A Loving Presence

From: anonymous
Story type: Angel
Location: Memphis; Seattle
Source: Form Submission

This story has two parts. The first part occurred in 1977; the second part in 1995. In 1977 our family was stationed in Memphis, Tennessee. We were having a very stressful time, both personally and in my husband's career. Our children were small and we were in a location where neither of us preferred to be. I had returned to work in order to meet financial obligations. Even so, this visitation came on an ordinary summer day when our family was relaxing, the sun was shining, and there "didn't seem to be a cloud in the sky."

My husband was in the backyard playing with the children and I had just completed washing the dishes. I decided to lie down on the couch for a moment and rest a bit. I closed my eyes for a few minutes when I got the distinct impression that there was someone in the room with me. Thinking that my husband had come into the house, I sat up and looked around but no one was there. I went back to my rest. Suddenly I was enveloped in a feeling of complete, total and unconditional love, and this feeling was associated with the presence in the room. I felt (I did not hear) that the presence was letting me know that I was loved, that I was attached to something bigger and higher in the world, and that someone was looking out for me. This feeling remained with me for several minutes, and then the presence left the room. As the presence left, the feeling of love, warmth and connection sort of "moved" across my body (it did not evaporate from within).

I shared this experience with my husband and puzzled over it for many years. I considered that the presence might have been my father, who died several years earlier, or Jesus, or an angel, but I've never come to any conclusion about "who" that presence was. I do know that this experience convinced me of the reality of a "soul."

Up until this occurrence I was a very tentative Christ- ian. Having a cosmic encounter was the furthest thing from my mind on that ordinary day, so I have never believed that I manufactured this event, or that my unconscious was compensating for our situation. It had great meaning in my life, but did not appear to be symbolic or fraught with psychic meaning. It was a very simple gesture of support coming from a place of great love and compassion.

In 1995 I experienced the worst tragedy of my life when my daughter died at age 21. The night of her death I dreaded going to sleep because I knew when I woke up that I would have to face her loss. I was in terrible shock. Fortunately a good friend of mine stayed up talking with me into the wee hours of the morning until I was finally able to fall asleep. When I woke up I felt as though I was lying in "a puddle of love." The exact same feeling of total and unconditional love surrounded me. I felt calm and connected to the universe. I knew my daughter was in a good and safe place. Whoever that loving presence may be, it visited me again when I most needed it.