There's More to Life Than This: Healing Messages, Remarkable Stories, and Insight About the Other Side from the Long Island Medium

by Caputo, Theresa

  A lot of people also take what Spirit says as gospel, and you can’t hang on every word they’re telling me, because again, their messages are based on an interpretation of the information that I’m feeling and being shown. Spirit may nudge you in a direction, but more often than not, they want to help guide you toward making your own choices and decisions—not make them for you. You do have free will, and interpreting Spirit’s messages as literal advice instead of gentle direction and support can lead to confusion and frustration. I did a reading for a woman at my house, and from the moment she sat down, I could feel her anger. I tried to ignore it, yet the first thing Spirit had me say was, “Your mom says your husband isn’t going anywhere.” I thought this would be good news! Not exactly. The woman looked like she wanted to lunge across the table and rip my eyes out. Apparently she’d gone to a world-renowned medium a few years earlier, and she was told that her husband was very sick and no longer meant for the physical world. The medium was right that the man was ill, but the woman was also in an unhappy marriage, and ultimately, she decided to stay with him because of the medium’s prognosis and what she thought was advice. Cut to twelve years later, and the woman never got her divorce and here I was, telling her that the man she didn’t love was here to stay! When she shared her story with me, I told her that things might have unfolded differently for her husband’s health, his relationship with his kids, or even her own sense of obligation or guilt had she chosen to leave. But the bigger lesson here is that you shouldn’t lunge into a huge decision based on what someone else says—dead or alive.

  Souls also tend to bring up topics you’re struggling with to encourage you to do something that will bring you a sense of calm. Again, this is a form of gentle guidance, not an urging to do one thing or another. It’s like the time I felt a sharp pain in my breast and heard the word “recheck.” Spirit told me nothing was wrong with my client’s health, but I did feel she or someone she loved was due for a mammogram. The woman told her mom about the reading, and her mom admitted that she’d been secretly experiencing breast pain for weeks after a mammogram, was nervous about it, and kept putting off a second visit to the doctor. Spirit’s message prompted the woman to see her MD, and her “recheck” results were fine. But this was Spirit’s way of getting a message to the mom that she should see the doctor, if just for peace of mind, and that they were with her during the visit.

  I only ask for good things in my readings, so I’ve established that the only way Spirit can bring up something negative, like an argument or a bad thing that will happen, is if they are giving us information about the situation that will help us make it better. I once did a group reading at a woman’s house, and Spirit told me that her husband was going to change jobs and go in a completely different direction—but not to worry because he’d be much happier in this new position. The woman laughed at me and said Spirit didn’t know what they were talking about, because her husband was top brass at his company and made a very good living. Well, two weeks later, she called to tell me his company downsized and he was let go. The good news was that he found a job right away that gave him much more time to spend at home, and it had been a real blessing for the family. He also felt more fulfilled in this position than in the one he left.

  I’ve learned that Spirit doesn’t want us to have regrets. When we die, our souls in Heaven can finally look at the big picture of their life in the physical world and see it for what it was—how everything happened for the greater purpose of helping others and learning certain lessons that would help us evolve into more enlightened souls. Maybe Spirit’s desire for us to live without heavy remorse is why souls always show me other possible outcomes of a bad situation. This happens when a client second-guesses decisions they’ve made for themselves or loved ones, or wonder how life might have played out “if only.” The most poignant example I have of this is a story I like sharing about one of the first souls I channeled outside of Pat’s class, a seven-year-old boy named Brian Murphy. If he were still with us, he’d be the same age as my Victoria.

  About eleven years ago, Pat came with me to meet Brian’s wonderful parents, Bill and Regina. Months prior to his passing, Brian began saying strange things. First, he repeatedly told them that he wanted his wake to be held at a certain funeral home they passed on their way to the town swimming pool. Brian was healthy, but no matter how often and fervently his parents said the boy’s death was a long way off, he persisted.

  Naturally, they found this odd. Then, as the Murphys prepared for their summer vacation, Brian asked his parents to buy him a suit. He wasn’t receiving Communion for a year, and there were no formal holidays in their future. Now the Murphys were scared. So when their family vacation rolled around, on the heels of such uneasy talk, you can imagine how hesitant Bill and Regina were to go; it sounded as if their precious seven-year-old were preparing for his own funeral. But the family never thought in a million years that their worst fears would become a reality. It was on that vacation that Brian drowned in a lake, in front of hundreds of witnesses.

  When I met the Murphys, they were making themselves sick over what might have happened to Brian had they skipped that trip. But when I channeled Brian, he did the most amazing thing—he explained how he might have died if he didn’t drown. One scenario was that he would have been kidnapped and found in the trunk of a car, which was a specific, recurring nightmare of his mom’s. He then had me explain that he could have died in a car accident with his dad on the way to baseball practice, which would have made Bill obsessively wonder what he could have done to prevent the crash. Brian explained all these scenarios to make sure his parents understood that no matter how he died, this was the “best” one for his family’s grief process. Just as important, Brian said it was his destiny to die young, and it couldn’t have been prevented.

