ironing board.
I then told her that when she got home she would find the white duvet cover in her bedroom. I laughed as I told her not to expect the cover to be on the duvet, but that she would find it lying on her bed.
‘That’s impossible,’ she told me. To be honest, I also felt a little unsure of what I was saying.
‘Your husband’s going to put it there,’ I told her, feeling less confident than I sounded. ‘It’s his way of letting you know he is with you.’
After discussing many other things, my client left, promising to phone me if what I had said about the duvet cover was true.
Later that night the phone rang. I recognized the voice immediately. It was Mrs Ball. ‘I just wanted to tell you,’ she said. ‘I went home and it was all exactly as you said. The cover was on the corner of the bed – not made up – but lying there, ironed and folded the way I had left it. I know for a fact that I left the cover on the ironing board!’
Mrs Ball now had clear evidence her husband wasn’t far from her – something she so desperately needed to know. And, in heaven, as he had been on earth, he was such a meticulously tidy soul.
Sweet Caroline
Caroline immediately admitted that she had never consulted a paranormal expert before so would I forgive her if she seemed nervous? She told me that, quite frankly, she was terrified. I talked calmly to her, telling her there was nothing to worry about. I would be gentle with her!
Minutes into the consultation, I became aware of a spirit. I knew this spirit was anxious, too, as its body language was uncomfortable. It quickly became clear to me that the spirit was that of a young male. His cause of death initially seemed a bit of a mystery, but as I slowly began to relay his words to Caroline, it became increasingly obvious.
First he spoke of his ‘beloved’ motorbike (I immediately felt Caroline’s tension at the mention of that word). Gary’s name was mentioned and again I told Caroline that. She merely nodded, looking grief-stricken. ‘Gary’s body is whole again, Caroline,’ I tentatively told her. ‘What is not whole is his conscience. He seems devastated by his death.’
At this point I thought that of course he would be devastated. Here was a handsome young man, his life in front of him – a whole life tragically cut short in a horrifying way. ‘Gary says you must stop fretting and regretting that you didn’t view his body. This was his wish. Although you were broken-hearted at his sudden death, I know more sadness followed when you changed your mind about seeing his body but were refused permission. Gary would not have wanted you to see him like that. The only person to see Gary in his coffin was his brother, and that was purely for identification purposes. No one got to see him, not you, nor any of his close friends and none of his family. He was in a dreadful mess physically.’
I can only describe Caroline’s face by saying it was chalk white. She gave a tiny sob and I begged her not to hold back the tears. I told her crying was a hugely important part of mourning and that she was doing herself no favours by holding her feelings in. Everyone was worried for her. Gary was worried for her!
‘I love him, Katie, I truly loved him!’ I remember Caroline’s broken words to this day. Oh, how they tug on my heart-strings. All I wanted to do was go over to Caroline, put my arms around her and take her very severe, almost tangible pain away from her.
However, I continued to relay what Gary was saying. ‘Did Karen make it?’ he asked. He seemed to have no way of knowing whether Karen was alive or dead.
‘He seems worried about Karen. He’s asking if she made it? What does he mean by that?’
It turned out Karen was his pillion passenger – a friend from his early childhood. Caroline just nodded. I passed the vague message back to Gary, assuring him that Karen had made it.
‘I told him not to buy that motorbike,’ Caroline almost spat the words. She seemed angry now, angry that her loved one had been taken. I still wasn’t 100 per cent sure what the exact cause of death was, although I was fitting the pieces together. At this point I heard the screeching of tyres, then a sudden bang, several different types of screams and breaking glass. The sound of metal hitting metal made me cringe. Then everything went silent. I knew for sure now that Gary had been on his motorbike and had fatally crashed.
I then heard him ask about the van. As soon as he mentioned the van, two pictures came into my mind. I saw a small, red, rusty-looking van. I also saw a little girl wearing a turquoise dress and hat. She couldn’t have been more than four or five.
‘Did Gary hit a van?’ Caroline nodded. ‘Was there a little girl in the van wearing a turquoise dress?’ Again, Caroline nodded. ‘Do you know where they are now, Caroline?’ Caroline looked up, tears streaming down her pained face and spoke in a childlike voice, ‘The little girl escaped with only cuts and bruises.’
‘And her father?’ I blurted out, not knowing who was in the van with the little girl.
‘He broke a few bones but he’s alive.’
‘Is Gary in any pain?’ Caroline asked. I heard him reply that he was free of pain. He proceeded to tell me that he knew very little at the end – it had all happened so quickly. All he remembers was seeing the little girl as the van swerved into his path. He didn’t see the driver, and after that he only vaguely remembers lying at the side of the road, obviously very injured but feeling extremely calm and happy. ‘My gran was there at the accident,’ Gary told me. I passed this on to Caroline, who told me that Gary had been devastated by the death of his beloved gran a matter of only months before his own death.
I explained to Caroline that Gary did not have to make the journey to heaven alone, that his gran had come to take him personally.
As Gary began to fade, I heard Neil Diamond singing ‘Sweet Caroline’. But, I didn’t know whether to tell Caroline this for fear it was gimmicky – it was an obvious song for a girl named Caroline. However, I did decide to tell her, and she said that it wasn’t corny at all. She could relate to it entirely as Gary had sung that song many times since they met. It was his favourite karaoke song (even before meeting Caroline), and he sang it to her less than a week before he died.
So ‘Sweet Caroline’ did indeed have significant meaning for my client.
Dearly Loved David
Mother and daughter sat opposite me, both crying sorely for the son and brother they had lost. David had been murdered, his life cut short before he had even reached the age of 20.
The first time these two clients came to see me, I couldn’t get David at all but I did manage to make contact with another young boy who relayed messages of David’s arrival and how he was in the throes of his healing process. This explained why David himself couldn’t come through. At this point, I was unsure if my clients felt any comfort.
A few months later, however, they came back. This time David was as large as life (pardon the irony). I knew someone was there because I was met with the very strong aroma of men’s aftershave. This wasn’t just any old aftershave either – it was much stronger than your everyday aftershave. I asked the significance of this and was informed that David wore cologne imported from the Far East. And the two agreed that it was indeed very potent and powerful stuff!
I then began to relay various messages from David. He told me about the bike race, which my clients watched him compete in a matter of weeks before his untimely death.
