Life After

I had so many times about what happens when you die. Hundreds of TV shows tell you what could happen, what you see and what you will feel. To tell you the truth I thought all of that was a crock of shit until that day two years ago when I died in a room in the hospital.

I was in an accident out on Walnut Creek. I was driving my car…a 1970 Gremlin that I bought and restored. I remember that the road was wet, slippery and covered with leafs that fell for the hundreds of maple trees that lined the road. I wasn’t being as careful as I should have. My mind was on a concert I was going to see that night…The Rolling Stones were playing in Cleveland and somehow I managed to get second row seats. That was amazing since the concert sold out in less than twenty minutes.

I was about fifteen minutes outside of Erie and I was doing 65 in a 45 mile per hour zone. Unfortunately the car that was coming in the other direction was doing the same.

I dropped into the Walnut Creek valley when I saw something on the side of the road. I am still not sure if it was an animal or whatever but I slammed on the brakes. That made me skid sideways on the road and stop. The thing was it was on a blind curve and when the other driver came into the valley he never saw me and he hit my car broadside. I remember hearing the crash and felling the car flip and roll down the side of the road and into the creek.

Now, this is all speculation, I assume that an ambulance came and took me into the hospital. I couldn’t see anything but could hear what people were saying but to me it sounded like a foreign language It was like I was in another country but I was aware that of where I was before. While I was in the ambulance I know that they were worried. Like I said I couldn’t understand what was being said but the tone of their voice was strong with emotion.

I am sure I made it to a hospital and I am also sure that I was hooked up to bags of fluid, IV drugs and as many machines as they could find.

Suddenly I saw a young girl standing at the foot of my bed. She was dressed in white with a gold sash and a deep violet cloak.  Her hair was blonde, almost white and her face looked like a white marble bust I had seen when I was at the Human History Museum when I was a kid. “You have to come with me,” she said. I didn’t know who she was her eyes showed sadness and yet they were peaceful.

I looked down at her and suddenly I felt a sense of peace but that was tempered with confusion and curiosity.

“Where are we going,” I asked.

She placed her hand in mine and she said, “It is time for you to stop suffering and live in eternal peace and love.”

It felt as if I didn’t have a choice. I held her hand tight as I sat up and stepped down from the bed. It was then that I looked back and saw at least a dozen doctors standing around the bed. I jerked my hand from hers and walked over to the bed. I looked down and saw my body laying with my shin ripped to shreds and the doctors working desperately to try and keep me alive.

“Come with me,” she said as she once again took my hand. “We have to leave.” She turned and she and I walked out of the room and down the hall, finally stepping through a door and into nothingness.

“Where am I, I asked.

“We are in the Netherworld,” she said as a small light appeared in the distance and with it was the most beautiful music I had ever heard. As the light got closer, the music continued but it became most relaxing…more peaceful.

The light was finally right before me. She stepped in first leading me by the hand, I was not afraid and nor was I curious any longer. The music was louder than it had been but there was none of the pain that I had when I went to concerts.

“Come here Charlie,” a voice said from further in the light. It was familiar but it was a voice that I had not heard in over thirty years and there was only one person who ever called me Charlie and that was my mother. “Charlie…,” the voice said again. “…come here. Walk toward me.” I strained my eyes but I could not see my mother.

“She is not as you remember her,” the girl said. “When a person rises their soul takes the shape of their living bodies when they were the happiest.”

There before me stood a woman no more than twenty five or twenty six years old. She had a brown black hair and the darkest brown eyes I had not seen in a very, very long time.

“Mother,” I asked not knowing what the answer would be.

“Yes darling,” she said as she walked up and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I have been waiting so long to be able you hold you again. I want you to know that I have been watching over you for your entire life. It was the saddest day of my life when I passed over.”

“Where are dad, grandma, grandpa and Aunt Sandy,” I asked.

She pointed stand over to a crowd of people who were standing a few feet away looking at me. I recognized my dad, grandma and Aunt Sandy. Grandpa looked familiar from photos I had seen when I visited grandma when I was a little kid. I went over and talked to them told them all about my life, I could understand what everyone was saying except for my grandpa. He was speaking German…a language that I could not understand but I still have an idea that he was happy to meet me.

