On cloud nine

An angel arranged a surprise meeting! Deb Hawken, 59, from Redditch, Worcestershire

Iwas 6 when my beloved grandad Charlie died of lung cancer back in 1963. Afterwards, I missed him terribly. Then, six months later, I woke in the night to find a malelooking figure in white robes, standing on a cloud outside my bedroom window. An angel! ‘Come with me to see your grandad,’ the angel said.

Together

I felt a part of me leave my body and travel out of the window.

Together, we shot into the air and suddenly there before me was Grandad.

He was on a large cloud with a gate between us.

He grinned, looking happy and healthier than he’d been in his last days.

Standing with him was a little boy. He was about 4 years old with bright blue eyes.

He wore grey shorts with long socks pulled up to his knees and a school cap on his straight, blond hair.

‘Tell your mum and nan that I’m fine,’ Grandad said.

‘I will,’ I replied. ‘Please can I come through the gate to be with you?’ ‘Not yet, my love,’ he replied. The next thing I remember, I was back in my bed.

Nan’s son

The following morning, I couldn’t wait to tell Mum and Nan everything. ‘I saw Grandad in heaven last night,’ I told Mum Barbara. ‘There was a little boy with him.’ I said he wore funny shoes and weird long socks. ‘Come and tell your nan,’ she said. In Nan’s room, I repeated my story and as soon as I mentioned the little boy, Nan went pale. ‘Is this the boy you saw?’ Mum asked, grabbing a picture from the top of Nan’s wardrobe. I stared at the old-fashioned sepia photo of a little blond boy. ‘Yes, that’s him,’ I replied. ‘Oh my goodness,’ Mum said. Sitting me down, Mum told me that she’d had a younger brother called Victor. During WWII, when Grandad was working away, Vic had caught jaundice. Nan sent Grandad a telegram telling him to come home immediately. Sadly, Vic died before Grandad had received the news. Vic was buried in a graveyard in Beckenham, Kent. Grandad was so upset at the loss of his son that he insisted no-one spoke of him again. All the photos of Vic were taken down and nobody ever mentioned him. Indeed, the first I knew of him was when I met him – in Heaven!

Lucky

Many years have passed since that encounter on the spirit plane.

I still find it extraordinary that I met my unknown uncle in those realms.

I also feel lucky to have seen for myself how happy he and Grandad are together.

What more could we wish for our departed loved ones?

Nan and Grandad with me! I met my unknown uncle on the spirit plane I still find my encounter extraordinary

Dear Roi de Lune

Last night, I dreamt I was trying to enter a big old wooden house, but I just couldn’t get inside. It was really weird, though. The whole place kept expanding and contracting like it was breathing, but in a really exaggerated way.

Dear Serena

You’ve been going through a huge period of change, and this dream reflects how you’re handling it. This is distressing, and you don’t quite know how to accommodate the new demands. Try to relax. Give things time to settle down, and then you’ll be right back on top.