Am new to all this so please bear with me!!
I'm so glad I've found MN, and just thought I'de post on this subject as it'de be really interesting to hear of other peoples experiences.
After my mum died - almost 4 years ago - I had real problems dealing with it and had an overwhelming urge to 'find' her. It sounds a bit strange now, but even though she'de been terminally ill and died in a Hospice, I just couldn't believe she had died. It's part of the grieving process, I know that now. She was also the first person very close to me who has died. Coupled with the fact we were extremely close, she was a very young mum, we were more like sisters or friends and she was also young to die. Anyhow, I knew of a very well respected (good doesn't sound right!) medium nearby and went to see her just 6 weeks after my mum had died. In retrospect, it was probably much too soon but at the time was just about the most amazing, moving experience. She described how a lady was coming through with an awful lot of love and energy, saying she was 'mum', she described her appearance and nature in life, her illness, one of the first things my mum came through saying was how I should always celebrate my Birthday - I was in tears at this! My mum's Birthday had been 7 Jan, mine is 9 Jan and she'de died in the early hours of 10 Jan. Just so typically her - hanging on so she wouldn't die on my Birthday, unselfish to the last - literally! She described accurately lots of personal matters, things I had of hers. She even came through with her name, which, again, was 100% convincing as it was quite an unusual name. Although I was very emotional throughout the reading I could definitely not doubt a word she was saying. A couple of months later my dad had a very restless night, he felt as if someone was trying to wake him up, then at 5.30 a.m. he woke with a start to find a vision forming in the corner of the room, he was really frightened for a couple of seconds and my mum just appeared there in a bright light, he said she just looked like an angel, was smiling and so happy, and held out her hand to him, then went. The whole thing had only lasted 4 or 5 seconds. The night she died we were at my parents house, towards the end her bed had been made up in the living room, the kitchen was down the hall with a part glazed door leading to the hall with the downstairs loo leading off. That night, just as many others, my partner saw her cross the hall to the loo. He didn't tell me till we got home - thank god!! I used to feel really hurt that I hadn't seen her or felt a presence as we'de always been so, so close, but I think it's purely for that reason that she knows I would be really, really petrified. The only tangible exp. I can say I've had were orbs I saw clearly around my son's bed (I can't tell you how much she loved him!) about 2 years ago, and then I remember feeling a bit sad leaving our old house 1 year ago thinking she knew it and wouldn't know the new one (if you know what I mean) and on the first night here walking into my bedroom and there being several orbs just twinkling away for about a minute. I haven't ever had anything more from her though, not even a feeling of her 'being there' - perhaps I'm expecting far too much, I guess I'm very lucky to have had the experiences as described. God, sorry this is so long, got carried away!!!