Mom looked up toward the ceiling next to the door and spoke what seemed like a five word sentence in a smooth flowing foreign language, then she began to pray aloud very matter-of-factly word by word, "Lord,   I     know       You      are      there,      and      I      believe      in      You,      and      I      know      that      You      know      that      I      believe      in      You,      but       I'm    worried       about       my       kids,      I       need       them       to       know."  Mom was raised Baptist and she had often said that she thinks people today don't have enough faith to have the gift of tongue, but she believed it was something people use to be able to do.

            Then, mom looked toward the doorway and said,   "Get   down,   get   down on   your    knees,   you    are    in    the     presence   of     the    Lord."     Everyone fell to their knees immediately except for my sister, Rita, and me, we stayed on the bed to hold up mom's weakened little body, but we bowed our heads as low as we could.  My sister told mom it was okay for us not to get down, because Jesus would understand that mom wasn't able to bow down in her physical state.

            Mom had that far away look in her eyes again and her head was cast up toward heaven.  Then, mom said, "Yes, Lord, Lee Ann's (Steven's wife) here."  Then mom let Lee Ann know that her son was there, and that he was okay, and that she'd be there soon taking care of  him.  Lee Ann had lost her son at the age of two.  Mom never knew Lee Ann's son, but she had seen a little boy crying in the hallway, then he'd come around in the hallway just outside her room and had been peeping around the doors at mom for about 4-5 days before this divine revelation.  Once mom had told us it was a little boy, then later when we asked again she said he's good.  Another time she said, "He's an angel."  We now knew it was Lee Ann little boy helping mom make her transition from earth to heaven.  Then mom said, "Can I get up now?  Can I get up now?"  This is the point where we realized that mom had been able to kneel down before the Lord in the spirit world, because she asked twice in a cautious, childlike voice, if she could get up.  Mom said, "Can I get up now?  Can I get up now?"

            Then we heard mom say. "They    are    carrying    me."  Then she said,         " G-A-R,      G-A-B-E,      no,    no,    not      G-a-r-y,       G-A-B-R-I-E-L.    Gabriel is at the gates. "   Then mom asked in a very soft childlike voice,          "Can I come in?  Can I come in?            Can I come in?"    Then we heard mom sigh the most pleasant sigh of appreciation.

            Then mom began to hum quietly three different church songs as if she were humming with the heavenly choir as she floated by:  Amazing, Grace, Take My Hand Precious Lord, and one song none of us in the room  recognized.   

Then mom saw Gary, her brother; Betty, her sister; Ralph, her husband; Mom and Dad, her parents; Melba, her sister; and Mother and Dad, her grandparents.  Mom said, " G-a-r-y,       B-e-t-t-y,      R-a-l-p-h,

m-o-m,     d-a-d--,   m-o-t-h-e-r, d-a-d."  Her voice exhibited an angelic sound of  gratefulness.

            Then, mom began to hum those beautiful songs softly again, that we had heard before, two that we recognized and one that was unknown to all five of us.

           Mom briefly mentioned seeing the army as she drifted to yet another place.

            Then, mom hummed pleasantly again as she appeared to be floating by another place.  She asked,   "What's    that     bright     light?"  Mom seemed to be listening for quite some time, then she said,    " Yes,    I    have    sinned."     Then someone    read    a scripture from Romans, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." 

Then mom said, "There's   my   room!"   

Then mom looked down directly at us and pointed to us one-at-a-time and asked, "Are  you  saved?  Are  you  saved? Are  you  saved?  Are  you  save?  Are you saved?   We all answered yes immediately.

Then mom saw a book.  Then she began looking through the book for names.  She read her children's names:  Rita, Lisa, Steven; her grandchildren's names:  Sarah, Audra, Tosha, Scott, Jeremy; her daughter and son-in-law names:  Lee Ann, Keith; her brother's names:  Lannie, Jimmie, Roger;  her sister's name: Murl; then she read the name Terry.  We did not know if this was a first name or last name, we only knew that it is a name that someone needs to hear as they read mom's experience.  When mom got to the end of her names, someone made a joke with mom about what a large family she had, mom laughed.  Mom's personality here on earth was to get all her ducks in a row, we think mom still had her human personality as she visited the spirit world and that she wanted to be sure all those that she loved would one day be there with her, before she would be ready to say goodbye to us and take her place with the Lord.

            Later,  mom seemed to be glided to yet another place as she softly hummed those inspirational church songs.  It appeared that she was traveling back through a place she had been previously.  We heard mom say, " G a r  y,   (pleasant sigh of relief)   M  e  l  b  y,   O h,    M  e  l  b  y, c o m e   h o l d   m e   M e l b y."  Her childlike voice was so filled with a love greater than we could describe, like she had waited an eternity to hug Melba.  Then   mom   reached   over   and   patted    Murl on the head   three   times,   she   was   sitting   to   the   right of   mom on her bed.  It seemed like Melba must have been on that side of mom in the spiritual realm. 

