Bianca has suffered three great losses in the course of her young life, and these deaths have hurt her deeply. Still, she is buoyed by the certainty that her loved ones are still with her when she needs them.

In the second of two stories, Bianca tells how she and her mother escaped catastrophe on a snowy winter highway, and how she believes her departed Nonna and Nana had a hand in it. (See the first story in our post from December 10, 2017)

My Nonna (grandmother) passed away on December 8, 2006. She was an amazing, beautiful woman, and very special to me. From the time I was four or five years old, she taught me how to cook and sew, and we would spend a lot of time with each other. I was at my Nonno (grandfather) and Nonna’s house almost every single weekend, right up until she passed away.

Her death has been really hard on me, but I know that she is still here.

The evening after she passed away, the sunset was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. It was all kinds of reds, oranges, and yellows with the clouds that just made it so much more beautiful. I knew that was my Nonna telling us she’s at peace, and that she’s okay, and she’s still here.

Now, when I’m having a hard time, I sometimes smell her scent. I just know that it’s her, because I recognize the faint powdery, flowery smell. Sometimes I feel like she’s just giving me this huge hug. It’s like she’s saying, “I’m here, I love you”.

My Nana passed away on July 14th, 2010. She was a very good friend of the family, and she was truly like another Grandmother to me. Like my Nonna, she was a very special and beautiful woman. When my siblings and I were younger, she would often babysit us, and I remember always looking forward to it, because we would always have such a fun time with her. She was a kind, gentle soul who loved nature and animals.

In our backyard, we have an area of cement that leads out to the driveway. Beyond it, there’s a small area with patio stones, and the rest of the yard is grass. Shortly after Nana passed away, a single little pansy-type flower popped up between the cracks in the patio stones. It was a beautiful, bright yellow with a chocolate brown stripe up the middle. We searched all around to find other flowers like it, where it might have come from. We even looked in the neighbours’ gardens, but found nothing similar.

Also around this time, a small brown bird perched itself in the corner of my window outside, and it stayed there for about three days. To us, these unusual gifts from nature were a huge sign from Nana, saying she’s still here and that she’s okay.

The winter following my Nana’s passing, my Mom was driving both of us home from Toronto after dropping my aunt off at the train station. The highway was covered in snow, ice and slush, but traffic was still moving at between 90 and 110 kilometres per hour. It is a divided highway, and we were on a section that has four lanes going in each direction.

A big transport truck was in the farthest right lane, and we were in the lane next to it. The truck was kicking up a lot of snow and slush, so my Mom slowed down in order not to be so close. As she did, our car began to swerve all over the road. We almost went in the ditch, then spun around so we were now facing the oncoming traffic. Still moving very fast, our vehicle started sliding sideways. We were heading for a cement barrier, so Mom told me to brace myself, because my side of the car would strike first.

Then we said, “I love you,” because we both thought we were going to die.

But—suddenly for no apparent reason—our car just came to a complete stop. It was as if something stopped us. We were only inches away from the wall. Miraculously, at that moment in the middle of the day on a section of Ontario’s most-crowded highway, there was no oncoming traffic for miles. We sat there a few moments, just trying to process what had happened before Mom carefully turned the car around and continued driving us home.

Mom and I truly believe that my Nonna and Nana were with us that day, because there is just no other explanation for our car stopping like it did, when it was sliding at such high speed—then to have no oncoming traffic besides!

When things like this happen and others hear about it, they might say it’s just a coincidence that doesn’t really mean anything. But I truly believe everything happens for a reason.

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The Meaning of Forever Project continues to accept stories of comforting experiences with loved ones who have passed on, and of near-death experiences that have helped to show the continuation of life beyond the physical body. You can email your story to us at themeaningofforever@gmail.com and you can find more about our project on our Facebook page, and our Meaning of Forever Website.

 

 

 

“When somebody passes away, people often think that person is gone, and that they have to say goodbye,” says Bianca, “but I truly believe that’s not the case.”

Bianca tells stories of how she has known through the years that her departed grandmothers have been with her. She’s known it through their scent, a bird, a flower, through colours in the sky—and, even, through unexplained help that prevented a serious car crash.

But, this story is about how the shape of a mermaid and an abundance of butterflies have comforted Bianca and assured her that her best friend Aliesha is still with her.

“March 11, 2015, my best friend Aliesha passed away,” says Bianca. “She and I were like sisters…super close, and were always there for each other. We both had medical issues, so on rough days we would always vent to each other, knowing that we were venting to someone who truly cared, wouldn’t judge, and would really understand.

“In my room, I have the sewing machine that my Nonna taught me how to sew on, and that we would use all the time together. It folds up like a desk, so I often will do my homework on it.

“The day after Aliesha passed away, I was working on one of my school assignments, which was a painting, so I had all my watercolour paints and paintbrushes out, along with a small bottle filled with water.

“In the painting, I included a quote that Aliesha always would say to me: ‘We will fight our battles, and we will win!’

“At one point, I accidentally knocked the bottle over. When I stood to mop it up from the carpet, I realized that the coloured water was in the perfect shape of a mermaid sitting on a rock. This was very powerful to me because Aliesha used to call herself a mermaid. By that, I knew that my best friend/sister was still with me.

“I was given the huge honour of presenting her eulogy. As I was spoke, the lights in the funeral home flickered; and, after I finished presenting, the priest made a comment that Aliesha was definitely there with us.

“Aliesha and I always had some sort of contact. We lived a couple of blocks apart, so we would often hang out, but we also kept in touch almost every single day through text messaging, FaceTime, and Skype.

“Since she has passed away, once in a while my phone will go off as if I have a notification, but when I check, there’s nothing there. To me, this is definitely a sign from Aliesha, as if she’s saying, ‘He-y-y-y, what’s up? How’s it goin’?’

“Like my Nonna and Nonna, who I know are also still with me, Aliesha would call me her ‘Little Butterfly.’ Shortly before she passed away, she told me she would haunt me with butterflies. She has definitely kept that promise. During the warmer weather, whenever I look or go outside, I always see at least one butterfly. Even when I am at the mall, or browsing online, I will always see something that has a butterfly on it.

“I am constantly surrounded by beautiful butterflies; and, I hold this sign that Aliesha is with me very close to my heart.”

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The Meaning of Forever Project continues to accept stories of comforting experiences with loved ones who have passed on, and of near-death experiences that have helped to show the continuation of life beyond the physical body. You can email your story to us at themeaningofforever@gmail.com and you can find more about our project on our Facebook page, and our Meaning of Forever Website.