Gransnet forums

Bereavement

Weird experience today

(71 Posts)
Esspee Mon 08-Feb-21 15:04:02

A friend Isobel died recently and her funeral was today. Three of us used to work together and had kept in touch, meeting up a couple of times a year.

We tended to meet up at a central location. Isobel always had her husband drop her off as she was very bad at directions and a nervous driver. I always picked up the other friend as she doesn’t have access to a car and I am a very confident driver.

Today I left home to pick up the friend without a car to go to the funeral. I was listening to a discussion on the radio and completely missed the turnoff I should have taken. I was left with no alternative but to cross the river, take the first turnoff, circle round the block, recross the river, before circling back to take the correct road.

In explaining my detour we both realised at the same time that this was the sort of thing Isobel might have done and that I had in fact done a tight circuit round our old place of work.
Can’t help but wonder if that was Isobel having a laugh with us?

Pap67 Tue 09-Feb-21 21:28:51

Riggie
Totally unnecessary comment.
But as you haven’t apologised I presume it doesn’t matter to you?
Esspee: I’m absolutely sure your friend was with you.. my ex husband used to work in the funeral industry and he had heard many many stories similar... can’t all be coincidence.....
I’m sorry for the loss of your friend xxxx

netflixfan Tue 09-Feb-21 21:31:02

Thanks for all these lovely stories, I really enjoyed reading them.

Mamma66 Tue 09-Feb-21 21:51:40

I was extremely ill last year and had three stays in hospital. On one occasion my GP rang me up following a blood test and said, “go to A&E now, I have rung them and they are expecting you.” Obviously I was very frightened. My brother drove me to the hospital as my husband was at work and I wasn’t well enough to drive myself safely. To be honest, I thought I was going to die.

The hospital is only a ten minute drive from home. As we turned in to the hospital “Lord of the Dance” came on Radio Two. A strange choice of music and not something I have ever heard on Radio Two before or since. The moment I heard it I felt an overwhelming sense of relief and knew that I was going to be okay.

It was one of my late Mother’s favourites and we had it played at her funeral. I am still absolutely convinced (as is my brother) that my Mum was telling me that I was going to be alright.

I sincerely believe that sometimes we do get signs and messages from those we have lived and lost.

Esspee Tue 09-Feb-21 22:51:22

Thanks again everyone and goodnight.

Youngatheart51 Wed 10-Feb-21 01:24:43

My late husband has an old fashioned cuckoo clock with the pull up/down pendulums. It was his pride & joy & nobody was allowed ever to touch it. He wound it morning & night without fail. The day he unexpectedly died the clock stopped working & despite many attempts by me to get it going it has never worked since.
Quite a few years later my mum was very very poorly in the icu with pancreatitus & sepsis & kept being put on a breathing tube through her throat so she could only mouth what she wanted to say. One night we went in & she kept saying there was a load of people at the end of her bed dressed in white including "Richard, your second husband" She was absolutely adamant & as a carer in a nursing home I pooped my pants when she said this as I was used to my residents seeing loved ones as they was about to pass over. In mums case I firmly believe it was angels come to heal her as after one more occasion where we was told to expect the worse my mum made a full recovery including a stint in rehab learning to walk & feed herself again (as 12 weeks in icu caused muscle wastage) 8 & half years on she's still going strong.

Mamma66 Wed 10-Feb-21 02:17:52

Youngatheart51

My late husband has an old fashioned cuckoo clock with the pull up/down pendulums. It was his pride & joy & nobody was allowed ever to touch it. He wound it morning & night without fail. The day he unexpectedly died the clock stopped working & despite many attempts by me to get it going it has never worked since.
Quite a few years later my mum was very very poorly in the icu with pancreatitus & sepsis & kept being put on a breathing tube through her throat so she could only mouth what she wanted to say. One night we went in & she kept saying there was a load of people at the end of her bed dressed in white including "Richard, your second husband" She was absolutely adamant & as a carer in a nursing home I pooped my pants when she said this as I was used to my residents seeing loved ones as they was about to pass over. In mums case I firmly believe it was angels come to heal her as after one more occasion where we was told to expect the worse my mum made a full recovery including a stint in rehab learning to walk & feed herself again (as 12 weeks in icu caused muscle wastage) 8 & half years on she's still going strong.