  One message that comes up time and again from souls is that there is nothing you could have done to prevent their death and that they want you to embrace life without the burden of fear or guilt. Brian helped lighten his parents’ load by doing this. On the Other Side, there are few mistakes—just choices that have colored your journey here. I think this is another reason Spirit doesn’t tell us how to live our lives when I channel; they know we need to make our own decisions so that we can determine the course of our fate.

  Spirited Personality

  I always make sure Spirit communicates with laughter, attitude, and the traits they were known for in the physical world. You spend enough time crying and being sad over the loss of your loved ones. I wish I could give you back the family and friends that you’ve lost, but obviously that’s not in my skill set as a medium. So the only thing I can do when I channel is make you feel like you’re with them, feel their souls, feel their senses of humor, and I take that part of what I do very seriously. I want to make the piece of your soul that feels like it was ripped out, stomped on, and put back in your body recognize that your friends and family are “themselves” on the Other Side. And if they passed from an illness, showing the disposition they had before they got sick also tells me they’re at peace. If they were in a bad place, they’d say negative things. At least that’s how I see it.

  The fact that Spirit keeps their personalities in Heaven is a big reason why no two readings are alike; each soul’s character is so unique! I’ll get a ballsy soul that comes on strong, she doesn’t beat around the bush—and sure enough, her family will say that she was pushy in the physical world. Or if someone was shy or unexpressive, that soul will pull a hat over its eyes, not finish sentences, or feel like it’s pulling back from me.

  One of my favorite examples of how souls retain their personality quirks and charms happened when I did a group reading for a bunch of sisters and their mom after their father had died. His soul came through and said that when Mom goes on her cruise, he’ll be with her. He described how amazing it would be—the whole family would be on a large boat, and because it was a Disney cruise, Mickey Mouse and Cin
derella would be there too. The woman was very confused, since she hadn’t planned a vacation for herself recently, much less such an indulgent one. “I don’t know what my husband’s talking about,” she said. “I can’t afford to go on a trip like that.” But her husband’s soul kept at it. He was insistent! After lots of sideways glances, the kids burst out laughing. “Okay, Dad, we’ll tell her!” they said. The girls had planned a surprise birthday cruise for the family for their mom’s seventieth birthday. “This is so typical,” the mom said. “He could never keep anything to himself!” Clearly, he’s still into blowing secrets from the Other Side.

  Another time, the souls of a husband and wife came through to validate their presence to their daughter with a very specific shtick. The dad had me yell, “Bingo!” at which point Mom’s soul said, “They don’t have bingo on TV. It’s The Price Is Right!” The daughter laughed so hard and said that game show was her parents’ favorite. She used to call them when they were alive, and they’d say, “We need to call you back. The Big Deal is on right now!” When the daughter’s son was born, he came into the world right before the Big Deal aired, and the family joked that the baby was the Big Deal of the day. The mom’s soul also had me add that she likes Bob Barker better than Drew Carey as a host. Hey, that certainly wasn’t me talking! I think they’re both great.

  And though there’s a lot to be happy about in Heaven, people who were crabby or bossy here don’t seem to become unusually chipper. I’ll never forget when I channeled a woman’s parents, and I got a grumpy vibe from them. I asked the daughter, “Were your parents cranky?” And at the same time that the woman said, “No, my parents were wonderful,” her husband mouthed, “Hell yeah, they were cranky!” Grief can cause us to romanticize the deceased, so I took the husband’s word on this one. In a three-thousand-person venue, Spirit also had me point directly to one guy and say, “You, your father wants you to get up. Is that your mom? He wants her up too. He says you’re a frigging idiot for what you did to the lawn.” Turns out the man had just bought a new ride-on tractor and destroyed an acre of his land because he didn’t know how to work it. Then he told his wife to stop knocking on her son’s door and bothering him so much. Though Dad was doing his thing in Heaven, he still thought of himself as the man of the house.

  I really love when Spirit tells animated tales that make everyone giggle, especially since I like to keep messages lighthearted. During a group reading, Spirit once had me say, “What’s with the pinky ring?”—and the room erupted with laughter. The family had just been gossiping about how their cousin swiped her dead brother’s ring and hocked it. The man had given it to the brother while he was alive, but now that he had passed, the sister took it and sold it. The brother knew about it on the Other Side, and though he wasn’t upset or hurt, he wasn’t going to let the family think it slid past him! Can you believe it? At the end of the day, no matter who’s died, you’re left to live the rest of your time here without that person, and it’s hard. I think Spirit figures there’s no better way to heal than for them to talk to us with the personalities they had when they were healthy.

  The More Spirit, the Merrier!

