Heather P Experience
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Experience description:

Hello, my name is Heather and I am from Southern New Jersey. The experience that I would like to share happened twenty-five years ago, when I was 13 years old. I was in Missouri visiting four cousins and an aunt and uncle, who had moved from New Jersey two years prior. I spent a month with them during my summer break from school. After a couple of weeks of being back home in New Jersey, we received a devastating phone call from our family in Missouri. My cousin Joshua, also 13, passed away in an accident on a dirt road near the family's home.

Days later various family members from the East Coast made their way out to Missouri to attend Joshua's funeral. Most of the visiting family members had stayed at other places in the area, while my immediate family and I stayed at our relative's home. I slept in Joshua's room. 

The night before the funeral it had been getting late so I went to lie down while the others stayed up talking. I went to Joshua's room, got into bed and closed my eyes. What happened next is something I will never forget. As soon as my eyes had closed I saw nothing but white light. After a few moments the light started to slowly surround and embrace me. I felt as though I was being comforted and blanketed in pure love. I opened my eyes and was stunned at what I had just experienced. As I got up to walk out of the room I felt a tear of joy roll down my face, which surprised me. The tear had reinforced the experience for me and I was so happy. I can say with certainty that I was not asleep during this experience, which seemed to only have lasted for a few seconds. When I had left the bedroom immediately afterwards everyone was still up talking and I concluded that only a couple of minutes had passed since I first left them.

The experience had left me in a state of shock and I didn't tell anyone about it at the time. I simply did not know what exactly had happened or how to describe it. I had immediately pushed the event to the back of my mind and did not think about it again until years later. I recalled the event while talking to someone about an extraordinary experience that she had had, although at that time I still did not understand exactly what I had experienced. In fact, it was not until I watched a particular episode of the TV show Unsolved Mysteries that I had come to understand. The show had featured a man who had a near death experience, and some of the things that he described I could relate to from my own experience.

I had started listening to and reading about other NDEs and heard people describe the same white light that I saw and felt; the same love that enveloped me while in the presence of the light. I hear many describe this light as a'being of light,' which they often say is full of love and understanding.

Just last year I told Joshua's mom about my experience. Aunt Charlene was silent for a moment and then told me that after Joshua had passed away she was having a really hard time with losing him. She asked Joshua to give her a sign that would let her know that he was still close by. 

One night Aunt Charlene was driving on the dirt road where Joshua's accident had occurred. She said it was dark out and, the location being a back country road, there weren't many lights. Over the spot where Joshua had died she saw a hovering white light. It seems as though Joshua was letting her know that he was with her.  Aunt Charlene also mentioned that some of the neighbors told her that they had seen a white light above their farm house for a period of time following Joshua's passing.    

Years ago I had a very realistic dream of Joshua, perhaps a visitation dream. My Aunt Barbara and I had been standing in my grandmother's kitchen and Joshua entered the kitchen through the back door of the house. I said to him,'Josh, I can't believe it's you -  is it really you? I am so happy to see you.'  He answered with,'yes, but I have something to tell you.' I did not give him a chance to tell me what he had wanted to tell me because I just kept going on about how happy I was to see him. I woke up before he could say anything else. I hope what he had to tell me wasn't that important.

Any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience? No     

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words?          No     

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event? No     

What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience?      Very alert.

           
Was the experience dream like in any way?  No, not at all.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?  No     

What emotions did you feel during the experience?          Unconditional love.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?         No

LOCATION DESCRIPTION:  Did you recognize any familiar locations or any locations from familiar religious teachings or encounter any locations inhabited by incredible or amazing creatures?   Uncertain     I can't say that there was a specific location during the experience there was just white light, perhaps heaven-like but I did not associate the light with heaven at the time the experience occurred.

Did you see a light?        Yes    I saw nothing but bright white light during the experience, the light embraced me and I felt unconditional love from this light.

Did you meet or see any other beings?         Yes    The being that I met was the bright white light, only an embrace and unconditional love was felt.

Did you experiment while out of the body or in another, altered state?         No     

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?         No         

Did you notice how your 5 senses were working, and if so, how were they different? No      Did you have any sense of altered space or time?     No     

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?         No     

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?           No     

Did you become aware of future events?      No     

Were you involved in or aware of a decision regarding your return to the body?          No     

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?
         Uncertain          I was only 13 when the incident occurred and I didn't have any psychic abilities before this event that I can remember. Throughout the years however there has been some slight psychic inklings or feelings.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience? Yes    Yes, only in the past couple of years when I acknowledged the experience and really took the time to research similar experiences that others have had.

How has the experience affected your relationships? Daily life? Religious practices? Career choices?   Yes, again only after I really acknowledged the experience. Now I try to consciously treat everyone with respect, knowing that everyone is connected. Religious practice have stopped. As far as career choices I am currently exploring options for higher education into consciousness studies.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience? Yes    Being more open to possibilities, how I treat people.

Have you shared this experience with others?       Yes          Some people just listen and say something along the lines of "oh wow, that's nice". I think my close family understands more how profound the experience is.

What emotions did you experience following your experience? Immediately after the experience there was extreme joy.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?     I wouldn't say there was a worst part of the experience, it was all positive. Spontaneously experiencing the unconditional love and the being of light was the best part as well as where the experience has led me to today. I am certain that I would not have delve as deeply into NDEs as I did if not for my experience and because of this I am open to other possibilities, such as reincarnation, that I would not have otherwise been open to.

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience? No

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?    No     

Did the questions asked and information you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?                     Yes    I had space to write my whole account out and some of the questions were specific to my experience.

Please offer any suggestions you may have to improve this questionnaire.       No.