Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side by Barbara Parks (bill gates best books TXT) 📕

Laurie gearing up for his grand finale? It seemed too much of a coincidence to have been anyone else.

I later discovered that Lane wasn’t the only one to be

graced with a loved one’s visit, as my friend Alison revealed

the following the day.

A moment after this photo was taken, the glass candle

holder just beneath the orb shattered. We were convinced

that Laurie was the culprit!

122Laurie

I emailed Alison the morning after the séance, eager to

share with her a sequence of three photographs that were taken the night before. The photos showed a distinct orb sitting just behind her, its size and shape identical in each frame. I felt sure that the spirit was Martin, Alison’s infant son who died seventeen years earlier. His twin brother Brett, and indeed Alison herself, have always suspected that Martin is around them. The

persistent orb seemed more than a little coincidental.

Paula expressed a similar belief during Alison’s reading, picking up on the presence of a young spirit who was closely con-

nected to her. The photographs seemed to reinforce this and I

was interested to hear Alison’s opinion of the photos. I had no idea that she had a thrilling experience to relay herself.

Alison told me that not only had she been aware of some-

one sitting behind her for most of the séance, she felt as

though she was being firmly enveloped in a bear hug. It just

had to be Martin!

Once she got home, Alison thought about what Paula had

said about her son. She had suggested that Alison only had to

ask, and Martin would happily give her another sign. In fact he was waiting for an invitation to do so.

Alison lay on her bed and began to breathe deeply. She

closed her eyes and thought of the baby son who would’ve

been a strapping teenager by now. Whispering into the dark-

ness, she asked if he would touch her.

Within seconds he was there; an unmistakeable presence

sitting beside his mother on the bed. Alison felt a warm hand

within her own, which she described as feeling as though her

hand and Martin’s were merged into one.

“It wasn’t as though I was holding his hand,” she explained.

“It was more a case of his hand being inside mine!”

Laurie 123

Alison told me she was overcome by a sense of overwhelm-

ing happiness and peace.

“I felt so blessed,” she said. “Then I simply drifted off and had the best sleep I can remember. I just can’t wait to experience something like that again!”

After this wonderful experience, the photos I sent her were

just the icing on the cake. Alison was already convinced that

she had shared a wonderful experience with her son, and as

lovely as it was seeing the photographs, no further proof had been necessary.

It was safe to say that our mass séance had been a resound-

ing success!

Laurie’s presence lingered into the following day, and

the atmosphere in our house remained charged. I decided to

establish contact once again, to ask if Laurie was intending to move on.

He assured me that he was continuing on his spiritual path,

and had every intention of going into the light. Having com-

forted his loved ones by proving that his spirit lived on, he was now at peace. He was ready to embark on the next phase of

his journey.

I felt a pang when I realised that this was goodbye.

“Laurie … would you like to leave one last gift for your

family?” I asked.

I had no doubt that the answer would be yes.

“How about we go downstairs and take one last photo? Do

you think you’d be able to appear for me?”

I grabbed my camera and made my way down the stair-

case, stopping halfway so as to capture a full view of the family room.

“OK Laurie,” I said. “Shine big and bright for me!”

124Laurie

I asked Laurie for a farewell photo, and was rewarded

with this memorable snap!

The photograph that I captured took my breath away; as

I immediately noticed the plate-sized, radiant orb. There was

Laurie on the lounge, in the very position where Lane had

been sitting the night before.

“Look at you …” I said. “You’re absolutely beautiful!”

I wished him all the love and happiness in the world and a

moment later, he was gone. Another beautiful soul that I have

been privileged to have crossed paths with.

Lane ended up keeping the broken candle holder, as a

reminder of her much loved uncle. Together with the photos

in which Laurie had shown himself, her family had a special

set of mementoes to acknowledge his after death visit.

Despite Laurie’s despair towards the end of his life, his

spirit had moved beyond the negativity which had furnished

his final days. Although dark emotions had led him towards

his tragic end, he was no longer held in their clutches. The

darkness had turned into light.

Laurie 125

The purpose of Laurie’s visit was to no doubt make

amends, and to offer his family peace before progressing on his journey. Although he carried a sense of sadness and regret, the over-riding emotion that he radiated was love.

Now he was moving towards the light, comforted by the

fact that he had given his loved ones some reprieve from their pain. And should they need further comfort, I have no doubt

Laurie will be back in a heartbeat, to radiate his comfort and love once again.

Given Lane’s sensitivity to the spirit world, I suspect he’ll

make a beeline for his niece when needed. And I have no

doubt that he will be welcomed with open arms.

chapter sixteen

S t a n

The first thing someone would think if they heard something

shatter in a gift shop, is that some clumsy customer had acci-

dentally broken something. And that’s exactly what came to

mind when I heard a crash come from the front room of an

old house, each room of which had been converted into a

showroom for different types of gifts.

The front room housed mostly decorative items: mirrors,

vases, jewellery cabinets and such, and there was quite a selection of statues. In fact it was a statue which, according to the only person in the