A Hospice Worker and a Parent Have the Same Vision

MY HUSBAND SAW THE EXACT SAME THING

              Often after death visitations come with their own validation. But we must be open to the idea of spiritual visions and more importantly, willing to talk about them and share with others.
                The case of hospice worker Lizabeth Sumner illustrates this point. Lizabeth was a veteran hospice nurse at San Diego Hospice. This down to earth veteran of hospice care had a visitation from one of her young patients, which cannot be dismissed as a “grief induced hallucination” or wish fulfillment. In this case, the fact that another person many miles away shared the same experience makes it even harder to dismiss.
                This supernatural story begins in the most natural of ways. Around Valentine’s Day, Lizabeth was busy helping a young boy die. He had a form of heart disease that doctors had already done all they could to prolong his life. Now that the end was near, Jimmy (not his real name) had decided to die at home.
                His parents supported his decision to die at home. They had seen him struggle for a long time, and now they just wanted to make him comfortable and surround him with love. Lizabeth came to help. She had taken a special liking to Jimmy and his family. They were tight-knit and caring, and Jimmy showed the confidence and intelligence of a child who was raised by loving supportive parents.
                Jimmy and his family gave everything they had to each other in those final days. They celebrated his birthday early as they knew he wouldn’t make it to the actual date. His only birthday wish was to go to dinner in a limousine. Jimmy’s parents couldn’t afford to hire one, so they borrowed a Ford Taurus from a friend and rode around town while Jimmy basked in the front seat as if he were a celebrity. When they stopped for dinner, it was for hot dogs and Slurpees. For a while, Jimmy forgot that this was his last birthday party.
                The actual death a few weeks later was not a surprise. His mother said that he got up early that day and made sandwiches for his brother’s school lunches. He told her: “I made them special today as they will need all the energy they can get”.  Jimmy weakened as the day progressed. Lizabeth was there, and she saw the fight fading from his eyes. He asked that his favorite music be put on a tape player.
                The parents embraced Jimmy. “Come on,” they said. “Come on now, it’s all right Jimmy. It’s okay to let go”. For a moment he would seem to leave his body, then pull back in, but finally he sighed and left his body for good, surrounded by his brothers, parents, pediatrician, and Lizabeth.
                Lizabeth’s job was over now. She helped the family make some of the necessary arrangements and waited for the mortuary van to come.  She noticed one of Jimmy’s brothers was standing in the front yard. She picked up a basketball and shot hoops with him for a bit. Then she went home.
                That was when it happened.
                As she drove down the freeway, the windshield was filled with a vision so vivid that she had to pull off to the side of the road.
                In this vision, she saw Jimmy, happy, and animated, holding a man’s hand. She couldn’t see the man, but saw that Jimmy was happy. He looked adoringly at the man’s face and had a look of great peace. The vision was as real as any ordinary experience. No words were spoken, but his eyes said it all. “The light was back in his eyes”, Lizabeth said. “I could hear him say, ‘I’m all right now’ although he did not move his lips”.
                Lizabeth only told her husband about the vision. She thought of keeping it that way, but at Jimmy’s funeral, thought she should at least tell his family. She pulled his mother aside and told her what she had seen. The woman immediately burst into tears.
                “That’s exactly what my husband saw” she said. “Right after Jimmy died, my husband saw the same thing”.
                This story captures the power of death related visions and after death visitations. They are paranormal yet very normal events that possess enormous potential for healing. We must begin to take these visions seriously. Studies show that as many as 70% of grieving parents, and 50% of grieving spouses have such experiences yet they are often ignored or trivialized.
                And we must have the courage to talk about them. If Lizabeth had not had the courage to tell Jimmy’s mother her vision of Jimmy, the family would not have been able to have the validation that both visions, seen miles apart, brought to this story.

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