Talk to Me Page 14

  Sean explained that he was now like a counsellor helping children cross over, and that children like him. Children did like Sean—he would always tease them and play with them—he was a big kid.

  Another question I had was who Sean was with, but before I could ask Allison, Sean stated that he was with my dad. Sean was always very close to his granddad, so that didn’t surprise me. My dad also came through in the reading to tell me that he was sorry for the pain he had caused me, and he was very proud of me and he loved me. My father was still young when he died at the age of 57, and I always felt guilty because I didn’t get to say goodbye.

  Sean also said he was with a man who had a lot of cancer. That was my grandfather, a Baptist preacher. My grandfather said I raised a good son. The last time my grandfather saw Sean was when he was four or five years old, so it was comforting to know they were together.

  Then, when Allison said, ‘Sean is with your grandmother on your mother’s side,’ I started crying. A week before the reading my youngest sister, Rebecka, had dreamed about my grandmother and Sean being together and how happy they were. Rebecka had said she was so pleased to see them in the dream, they all exchanged hugs and kisses, and she didn’t want it to end. But Sean and my grandmother told my sister to go, because they were happy and fine.

  Sean also told me not to worry because our family on the other side love to cook, so he is eating and well taken care of. The older generations in my parents’ families did love to bake and cook, so I felt better knowing that they are taking care of my son.

  Sean insisted that he was ‘still in the family’. He wanted me to hide Easter eggs for him, and he wanted an Easter basket. There wasn’t a year that would pass where I didn’t surprise my sons with Easter baskets, no matter how old they got.

  In the reading Allison mentioned missed calls, and Sean said he still plays with his mobile phone and it carries his energy. His brother Casey has his phone and Casey wouldn’t let me change Sean’s number, but I wasn’t exactly sure what the reference to the phone was about. After the reading, I asked Casey about Sean’s phone. He said he had thought something was wrong with his own phone because on three occasions Casey had got a missed call from Sean.

  ‘No, it’s not broken,’ I explained. ‘It’s Sean’s energy.’

  I also told Casey that Sean said he loved his Guitar Hero game, and the time he spent playing it with him, and he wanted his brother to have it.

  When I asked about Sean’s older brother, Sean said he was worried because Ryan keeps staring at the computer and he is very depressed. He looks at pictures of Sean and listens to music they both liked. Sean and Ryan were very close; they did everything together. Ryan really doesn’t know how to go on without Sean, but Sean said to tell him, ‘We can still hang out together, Bro!’ I can’t explain how much it means to know that Sean is still reaching out to us and that he will always remain with us.

  I have had many dreams about Sean, and in all of them he is around the age of six. In the reading, Sean pointed out there is a picture of me kneeling down to give him a hug, and he said it is the age I see him being in my dreams. I remember that picture, and it is my Sean at age six. Although he explained that he doesn’t look six years old in heaven—he’s older—being a kid was his best time, because he was able to be my ‘little man’. He wanted me to take out a picture of him at that age, and remember he’ll always be my little boy.

  Allison said that April is very important to Sean, meaning that either someone close to him passed or has a birthday in April. My birthday is in April, and so is my sister Rebecka’s. Allison explained that this was Sean’s way of saying he’ll be at the celebrations. And, maybe not coincidentally, this reading with Allison was taking place on 6 April.

  Sean and his father, Ron, were very close, but after Sean passed away, Ron had a very hard time. Sean wanted to tell his dad that he was ‘the best’, and he joked about how his father let him get away with everything! He referred to a photo of Ron, Ryan and Sean when he was a toddler and Ron had his arms around both of them. Sean said he felt very loved and stated that Ron showed a lot of affection to his boys which he would never show to anyone else. In life Sean always said his dad was very smart; he knew a little about everything. And in the reading he reiterated that sentiment.

  Sean loved music, and in the reading he was playing ‘Love Me Tender’ by Elvis Presley. I remember my mother telling me that my dad and she would listen to that song. I think this was Sean’s way of acknowledging that my dad was there with him.

  Also, when I bought Sean his first guitar, he taught himself how to play ‘Stairway to Heaven’, which happened to be my favourite song, and in the reading Allison told me that Sean was playing ‘Stairway to Heaven’.

  When Sean passed away in May, it was incredibly hard for all of us to deal with. He was only 21 years of age. On his birthday, 2 September, he would have turned 22, and we blew up balloons and put notes inside them. He said in the reading that he got them. He also said that he didn’t like flowers, but we could send him red balloons instead. He loves the colour red.

  One of the most touching messages he gave me was that he was sorry he ruined Mother’s Day, and he kept pointing out that ‘they got the time wrong’. This was so meaningful to me because the hospital said Sean had died at 12.17 p.m. However, I received a text at 3.20 a.m. that said, ‘I love you, Mum.’ I truly believe that is when Sean died.

  The readings have changed my life. I feel strength and comfort and I am not afraid to die, although I was informed by Allison that I will live a long life. I will live my life to the fullest, knowing that my son is with still with me.

