There is a process or phases that take place leading up to death or transition as I prefer to call it. There is the exception being if the death occurs immediately like from a heart attack or an accident. My mother had one of the most beautiful transition experiences I’ve been privileged to witness.

 

My mother fought breast cancer for five years. It metastasized to her brain. Two weeks prior to her passing, my sister called me frantically, saying mom told her over the phone that she was dead. I called my mom. Her voice was monotone and she told me she was dead. When someone makes a statement like that, I do not discount anything they are saying. I asked her if there were angels or family members with her. She said her mother (she had passed one year before) and her grandmother (she had passed when I was a little girl). She said they were in Ireland (home of our ancestors), on the beautiful grassy hills. As she spoke, I could clairvoyantly see all three of them on a grassy knoll in Ireland. It was beautiful, peaceful, loving. My grandmother and great grandmother were showing my mom that everything was going to be alright. They were telling her that they were with her and they would be with her as she transitioned. Again, I asked her if there were angels with her and she said yes, Michael. I could see Archangel Michael was there with them. I said Archangel Michael is there to assure you that you are not alone, that he will be with you to watch over and protect you. I didn’t say that Michael was there to help her with her transition. My mother had a glimpse of what the transition was going to be like for her. I then gently told her she wasn’t dead. I said her angels and loved ones were there to comfort her and help her. I told her to talk to them and not be afraid.

 

It is common to have angels, deceased loved ones, family members, and sometimes Jesus come to you prior to death. I knew that her experience was not part of the dementia she was experiencing as a result of brain cancer. I had seen her beautiful countryside experience and knew it was real and true.

 

I hung up the phone and called my sister back and said we needed to get home to mom as soon as possible. Seeing angels and deceased loved ones was part one of the phases of dying. My sister got on a plane that night and met our brother, who lived close to mom and dad. My son and I couldn’t get a flight soon enough, so we rented a car. Before we arrived, my brother and sister continuously talked to mom who was still in a trancelike state. She insisted she was dead. It took a great deal of effort to convince her she was alive. According to my brother and sister, Mom just all of a sudden snapped out of the trance state.

 

During the next two weeks, mom was thrilled to have all of her kids and grandchildren with her. The dementia mom was experiencing, I have to say, was beautiful to witness. Every experience was glorious to her. The food she ate was the best she had ever tasted. The sunset was the most beautiful she had ever seen.  She called herself a walking miracle. She had all of her neighbors convinced that she was miraculously cured from cancer. It was such a joy to be around her because she was so happy, extremely happy about everything.

 

For two weeks, she seemed to rebound. Then one morning her speech began to slur. We took her to her oncologist who said there was nothing he could do for her and admitted her to the hospital. My mother’s speech deteriorated but I could still understand her. At mom’s urging, I got into bed with her to watch her favorite TV show Seventh Heaven. She turned to me and said, “All my dreams came true. I had everything I wanted. All I ever wanted was to have you kids.” I told her I was glad her dreams came true, and I loved her, and she was the best mom. My mom was reviewing her life. Life review is common as you come to the end of your life. Even though she didn’t want to acknowledge that she was dying, on some level she knew.

 

Later that night, my mom completely lost the ability to speak, one of her most favorite things to do! The next day she lost the ability to swallow, and so she couldn’t eat, her second most favorite thing to do. We talked about hospice and she wrote on her note pad, the only way she could communicate now, that hospice was for people who were dying and she wasn’t dying! Denial is also part of the transition for some people.

 

Some people will keep fighting to live unless we give them permission to leave. They also will fight to stay if they think their loved ones aren’t going to be alright without them. Two days later mom slipped peacefully into a coma. Her doctor came by to check on her. I asked him to tell her that it was alright to go, that she didn’t have to fight any longer. He did not want to tell her that. I told him that she believed she was a miracle and that she had hope that something else could be done for her. She considered her doctor her miracle worker. I insisted that she would keep fighting unless he gave her permission to let go. He reluctantly and tearfully told her she had been so brave and fought so hard and that it was time to stop fighting and go in peace. I thanked him for releasing her.

 

We discussed having a family member with her round the clock so she wouldn’t be alone. We knew that mom wouldn’t want to leave as long as the whole family was surrounding her in her hospital room. Her family was one of her absolute greatest joys in life and as long as her family was by her side, she wouldn’t want to leave. I knew her mother, grandmother, and Archangel Michael was with her, so I suggested that we leave. The entire family finally agreed to leave her hospital room that night around 6:00. We knew it was probably just a matter of time before she would pass and asked the nurse to let us know if she started her transition. The nurse told me to take the rings mom had insisted on wearing in the hospital. I told the nurse no; her rings gave her comfort. I wanted her to transition with her wedding ring and the turquoise ring I had given mom the week before when she said it was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen!

 

We got the call from the hospital; my mom’s breathing was shallow, she was on her way out. My mom passed before my dad, sister and brother headed back to the hospital. I stayed home with my young son. I had said goodbye to her earlier that day. Even though she was still in the coma, I knew she could hear me. They asked to see mom before they moved her out of the room. They said she looked so beautiful and peaceful.

 

My mother transitioned in 2002. My mother’s death showed me how beautiful the transition can be. In the final weeks of her life, she was positively blissful; she had absolutely no pain; she was surrounded by the family she cherished (both living and deceased); and she was surrounded by angels that showered her with peace and love and guided her to the other side.

 

My mom has come to me a few times since her transition. She came once when my sister was going through a very difficult time in her life and gave my sister motherly encouragement and love. She came when I was in agony over losing her and I didn’t know how to get past the pain. Now she mostly comes to me in dreams. I love when she shows up in my dreams. She is usually in the background. This was not how mom was on Earth; she was never in the background! Her dream visits bring me great comfort. Thanks Mom.