I can so relate to this. My Mum and Dad had a Long Case (Grandfather) clock. It stopped working the day of my Mum’s funeral - the weights dramatically dropping to the bottom of the case!

Pammie1 Wed 10-Feb-21 07:08:53

@Riggie. The OP has lost a friend and I suspect posted here for a bit of support. I take your point about concentration on the road, but there is a time and a place - and this was not it. A deliberately hurtful and insensitive post, shame on you.

Esspee Wed 10-Feb-21 07:22:08

Thanks Pammie1 but Riggie is long gone.
Thought you might like to know that the @ before a name doesn’t do anything on Gransnet. Just yesterday I mentioned that on a thread. No idea why not as Gransnet/Mumsnet are the same company.
It is an excellent feature for ensuring that members are alerted to a response to one of their posts.

annemac101 Thu 11-Feb-21 11:41:54

I was watching a live exercise class on Facebook by our teacher of a small group we attend. I saw lots of orbs in the video coming from a point in the wall I couldn't see and dancing all around her. I had never seen this before. I messaged her to tell her saying I don't know if you believe in things like this but someone is looking after you. She said the place on the wall the orbs came from had a photo of her husbands and her best friend who had passed away about a year ago. And today was his birthday. I knew she had been really upset about the passing of this man as he was her children's godfather too. She was overjoyed and phoned his sister and they all had a good cry. She said it made them all feel good. Oh I have quite a few stories like that.

Riggie Sun 14-Feb-21 10:34:40

Did you actually think how hurtful that comment could be?

Did you stop to think that someone not paying proper attention to driving could cause a serious accident?

timetogo2016 Sun 14-Feb-21 10:44:47

I thought the very same Soroptimum.
Some people get comfort from things like that.

timetogo2016 Sun 14-Feb-21 10:46:18

I assume Riggie that you have NEVER made a wrong turn OR you don`t drive.

CleoPanda Sun 14-Feb-21 11:00:57

Oh Riggie, You just don’t get it!
How sad I feel for you.

Harris27 Sun 14-Feb-21 11:12:58

Riggie’ that comment was uncalled for. Espee lovely thread.

Craftycat Sun 14-Feb-21 11:24:43

Not the same scenario but 3 times in my life I have worked with women called Jean in 3 different jobs. All 3 of them died- all from cancer. I was nervous when I changed jobs after this whenever I changed jobs in case their was a Jean in the company. Not something you can ask at an interview. Luckily there never were.

jaylucy Sun 14-Feb-21 11:25:03

My dad passed away 10 years ago.
He always used to wash with Wrights Coal Tar soap and use Imperial Leather talc.
Every day between the time that he died and his funeral, I smelt those smells at about the time he used to go and have is wash each day. No one else in the house used either and from time to time the same smell wafts down the stairs and often wonder.

Ladyleftfieldlover Sun 14-Feb-21 11:44:36

My late mother loved owls and we used to give her pottery owls for birthday and Christmas presents. After her death my brother was sitting in her garden smoking a cigarette and an owl (a real one) came and perched on the tree next to him. He was convinced that this was somehow mum’s spirit.

Dibbydod Sun 14-Feb-21 11:49:31

Riggie

*Did you actually think how hurtful that comment could be?*

Did you stop to think that someone not paying proper attention to driving could cause a serious accident?

You sound very strict and disciplined , don’t you ever make mistakes yourself or are you just perfect ?

0wlfred Sun 14-Feb-21 13:38:25

My mother died when my son was a baby. On the 3rd day after she left us she turned his bedroom light off three times (it was late Novmeber and he was having an afternoon nap). She had to do it three times because it took that many for me to realise it was her doing - when I did I felt some kind of force surge through me and then there was complete peace.

Minerva Sun 14-Feb-21 13:47:19

My baby brother died overnight when I was 10. I wasn’t allowed to say anything about his sudden death which I had learned about when it was announced in school assembly that morning. On the day of the funeral I got yelled at for saying that the hall looked like a flower shop, so filled it was with beautiful flowers. I wasn’t to go to the funeral and was told to take my two younger siblings, aged 7 and 3 round to the house of one of my parents’ friends about a 10 minute walk away. We were nearly there when a big black car pulled up and I was beckoned over. I stared transfixed at the beautiful tiny gold decorated white coffin in the back as he showed me an address written on a piece of paper and asked if I knew the road. It was my address of course and to this day the sight of a small white coffin in a hearse brings me to helpless tears.