Tell Her I Said Hi

'By the way, your father said to tell you hi." My ex-husband lay back on his pillows in the hospital, turned his head and closed his eyes again. He had been diagnosed with two aneurysms and was waiting for surgery. He had been drifting in and out of consciousness since being found in the basement at Black Action Defense Committee Organization in Toronto.

I stared at him in shock, my mouth hung open. "What?" I shrieked, the blood draining from my face. I asked him again, "What did you say Bob"? I stared at him as he slowly drifted off to sleep. I sat there wondering what it all meant, stunned that a message had come through for me from my deceased father.

I watched him closely as he lay there hovering between life and death, the struggle to survive strong within his frail frame. Nothing like dropping a bombshell on someone, then safely retreating to the land of unconsciousness.

Only moments before I heard him softly say, "Oh my! Angels", and then he grinned. Suddenly his grin disappeared and his face darkened, he leaned forward in the bed, shouting and cursing his invisible guests. His volatile accented voice broke the silence and comfortableness of the room. Cursing them with one final shout, he thundered, "No! I'm not going with you!" He stared straight ahead, looking at something no one else could see. "Get Lost!" He bellowed, his voice high pitched and cracking with anger, laced with a hint of terror. He lay back on the hospital bed, beads of sweat broke out on his forehead as he lapsed into silence.

The minutes ticked by as we watched him sleeping peacefully, silence now pronounced in the room. It seemed whatever tried to accost him was over. The minutes slipped away as he hovered between life and death. We sat there with him in the room waiting for the surgery that would correct his aneurysms, wondering if anything else would erupt. At last two orderlies came for him and wheeled him from the room into the operating room.

Several days later after his successful surgery, he was able to tell us about the experience of seeing the dark shadows. He relayed how they had said to him, "Come with us," imploring him to go with them. I told him what he had said to me and asked him if he had seen my father. He told me no, but he had heard his voice, and recognized his ex-father-in-law's slow speech patterns. Bob told me it was foggy where he was at; so he couldn't see him, only hear him. My father when he had passed from this life, died with a lot of pain from Kidney failure.

I believe my father sent him a message of greeting, to let me know that he was ok, and not in distress. Hard to shake the beliefs of hell and brimstone after death, that I had been taught from my youth, and so I often wondered where he ended up when he passed over. However, my God is merciful, and looks at our hearts and thus judges righteously.