“He believes us!” she said happily. “Callum reckons he
thought Gary was around anyway. This just goes towards
proving it all the more …”
I could almost feel Gary grinning at me in the darkness, I
just knew he’d be delighted that he had finally managed to get through to his family.
“And …” continued Matilda, “Callum wants to meet you!
He’s going to leave it until after Christmas and then he’s going to call you. He just needs to work out what he’s going to tell his parents.”
I finally felt as though Gary and I had made some headway
and it made me feel inordinately relieved. By the time I got
off the phone, I knew that regardless of what happened from
hereon, Matilda and I had honoured Gary’s visits as best we
could. Gary had reached out to me and I had in turn reached
out to his family. Matilda had been the catalyst and she’d fulfilled her role as mediator with aplomb.
Gary 41
As I write this, it’s been over a month since Matilda told
Callum about Gary’s visits. I’ve yet to hear from Callum and
his family and part of me suspects I may never do so. Regard-
less of whether or not Gary’s family contacts me, I feel as
though my job is done. Perhaps that’s as far as Gary wanted to take things, to simply pass on the message that he’s fine.
But if they do call, I’ll be ready and waiting; and I’m sure
Gary will be too. I have no doubt Gary will put his vibrant
energy to good use and physically prove his presence to his
family. But something tells me they might not need any fur-
ther proof; I suspect they’ve felt their beautiful son and brother beside them all along.
chapter six
L o v e r g i r l
It wasn’t long before I was presented with another opportu-
nity to try table-tipping. My best friend, Lou’s grandmother
had passed away the previous week, after numerous bouts
of pneumonia over the course of her last four years. The
last years of Ivy’s life were spent in a fog of senility and poor health. In light of this, her death came as a bittersweet release for both Ivy and her family.
For those imprisoned within the state of dementia, memo-
ries and lucidity fade to the point where loved ones are some-
times thought to be strangers. Although Ivy’s senility had
taken a firm hold, there were however two faces Ivy still rec-
ognised; those of her daughter, Valerie and her son-in-law,
John. Ivy’s face would light up whenever they walked into the
room. The rest of the family weren’t quite as lucky, and Ivy
would politely enquire as to their identity whenever they came to see her.
43
44 Lover Girl
Seeing Ivy in this state was particularly painful for her
loved ones. In her prime, Ivy could be described as a cheeky
firecracker, whose quick wit and passion for her family were
always readily displayed. She also had a reputation as an incor-rigible flirt, which earned her the nickname of Lover girl. Ivy would laughingly refer to her granddaughters as Lover girls also, and the reciprocal nick names became quite the family
joke.
The way Ivy was in her final years was the antithesis of
how she had once been, and it broke her family’s hearts.
On Ivy’s last Christmas, her family were rewarded with a
startling surprise. Rather than the deadpan, non-responsive
version of Ivy they had come to expect, they were greeted by
a frailer version of the ebullient, smiling Ivy of old. Although Ivy was still a feeble figure nestled within the expanse of her bed, her cheekiness and clarity seemed to have miraculously
returned. In spite of not being able to speak, Ivy happily interacted with her stunned and delighted family.
Buoyed by the sight of their smiling grandmother, Lou and
her sisters regaled Ivy with an impromptu sing-along, launch-
ing into Ivy’s favourite Christmas carols with ever-increasing vigour. The normally sombre old people’s home was transformed by the raucous display, as the sisters’ voices carried
down the corridors with every ounce of festivity they could
muster.
After a while though, Ivy suddenly began to look agitated.
Lou began worrying that something was wrong and leaned
down to speak to her grandmother. Not noticing anything was
amiss, her sisters continued singing.
Lover Girl 45
“Are you OK, Lover girl?” asked Louise tenderly. Ivy was
now looking increasingly vexed and began mumbling in a
voice so low that Lou could barely hear her.
Ivy seemed to be muttering something under her breath.
A portrait of Ivy when she was a young woman.
Still struggling to hear, Lou asked if she would repeat her-
self. Ivy drew upon every skerrick of strength left within her and lifted her head up towards Lou.
“No more carols!” she hissed. They were the first and only
words Ivy had spoken in weeks.
Upon this, silence engulfed the room for a brief moment,
after which the family began to laugh. Ivy herself lay smiling in her bed, seemingly grateful that peace had been restored.
“Right then!” said Lou brightly, “that’s enough of the car-
olling!”
46 Lover Girl
A little while later, Ivy began staring at an area directly above her bed, with an expression so peaceful and happy it could best be described as rapture. As she continued to stare unblinkingly, her right arm (which had been all but immobile for as long as
anyone could remember) began to rise up from the bed.
