About fifteen years ago, one night during a deep sleep, I woke up with pain in my right hip. As I lay there a moment I also noticed a dull, deep, quick, severe pain on the left side of my head. I looked at the clock. It was 3:15 AM. I got out of bed, went downstairs to get an ibuprofen (something I usually never do, mask pain, unless it is severe). About 5 minutes later, back upstairs after taking the pill, I noted the fact that the pain was already completely gone. Being that it was the middle of the night, I did not give it any more thought and went back to bed.

The next morning, still giving the matter no thought, I went about the business of the day. My mother called with news that my dad had fallen during the night and broken his hip, and was in the hospital awaiting surgery the next day.

That evening in the hospital I asked him if it hurt. He said not that badly. What really hurt was when he fell and hit his head on the leg of the table! The time of this coincided with the pain I awakened with.

Based on that experience, I was very nervous, selfishly fearful, of what I might experience as his death became more and more imminent!  As it turned out, I was with him. It was peaceful and I only felt peace.

“Wow … what's that smell, it smells so beautiful in here!”

Later, another event occurred while my mother was dying but still hearing me. In the hospital room I was talking to her. To help her relax I asked her to imagine she was in the garden, which she loved. All of a sudden the room was filled with a scent of lavender that was very, very strong. There was no physical reason for this scent. When the nurse came in to check on her, she actually said, “Wow … what's that smell, it smells so beautiful in here!”