Name: Carol Brown
Location: Hartwell, GA
Email: carolcbrown@hotmail.com
Helen, words cannot express how sorry I am about your loss of
your beautiful daughter. How wonderful that you have found a
way to keep her near you. I haven't read your book, and don't
know if now is the time....I, too, have a wonderful 20 year old
daughter fighting the Hodgkin's monster. Allison was diagnosed
in October, 2001, with bulky mediastinal disease....a tumor so
large even the experts we have sought out for treatment have
been "impressed". We are almost through 6 cycles of
ABVD and have radiation coming up. Allison has a great attitude
and has been an inspiration to me by the way she has handled
this blow. She was a college student and had to withdraw last
semester. Hopefully she will get back to her studies soon. And
as I tell people, I have surprised myself with strength I never
knew I had. Who would ever think we could live through so much
and keep on going? As you well know, it is a long and scary walk.
Anyway, Helen, I am inspired by your story and how you have found
something good from such pain and loss. God bless. Carol Brown
Name: Helen M. Fisher
Thank you, Carol. I am so sorry to hear of your daughter's illness.
Under these circumstances everyone involved often learns they
have more strength than they ever believed possible. I think
most of us do, but it is when we are under terrible stress that
we realize we can reach down inside ourselves and tap into that
strength.Allison sounds much like Erin in her attitude toward
her illness--face it and do what needs to be done. Having been
where you are, I know how difficult this has to be for you and
your family. My heart goes out to all of you. Peace and love,
Helen.
Name: Shirley Dolan
Location: Rhode Island
Email: TSDK31@msn.com
Dear Helen, This is a lovely inspirational site and thanks for
establishing it. I too am a victim of loss. My beloved husband
Tom died very unexpectedly 11/29/01 of a heart attack at age
49. Despite the intense "physical" missing of Tom,
I consider myself very blessed to not only have many ADC's, but
in reflection, have had many what I term PDC's (pre-death communications)
that greatly lessened the intensity of my grief. I am a 25 year
veteran of the nursing profession,and 20 of these years working
in the specialty of emergency nursing. So needless to say, I
have experienced virtually every type of medical emergency possible,
and gained great satisfaction in being part of a medical teams
that saved many lives over the years. But all these skills that
I developed over the years would be usless in saving the life
of the one I loved the most in the world, since I was the one
who found Tom in cardiac arrest on our kitchen floor. In the
Good Lord's infinite wisdom, He found a way to let me know through
the process of reflection of the events that transpired a few
months preceding Tom's death, that this was his time to physically
die and my ability to save him was not meant to be. I would like
to share what I consider one of the most profound experience
that I had preceding Tom's death which I take great confort in.
My husband was a great music lover, and even sold audio equiptment
for a living. A year or so prior to his death he became a great
fan of the Irish rock group U2. U2 was coming to my area for
a concert in October of 01, and they are exceptionally difficult
to get tickets to see. Knowing Tom loved this group, I set out
on a quest to get tickets for this concert. The tickets were
to be going on sale at 9:00 on a Saturday morning in September,
so I sat by my computer thinking out my stragedy to attempt to
get tickets. I decided to call the venue where the concert was
to be held to see what the line for those waiting to get tickets
was like that morning. Since I did not have the phone number,
I decided to call the information operator. When I got the operator
and asked her for the number, she immediately asked me "Are
you calling there to get U2 tickets?". She told be "dont'
bother going to the venue" and proceeded to give me a Ticket
Master phone number located out of state to call, and assured
me I would get tickets this way. Needles to say, I did what she
instructed and was able to get two great tickets!!! Tom and I
went to the concert and had the time of our lives. During the
concert,Tom on a number of times made reference to the U2 song
"Kite" and how much he liked it. I really did not pay
much attention to this comment, but later I would learn it would
become Tom's departing message of hope for me. The night of Tom's
funeral, all the family was at my house, and Tom's brother Andy
happened to put the U2 video on and they began playing the song
"Kite". I mentioned to the family that this was Tom's
favorite song. As we all sat there watching and listening to
the words, we all realized that this song's message was about
saying goodbye but never really leaving; which Bono the lead
singer had written as a tribute to his father who had died. Having
had this personal experience, and the many subtle ones that followed,
I do believe that being so blessed by these Divine Interventions,
I have a responsibility now to share them with others, since
this sharing may provide a tiny spark of hope that their love
ones have survived and we will be reunited with them in and for
eternity.
Name: Helen M. Fisher
Dear Shirley, Thank you for sharing your story with us. My heart
goes out to you on your loss. Your husband Tom has given you
a beautiful gift in the form of the pre-death communication and
after-death communcation that you have experienced. The story
of the U2 tickets is amazing. I believe that a part of Tom knew
he was going to leave our Earth world prior to his passing, the
part that made him mention the song "Kite" to you so
many times during the concert. Looking back to the last weeks
of my daughter's life, comments that she made, etc., I think
the Erin who still survives was aware that her life in her Earth
suit was coming to an end. I'm certain this was only at a sub-conscious
level. You write that you feel a responsibility to share your
experiences with others, to give them hope that their loved ones
have survived. You have stated one of the reasons why I wrote
"From Erin with Love." I knew beyond a shadow of a
doubt that this gift of knowledge I was given was not just for
me, but was to be shared with others. Peace and love, Helen.