The girl walked over to me, tapped me on the shoulder, took my hand and said, “I am sorry but we have been here too long.”

“What do you mean,” I asked as we lifted off of the ground or whatever you call what we were standing on. She didn’t answer but soon we were passing through clouds. It was actually beautiful. “Are we in Heaven,” I asked again without an answer. Finally we left the Earth’s atmosphere and a few minutes later we passed by the moon. “Where are we going,” I asked in an angry tone.

“I cannot tell you where you must go,” she said in a very, very sweet voice. It was even sweeter than when she spoke to me in the hospital. It was actually very relaxing which is what I needed at that moment.

Ahead of us were the planets, stars and galaxies but also ahead of us was a bright white light that appeared to be maintaining its distance from us no matter how fast we were travelling. By the time we actually caught up and entered the light we were beyond the edge of the universe. There were no more stars or galaxies. Ahead of us was just one large blue green planet with white clouds floating in its atmosphere.

As our feet touched the surface the girl told me that this place was my destination and it would be where I would spend eternity. I looked around and I saw cities, farms, paradises and beaches. “Welcome home Charles Cope,” she said. “May your eternity be all that you wish.”

I knelt down to feel the soil and as I did she started walking down a narrow path. I looked up and yelled to her,” Thank you very much,” I said. Then I asked her a question. “What is your name,” I asked.

She looked at me and raised her hand in the way a Catholic priest would do when he was blessing his congregation. “You know my name already Charles,” she said. “I am called God in your reality but I go by other names in other places.”

I looked at her and my mouth stopped working. I just stood there looking and trying to figure out what to do or what to say but nothing was working.

“Follow the trail along the beach,” she said. “It will lead you to a Heaven that you make for yourself.”

I did what she told me to do. I walked down the trail and there it was…the house I had always thought of when I was a kid. Flowers, vines, bushes and a really large brick and wood wall surrounding it, It had everything I ever wanted and so much more and when I got to the door the insides had games, TVs. Musical instruments and a bed lifted ten feet into the air. It was truly my fantasy house.

As I stepped into the house I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Dropping to my knees I wondered what was going on and where you go if you die in Heaven. Then there was another pain and another and another. I lay on the floor praying and asking God to come and help me. I wanted to be there. I did not want to die. She never did come to my aid but my prayers got stronger as the pain increased.

As my eyes closed I felt a hand grab me and throw me off on the surface and into the, pardon the wording, heavens. I felt like I was flying but I could not see where I was going but it felt so familiar. I was being ejected from Heaven. My soul was being sent to Hell but I had no idea why. In my life I lived a good life. I never lied, cheated or stole from anyone. I never killed. I didn’t even eat meat so why would I be going to Hell.

I passed stars and planets as my soul sped up. The pain was still there but my mind was on things. I didn’t want to go to Hell but there was no way to stop in.

Finally the biggest pain of all wracked my soul. It was unbearable but I was still moving. Suddenly the pain tore me apart and the next thing I knew I could hear voices…human voices. I heard someone say that the heart massage and the zapping saved my life.

I opened my eyes and there was no fire and no smell of sulfur. There was a cool breeze, a bright light and the distinct smell of alcohol and medical disinfectant. What in the hell was going on. My mind was wandering, trying to understand what was happening. Then it hit me…I wasn’t sent to Hell. The pain I had felt were the doctors working to save me. I was alive.

Sometime later I was in my room and my wife and kids were standing beside the bed. She was holding my hand and crying. I woke up and saw so many smiles. Even the doctor…the one who massaged my heart was there. “You are a lucky man Mister Cope,” he said. “We nearly lost you.”

You know, I have never told anyone this story. I doubt that anyone would ever believe it anyway but it had to be told and maybe, just maybe there will be someone who may believe it. In my mind it was true and I saw the Heaven that the Church has always been telling us about and believe it or not…it is a paradise. I just hope and pray that maybe next time I might be able to stay.