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

There are many stories of near death experiences (NDE) on youtube - watching them has made me feel much better about death. My heart goes out to you. I'm so sorry for your loss

After my lovely MiL died, too young, for a few days I had a very strong sense of her presence in our house, where she’d always been happy (couldn’t always say the same of her own home, FiL could be very difficult).

I could almost ‘see’ her sitting on the sofa.

Of course I put it down entirely to my imagination, so when my lovely DF died only 6 months later, I fully expected to ‘sense’ the same sort of thing, either in my house or in DPs”.
But there was nothing. Absolutely zilch.

It really is the most awful experience. I lost my husband to cancer too. He was 41 and fought so hard. It was 5 and a half years ago now and while it does gets easier there are still moments where I think he'll walk in the door and still moments where my heart absolutely breaks at the thought of what he's missing (especially in our daughters' lives) and when I think of the life we should be having together. I'd be happy to chat to you if that would help. Not sure how that works on here but if there is a way, feel free to get in touch.

If you're under 50 yourself I'd highly recommend joining Widowed and Young (WAY). They have meet ups and things but I've never gone to any of them, but have found the Facebook page a big help. People on there just 'get it' in a way the rest of the world doesn't.

Hi OP, firstly I'm so sorry for your loss. I can completely relate to the feeling of despair that you mention in your original post. I lost my Mum when I was just 17 years old, and that loss has shaped the course of my life. I now work as a Psychic Medium (this is not me in any way trying to advertise my services!) and I can confirm, 100%, that our souls continue after death. I have done hundreds of readings for people, bringing through their loved ones from Spirit, giving evidence of the life they led and of their personalities, shared memories etc etc, but also, crucially, what they can see from the Spirit world of the lives of their loved ones who are still living, offering guidance and insights. Please trust me when I say that our departed loved ones are never far away; they are with us and around us, helping us from the other side, and always sending us all their love. I truly hope my perspective brings you some comfort, and I wish you all the best x

I posted up thread that I have had lots of signs. I had a funny one this morning so I thought I would post again.
I'm not too well at the moment and am in a fair amount of pain. I am notorious for not taking prescribed painkillers (I'm terrified of becoming addicted).
This morning when I went to get my tablets, I keep the current sheets in a box, I found a sheet of very strong prescription painkillers in there. I have genuinely no idea how they got there.
I think it was DH telling me not to be an idiot and take the painkillers.

My beloved best friend died a few years ago; she was 40. I see signs from her all the time.

A grief counsellor I saw for a while afterwards actually advised me to talk to my friend if I wanted to. So I reckon that chatting to your loved one is actually professionally recommended.

My first really profound experience was when I was lying bed one night after a tearful phonecall from my mum to tell me that my dad had been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, it really was an unexpected shock. Anyway it's very late and my partner is asleep next to me and I can hear something moving softly around my bedroom and I started to feel a bit afraid but once this presence was ok my side of the room I felt a breeze move my hair as though somebody had softly stroked my forehead. This feeling of calm swept over me, it was like my visitor was telling me that I would be ok no matter what happened and that feeling of calm and resilience never left me despite my dad passing away 4 months later. I had grandparents and great parents that were loving and resilient people so I do wonder if one of them visited me that night.

I have had lots of weird things happen since my dad went, I have profound but lovely dreams that we are sat together, he has his arm around me and we chat, I travel a lot with my partner and he told me he follows us around the world.

My aunt found a very good medium after her husband died, a genuinely good medium that knew things she couldn't know, a very unassuming housewife with fluffy slippers and a little fluffy dog and she was mind-blowing to my aunt so I booked a session and I will never get over that session. She knew places I had been, she described a photo of me at Christ the redeemer in Rio that she couldn't have found on my socials etc. she was being told this by a man that follows me around the world. She described the man and I am in doubt it was my dad and she was enthralled by his jovial personality and things she was relaying about other members of my family could only have been dad, she doesn't have a clue who my family is! He wasn't the only one that came through, my maternal grandmother who had a very complex relationship with my mother also very complex just like her and my grandmother had admitted not being great to my mum but that my mum was "cut from the same cloth" as her! I told her nothing about myself yet this lady knew so much, I can't explain it any other way other than the afterlife really being in the next room!

When my little brother died as a child, his wall clock in his bedroom stopped. Exactly the time of his passing.

My dad came to me when my youngest son was born. I knew something was wrong. Medical staff were so sure he was fine. I felt distraught (my son was diagnosed with a serious congenital condition 2 days later) I could feel dad standing next to the bed, smelling of cigarettes as he did when I was little. I felt he had come to support me at a time when I needed him the most.

I'm so sorry.

I think there must be. When I'm having tough times I always find white feathers and that is supposedly your guardian angel (my DF).

About a year after he died I was at home alone and my thesaurus flew off the bookcase.

And I swear for a little while I used to hear footsteps that stopped right outside my bedroom door.

As a teen I worked voluntarily on a local farm. Got on really well with my colleague who lived on site but once I left for university I lost touch with him. I’d go over during the holidays maybe once again in case he was around but wouldn’t tell him I was going.

The last time I went I was passing his house and stopped to look at it. It looked just as it had ever had but I knew my friend was dead. I knew how he’d died.

Was about another year before I bumped into someone who had known him. She told me what had happened. I was shocked, but not surprised as my friend has already told me.

My very sciency friend (literally works in a lab) heard a voice telling her to be by her mother's side at an exact time the next day. The family were taking it in turns to stay with her in hosipital as she was clearly in her last few days.

The next day my friend was due to leave and someone else take over, but she stayed a bit longer until the time the voice said, and that was the minute her mum died.

