“I started having these terrible recurring nightmares every night, but when I woke up, I would see my dad sitting at the end of the bed having a cup of tea. This gave me a feeling of warmth and safety and I could go back to sleep.
“It only occurred to me when I was older that it couldn’t have been my dad,” recounts Vanessa. “The man had long hair and Dad had short hair.”
It wasn’t until she was 18 that Vanessa remembered the childhood trauma. That’s also the age when she learnt about her mum’s experience with the comforting presence.
“I like this story because the spirit doesn’t actually say anything to me or Mum, but we both got a feeling off him that felt like, ‘It’s OK’,” says Vanessa, whose mum passed away in 2018. “It makes me so happy to have had this beautiful experience – I cherish it.”
I agree that it’s a powerful story, not only because it points to the ways in which the spirit world supports us, but also because it contains an important lesson: just being there for a friend who’s going through a hard time can be a profound act of love they will remember forever. No words necessary.