Palm up and with the elbow perfectly straight, Ivy’s arm
lifted upwards, as though indicating some wondrous sight hov-
ering just beneath the ceiling. All the while, Ivy kept serenely smiling. She lay there with her arm in the air for several minutes, seemingly immune to the fatigue which surely must’ve
started to overcome it.
Her family looked towards the place where Ivy was gestur-
ing, and seeing nothing, began to theorise as to what was going on.
“She must be seeing the light!” said Lou, starting to feel
teary. “Maybe she’s about to go into the light!”
“Or is it Grandad?” asked Lou’s older sister, Vanessa.
“Maybe he’s come to get her …”
“Maybe she can see the spirit world!” someone suggested.
Either way, Ivy maintained her state of rapture without
sharing what she was actually seeing. She was so transfixed by the vision before her that her room and those in it, faded to
the point where she was once again oblivious to the material
world around her.
A little while later, Ivy became aware of the room once
again and beckoned to her daughter, Val. Val leaned in towards her mother, as Ivy desperately tried to form a sentence. But
try as she might, she just couldn’t get the words out. No more carols were to be her final words.
Ivy’s secret was never to be revealed, as five days later she
passed away. The Christmas day gathering was to be Ivy’s last
hurrah. She left the world on her ninety third birthday.
Lover Girl 47
A week later, Lou came to see me, sharing with me the
snippets of Ivy’s final days. She told me that her parents made it to Ivy’s bedside just in the nick of time, and they hoped Ivy had been aware of their presence as she passed away. Lou
and her two sisters were not quite so lucky, arriving ten min-
utes after Ivy’s passing. The family sat at her bedside talking to their much loved mother and grandmother for a couple of
hours after she took her final breath. According to Lou, Ivy’s energy was still very present in the room.
It was a peaceful, loving transition and Lou hoped that Ivy
was aware of her loved ones around her as she passed away.
“We could always ask her,” I suggested. “It might be too
soon, but it’s worth a try.”
So with that intention, Lou and I sat at my small wooden
table, lit a white candle and asked if Ivy would like to come through.
We began by using the pendulum. Louise asked a series of
questions, until we were sure it really was Ivy we were speak-
ing to. Ivy identified her husband’s name, the sex and number
of her children, her brother’s name and the suburbs she had
lived in. She confirmed details of her life in general and of her final few days.
Ivy confirmed that she had waited for John and Valerie to
arrive at the nursing home before she died, and also told us
that she had been struggling to say something to her daughter
on Christmas day. When Lou asked what she had been trying
to tell her, Ivy told us that she wanted to make sure that Valerie knew how very much she loved her.
Lou also asked her if she had enjoyed the carolling on
Christmas day and her NO response couldn’t have been any clearer! By now we were convinced we were speaking to Ivy
and asked if she would like to try tipping the table.
48 Lover Girl
She responded with a strong and undeniable “YES!”
It wasn’t long before the table began to vibrate, upon
which Lou and I opened our eyes and began to spur Ivy on.
“Come on Lover girl,” encouraged Lou. “Show us what
you’ve got!”
The table lifted up from my side and tipped towards Lou’s
lap. Once it was lilting at a decent angle, it sat there suspended, as if propped up by invisible hands.
“Very good!” laughed Lou. “But are you just going to leave
it there? Can you do anything else?”
I asked Ivy if she could lift the table up onto one leg. But the table stayed teetering on its precarious angle, seemingly settled and unwilling to budge. I decided to get out the pendulum.
“Ivy, is that you holding the table up for us?”
“YES.”
“Thanks, that’s great!” I said. “Are you able to tip it right
over?”
“NO.”
“Are there any other spirits here with you?”
“YES.”
“Will you let them help you?”
“NO!”
Lou and I laughed, as this was typical of Ivy, very much the
show pony and unwilling for anyone else to come in and steal her thunder.
“Awww come on Nan!” said Lou. “You’ve done so well, but
maybe now you just need that little bit of extra energy. Why
don’t you just let somebody help you?”
Just then I noticed a flash on the lounge, in the seat where
my spirit friend, Matt likes to sit.
Lover Girl 49
I asked Ivy if Matt was there, and if she would allow him
to help her move the table. After a minute or so hesitation, the answer came back as a small, reluctant “YES.”
I decided to act quickly before Ivy had the chance to
change her mind.
“Right,” I said. “Come on you two, let’s see what you can
do!”
Almost immediately, the pedestal table began to forcefully
shake. It was as though someone had grabbed its by its middle
and was waggling it back and forth. Within a minute, the table was knocked over and laying on its side.
Lou and I cheered, thanking Lover girl and Matt for their impressive display. We said a prayer of thanks, closed down
the session and went to sit on the lounge. Our spirit friends
were quick to follow, with Matt assuming his customary posi-
tion on the two-seater sofa.
