"Stampede"

I have a cousin that recently died unexpectedly. Even though he was about to have his 70th birthday he was very fit.  He was a physical therapist who worked out three times a week.  He had never smoked.  He ate all the right things.  This was not the body of a man you would expect to die early from natural causes.

The morning of his death, I sent a text to a fellow sixth sensory buddy, the kind of person you want to surround yourself with; who supports you trusting your vibes.   When I get a message and I don’t know where it goes, I like to tell someone about it.  At 1:16 PM on September 18^th I sent her a text, “Someone in Spirit just said to me ‘a tree fell on him’.”   Moments later I sent her another text. “I just heard ‘Momma’.”  Around 7:00 PM that same day, I received a call from my sister that Johnny had died that afternoon while out taking a walk.

Today, nine days later, my family in Alabama called to tell me that the coroner report said Johnny had died from a massive heart attack.  I can imagine it felt like a crushing pain in his chest while out walking, possibly feeling like “a tree fell on him”. His Mother, whom he called “Momma”, was my favorite aunt.  There were a couple of times in my life growing up when my mother was sick that I had to go live with my Aunt Helen and Uncle John.  Johnny was older and was away in college when I was in elementary school living with his parents. 

After Johnny passed Charlie and I traveled to Alabama for the funeral. That morning as I was getting ready in the bathroom, I heard, “stampede”.  Johnny had a really dry wit.  Most people didn’t know it was time to laugh when he thought he was being funny.  I just assumed the word I had received was his way of telling me it was going to be a really big funeral.

 We arrived at the funeral home about 45 minutes after visitation had begun.  There were only about four cars in the parking lot, and I thought, “This is weird.”  There was no one there.  We walked in and signed the guest book.  Three hours went by before the service began, and by then it was standing room only.  The receiving line for the widow standing, who was in front of the casket, was wrapped around the parlor and out the door into the entry area.  It was shocking how many people had showed up and how they seemed to just ascend all at once; like Spirit had said, “stampede”.

Three ministers spoke during the service.  One of them made a joke that if Johnny was talking to God he may point out that he had three preachers at his funeral, indicating he was a good churchgoer.  Later while at the graveside, after the service, I asked his oldest daughter if I could have a flower from a bouquet to place on his Mother’s grave.  I loved my Aunt Helen and even though she was in a different cemetery, I wanted to go there.  I needed to have a conversation just as if we were having coffee and eating German chocolate cake that she would have made, and I wanted to place a flower on her grave.  My cousin Stephanie selected the largest, most beautiful rose from her Daddy’s flowers, and that was the rose I was to take to her grandmother, my Aunt Helen.

That night while taking my makeup off, standing in front of the mirror in my hotel room, I heard, “I’m going to church tomorrow.”  I felt like it was Johnny telling me he would still be showing up in church tomorrow, which would be Sunday morning.

It is my belief, those who have passed out of body often unexpectedly hang around for a while and are delighted to offer their thoughts if you are willing to listen.  It isn’t because they are not going to be with God, I just know that if you pay attention to them that you will see and hear evidence they are still connected to you and those they loved.  Their body has taken its last breath, but their soul is eternal…and “Yes!”  “They are in heaven.”