  Sean was and still is my strength. We were very close, and I still feel the energy that we both have together. It was Sean who pushed me to read Allison’s book and go to her event. He did this so that I would find some level of peace. I know Sean wants me to be happy. I know I will have my hard days, and there will be other days when I will feel like nothing ever happened. Like he said during the reading, ‘Mum, remember what you always told me? One day at a time.’

  A GIFT FROM BEYOND

  I did a reading for one of my very good friends and it left a lasting impression on me, because it was so personal. I didn’t actually read Rich until three years after we met and became friends. I waited because the timing had to be right, and it hadn’t felt quite strong enough before. I mean, if I read him, I wanted it to be really great, even though I had no doubt that Rich’s mum would come through. As soon as I got that urgent feeling which I get when the other side prods me to read someone close to me, I knew the time had finally come.

  To be honest, I don’t like to read people close to me because it redefines the relationship, so I usually keep my friendships separate from my work. Often, mixing business with friends causes social events to also become work. Rich is an exception, though, he’s not like that; he never oversteps my boundaries. As a matter of fact, I was kind of excited that the time had come. After all, I was going to meet the mother of one of my good friends, a woman who had met few new living people since she had died almost twenty years ago.

  When Rich came bounding through my front door with his sandy blond hair and wide smile, I immediately ushered him into my office. Rich is a man who never runs out of things to say, or music trivia to challenge you with, and he uses humour to lighten uncomfortable situations. I had definitely never met anyone like him until I met his son, Joe, who’s a Marx Brother in a little boy’s body. Gotta love him!

  I motioned for him to sit down, and I made him aware that his deceased mother had quite a lot to say.

  ‘Rich, hurry up, your mum’s talking to me. Come in so I can bring you up to speed.’

  Notepad in hand, I began scribbling vigorously (it’s how I focus my energy), and a story started to unfold, telling me what kind of woman Rich’s mum is. Let’s just say, like mother, like son. And, believe me, that’s a huge compliment!

  His mum came through gushing about how proud she is of
Rich, and how much she loves him and his family. She talked about very much liking Kristi, Rich’s wife, and how she appreciated her sassy nature. His mum said she always knew Rich would be a great dad one day, and she was right! There were many messages given that meant a lot to Rich, and I was pleased to be able to do it. I was also glad to finally meet my friend’s mum whom he loved so much and talked about with such affection.

  Anyway, a couple of days later I was on air on KISS-FM doing readings for people who phoned in ( Johnjay and Rich are the morning show hosts on KISS-FM in Arizona). Rich brought up his reading on air to share with the audience.

  ‘Hey, Allison, remember in the reading you told me that my mum wants my daughter Audrey to have her wedding ring?’

  ‘Yeah, I remember.’

  ‘Well, when I left your house after the reading, I stopped by my mailbox to pick up the mail on my way home. In the mail was an envelope from my dad. I opened the envelope and my mum’s wedding ring fell out of it!’

  I mouthed, ‘Wow!’ I mean, what do you say to that?

  Then I said, ‘That’s so great, the timing and all, and like I always say, there are no coincidences.’

  Johnjay was totally stunned, which I find amusing. I never get tired of watching his jaw drop. He’s always so surprised. He’s like District Attorney Devalos on Medium; he never expects it, so it’s kinda funny!

  Rich was just f loored, but really happy, too, and that’s what mattered the most to me. Rich’s mum did so well coming through. She had passed away when Rich was in his late teens. It had been a very long time, yet she managed to orchestrate things beautifully. I never question the other side about timing. There’s always a reason why some things take longer than we’d like them to. Having faith will save your sanity; you don’t waste so much time overanalysing life.

  RICH’S EXPERIENCE

  It took me almost twenty years after the death of my mother, Audrey, to finally have the moment where we had a visit through Allison. There are so many people who need closure, and so many aching to have that moment to finish relationships with those who have passed. I had a rough ten years trying to forget about how bad it hurt to lose a parent, and needed another ten to get to a place where I could understand it.

  I’ve known Al for such a long time that I never thought to ask. And in typical Allison fashion, she knew the right time to bring it up. This is the thing with Allison—she just knows.

  When I arrived at Allison’s house, she ran to the door to greet me and told me to come in. She already had pages and pages of notes, and wanted to get started. I can tell you about all of the things she brought up in conversation that hit home, but that isn’t what struck me. The first thing I noticed when I walked into Allison’s office was that she seemed just like the people who used to hang around my mum. It’s hard to describe, but I felt like I was in a room where a little family reunion was taking place, and my mum was holding court.

  My mum was a very peaceful and fun lady. There weren’t many who escaped her quiet charm. Even as her kid, I noticed that people around her felt like they mattered, and they could really open up to her. I could see that Al had a good shot at connecting with my mum before I walked in.

  What happened next was the closest thing to really getting to touch the other side that I’ve ever experienced.

  I have so many memories of my mum and our house that we grew up in. But this was different. Allison tapped into memories that I’d totally forgotten about—like this pastry my mum used to make. And there were things that I didn’t even know about—my mum spoke of the few moments after her death with my dad, something he’d never shared with me, or anyone.

