I arrived at my father’s deathbed just a few hours before his passing. I could no longer feel his presence in the room. His body had released all muscle tone and his mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water, moving very little air. I pulled a chair to his bedside and leaned over, resting my face and shoulders next to his.

While I was lying there, I looked up to the place near the ceiling where I had seen my mother before, waiting for him. At the time, I had asked her why she didn’t take him and she’d said that he wasn’t ready to go. I had also seen the white path leading to the spirit world then. My dad’s spirit had tried to swim up the path, but never made the top before coming back down to the bed. I hadn’t seen my mother or the spirit path there for several months.

As I lay next to my dying father, both my mother and the spirit world became visible again. My mother had made a beautiful white bed in a white room for her partner. Brilliant white. She was waiting for him to enter there and rest.

[Somewhat different from ambassadors I have seen at other deaths, who usually have a lively table of food ready for the departing]. The spirit world appeared as a brilliant white cloud of lovely energy, gently billowing downward into the room. All of it was peaceful and welcoming.

I would like to have seen him go, but he died while I was out of the room. The next time I saw his spirit was at the viewing before his funeral service. I was sitting alone in the church, in the front pew near his casket. I relaxed into a meditative state and he came right away. He was absolutely gleeful––he was so full of joy that he could have burst! His eyes were wide, his body taut with excitement, his grin so broad that his cheeks almost disappeared. He said excitedly, “I want to show you something!”. I followed him as he moved rapidly along the clouds. We could see the earth far below, green fields and forests. He brought me to a huge white palace. The palace had a red door in it. With great excitement and expectation, he said, “Look at this!”. He opened the door to reveal a lively social scene, with lots of people inside talking and laughing and eating. He closed the door and we remained outside. Then he said, “Now look at this!”, and opened the same door again. The inside had transformed into a giant library with wooden reading tables and chairs, and book-filled walls stretching 20 feet to the ceiling. Still gleeful, he closed the door. He was just about to open it again when another family member walked up to his casket in the church.

I don’t know what else my dad was going show me. He was clearly thrilled with both of those situations. I think the point was that Heaven is whatever you want it to be. When I tried to check in with him again later I saw him far in the distance, running joyfully away into the clouds. He had his arms wide open in elation, ready to take in everything that Heaven had to offer.