Extraordinary experiences involving the dead

Dr. Janis Amatuzio writes: "As a forensic pathologist for more than twenty-five years, I have the extraordinary privilege of speaking for the dead by investigating their circumstances of death. This means examining the body and clothing; learning about personal habits, intimate beliefs, and customs; and safeguarding valuables, photographs, and other treasured possessions. I use my medical knowledge and life experience to interpret and diagnose patterns of disease, disuse, and injury. My goal is always to reveal the truth about ‘what happened,’ so loved ones can mourn, understand, and return to life wiser than before. 

 

"Occasionally loved ones speak of extraordinary experiences: dreams, visions, or synchronicities surrounding the event of a death that have deeply affected their lives. As I have studied those who have shared an experience with me, I have observed that they are profoundly changed and live life differently than they did before, with an inner knowing that seems to create health and beauty wherever they go.

 

"In Beyond Knowing I explore the wisdom and truths arising from these mysteriously beautiful experiences: an awareness that we already know these things; insights that trigger freedom and joy; and the recognition of profound loving reassurance that life is perfectly safe and always goes on. I describe a shift in my own awareness, from a sense of hope to one of knowing – that we are immortal and forever is a long, long time – a shift marked by feelings of excitement and purpose as well as profound happiness. 

 

"But please don’t take my experience as recorded in this book as “the truth.” Read the stories that real people have shared with me. Then trust your own feelings, make your own decisions, arrive at your own truth, about one of the greatest concerns of sentient humanity: Life and Death.

 

"Recently, a woman named Laura requested an autopsy to help her family understand what had really happened to her husband following organ transplant surgery. We discussed the devastating effects of his disease and its complications and the complexities of organ transplants. As she was leaving she hesitated. 

 

Doctor, could I tell you something else? 

 

Of course you can, I said, sitting back down.

 

Something happened to me last evening, she said, taking a deep breath. I had been on the road for several hours, driving up to my daughter’s house to stay overnight for this meeting. I was thinking about my husband, Ron, our children, and our life together. As the memories flooded over me, I felt such overwhelming grief that I burst into tears and just wept. I knew I had to pay attention to my driving, so I took a deep breath and wiped my eyes and rolled down the window. I punched on the radio to break the silence and distract my thoughts, but what happened next absolute astonished me!

 

The radio came on quite loud; instantly I recognized the music that filled my car – it was "our song," from 1981. Ron liked it so well he had given it to me on an eight-track tape. I listened to the familiar verses playing on the radio, and the words ‘being well in heave’ and ‘watching over you’ took on a whole meaning.

 

In that moment I changed; I mean, I knew without a doubt he was reaching out to assure me that all was well. (ix-xv)

 

Janis Amatuzio, Beyond Knowing: Mysteries and Messages of Death and Life from a Forensic Pathologist (Novato, CA: New World Library, 2006).