last year from bile duct cancer - and was gone 7 months post diagnosis. I have two DD aged 17 and 11 and it’s really tough.
before my husband died I used to think we all just turned to dust and disappear- as did he. But since he died I’m not so sure.
random things have happened - like one of our songs playing on the radio in the car as I pulled it out of my driveway for the last tkme (I was distraught selling it and didn’t want to).
but the two most craziest things - a red rose appeared on my rose plant on New Year’s Day. Just one single red rose and it was cold weather and no roses should have been growing. Just the one came and then no more.
there is also a rose bush outside my house which has been dormant for years and then a few weeks after he died it was covered in roses.

and the day before the one year anniversary of his passing, I spoke to him and asked him to send me a sign that he was still watching over me and the girls. And I woke suddenly in the night - with a jolt - at 1.28am - which was the time he had died. I’ve never woken at that time before or even thought about it really as I’m usually asleep.
since then I’m convinced that he’s around us and the above examples can’t be coincidences.

separately I don’t know how old you are but if you are under 50 look up a charity called WAY which is for young widows. They’ve helped me a lot.
sending love - it really is pretty shit but you will also be ok.

I lost my little sister unexpectedly aged 38 - the day of her funeral, my Mum & I were heartbroken looking out the kitchen window hoping for some sign of hope… then a giant red hot air balloon floated into our view right there, in the middle of concrete block of flats of a bleak housing estate in Eastern Europe. Never seen one there before nor after. A couple of days ago, it was my birthday. And a bright red hot air balloon floated over us as we were dining in our lovely local pub. Whenever my soul needs a lift since she died - there it is 🎈