My Father's Mother died in 1987 after having repeated heart attacks over a period of about five months. Towards the end, she was confined to intensive care and suffered multiple attacks every day, but the doctors just kept bringing her back. She was 68 when she died. It was for that reason that my dad swore off hospitals and said that he would never again go to a doctor. He didn't.
In 1993 my dad and his second wife bought a home located near a lake in southern Minnesota. It had always been kind of a dream of his to own that home, partly because he was friends with the man who built it and partly because he grew up near a lake like it.
In August of 1996 he was insulating the crawl space underneath the house and contracted some sort of lung ailment. He did not go to the doctor in August. He began coughing, at the time he and his wife each smoked about a pack of cigarettes a day. He did not go to the doctor in September. He got worse. He did not go in October or November. He lost his appetite. He finally went to the doctor on December 17th but the doctor was on vacation that day. He was told to come back on the 19th. He called work at 7 a.m. on Dec. 18 and retired after working for the same company for over 25 years. I know he knew.
He died that night around 7:30 p.m. He was 58 years old. At the time I was working at a factory job from midnight until 8 a.m. and going to school during the day. My time to sleep was from the afternoon until 10 or 11 p.m. The night my dad died I was sound asleep and dreaming that he and I were talking about his future. As I became lucid, I realized he and I were conversing. He said to me that he had an opportunity that he could take advantage of, but would have to die in order for the timing to work out. I made a (not so nice) joke about his second wife and her four kids having to find another source of income if he chose to go. I remember that we both laughed at that and then abruptly my wife came into the bedroom and woke me up.
She screamed "Wake up your dad had a heart attack and the ambulance is on the way!" At the time, we lived about 2-1/2 hours away so it would have been futile to try and rush over there, but I called work and told them I was taking a few days off and we drove over that night.
When we got there, sure enough he was dead. He was at the funeral home. My brother and sister showed up soon after. We all spent the night at the house. I knew I would be seeing him in the morning, so I just went to sleep.
Around 6 a.m. I thought I woke up and sat up, he was sitting at the end of the bed facing away but had twisted around so I could see him. All he said was "Out with the old and in with the new..." That is all he had to say, but it said everything. I knew from the smile on his face that he was at peace, he was with his mom and dad and he was on track. Somehow I also knew that he was coming back into our family by being born again.
My wife can't have anymore children and my brother wasn't married, so it was up to my sister, she had two and wanted more.
From my other stories and posts you may know that this event is normal everyday stuff to my immediate family. My mom is also supportive since her whole family has various abilities. I had tried talking to my dad about going to see grandma before but he just brushed it away as a memory. I guess he knows better now.
After my dad died, I made several journeys up to see him and grandma. Grandpa is usually less energetic. They were always doing something family oriented. At Thanksgiving she still makes a big meal even though she says "You don't get hungry in heaven, but you can eat if you want to..." more of a tribute to the memory of being here than anything else
On one visit, I met my grandma and asked where dad was at. She told me that he had to go to school so that he could be reborn. She said that school would last about six months and that he would be born soon after. He was and his name is Alex, I told my sister all about what was going to happen with dad but somehow she chose to forget so I leave it alone. Her family has a religion so they don't want another.
I try to learn from every experience I have. From this one I learned that:
Memories as well as people live on.
Dad could see the future clearly even though he was still choosing to live or not.
To live or die is sometimes our choice - free will.
In heaven they view themselves as alive and us as dead.
You can come back, sometimes.
Time in heaven also seems to be somewhat linear even though he knew the future.
Thanksgiving dinner tastes better down here; and if you don't experience things down here it is hard to make up for them up there.
Life is sort of like a movie rental store. When you go to the store you read the back of the box to find out what the movie is about; drama, action, love story, etc. When you have decided, you pay your money and go watch the movie. Likewise, while in heaven you preview what a life could be then you decide and go live it. Some people believe in fate, I say you previewed it in heaven before you were born.
Thanks for reading
TT
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