by Bryan Sheehan

Created on: January 06, 2009

In November of 2007, a very close friend of mine passed away of a heart attack. He went through years of heavy drug and alcohol usage, as well as depression. I first met him in 3rd grade, and since then we had this amazing bond. I am now 38 years old. I've always believed in the after life and was always fascinated by what I read about it and similar things. For the last year or so, I have been trying to come to terms with the fact that he's gone. It's been extremely difficult for me.

A few days ago, I decided to call my sister-in-law to see if she wanted to go grocery shopping with me. Around Christmas time, my brother had told me she had seen strange lights around the time her father died, and I felt that maybe she could somehow get in touch with my friend or show me how to do it myself. She told me she has seen, felt and heard things from beyond. I began talking about my friend, and she said she felt his presence very strongly in the car with us, and that he felt that out of all his friends and family, I was having the hardest time with it, and he wanted me to know he was ok. She told me a few things he vaguely related to her that only he could have known about. I was pretty amazed. I also recall when we were in our teens, I had slept over his house and he had pointed out that the clock said 12:34 and we both laughed. Now that I think about it, within the first 6-8 months or so after his death, I remember more than a handful of times waking up in the middle of the night or just glancing at the clock and it had read 12:34. To me, this seems to have happened too often to be just a coincidence.

After she dropped me off, I felt an overwhelming urge to laugh until I was almost crying. It made me feel incredibly happy that he gave me a sign to let me know he was ok. I believe I have felt his presence with me before. I received a dvd from his brother containing a bunch of pictures throughout his life and music he always loved to listen to. I cried throughout the whole thing, and it took me hours to snap out of it. I remember having this 'feeling' while I was watching it. My sister-in-law said that it was him watching over me, I just didn't realize it at the time.

Now whenever I think of him, i'm not sad that he's gone. I know he's ok and at peace, and rather than mourn him like I did, I feel as if he's still here with me, and there's a good chance he may be back in one form or another. I am very grateful for this meeting. It has given me some much needed closure that i've needed for a while, and now I feel the healing process can begin. I think this will be a life-changing experience for me.

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