Neither my ex-husband, George, nor I were brought up to believe that life continued after death. We were raised in a very strict religion from childhood, and were taught to believe that Armageddon is due to happen in our lifetime. Fire would rain down from Heaven and all of the non-believers and those who are weak of faith would be destroyed. The good news for those who survive is they go on to rebuild the Earth into a Paradise. We believed that once someone dies they remain dead until God decides to bring them back in the resurrection on earth after Armageddon. Should he choose not to resurrect you, you’re just gone for good. It would be as though you never existed.
I can’t express the immense amount of pressure we felt from trying to live up to the standards of this religion. It was as though all our efforts to be strong spiritual people never seemed to be quite good enough. The result was that it broke our spirit and trust in a god that is supposed to be loving.
For some reason, I was able to last longer than George. He gave in to his insecurities within the first year of our marriage. The pressure was so great that it broke him. He couldn’t live up to the expectations of the religion, let alone, the expectations he put on himself. I stood by him for years, always feeling that I could somehow pull him through and out of his depression. It didn’t quite work out.
After our marriage dissolved we both quit the religion altogether, much to the chagrin of family and friends. His family lost all respect for him. It was very sad. The heavy guilt was still there, but we continued to search for something different on a spiritual level. George was looking in to other churches as well as studying anything he could get his hands on regarding religion and spirituality. We would have long conversations about what could be the real truth regarding a god. “Does God exist?” and “What do you believe now?” were questions that would lead to countless discussions.
After our divorce we settled into our lives as hard as it was. George and I were still very much friends and partners in raising our children. The kids were with me during the week and with Dad on the weekends. By this time, George was suffering from acute pancreatitis, in extreme pain and had very little energy. He wasn’t his usual self as his illness progressed, and it became increasingly more difficult for him to have the kids on the weekends.
While I did the best I could, all of my energy was spent working two jobs to support the lot of us. Between getting the kids to school each morning, working days, nights and weekends, I was doing well to just drop them off to George on Friday afternoon before another shift. Never mind the fact that I just left them with a man already dead on his feet, I was nearly falling down with exhaustion myself.
Somewhere towards the end of last year, 2007, a friend of mine introduced me to a television show on the Lifetime Channel called, “Lisa Williams – Life Among the Dead.” Oh, did it grab my attention! Could it be true? Could this woman actually have the ability to hear messages from dead loved ones? Wow, I was enthralled!
I was able to open up my mind to the idea that maybe, just maybe, we aren’t really gone for good when we die. The experiences on the Lisa Williams show seemed too real and wonderful not to be true.
Then it happened. At the age of 39, George succumbed to his illness and we lost him at the end of January, 2008. His death was absolutely devastating to me. It seemed my whole world went right with him. We relied on each other for everything. He truly was my closest friend and kept me grounded to this earth. Nothing seemed right in a world without George! How would I ever have the ability to raise our children without him? I lost every bit of confidence and couldn’t comprehend trying to go on without him.
I discovered Lisa Williams was coming to Denver to do a live show. I immediately bought tickets in hopes of hearing from George. I had to know if he was still alive somewhere! I’d never looked into psychics or mediums outside of her show. Especially, in light of the fact that it was strictly forbidden by our former religion, and I was still halfway holding on to what I was taught about them. As the date of the show approached, I felt increasingly nervous. I would talk out loud to George, just in case he could hear me, and tell him that he has to be there for me! I would cry over and over again and tell him, “I just need to know you are alive!”
During the show, Lisa brought up a ‘George.’ I tried to get her attention, but the auditorium was full of people in search of loved ones and she passed on me. Then she brought up a clock or a watch stopped at 4:00. At the end of the show she pulled out a list she had made while in her dressing room for people she had to make mention of for passed loved ones. Well, she said my daughter’s name, but by then I felt deflated at not hearing from George, so I didn‘t think twice about it.
The next morning, I looked at George’s watch on my son’s dresser. It was stopped at 4:00! I didn’t even know it was broken. I decided to try one more time. I took my daughter with me and we drove to the mall where Lisa was doing a book signing. We stood in line after her talk and all the while I kept talking to George in my head, asking him to please let us know if he is OK. When we approached her, I asked, “Did you ever find the George you were looking for last night?” Surprised, she stopped writing in my book and said “NO!” So, I pulled the watch out and showed it to her. She said, “Oh my god, that’s it!” Of course, she doesn’t do readings at her book signings, so I just quickly asked her, “Is he OK?” She said, “He went very quickly, yes, he’s OK.” I couldn’t help shaking.
When she looked back down at the paper her assistant had written our names on, she just stopped. “OH! This is the name I called out for last night (referring to my daughter). That same spelling, too! I never spell this name that way, but there it is!” After a few hugs we were on our way and my heart and head were pounding. George is OK!!!
