The Telephone Call

I am at a stage in my life right now where I am questioning everything.

When I was a child, I lived and acted on faith. I was raised in the Catholic Church, and went every Sunday without fail. All the teachings about life, and life after death, I believed in faith. I still hold the beliefs to this day, but lately have been asking myself if we just believe what we believe in just to make us feel better about dying.

And that led me to ask, is there really life beyond the grave?

When I was a young adult, I did not think much about spiritual matters, but since my teen years, I have had a deep fascination with the paranormal. I have never had any type of incident where a ghost appeared before me, or had a poltergeist that rattled chains in my attic, or anything that would prove to me that the supernatural realm even existed at all.

But I continue to pray, try to live righteously, attend church when I can, all while continuing my research into the paranormal realm. That fascination has fueled my writing in a big way; most of my novels are about paranormal topics, and an author that writes about supernatural fiction certainly must believe in the Quantum Realm? Yes?

So is there life after death? I can't really answer that one. I know what my beliefs are as a Catholic, but no one really knows for sure. I do know that I find comfort in believing that those in my family who have passed on are in a better place now, and watching over us.

I remember talking with my mother once about my grandmother, who had passed in 2003 due to complications of Alzheimer's disease. My grandmother spent her final days in a nursing home, pleased as punch to be "dating" several men on her floor, but failing to remember them moments after she left them. Talk about always having a giddy first date! My mother visited her every day, without fail.

One night, after my mother spent the evening with my grandmother, the phone rang at precisely 4:00AM. My mother answered it sleepily, thinking that the nursing home was calling for one reason or another. It was just static.

About an hour later, the phone rang again. This time it was the nursing home on a clear line.

My grandmother had passed away, about an hour previously.

When I talked with my mother, years later, about that phone call, I asked her what she thought the static filled call meant.

"Oh, that was grandma," she said with confidence. "I could feel it."

And I explained to my mother my thoughts on believing in the paranormal, how our souls move on after death.

"Oh yes," my mother said. "We most definitely go on, and it happens right after we die. When I received that call, I felt very deeply that it was your grandma, and that she we telling me that she was with Grandpa, and that she was okay."

"So she was checking in on you?" I asked.

She nodded. "She was letting me know that she was fine, and making sure that I was alright, before moving on."

Life beyond the grave.

We don't really know for sure what happens, but the little signs like this telephone call say that there definitely is something out there. Yes, there is life beyond the grave.

When we learn to accept death not as an end - but rather a transformation - we will further understand.

That they're all still okay.