Then, mom asked, "Can    I    see    my    other    brothers?"  Then mom said softly with the greatest gratitude in her voice,    "L---o---r----d."  We felt like her has let mom see Bobby and Junior.

            Mom then hummed so pleasantly those same church songs again that we had heard so many times before.  Then, she looked right at us and she was back with us no longer in the trance like state that she had been in as she visited heaven and she said, "I'm ready to go now, I want Them to come back for me." 

Exhausted she fell into a deep comatose sleep.  She hummed a few more time for short periods of time, then she'd wake up and tell us what she had seen.  Once see saw  E.D. Collins, her uncle, and once she just said, "Heaven."  Once mom cried out, "Mama where are you mama, I can't hear you voice anymore.  We felt like mom was visiting the heavenly realm again, and then as she was transitioning back to her fleshly body, she could no longer hear her mom's voice.  At one point, mom yelled, "Sarah, oh, no, Sarah." We think she saw something terrible that was going to happen to Sarah in the future.  Not long after this happened, Sarah was held hostage by a gun, and that boy shot and killed another boy later that night.

After that mom only woke a few times when Murl would talk to her and as her brothers arrived to see her one last time.  When the last brother came, she never woke again.  She passed away at 2:45 July 10, 2004.  She looked as pleasant and peaceful as an angel.  There was no struggle.

I spoke to mom's cancer specialist, he said that no one has a 2 hour hallucination from cancer medications.   He said that for the medication to cause hallucinations, one has to be taking more than they need to control their pain.  Mom pain was never controlled by her medication.

Witnessed by:

Lisa, Special Education Teacher

Rita, Business Teacher

Steven, United States Air Force

Lee, Store Cashier

Murl, Retired Manager, Store

Any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience?     No       she had an experience for 2 hours, although she was on pain meds for cancer, the specialist said, hallicinations only occur when more medicine is given than needed to manage the pain,  Her pain was never managed, and he said no one can have a 2 hr hallucination.

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? No      

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          Yes     mom was dying with pancreatic cancer

What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience?           Mom was awake and talking to us, then she was in a trance like state for 2 hours, then she looked at us and talked to us again, then fell into a deep sleep.  She died the next day peacefully.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   No mom wasn't asleep when it happened, you could see her transition from there to here

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     Yes     She appeared to be visiting the spirit world and then she be back and lucid again.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            Mom didn't want to die and leave her family, but after this happened, she said, "I'm ready to go now, I want them to come back for me."

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?           Mom hummed at times, we assumed she was hearing the choir sing and was humming along with them, it seemed as if she passed by them and then came back by them on the way out.

LOCATION DESCRIPTION:  Did you recognize any familiar locations or any locations from familiar religious teachings or encounter any locations inhabited by incredible or amazing creatures?            Yes     Mom was at the gates of Heaven, and by the Thrown of God, she mentioned the bright light, and she was kneeling on her knees.

Did you see a light?           Yes     A bright light.

Did you meet or see any other beings?           Yes     God, angels, her deceased relatives that were already there.  She even asked to see two others that hadn't appeared, then said thanks with a greatly sigh.

Did you experiment while out of the body or in another, altered state? Yes    

Mom saw her daughter in law deceased son, he was a baby when he died, mom had never known him before.  He had been visiting mom in her bedroom, peeping around doors, he was shy, mom said he was good, then she said he was an angel.  That is why she was trying to tell Lee Ann something before she died, but her voice was too weak to tell her, until the holy spirit enabled her to speak loud and strongly for 2 hours.

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          Yes     All elements were looked up in the King James Bible, and I verified that angels do carry you to the gates, and that Gabriel is at the gates, and that their is a choir, army, and bright light at the thrown of God.  We do not sleep until final judgment, Jesus told the thief that died on the cross, tonight you will be in heaven with my father, he did not say, after you sleep you will be judged and go to Heaven later.  New testament Christians get to go right then, for believing in Jesus,.

Did you notice how your 5 senses were working, and if so, how were they different?          Yes     no sense of time, mom would transition to and from the heavenly realm to back in her bed, each time she'd hum softly and then she'd be there, she even asked where her moms, as her mom's voice was fading as she transitioned back into her earthly body.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   Yes    

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?    Yes            She understood that she would be dying and told us what day it would be, she was accepting of it after this experience.

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?             Yes     She entered through the gates and exited through the gates.

Did you become aware of future events?       Yes     She checked in a book and found all of her immediate living relatives names, then she was ready to go.  We assumed the book of life.  She also screamed at some time, Sarah, no Sarah, we feel she saw something that was going to happen in the future.  Right after mom's death a boy held our daughter hostage with a gun and killed another boy.  We have always thought mom saw that somehow, by the tone of fear in her voice when she yelled out.

Were you involved in or aware of a decision regarding your return to the body?       Uncertain           

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes     Five people witnessed what happened that day.

What emotions did you experience following your experience?  Mom was satisfied and ready to die.