Gosh the weirdest thing just happened. I just read this entire thread, and posted about my friend's mum. I felt sad that my family are distant and mostly unpleasant, and I have no one who would be watching over me (I realise this is a privilege in a way as I haven't had the overwhelming grief most of you have had).

I asked in my head for some sign that I'm not alone, nothing in the kitchen, had just sat on the loo for a wee (sorry tmi) and started crying, looked down and saw there was a small white feather on the floor near me by the wall. I have no idea what, if anything it means. Sorry if this post is self-indulgent and pointless.

No it's not self indulgent or pointless, white feathers have appeared in unexpected places since my dad died including indoors. My cat even had a white feather dangling from her whiskers...which could be a sign she.did something untoward but she's a sweetie so I'll say it's a loved one visiting 😁

I just had to respond to this one.

My mum died in the early 2000s. For years afterwards we had one robin would hang around outside our back door. If it was the same one or different ones I don't know.

In 2011 my dad died, and we all trooped over to the midlands to spend his last few days with him and then sort the funeral - about 3 weeks in total after which we headed home - around 300 miles away. Came downstairs on the first morning back, opened the curtains, and.... two Robins are sitting on the table outside the back door. The only time we've seen this before or since. Utterly mind-blowing.

Has anybody had any experiences with rainbows? I saw rainbows upon leaving the graveyard at the funerals of both parents and two aunties. Incredible and such a massive coincidence.

I totally understand.

When we lost my mum, within three years of dad passing, my DD brought flowers around for me, it was April this year. We hugged and looked out at the garden, and DD said remember when you told us you asked for a robin to comfort you and let you know Grandpa had passed safely to the other side? I nodded. I poured us both a drink to toast them both. They’re together, I reassured her. Then a robin appeared on the fence. We just looked at each other not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Then a smaller robin appeared, next to the other one. And we cried happy tears.

My DF was a confirmed atheist. He didn’t believe in an afterlife but he believed in science and the concept that we are all just energy … and energy doesn’t die. I’ve had so many experiences where I’ve felt his energy and judgment 😂

So sorry for your loss @Magicpaintbrush . This has ended up being a beautiful thread and i hope it has brought you some comfort.

Re: rainbows, yes. We scattered my DB’s ashes on a lovely sunny day in the river near his home. On the way to the pub afterwards the heavens opened and a rainbow appeared pointing right at the spot where we left him.

My mum died at 43 and my dad never got over it. He developed end stage liver cancer 15 years later and had an awful final couple of years. The last weeks of his life in hospital were grim and the team kept telling us he was nowhere near the end, then one afternoon he opened his eyes and called my mums name and told her he was ready. As soon as that happened, I called my sister to come back to the hospital, she just about made it. I truly believe my mum came to get him.

OP I am so sorry for your loss. I’m a working medium and have been for the past 10 years, I’ve also authored a book as I have had so many incredible connections with spirit. I read for so many people on a weekly basis and as I say, have my own experiences that in my mind, heart and soul there is not one ounce of doubt that we do not continue on as a living consciousness when we pass. Where we actually “go” to - that’s what we will all find out one day xx

My half brother was a war baby. His father was an American GI that my Mum was head over heels in love with but had had no sex education of any sort and discovered she was pregnant long after her soldier had been posted to Europe.

As a teen, she described him to me and she told me his nickname but refused to name him. She took his name to her grave because there was scandal enough in the village when she had an illegitimate baby and never wanted to cause his family problems of any sort.

My half brother was six before she heard anything further and she learned the soldier was in fact KIA before my brother was even born. My brother just got on with his life, got married had kids and had a nice life but went with his DW to a demonstration of mediumship where he was told that James (not his real name) was frequently with him and they went on to describe a soldier in the uniform of the battalion he was part of.

Bro and his DW didn't know a James though because he never knew who his father was and dismissed it out of hand.

Years later, I was laid up for months with an injury and I decided to do a bit of research of my own as I obviously knew when bro was conceived so could work out this soldiers movements, where the soldier was sent and roughly when he died and in a very short time I was able to pick him out of a photograph and several emails later I had incontrovertible proof sent to me by an expert on this section of the American army that this man was my brothers daddy. His name was James.

I am very sorry for your loss, OP 💐

My FIL's bedroom had a soft toy duck sitting on a shelf that quacked when you squeezed its middle. After he passed away, the duck would quack several times a day when one of his family members passed by the door of his bedroom, especially when his son-in-law passed in the early hours to leave for work. The toy had never done this before my FIL died. The family were very blasé about it and told my DH and me that "oh, that's just FIL saying hello". He was an extremely clever man, so they weren't surprised that he'd found a way to communicate!

Maybe time doesn't really exist. So all that ever was, still is and all that ever will be, already is. At the level of the really small, smaller than atoms, say, physics becomes very weird.

Firstly, my sincere condolences.
My husband died last week, sad but more in the relief mode as he'd been sick for some time and we'd had several 'go home to die' episodes before he had a stroke last week. My 'Universe speaking' moment was driving into see him on the day before he passed and the radio played in a row: Stairway to Heaven, Like a Prayer and Knocking on Heaven's Door. It was a tad spooky, but I saw it as supportive sign, as he'd been so unwell for so long: the other side was getting ready for him.
Many years ago my mother died under suspicious circumstances, literally had she jumped or did she fall? It was all very difficult and terribly upsetting - I was 17. About a month after she'd passed I had a dream where she was as clear as day, saying 'dear Rat, don't worry, i didn't jump'. It was reassuring as I couldn't conceive of her doing such a thing, abandoning me in such a brutal way, I felt her love very strongly. Still miss her though.