Those who I am closest to know that I talk to dead people. No, really…I communicate with people who have passed.  I don’t advertise that because it’s not something I do for money or for any other reason, it’s just something that happens sort of randomly. I don’t channel them, and in fact, I wouldn’t know how to do that. They come to me in dreams.  There are people out there who believe that it’s “just” a dream but I don’t think that’s true.  I think there are people in the world who just have an energy and an understanding that is just a little higher in its vibration at times and therefore more receptive to what I call “angel visits”.

The first visit was from a friend’s dad.  My friend Roseann’s dad had passed and although I don’t remember the details now, but I know that he was in the hospital with many complications from what I believe was lung cancer.  If it wasn’t cancer I do know that his lungs were affected in a big way. I can’t remember how long after he passed but I had this dream. I was in McGaffey, (for those who don’t know where that is, it’s in the mountains close to Gallup, NM). There were a lot of people there and we were all gathered on someone’s property. It had a cabin on it, and as I remember it seems like it was my friend Wyatt’s family property. Everyone was roaming around with cups in their hands, visiting with each other when I see this figure sort of floating toward me. He wasn’t walking, just sort of floating, dressed in white. His eyes were a little glassy but he was smiling and I recognized him as he got closer. He never spoke and in fact just slowly floated by me but as he passed I asked him, “Can you breathe now?”.  He nodded his head as if to say yes and went by.  I woke up thinking I really needed to call Roseann and tell her he was okay and of course I did, for which I think her and her Mom were grateful. I don’t know how much of an impact that had on them but it sure had an impact on me.  Bear with me here, because this isn’t the only time this has happened.

About six years ago I was having day surgery to have my gall bladder removed. My Dad had passed the September before and he came to me three nights in a row. The three nights immediately preceding the surgery to be exact. The one I remember most vividly was the one where I was standing in my kitchen and he was there. I was so excited to see him my heart jumped. “Dad!” I said. “You’re here!”  I was talking a mile a minute but he never said anything, just listened, and then suddenly I realized why he was there and I panicked. I said to him, “Dad, I can’t go with you now, I have the boys!”  He sort of shrugged his shoulders and went to sit at the table as if to say, “Okay, I’ll wait.”   I didn’t wake up afraid, and in fact was comforted by the knowledge that he really is there, on the other side and that I had nothing to worry about.  He showed up two more times in my dreams prior to the surgery but I don’t remember the dreams, just his presence. It was truly awesome to me that I was communicating with him in a way that I understood, in a way that my tiny pea brain could process and that was through my dreams. Make no mistake however, his presence was real. He was there and as real as if he were standing here today. He understood me and I understood him. This particular visit was big and something I think about often because ever since my Dad passed I’ve felt his presence in a very real way.  I feel his spirit very close to me, I talk to him all the time like he never left.

It wasn’t long after that, maybe a year later,  when someone my Mom and I were very close to committed suicide. Her and I are very good friends with this young man and his family, especially his mother. As with all suicides it is a long and complicated story and as devastating as you can imagine. He was disabled and he was being bullied and manipulated by someone he trusted for money, which made it worse. He was functional, he could drive, walk, talk, etc…but he had cerebral palsy and was slightly crippled, for lack of a better word. His Mom said he was in pain a lot but I would not have known that. He never complained about his physical ailments. No one really knows the true reason he killed himself. He didn’t leave a note, but I think he just got to a point where he didn’t feel like he had any sort of options, no escape from the utter torture and manipulation of these people and one day he locked himself in his truck in the garage and took his own life.  His family’s anguish was beyond words. The devastation left in his wake was palpable. Disbelief, questions, discovery of the people who were doing this to him…all of it leaving heartbreak, anger, confusion and deep sadness.  About a week later he came to me in a dream.  He was driving east on Route 66 in Gallup and we were at the East Y. I was in the passenger seat. He looked a little strange, his eyes were a bit odd. He never actually spoke but I asked him point blank, “Do you feel better now?”…and he nodded yes.  That’s all I needed to know.  I made sure his family knew that he was okay. I told them about his visit and as much as they would have liked it to be them instead, I think it gave them some measure of comfort.  Was it “just a dream?”  Maybe, but I don’t believe so.

Now I’m not much into organized religion, although I don’t fault people who are. I do believe there are many ways to manifest your faith and I do believe in God.  Or rather, I believe in an energy that vibrates on a much higher plane than we do whether you call that God, or the Universe or whatever you call it personally. I call it God AND the Universe and when I pray, which I do on a daily basis, I always pray to God, the Universe and all of my guides and angels. I think we have many guides and angels that watch over us and I see them as the people who have gone before us. I’ve recently been visited by two of my angels, two people who I was very close to before they passed. Anyone who knows me knows how crazy my life has been this past year.  Right now, because of a job change,  I’m living a thousand miles away from my kids, Mom, family and friends and although it’s not a terrible experience, it’s not exactly my vision and so I pray about it every day.  The week before last on two different nights I had angel visits that helped me to realize that they are here, they are listening.  The first angel was my Grandma Jennie. My Mom’s mom.  We were in a house, her and my son Chris and I and we were getting ready for bed. I was in the bathroom washing my face when I saw in my peripheral vision, my Grandma walking by in the hallway. I went into the room that her and Chris were sharing. It looked much like her bedroom in her old house, with the two twin beds, but our luggage was there. I was talking to Chris and I could see her outline in the bed on the right where she was sleeping. I never spoke to her and never actually looked her in the eye, but I knew it was her. Her presence was very real.  The second visit that week was from my Aunt Fern. My Dad’s sister who I was very close to in the years before she passed. I don’t remember the dream, but I woke up remembering that she was there and again, her presence was very real.

I have to say that since then, since those two visits, I feel a lot better about my life and what is happening at the moment. I just feel a calmness that I haven’t really felt up until now and I think it’s because I know they are watching out for me. I know they are here, making sure it all works out and I believe their visits were intended to let me know that I could stop stressing over it.  People always say life has a way of working things out and I believe it’s because God, the Universe and our guides and angels have a way of helping us along.

I’ve had dreams of others who have passed as well but these are the ones that have had the most impact on me so far. These are the angel visits that made a difference in either my life or someone else’s life so far. It doesn’t spook me, in fact, I welcome them because it reaffirms my faith, my belief in the afterlife and it makes me feel better to know that we really aren’t in this alone.  I love that angels come to me. I love that they feel safe enough to communicate through me, and I hope I receive many, many more visits in the future.

Much love and light your way,

Joanna