A Soldier’s Spirit Reaches Out to His Family

A mother’s story of love, loss, and spiritual connection.

Bob Olson is the host of Afterlife TV and author of Answers About The Afterlife, Insight from Hindsight, and The Magic Mala. He’s also the founder of the top directory of reputable psychics and mediums, BestPsychicDirectory.com.

Photo by Andre Klimke on Unsplash

Today, we will read a story Mary shared with me for comment. She discusses some after-death communications that she had from her son, who was killed in Afghanistan.

After-death communications (ADCs) are the signs and signals spirits send us to let us know they’re okay, watching over us, and love us. They take many forms, and Mary’s story contains quite a few.

Here’s Mary’s story, followed by my comments.

Mary Shares Several Spiritual Experiences Around Her Son’s Passing

When my son deployed to Afghanistan, I kept dreaming of a large military procession going through my town. In my dreams, I was on the sidewalk watching the procession.

A month later, my daughter woke up crying with a terrible pain in the left side of her neck. That morning, Marines came to my door to give me the news that my son had been shot and passed away on the battlefield. He was shot in the left side of his neck.

The night the Marines delivered the news—while standing in my living room—I felt a tingling down my arm and across my face. I felt it was a kiss from my son. I just knew from my feelings that he had come home to say goodbye.

Following his passing, there was indeed a large military procession with honors in my town for him.

A week later, my daughter was lying in bed, worried that her brother’s spirit might be lost in Afghanistan and not be able to find his way home. She was crying about this when he appeared to her. Her room was dark, but she could clearly see him surrounded by light. Without any words spoken, he let her know he was okay.

About a month later, my daughter had a dream, or what she thought was a dream. In the dream, she heard a helicopter, so she went to the window in the middle of the night. As she looked outside, she saw a battlefield and a helicopter with a driver. It was so real that my daughter called for her son to come to the window. But when he arrived, everything was gone. I believe my son was showing her the last thing he saw before leaving this earth.

I also have a picture of a moving orb in my living room that was taken when I was trying out a camera to see if it was still working, and I accidentally snapped a picture. I was talking to my son about the trip I was about to take when it happened.

The following Valentine’s Day, we had a lot of snow. I went to the cemetery, which is an hour away. The snow was up to my hip. Well, I had traveled all that way, and I wasn’t going to let his flowers sit in the car, so I was determined to get to the stone no matter what. I crawled through the snow and placed the flowers next to his stone. I also cleared away all the snow around his stone. I remember thinking, If he could see me now, he’d be laughing. That night, I dreamed of him giving me a big hug and a smile for Valentine’s Day.

Bob Olson’s Response to Mary

Thank you, Mary, for sharing your story. I’m sorry about the passing of your son. He’s certainly an excellent communicator from the other side, and you have done a wonderful job with your awareness of his communications and your interpretations of them. I’ll respond to each story individually. I’m excited because these stories cover precognition, shared-death experiences, spirit visions, orbs, and more. Let’s get started.

PRECOGNITIVE DREAM

Mary, your dreams about the military procession in your town could be considered precognitive dreams—a dream premonition. I’ve heard many stories like this and find them comforting, at least in hindsight. By this, I mean these dreams indicate that fate has stepped in because the dream occurred before your son’s passing. I find this comforting because many people in your shoes might wish they had done something to prevent the death, like somehow stopping your son from joining the Marines (as if that were possible). It's just what we do. But your dream indicates that his death was already decided before it happened. It was meant to be.

When I interviewed Scarlett Lewis about her son’s murder in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, we discussed a few incidents that occurred before her six-year-old son’s death that indicated her son’s precognitive knowing about his death. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a conscious knowing, but there was evidence to imply a subconscious knowing.

I should mention to readers that many people have dreams that might seem precognitive but never come to pass. If you read my article about predictions, you’ll know why these aren’t worth the worry. Some dreams are simply our minds grappling with our fears, which is another reason we should not get tangled up in worry about them.

SHARED-DEATH EXPERIENCE

Your daughter’s experience waking up with pain in the left side of her neck is indicative of a shared-death experience. This is when someone has some physical or mental connection with someone as they pass. This experience may include witnessing the dying person going into the light or feeling sensations in their body similar to what the dying person feels.

When I was about twelve years old, my friend’s father told me about waking up at two o’clock in the morning to a sitting position. He said he was sweating profusely as if he had a fever. At that moment, he knew his mother had died. Sure enough, he got a call later that his mother had passed at two in the morning. This is a simple example of a shared-death experience, but the first one I ever heard (more than twenty-five years before I learned the phrase).

My friend’s father seemed to have felt the fever his mother felt during her passing, similar to the pain felt in your daughter’s neck when your son passed. This shows the strong connection your son and daughter have with one another. While I’m sure it wasn’t a pleasant experience for her, it’s fascinating evidence that they were still connected even thousands of miles away.

THE KISS ON YOUR CHEEK

I’ve heard many stories of people feeling a kiss on their cheek from loved ones in spirit. It’s real. Poignantly, you felt this kiss the night after the Marines delivered the news of your son’s death.

