A "Gift" from Grandpa Jack by Judy Guggenheim

As I was growing up in Southern California, I was blessed to have my paternal grandparents, Grandpa Jack and Grandma Edna, living not too far away in La Jolla. I would like to think that I was Grandpa's favorite grandchild - he had 9, including my older brother and me. You see, all the other grandchildren lived on the East Coast, and I had him all to myself! I gradually became his "shadow," following him around, making a pest of myself, but also being there to play countless games of double solitaire and gin rummy, not to mention long swims in the Pacific Ocean and hair-raising drives up and down the coast of California.

Later, when we moved back "home" to New Jersey, Grandma and Grandpa came to live with us in Cresskill, and Grandpa and I became daily buddies. He would share with me seemingly endless stories from his past, his spiritual philosophy, and advice on my social life. I adored him!

When Grandpa Jack died suddenly in the winter of 1968, I felt a big void in my life. Yet, being that he was up in his nineties, I made peace with myself rather smoothly and went on, without having any personal spiritual philosophy about life after death. In fact, I was rather superficial in my pursuits, ready to start a family and acquire material wealth.

One night in 1970, nearly two years later, while sleeping at home with my husband, I had what I then described as a "very vivid dream." In this dream, my Grandpa Jack and I were standing facing each other in a slightly foggy mist in "space." We walked towards one another and we embraced. I could feel the warmth of his body and his unconditionally loving hug. It was overwhelming! Then I "heard" him say telepathically, "Everything is okay. I love you," and I awakened.

I immediately sat up in bed and exclaimed with tears of joy, "My Grandpa Jack was here! He was actually here! I know it!" Of course, as I jabbered away, gasping for breath in my excitement, my husband had no choice but to wake up too. Once he was able to figure out what I was talking about, he patronizingly said, "That's nice, dear. Now, why don't you go back to sleep." I replied, "You don't understand! My Grandfather was actually here! I saw him. He spoke to me. It was real! I know it was real!" I knew in my heart that I was not being very convincing to my husband, so I finally gave up and kept my mouth shut, before he concluded that he was sleeping with a nut!

I knew in my heart this experience was not a dream, not a fantasy, not my overworked imagination. I knew it was a real contact with my grandfather, but I didn't know what to call it. I had no name, no known label for this sacred experience. Though I had heard of psychics and mediums "delivering" messages from "beyond," I had never heard of anyone having had a direct and spontaneous visit from a deceased loved one. I had a thought that I was "alone" and perhaps shouldn't share this experience with anyone, for fear of being thought of as strange or worse, deranged!

Yet, in that wonderful moment of contact from Grandpa Jack, I came to know two things instantaneously:

• That he was alive and well and eternal, and that only his physical body had died.
• And that if he was eternal, then I must be also! In fact, everyone must be eternal!

This was a thrilling realization for me, one that propelled me immediately into seeking out others that subscribed to this awareness. This "event" has led me to where I am today - to an ever-growing company of many, many others who know that they have been contacted by a loved one who has died and know they will forever remember and treasure their ADC experiences.