  When I read for a group, whether it’s in a room of ten or four thousand, a lot of Spirit want to talk, so I’ll usually go with the ones that bug me the most or ask Spirit to use a technique that I call “piggybacking.” This is when multiple souls want to relay the same message, so they’ll band together to get it across to many people. Here’s how it works. Let’s say we’ve identified a person’s father who’s coming through, but as you’re hearing the message from him across the room or even down the same row, you’re thinking, Gee, that sounds just like my dead cousin Nikki. If this happens, I ask that you accept that the message is from the first person’s father and your cousin. Piggybacking doesn’t just console a lot of people at once, though. It’s practical. In a reading, I want to deliver as many messages as I can and move the energy through the room at a good pace. Who wants to waste time repeating the same thing to different people?

  Spirits that piggyback may not have been connected here in the physical world, but because they are connected to you, they’re connected on the Other Side when preparing for a group reading. I don’t believe a message has to be from just one soul, especially since they’ve shown me that they work really well as a cluster. Spirit can also come forward, recede, and play off each other’s energy. They channel together like old pros. In my largest venue readings, it’s amazing how organized your family’s souls have been! I also believe Spirit will help orchestrate who comes to the readings and sometimes where they sit. You can’t miss how certain types of deaths—which is how I initially validate your loved ones to you—are seated together, which makes piggybacking easier. In one section of a theater, there will be multiple women who’ve lost children, families whose loved ones had Alzheimer’s, or even friends who’ve died from similar freak accidents like a falling object. It sounds wild, because it is. And Spirit’s behind all of it.

  What I love most about group readings is that you get to hear so many incredible, compelling messages that you can’t help but feel touched by all of it. I also find that Spirit is a little more fun during group readings, especially during the private, smaller groups. In a room of ten to fifteen people, I can channel anywhere between twenty to forty souls in a two-hour period. But there are so many different, lively, and dynamic personalities around that souls with stronger energy can help those with less to communicate better by letting them use their energy. Sometimes I have souls that channel for an entire hour, and nobody else comes through; other times, a soul might stay for a short time, go away, and then come back and talk a mile a minute! It’s like the soul recharged its batteries.

  When a reading is over, I can hardly remember what I’ve said, seen, or felt for too long after, because again, they’re not my feelings, thoughts, or emotions. Unless the message is part of a really mind-blowing or emotionally gripping session, whatever information Spirit sends me isn’t something that’s stuck in my head forever. Know too that you take your dead friends and family with you when you leave a session, show, or my house. For some reason, it’s always the husbands who remind me to take all the Spirits with me, and I’m always like, “Listen, pal, they’re not my Spirits. They’re your dead relatives. They’re staying with you. I got my own problems.”

  But for as long as I’ve done this, there are still times I’m blown away when souls drop in for a visit. I’ll never forget when, during a group reading, I saw a man sitting at the end of the dining room table. He wanted me to tell the host that he knew she was concerned about her best friend’s husband. Then he looked at me and said, “I’m going to be with my father now.” I told this story to the group in real time, and the host, overwhelmed with emotion, excused herself and left the room upset. When she came back, she said that just forty minutes before the session began, her best friend called to say that her husband died and his last words in private were, “I’m going to be with my father now.” Are you kidding me with this? If that’s a parlor trick, I’m one hell of a magician.

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  Who Are the Spirits on the Other Side?

  When I accepted my gift from God, I told Him that I only wanted to know things about Spirit and the afterlife that could help people heal from a loved one’s death. That’s it, and that became my mission. I don’t need to know every detail about how this works—how many guardian angels you have, if Jesus hangs out with Buddha, if your in-laws still bug you in Heaven. Talking to dead people can be overwhelming enough for me as it is. Unless God insists, and He hasn’t yet, I don’t want to stress myself out with more. I’m also not the type of person who likes to overanalyze most things in life, whether we’re talking about the Other Side or what my son is up to when I’m not home. I realize things aren’t always black-and-white, but I also feel that we need to leave room for faith.

  To me, my gift is about aiding and enlightening others as best as I can
. It’s similar to when people go through a powerful experience like cancer, poverty, or infertility, and make it their life purpose to raise awareness and support for those in the same situation. They don’t need to become experts, teachers, or doctors to change lives. In a similar way, I’ve had a lot of crazy experiences with Spirit, so I hope to “raise awareness and support others” with the info I’ve gathered, to help and inspire them on their journeys.

  I mention all this because I realize that not everyone thinks the way I do, especially when it comes to wanting to know who’s with your loved ones on the Other Side. Does the Blessed Mother play bridge with your dead grandpa? Is your childhood shih tzu at their feet? I know the answers to some of these questions when I’m asked, but if I don’t, I tell people the truth: I’ll find out when I get there. I also turn to Pat for answers, since she’s a healer, teacher, and dear friend. I consider Pat my mother of Spirit, since she helped me hone my abilities and taught me a lot of what I know. I trusted her with my health and soul when I was at my lowest point, and I still turn to her for support today. So at points in this chapter when I need to fill in gaps, I’ve tag-teamed with her. Between the two of us, we’ll do our best to give you some insight on this topic.