Many people wish they could feel the sensation of a kiss from beyond. I’ve never experienced it, but that’s probably because I’m not wired for it. Just as some people have mediumistic abilities and others have frequent out-of-body experiences, some are better wired to feel physical sensations initiated by spirit.

SPIRIT VISIONS

Your daughter’s vision of her brother during the night is another extraordinary experience and evidence of their strong connection. He came to her because she was distressed, worried that his spirit might be lost in Afghanistan. He gave her a gift by eliminating her fear and showing her that he was in the light. I love that she mentioned their telepathic communication, which nearly all near-death experiencers mention about their communications with spirits.

I’m going to include your daughter’s second vision here, as well. When she looked out her window and saw the battlefield and helicopter, it didn’t matter whether it was a dream or a direct experience. Your daughter seems to have some amazing abilities, so it’s possible she was in a meditative/mystical state of mind, which isn’t far from dreaming. Either way, there must have been a reason your son felt it was important that your daughter saw this scene. All we can do is trust that it had a purpose, if even just to indicate—once again—her connection with him.

THE ORB PHOTOGRAPH

This is probably the least extraordinary of your after-death experiences, but it’s important to emphasize because it’s the only ADC some people get. The fact that it was mixed in with all these other experiences may be helpful to others reading this, as many people have orb photos and don’t know what to believe about them.

I appreciate that you remember talking to your son when you accidentally snapped the photo. That’s what sets it apart in my mind. It’s like when I’m thinking of a loved one in spirit and their favorite song comes on the radio. The order of those two events matters. If the song came on first and then I thought of my deceased friend, there’s nothing too otherworldly about that. But when that order is reversed, it gives the experience greater meaning.

THE SNOWY VALENTINE’S DAY EXPERIENCE

I can imagine you, Mary, trudging through the snow to get those flowers to your son’s grave. It’s apparent that you know spirits don’t hang out at their graves, which is why you were thinking, If he could see me now, he’d be laughing. And, of course, he could see you competing with the snow, which is why he visited you that night in a dream to give you a hug and a smile for Valentine’s Day.

Final Thoughts

Mary, thank you again for sharing your experiences with us. You and your daughter seem to have exceptional awareness and ability for these after-death communications, and I think many of my readers will find your stories inspiring. I will end with a few comments my wife, Melissa, made after reading your stories.

Melissa commented, “One of the things I thought about reading each story was that these are perfect examples of how people in spirit often send multiple communications when we acknowledge them. It’s as if they get excited that we’ve acknowledged them, so they send more messages.”

Melissa makes an important point. If we want to get signs and signals (ADCs) from our loved ones in spirit, it helps to be aware of them and then acknowledge them when they happen. If, instead, we’re skeptical or don’t make a fuss about an after-death communication that we notice, it discourages spirits from sending more. It’s common sense, really, but it holds the same energy attraction that all gratitude holds. When we acknowledge something someone did and express appreciation for it, it encourages more of the same.

Melissa added, “We had this happen after the passing of our dog, Libby. The first few days after she passed, we were getting after-death communications from her pretty consistently, and we were excited about it. Over time, they dissipated once she had clearly communicated that she was okay and around us. I think it’s important for people to know that this is common so they don’t get worried when the signs come less often or stop.”

I appreciate Melissa’s point. Many people have commented to me, “Oh no, what happened? I don’t feel my loved one around me anymore. Did they move on somehow or reincarnate?”

When ADCs stop coming, it’s nothing to be alarmed about. It’s normal and doesn’t mean they’ve moved on or aren’t around us anymore. It means we don’t need the ADCs as much once they’ve contacted us. Most people need the reassurance that their loved one is okay immediately after the person’s passing, even those of us who are well-experienced in this field (myself included). Once we’ve had that blessing, the person in spirit doesn’t have to extend themselves this way.

Regarding people’s concerns that their loved one has reincarnated, I will refer you to an article I wrote titled "Will You Wait for Me in Heaven?" That article explains why our loved ones will always be there to greet us when it’s our turn to return home.

Melissa’s final comment about Mary’s ADCs is related to her first. It’s about trusting the dreams, messages, and sensations we receive from spirit.

“When a spirit sends you a sign or signal,” Melissa mentioned, “you have a knowing that it’s from them. You see the animal, hear the song, experience a dream, or have a thought that makes you think of your deceased loved one. Often, a feeling in your body accompanies that after-death communication. Trust that feeling! Trust your inner knowing if you feel like your loved one is saying hello and telling you they are okay. You don’t have to share it with anybody else. Just trust that it’s your loved one communicating with you. Because if you allow and acknowledge it, more will come.”

I think that’s the perfect ending to this article. It’s about not letting your head get in the way of your heart. The head is skeptical. The heart is open and aware.

Thanks for reading. I would love to hear from you in the comments. And thanks to Mary for sharing her stories and Melissa for sharing her insight. I hope you enjoyed this week’s post on Bob Olson Connect.

With love,
Bob

PS, You can learn more about ADCs by reading my article, Ten Signs That Spirits Send Us.

Bob Olson is the host of Afterlife TV, the author of Answers about the Afterlife, Insight from Hindsight, and The Magic Mala, and the creator of the most trusted directory of psychics, mediums, animal communicators, and energy healers, BestPsychicDirectory.com.

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