Thursday, 8th August 1985

My dad died in the Waikato Hospital in Hamilton in August 1985, just a couple of days before his birthday. It was a huge wrench for both me and my mom.

Kath had spent a very grueling week at his side in the Waikato Hospital. When it was all over we went back to my house in the late afternoon and once we got to bed that night she was soon asleep.

But I lay awake with a book I'd brought back to New Zealand 2 years back from his twin sister's estate in Marblehead MA called "Life After Life" by Raymond Moody - a doctor who researched many near-death episodes after some of his patients started telling him about their experiences. My dad was no longer on this earth and I simply wanted to understand what might be happening to him, that was all. I'd read the book before, but I needed to read it again.

How long I'd been reading I don't know but suddenly I was aware of my father's presence in the room. I can recall this as clearly as if it was yesterday.

"Well, Ken," I said inside my head, "I guess you know all about everything, now."
"No," he replied, "Not everything ... just some things ..." With that, he was gone. I put the book down and settled down to sleep.

Now, you might tell me I had dozed and dreamed it. You might say the book influenced my mind - although it says nothing about ADCs (After Death Communications). It focuses entirely on experiences of people who were either close to death or died clinically and who for one reason or another revived and lived to tell the tale. Definitely no ADCs there.

In fact, though I've got a couple of books on ADC listed in the sidebar for visitors who might be interested, I have to confess I STILL haven't read a single book on the topic, and probably never will. So ADC sure wasn't in my thoughts 20 years ago.

Like it or not, I choose to see this episode as evidence, not only that there is a life beyond death, but also that the process of growing and learning continues, as my father had always said.

I think he came back to tell me that.

Framed Art Prints and Posters @ Artflakes

Kunstdrucke, Leinwanddrucke, Gallery Prints und Poster von Patricia Howitt

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alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease, death, dying, die, christian, after death communication, ADC

Kenneth Methuen Howitt - My Father

This picture shows my father and my grandfather - William Ernest Howitt - both of them Regimantal Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards in their day.

Sadly, I don't remember my grandfather very well because he'd been gassed in the trenches in France in the 1914-18 War and he was never a well man after that. He died when I was a toddler. He used to call me "Poppy".

My dad had plenty of time to prepare himself for death - he lived for 5 years after being diagnosed with chronic lymphatic leukaemia in 1980, following a freak accidental exposure to agricultural chemicals, and was in full possession of his faculties until the end.

He had a stong belief in the continued existence of the soul after dying and in his final years often referred to his body as "the old overcoat".

His death was much harder for me to take than Kath's, partly because we were much closer spiritually and I guess, too, it's harder to part with someone who is still fully "there" with you until the last.

He had always insisted I get a good education because his own schooling was unsatisfactory - something he had to rectify later in life in the army. He wasn't going to see me go the same route, and he set an example by always being open to learning new stuff. "Knowledge" was his motto.

He used to tell me that we are like tapes, and the more learning and knowledge we have on our tape when we die, the better. At the time he passed away down in Hamilton in August 1985, 2 days off his 70th birthday, he was talking of learning about and getting into the world of computing. This background will help you understand the communication I'll describe in my next post.

Framed Art Prints and Posters by Patricia Howitt @ Artflakes

Kunstdrucke, Leinwanddrucke, Gallery Prints und Poster von Patricia Howitt

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Technorati Tags:
alzheimers, alzheimers care, dementia, caregiver, alzheimers disease, death, dying, die, christian,