Introduction

Recognizing Our Spiritual Gifts

My grandfather had been dead for thirty years when one night in 1993 I awoke to find him standing in my room. Before I could speak, he said, “You have to write something for your father.” Then he was gone. I sat up in bed, still a bit groggy. It was such a strange dream, I thought, so strange and soreal. I rarely thought about my grandfather, yet I could actually feel him standing beside me. I had no idea what his words meant, either, until the next day when I learned that my father had passed away. That’s when I began to question what had really happened, and whether it had been just a dream. But if my grandfather had visited me in spirit to prepare me for my dad’s death and let me know that I would write his eulogy, why had he waited so long to visit me? He had been gone for so many years.

As I joined my family in mourning, I knew nothing would ever be the same for me again. Although I intuitively knew what I had seen and heard was true, it was still difficult to comprehend, and I had no one to speak to about this new world that had suddenly opened up to me. Raised in the Jewish faith, I had always been taught that there is no afterlife, and back then there were no Google searches, local metaphysical classes (at least that I knew of!), or mediums on TV. I spent the next several years seeking out the answers to my many questions, with Spirit guiding me every step of the way through a series of “chance meetings,” which I describe in my first book,Life is No Coincidence.

A key turning point in my journey happened six years after my father’s passing when I was told to readOne Last Time by the famous medium and fellow Long Islander, John Edward. He described the difference between a spiritual visitation and a dream, and after reading his description I could no longer question what had happened to me. I knew it was indeed a spiritual visitation. I wondered where my grandfather was living now and how I could hear from him again. I started to attend spiritual conferences—including a week-long seminar hosted by John Edward in Barbados—and trainings around the world. In the meantime, I continued to consume every metaphysical book I could get my hands on and speak with every expert I could find about the “Other Side.”

As I began to step outside my comfort zone, I realized that there were thousands of people just like me, who had been thrust into a new state of awareness of life beyond the physical plane. Once this happened, it was impossible to go back to that three-dimensional way of thinking. Suddenly the concerns of everyday living like worrying about paying the rent and managing our family and careers was no longer enough. We were seeking something greater; we were seeking the truth of why we are all here and our connection to what is beyond us.

Throughout the amazing journey that followed I learned several truths. The first is that there is indeed an afterlife; the second is that the separation between this world and the next is not a thick, impenetrable wall, but a thin veil that allows our loved ones in spirit to com