I started visiting Lisa Williams’ website daily after my friend showed me that Lisa posts messages from those who have passed for their loved ones. I read through them religiously, just in case George might have something, anything, to say to us.
One day, I found a posting in her blog from someone in Denver who sympathized with her regarding her schedule, as he too is a medium living a hectic pace, helping people reach loved ones. I couldn’t believe it. There was another medium right here in Denver! Was he real? Could he be someone like Lisa? My mind was in a whirl!
I called to set up an appointment. He was kind and understanding on the phone. I didn’t give him a clue as to who I wanted to hear from or needed to contact. He had to leave town for a week to record a television program, but promised to meet with me as soon as he returned. Again, I spoke to George the entire week insisting that he’d better show up for this! By the time the week passed, I arrived for the appointment with my daughter and a load of insecurity and suspicion. I had absolutely zero confidence this was going to work.
I was determined not to give this man a bit of information he could use to pretend that someone in spirit was there for us. I was immediately taken with how low key and down to earth Anthony was. Even though I was high strung and a bundle of nerves he remained calm and serene. While arranging the chairs for our meeting, he suddenly stopped and asked, “Who’s George?” I said, “He’s someone we’re here to reach.” He laughed and said, “Well… OK, he’s already here and we haven’t even started yet!” Anthony knew his name right off the bat!
Throughout the entire session, true to my intention, I didn’t give Anthony any information he could creatively build on. Yet, he went on to describe our lives perfectly. Actually, George went on and on about our lives, through Anthony. He laughed a lot and talked about the good times, before he got sick. He talked about the sports car he used to drive. He spoke about his illness, and the lack of support from his family right up to the end. He even asked me to pray to help him forgive them. George told me about his life on the Other Side. He talked about the resting place he is in, and would remain for a while, to recuperate from his illness and life on earth. He asked me to remember the places in the mountains we used to visit. He said it’s a lot like that for him. He told me to just picture him surrounded by lots of trees and a stream, just the way he likes it! He spends a lot of time by that stream thinking, and the sun is always shining. He said he is the happy-go-lucky guy we all used to know.
He told me religion doesn’t matter where he is now. He said there are no Buddhists, no Catholics, no Jehovah’s Witnesses. None of that matters anymore! We’re all the same when we get there and we are all accepted for who we are. That was huge for me!
He apologized for leaving us. Especially, our 13 year old son, who will need him most of all in these tough years to come. He even brought up the little things that our children and I were now doing on a day-to-day basis that confirmed even more he is really still with us. He told us he was at the Butterfly Pavilion with us over the past weekend. He even laughed and brought up that when I hear a bird outside I’ll say hello to him because I feel it’s him saying hello to me!
George reminded my daughter of how he taught her to ride a bike. He told her to keep an eye out for butterflies, because it is him saying ‘hello’. Now, it’s pretty amazing to watch my daughter ride her bike up and down the street with butterflies following her!
Anthony also mentioned the watch and asked why it was stopped at 4:00. I couldn’t believe he mentioned it, because I didn’t even bring it with me!
I was overwhelmed with relief after our meeting. Just to know he is still alive and not sick and in pain anymore! He’s just fine! Of course, the grief still crept in from time to time. The guilt of how our lives played out and his love for me even after the divorce kept haunting me.
A second visit to Anthony did much to heal my wounds. George was right there again to insist that he is still with us and loves us, and will always be there to help. He even brought my grandfather with him this time. George and my grandfather, also named George, got along quite well. They had a deep respect for one another. George mentioned him often after my grandfather died, not so many years ago. Especially, because my grandfather died of pancreatic cancer, and our George’s condition was very similar. George often thought of my grandfather during his own illness. And, I think it is wonderful they are together now, in the same place.
Then Anthony told me my grandfather wants me to say hello to his wife, “Um, Myrtle like turtle?” I couldn’t believe he said my grandmother‘s name! There is no way he could just pull a name like Myrtle out of the air like that!
This visit proved even further there really is life after death. No longer will I fear death. In fact, George restored my belief in a god, the “Power’s that Be” or a Life Source! No longer will I live in fear of a God who doesn’t accept us for who we are. George’s passing simply lead to his rebirth into a new life!
George mentioned two things he feared to me just days before he passed away. One, is that the world would go on as if he had never even been here. The second, is that he would be forgotten. My life and my children’s lives will certainly never be the same without him; and, he knows for sure, he could never, ever be forgotten.
My healing has begun. I go back from time to time to listen to the recordings of the meetings with George, through Anthony. I can’t speak for the validity of all mediums, but Anthony has more than proven he is the real deal. I know I can never repay him for what he has done for us. This gift is truly priceless.
Donna Lacey
I feel your peace,
Anthony
Anthony Quinata Medium and Clairvoyant's Weblog 