Welcome to our new blog! And Thank You for contributing to the Meaning of Forever Project–or for considering contributing–or for just being interested! We thought the best kind of thank-you might be an update on our progress. To keep up with what we’re doing, please click “Follow” on the right of your screen. We will be periodically posting adaptations of stories and poems, along with any bits of wisdom we happen to gather along the way. Please feel free to share these posts with others who might be interested.
As you know, the aim of The Meaning of Forever Project is to create a collection of stories from people like yourselves who have had experiences with departed loved-ones—human or animal—that have helped you heal and move forward in your grief.
You have sent us stories and poetry about children, siblings, spouses, parents, grandparents, relatives, pets and friends who have been able to communicate with you, even after death of their physical bodies. They have shown you that they continue happily in new worlds of existence—and that their love for you also continues.
You have described dreams, visions, auditory signals, lights, music, surprising feelings and insistent nudges. You have seen your loved ones represented by song birds, birds of prey, butterflies, animals, coins, phone calls, noises and music, and a host of other means.
You have given us accounts of unusual occurrences at the time of death, dreams and visions following death, continuing daily-life connections through such things as auditory and visual “jokes” that only you and your loved ones would know. Sometimes, your loved-ones have even stopped by to say you would be seeing less of them as they move on to other worlds or prepare to be reincarnated. You have written of your own near-death experiences that helped you lose your fear of death, or confirmed that you have lived before.
Always rising above the individual stories is the sense that, for everyone, life and love continue beyond this physical realm; that death of the body is not the end, only the beginning of a new existence.
And now, even with the wonderful collection of poetry and stories you’ve given us, we are still looking for more. We are seeking stories from all countries and cultures. In particular, we would like stories of reincarnation, near death experiences, and how life-threatening illness has helped overcome the fear of death.
We are also seeking stories that show how a continuing connection with a loved-one has inspired you to make positive changes in your life, big or small. So, if you have another story to send us, please feel free to do so. If you know someone else who may have a story, please pass on our website and Facebook addresses, this letter, or even a copy of our brochure, which is attached here as a PDF file.
We are happy to work with anyone who has a special story to tell and the will to tell it. We do not ask for prize-winning writing, only true stories told from the heart.
As we continue compiling The Meaning of Forever, the book, we may be contacting you about further preparing your individual story for publication. We may also ask you for permission to adapt the story for our blog. You can see examples of similar adaptations in the posts at the right-hand side of our homepage.
We have been pleased and honoured in the past year to be introduced to Joshua Black. He is a Ph.D. candidate at Brock University in St. Catharine’s, Ontario, who is making a study of “grief dreams”, dreams people have had of their deceased loved ones. Joshua writes of a series of dreams with his father that inspired his current study. His story is featured on our blog under “A Father’s Dream Inspires His Son’s Career”. In August, we were pleased to be guests on Joshua’s “Grief Dreams Podcast” and you can find our interview for Episode 6 here.
We also teamed up with author, speaker and bereavement coach Marybeth Haines, whose beloved cat inspired her in a career to help people deal with grief over their pets. She has established an organization called “The Power of Pets”, and at the bottom right of her home page, you can find a story called “Horses of a Lifetime” that Ruth shared with Marybeth’s online community.
We are happy to say that, while we might have liked it to come together more quickly, we are confident The Meaning of Forever Project is unfolding as it should. Your contributions are making this possible, and we are forever grateful to you.
With Love & Gratitude Forever,
Joan Olinger and Ruth Edgett
The Meaning of Forever Project
The Meaning of Forever 
Pingback: Want to Keep Up With The Meaning of Forever Project? | The Meaning of Forever