Three weeks after we lost my brother and my son, my sister was due to have her first baby. In the midst of trying to recover after two funerals, being in a state of shock and avoiding the media… our family had something exciting coming our way. A new baby! The day my nephew was born was a wonderful day. It was nice to not be so consumed with our recent, tragic loss and be able to focus on something else, a miracle. The baby was born perfect, healthy and extremely handsome. We were snapping pictures of our new addition with his proud parents, as you do. Later, when my sister was scrolling through her phone looking at the photos… she saw something that made her feel indescribably overwhelmed with emotion. My recently deceased son (her nephew) was in one of the photos. She was elated! He was there in the hospital with us that day. Then she suddenly felt heartbroken… knowing he was gone and that it couldn’t really be him. She sent me the photo, I opened it up and was… confused, I instantly thought she photoshopped it. I was a bit angry at her. “That is a horrible joke” I thought. She explained, in fact she had done nothing to the photo. It was just like that. How amazing it was to see him! Everyone (that knew my son) we have shown the photo to and asked “Who is that person in the background?” 100% of them said it was my son. Once we explained the photo was taken 3 weeks after he passed… well, you can imagine the various reactions we saw. I personally think he was there that day, he wanted to be a part of the excitement with his family. And made sure his little cousin made it to us safely.
Ever since my brother and my son passed away I have noticed ‘heart-shaped’ objects in random places. I see them around the house, in my garden, in my food and outside. One January morning I went out to my garage; there on one of the cement stairs was a damp heart shape. Someone must have had snow on their boots while going up the stairs the day before – the snow melted and left a wet ‘heart’ on the step. I think that was the first one I really noticed. My son and I use to look for heart shaped rocks – while we were in our yard, or while we were camping… really anywhere there were rocks. Now, when I notice a heart shape – I feel it is my son saying ‘Hi Mom! I love you!’ Last summer our cat had four sweet little kittens, we were shocked when we saw… one of the kittens was born with a heart shaped patch of orange fur on top of her head. I felt a cold chill run through my body when I saw it. How amazing! I know my son had something to do with that. I named the kitten Heartlee. When I walk my dogs, she actually follows and walks with us. She is adorable. Another time I was outside, in my vegetable garden checking on my cabbage. An insect had eaten a heart shape out of one of the cabbage leaves. Bubbles in my tiny garden pond formed a heart on top of the water on another day. It was disappearing quickly, I almost didn’t get a photo of it. We ordered pizza for a family get together. I was checking for empty pizza boxes to throw out. I opened one pizza box to see if it was empty, all that was left inside was an olive… in the shape of a heart. Another time, I was eating a handful of cashews. The phone rang, so I set the cashews down on a paper towel. When I finished my phone call and went back to the cashews… I noticed one of them was shaped like a heart. I have so many more examples, I could go on and on. I get a warm, wonderful feeling when I see these. I feel like my son is close and around me, even though I can’t see him. He knows I miss him terribly and is trying to comfort me. I have put together a short 1 minute slideshow of the hearts I have seen if you want to take a look. Video
Another interesting thing I have noticed, I see the number ‘one’ in groups frequently. Nearly everyday – I just happen to look at my watch, or the clock in the car, or the time on the coffee pot when it is 11:11 or 11:01 or 1:11 etc… One evening I was texting with my sister. I told her I was thinking about starting a blog and asked what she thought about it. I set my phone down to await her reply. I walked into the kitchen & the coffee pot read 11:11. That wasn’t the actual time… I just hadn’t reset it since the power went out last time. Reading 11:11 made me feel like ‘Yes! Starting a blog is a great idea. Do it!’
I heard somewhere that the number ‘one’ appearing in groups means that loved ones from the other side were around you. I am not sure if that is true, but I sure notice when I see one’s in a group. I take it as a sign. Just a few months ago, I went to a Mexican Food drive-up window for some Chicken Nachos, one of my son’s favorites from this particular restaurant. When the fast food worker handed me the card charging device through the window to sign – there was an option on the screen saying “Leave a tip: 10%, 12%, 15%” etc. I chose 10%. Then when she handed me my receipt – the 1s on it was incredible. The date was 11/1, my food total was $11.11, the tip amount ended up being $1.10. I knew it was my son saying “Hi Mom, I see you ordered my favorite nachos!” I had saved that receipt… but somehow I have misplaced it. I pulled the transaction up on my phone to show the grand total… if you subtract the tip of 1.10 you will see what the amount was.
I’ve also seen 111 as I am checking my stats for my blog, or my Etsy site or even ‘likes’ on Facebook. Not at 109 or 120… but I happen to look when it reads 111. I will take that as a good sign.
I was preparing my dad’s motor-home to go on a camping trip. Since I live in a rural area… it is a must to go through and clean it. As much as we try to prevent it, the occasional mouse will find a way to get in. So, a thorough cleaning and disinfecting always eases our minds before we take it on a trip. I have a fabulous cordless vacuum I use for everything, it comes apart easily and has different attachments. It is great for using on the motor-home, it can get into everywhere. I also took my tailgater in so I could listen to music while I cleaned. I linked it up to my phone via bluetooth and listened to Pandora. As you may know, Pandora will play songs similar to what you have told it you like. I was hearing some songs I had never heard before and began to notice… there were lines in the lyrics that seemed to be talking to me. Like, my son was talking to me through the music. It wasn’t 1 or 2 songs, it was every song that played. After an hour or two, I even said out loud “Are you trying to talk to me?” I thought “how odd is this?” And figured I was just imagining things … until a song played that I had heard dozens of times since I was a young teen, yet never really listened to the words. This time the words had my full attention. They even started out with the word ‘Mama’ …and sent a chill through my body. I had to sit down. The song was describing the day my son & brother died.. word for word. I cried for a long while after that. I knew at that moment, I was not imagining it, my son was speaking to me through the music! The song was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. I still get chills as I write this. Our loved ones seem to have various ways of reaching us. If we only listen.
I think we can all see signs from loved ones on the other side, if we are open to it. For me – it really makes me feel like I am being guided in some way. It also makes me feel like my son is always with me. Give it a try. See what you notice and how it makes you feel inside.
It's Probably Sharon 