WAS THIS MY SIGN???

Many of you know that my mother-in-law, Bruni, passed away a couple weeks ago. She was 89 years old with a myriad of health issues. I was never apprehensive about listening to whatever Bruni wanted to say. A couple months ago Bruni told me she was ready to die, adding she wasn't afraid. Given her amount of pain & suffering I empathized completely, gladly listening to her & never discounting her feelings.

A day or two after her lung cancer diagnosis & a little over a week before she died, I had a conversation with Bruni about Heaven & the afterlife. She said she was raised Lutheran, attended church with her mother but didn't know if she really believed. I shared with her my belief that God gives everyone (good or bad, faithful in life or not) one last chance to believe & accept eternal life when they pass on.

We both discussed the stories we've heard of people who have "died" & come back to this life. How they said it was beautiful & there was a bright, white light beckoning them. Many didn't want to come back. Finally Bruni grinned & said, "You've convinced me!" I smiled back saying, "Okay, your job is to somehow let me know that I am right after you get there."

Back in the 80s, my sister, Karen, saw our Grandpa Frank hours later on the night he was shot & killed. I wrote about his murder here in a December 2015 post. Here is Karen's account: "I awoke startled but not scared & he was sitting in the chair next to my bed. I was definitely NOT dreaming. He was smiling as if to say "it's ok". I was calm, no words spoken, but I felt a sort of relief because my biggest horror of the whole thing that night was thinking about Nannie having to see him very much wounded, and when he was sitting there he looked just like he always did, so I think that's what was behind him telling me he was ok."

In 1991 on what would have been my mother's birthday a few months after her death, my then 15 year old son told me he "saw" her that night. He was quick to point out that it was like a dream but it was not a dream. He literally SAW her. She was at his model train club & told him that everything was alright but they didn't converse. She & Darrin were close, spending lots of time with his model trains. I totally believe both of their experiences.

I was on high alert looking for my sign from Bruni at her funeral & burial service but nothing happened. The next day we started cleaning out her clothes, shoes & personal things at the house. Again, no sign, nothing unusual.

Well, after dinner tonight Lou was doing the dishes & I was clearing the table when I heard a loud crash that sounded like things falling & breaking. It went on for several seconds, a lot of racket. I thought what in the world did he drop & walked into the kitchen saying, "That didn't sound good. What happened?"

Lou was still at the sink & I saw that by the fridge (6 or 8 feet from him) there were three glass Corning Ware lids on the floor. Lou said, "The cupboard just opened & the lids fell out then it closed again. Be careful, something broke." I looked but none of the lids were broken. Then we noticed that my wine glass was broken. I had set it on the counter below the cupboard to finish after dinner. The wine glass had broken in several pieces but it didn't fall over. One of the lids must have hit it on the way down. 

Lou commented that it was really weird since they fell from the top shelf of the cupboard way in the back. I agreed, it was really weird. Neither of us have touched anything up on that shelf in months, maybe years. I didn't even remember that we had those small Corning Ware dishes. Lou wondered if we had a small earthquake but nothing was shaking & we didn't feel anything. That's when I said, "Hmmmm, I wonder? Is that my sign from Bruni?"

At the risk of sounding like a whacko, before writing this post I contacted several people for their thoughts. My friend, Darlene, said, "Well, you don't have to convince me!" She related that her partner of many years contacted her a few times after her death. Another friend, Judi, explained how she & her ex-husband had agreed to contact each other in a specific way after one died. However, she figured that was null & void after they divorced & both remarried. When he died a few years ago, she was never contacted but completely believes it happens.

My sister believes it was definitely Bruni & she broke my wine glass to make sure she got my attention. I took it a step further saying that her kitchen was her domain - it was important to Bruni. When she was in the Board & Care five years ago & we were all in her kitchen putting things in the wrong places for months, she insisted on putting everything in its correct place immediately upon her return home.

Since no one has come out (so far) & told me that I am indeed a nut case I decided to share this story with all of you. So, what do you think? Have you had a similar experience? Was this my sign from Bruni that I was right?