I suggested to Lou that we should offer Matt and Ivy one
further opportunity to show themselves, by inviting them to
appear in a photo. Lou agreed and went to stand in the cor-
ner of the family room, a position I have found to be consis-
tently charged with spirit energy. Lou invited her grandmother to come in close, telling her she would be delighted if she would show herself in the photo.
We weren’t disappointed, as there above Lou’s right shoul-
der, a large and brilliant orb dominated the photograph.
Despite only passing away the week before, Ivy had no prob-
lem manifesting her spirit energy. She had surpassed my
expectations and I was more than impressed!
Now it was Matt’s turn. I sat on the lounge beside him, put-
ting my arm around where I sensed his shoulders would be.
50 Lover Girl
“Come on Matt,” I said. “How about you and I have a
photo together?”
With one quick snap he was there, shining a radiant, beau-
tiful light right from his middle. Although I didn’t need fur-
ther proof of his presence, I was delighted that he appeared in what is now a much-treasured photograph.
I did briefly wonder why Matt was suddenly visiting me,
as I hadn’t seen him in weeks. Once I’d facilitated contact
between him and his family, his presence had receded. So why was he suddenly back?
It didn’t take me long to work out what was going on, and
speaking to Matt via the pendulum confirmed my suspicions.
Matt’s beloved sister-in-law, Slim, was due to commence chemo-
therapy the next day and Matt wanted her to know he would be
by her side. Since Matt had travelled the same journey himself, he empathised with what she was going through. He wanted to
offer comfort and the reassurance that all would be OK.
Feeling Matt’s spirit beside me, I put my arm around his shoulders.
It was lovely to see the small, bright orb confirming his presence beside me on the lounge!
Lover Girl 51
I promised Matt that I would contact Slim that night, to
remind her that she wasn’t alone in her journey. Not only did
she have a throng of friends and family alongside her, the spirit world was providing loving support as well. I had no doubt that Matt’s photo was intended to add to her armoury, to ensure a
positive outcome in her journey towards good health.
As I emailed Slim the photograph later that night, I was
instilled with the unwavering conviction that everything
would fine. And every time I look at that photo, I believe it all the more.
chapter seven
R o b e r t
The more I initiated spirit contact, the more spontaneous spirit interactions I seemed to attract. I also found that my clairvoyant abilities were becoming significantly enhanced. Not only
was I seeing more spirits each day, but I was beginning to experience physical phenomena to complement my visions.
As a result of my frightening experiences as a teenager, I
still find it difficult to sleep in complete darkness, and feel vulnerable if my head is exposed. I am the classic ghost-fearing chicken, and rare is the night the sheets aren’t covering my
head as a barrier between myself and the figures lurking in the darkness.
When I’m brave enough to expose myself to the dark (usu-
ally only
if my husband is tucked up in bed beside me) I’m
usually overwhelmed by the images which spring up before
me. At the very least I see what looks like energy flooding
through the room. It’s difficult to put into words, but I sup-
pose the best way to describe it is that it looks as though it 53
54 Robert
is raining indoors. The energy appears white and fuzzy, and
peculiarly, the “rain” seems to be falling in all directions at once. I also see bright flashing lights within this energy field, and if I’m brave enough to keep looking, the lights sometimes
transform into figures.
I am well aware that in order to develop my abilities it’s
vital that I shake these residual fears, and that I need to drop my barriers (and indeed the ever-present sheet!) to indicate to the spirits that I am open and receptive.
It was with this thought in mind that I lay in bed one eve-
ning, head exposed and concentrating on my breathing, as I
tried to make contact with a spirit I could feel in my bedroom.
I suspected that the spirit of a young man had followed
me home from my clinic, as his mother had been in for an
appointment earlier in the day. I had known Robert several
years ago, as he was a friend of my then-boyfriend and our
paths often crossed. I had always found him to be vibrant and
gregarious, and was profoundly saddened to hear that he had
passed away the week before.
His parents had spent the day with him as he wasn’t feeling
well and he didn’t want to be alone. They stayed with their son until his partner returned from work, at which point they left to go home. By the time they pulled into their driveway half
an hour later, Robert had suffered a massive brain aneurysm.
As expected, his devastated family were in shock, as Robert
had been devoted to the gym and appeared to be in the best
of health. I expect that Robert was similarly shocked to find himself suddenly dead, as I strongly felt his presence and knew that he was still around.
It is at night that I’m at my most receptive, as the children
are in bed and the house is quiet and still. On the night in ques-Robert 55
tion, Stuart was downstairs quietly watching TV, and I ven-
tured upstairs, determined to allow Robert to make contact.
I got into bed and turned out the lights. I fought the urge
Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side Page 5