Visits

The night of Jessie's death I had a dream of her and my brother. I always thought that they were really close. It was all of us by the pool again, we were drinking ice cold coke and jumping into the pool. I talked with Jessie in the dream, it seems kind of a blur now, but I remember talking about you and she wanted you to be ok, that's all she wanted.

Later, I had a dream where I was in a classroom and she was in the class. I was looking at the picture of her and holding the key chain. She came over to me and saw the picture, she started to smile and we hugged and she said that she didn't want me to worry about it. I was crying when I woke up. I don't believe that it was just my head dreaming this, her voice was so real it was like she was actually talking to me. She might have.

Jessie's cousin Vinny was only 2 when Jessie died - but that hasn't stopped him from knowing her. These visits are in his mothers words...

In mid-July Vinny was with my mom and saw a butterfly. He turned to my mother and told her that Jessie was riding on the butterfly.

On August 10th our family went to our favorite Italian restaurant for dinner. We parked in the parking lot of the funeral home where Jessie's viewing was held. After dinner, Vincent and I left the restaurant and headed towards the car. As we were walking across the parking lot he excitedly said, "Momma, I see Jessie". My entire body instantly broke out in goose bumps. (Vincent had never been to the funeral home for the viewing. Therefore, he did not have any reason to associate it with Jessie.) I casually asked him where he saw Jessie. He told me that he saw Jessie over by the "boo-boo" thing (the wrought iron fence with sharp points). We walked towards it and he told me that he was just teasing . We turned around to cross the parking lot. He became a little "freaked-out" and asked me to pick him up. Pretty unusual. Sitting on the steps, I felt tiny little sensations like rain drops. But, there definitely wasn't any rain. I knew then that Jessie really did honor us with her presence!

David McArdle (friend and neighbor) has an encounter with Jessie while at his confirmation retreat

I dreamt that I was at Don and Sue's home and Jessie was there. She was very lively and seemed very happy. I remember her hair being very shiny and full of body and she had a rosy glow about her. Sue and Brad were there and were part of the conversations but I don't recall what they were saying. Jessie was speaking to me as if she knew me. She asked if I came to her funeral. I said no, that I did not know her then. I asked her if she wanted to come back. She said no, that this was the way it was and she was happy. I asked her if she does this again will she bring Shawn with her. She said ok.

Here's how I remember the dream I had with Jessie last week (Nov 24):

I saw Jessie laying sideways on a bed and she had a very big beautiful smile. I came in the room toward her and laid sideways on the bed from the opposite side. Our arms touched. I think I put my hands on her forearms or we wrapped our arms together. She said "You know I'm not here, don't you?" Or something like that. It was nice, but factual. Then she disappeared and I was left laying there on the bed crying. I imagined Sue coming in to comfort me...laying down on top of me...both of us face down. That's when I woke up and really was crying and Sue was laying next to me with her arms around me. It seemed so real but was so quick. I miss her so much. And want to hold her so much.

Let me first say, that I have been wanting and waiting to have a dream about Jessie and my dad for the longest time……I have started off the 2004 New Year with part of it coming true.

The dream I had on New Year’s Day night ( January 1^st, 2004 ) was an incredible one. Doug, Ryan, Andrew and I were in Jacksonville , Florida for the Gator Bowl game between the Maryland Terrapins and West Virginia Mountaineers. We had arrived on Wednesday, December 31^st in the morning. The Gator Bowl game wasn’t until Thursday, January 1^st in the afternoon. The game was awesome (of course Maryland won) and we had a great time. But the best part was about to happen later that night as I was sleeping.

I dreamt that I had a conversation with Jessie at a holiday party. The timing was a little weird to me in that during the dream I was doing Murphy Properties demo work in the summer (because we all had shorts and t-shirts on), but when I saw Jessie she was a little girl. Obviously, it was current time (because of Murphy Properties), but I was seeing and talking to Jessie many years ago. I was working on a house with Doug, Sue and Don and we were taking the demo debris outside to a pickup truck. After several trips back and forth, I saw Brian Weakley (a cousin of Doug and Don) who was now in his truck and he told us that the family members were at the top of the street having the holiday exchange party (which we had done for many years early on, but haven’t gotten together during the holiday season for quite some time). Any way, the four of us went to the top of the street and walked into the room. I remember sitting down on a couch (Doug, Don and Sue had gone into another part of the house, the kitchen I think). I was sitting for just a few minutes, when all of a sudden, Jessie came running up to me and gave me a huge hug. I was in awe! I couldn’t believe it. I started to cry and I was hugging her so hard. She was a little girl, but I knew that the time was current. I told her that I missed her terribly and it was so good to see her. I asked her if she had seen her mom and dad yet, and she replied no. I said (very encouragingly) that she needed to go find her mom and dad and speak to them, that they needed to see her. She gave me another kiss and hug goodbye and said she would. She then jumped off my lap and went running into the kitchen (where I thought Sue and Don were). I was crying because I wasn’t sure when I would see her again. I then woke up (Friday, January 2^nd) and had tears in my eyes and running down my cheeks. I then realized that I finally had my “dream” come true…I dream with Jessie in it.

I am still waiting to have a special dream with my father, who has passed away almost 14 years ago. But now I have hope!!

I wanted to share this with you guys, I am always thrilled when Jessie pops into my head for whatever reason it happens to be, but this was a really special one. I saw Jessie in my dream. She was sitting on the bottom branch of a really big shade tree, about 15 feet off the ground, with her legs dangling and swinging. She had on regular clothes, shorts, I don't remember what the top was, and she had wings about 2 feet long. She had on pink and white chucks, and she was eating an ice cream cone. She looked over at me and smiled, and then turned back and looked at the people walking by. It seemed like no one could see her but me, and she looked so beautiful and happy. The strange thing was I was looking at her from a few feet above her, like I was in the air. I haven't figured that one out yet, but I keep seeing that smiling face in my head. It is a lovely vision.

VISIT #15:

This visit was a little different, as Jessie's mom was wide awake, and didn't hear or see anything, rather she felt urged, compelled:

It was Wednesday and I was getting ready to go to the Compassionate Friends meeting. I was drying my hair and not really thinking about anything when all of a sudden I got this feeling, this urge to go look in a particular drawer in Jessie's room. Never one to fight a possible communication from my baby, I walked down the hall, into her room, and opened the drawer. I reached in and picked up a necklace that I don't ever remember paying particular attention to. As I looked at it, I suddenly realized why she had directed me to do this... the necklace has little stars on it - and she obviously wanted me to bring it to to the meeting and give it to a dear friend and family member who's child had died recently. As Jessie's symbol has become a butterfly, her child's symbol is a star. Jessie didn't stop there either - I reached in the drawer one more time and went straight to a single gold earring that is also a star - which I wear now in honor of Daniel.