  I later got the nerve to grab my notes from the session and confirm with my dad, and the things Allison said were more than just a little accurate. One of the things that came up was how he had taken his time to get a headstone for my mother’s grave because he was in a lot of pain, and it seemed too final to put in a headstone. One of my aunts pulled him aside and helped him design one. He spent a lot of time on making it look right, and included a rose in the corner. My mum was a devout Catholic, and her favourite saint was St Theresa, who, if you prayed to her for an answer, would show you a rose when your prayers had been heard by God. Roses were also my mum’s favourite flower, and through Allison she told me to say ‘Thank you’ to my dad for the rose. She said he would know what it meant. He did.

  I haven’t heard my dad get choked up much, but he did as he confirmed that the messages from my mum were very real. He also told me that he now totally gets what Allison does.

  Allison brought up relatives, personal moments and views that my mum has on my wife and children.

  None of it gave me chills. It gave me warmth.

  None of it was shocking. It was heartwarming.

  It was like being at home around a fire during the holidays, having a nice conversation with the people you love the most. I could tell that my mum took a liking to Allison, and I could feel that it was sort of nice for Allison, too, as she dug deep and let herself go into my family. I know she deals with some very intense subject matter, and there is so much hurt out there.

  Yes, I get sad sometimes that my mum isn’t around to see my kids, or me following my dreams, or to share some success through a trip or a lunch at the beach, but I sort of always thought she was hanging around me and my family. I always felt that I had a pretty powerful angel leading me right, just on the other side. Allison assured me that was the case.

  I got confirmation of the fact that a body may give out, but your love for your family remains. Nothing as simple as a body dying can keep your soul away from the ones you love.

  MY VALENTINE

  I was conducting a private reading for a woman named Judi whose husband, Mike, had passed away four years ago. He was the kind of guy that women pray to have in their life. Anyway, he came through so easily, and the reading was full of a lot of love and trips down memory lane.

  At one point Mike said to tell Judi that she would ‘always be his Valentine’.

  Judi then shared that her husband had died on Valentine’s Day while having a heart transplant. I thought, ‘How terrible is that?’

  Then Judi told me that she and her daughter had attended one of my events over a year ago, and I had read her daughter: ‘You told my daughter that she was going to have a daughter, and she couldn’t understand that because she had two boys. The doctor had advised her that getting pregnant again could put her life in jeopardy, and her husband should have a vasectomy. After your event, her husband did just that, and soon after they found out that she was pregnant. Two days ago my daughter gave birth, to a baby girl, on Valentine’s Day!’

  The other side has a way of showing us that we’re being taken care of, and when we physically lose someone who’s a part of us, our loved ones have a way of sending us a new puzzle piece to add to our heart. That baby girl is a part of Mike, and no doubt she will bring much joy to their family.

  •

  Readings are mostly full of positive, uplifting tidbits of information that collectively make up the story of someone’s life, so try not to be afraid of the deceased or their messages. They’re actually enjoyable moments that you are now familiar with since you’ve read this chapter.

  Here’s wishing you a strong connection with those you love! Talk to them . . . they’ve been there all along.

  7

  Children with the gift

  I’m often being asked about children with the gift, even though some people don’t see it as a gift, and some children might agree with those people. I’d like to beg to differ, and explain how the gift is very much inf luenced by our personality and environment.

  Joe and I have three daughters who have been brought up in an open household, with an understanding of individuality and a belief that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As we believe everybody has a unique take on how they see one another, and as long as we respect our differences and agree to disagree, everything can be quite
harmonious.

  I was a child who talked to the souls who remained after physical death. I liked them. They made me feel protected. And, believe me, I was very protected. It was the 1970s and 80s when I was a pint-size medium. Things were different then; people didn’t embrace children who talked to spirits. I was no exception. I now have three daughters with the ability to do the same, but they were brought up in a teaching environment with me as their teacher. I saw their raw abilities from the age of two onwards, and as they grew I began to help them strengthen and hone their skills. I tried to make it fun for them, like a game. They’re very competitive, and they were incredibly good in the ‘classroom’.

  As the girls get older, their vocabulary expands and their life experiences increase, and this gives the deceased a greater chance to communicate through them, because they have more overlapping life experiences to draw from. For example, if a child can’t spell ‘Canada’, they’d have a hard time conveying the country most important to the deceased, because they don’t recognise the word ‘Canada’ when it pops into their head. Likewise a small child could get ‘red car’ but might not get ‘red Corvette’ because they have no reference for Corvette. So, as the gifted grow older, their abilities get stronger because they’re more relatable to a wider age range of deceased, as a result of their increasing life experiences.

  For the first time, my girls will share with you in their own words their advice for young people who have the special ability to hold hands with those who have passed. Since I give those I read a chance to share their stories with others who can relate, I feel like maybe my girls also need to share their advice with those who need someone to relate to. In my book Don’t Kiss Them Good-Bye, I talk about some of my own childhood experiences. Now you will hear from the next generation—my three girls—in their own words.