My granny had been comatose for a few days, and my mother, sister, brother and I had spent many hours at the hospital.
When we left, my brother went to the movies, and my sister and I went back to Mum’s. We decided to play Scrabble, and about half an hour into it, (being a Scrabble Genius lol!) I’d used all 7 letters in a (clearly) Magnificent Word. As I replenished the tiles one letter at a time, I pulled out R-R-R-A-A-A-E (my grandmother’s name, Rae). We all started laughing, and about 5 minutes later the phone rang to let us know she’d gone to that great material shop in the sky.
My brother dropped by to say that while watching the movie he’d clearly heard her say, “I just want to let you know.”
And yes, it was at exactly That Time.
And for the naysayers, here’s an interesting one for you.
My elderly, Very Old School, feisty, curmudgeonly, neighbour fought bowel cancer; and me, on the subject of what-happens-after-you-die (because he liked to).
He maintained that dead was dead, and there ain’t nothin’ more after that. I’d laugh and say, “You’ll find out, and when you do you can tell me how wrong you were.”
He was an architect with a passion for grand staircases. I asked him once that if there was an afterlife, what would it be like for him? He laughed and said he’d be in a top hat and tails, dancing up a grand staircase surrounded by beautiful topless women.
On the day of his funeral as I walked up the steps to the church, I was thinking of him dancing his grand staircase. Just as I walked over the threshold, as clear as a bell in my right ear (as if he was leaning in close from behind), I heard him laughingly whisper, “You were right!”
Good on you, ol’ man…and stay away from my gran’ma!
I have a couple more, but to tell them will sound a bit “One time, at bandcamp…”