6 People Reveal The 'Signs' They Received After A Loved One's Death

As one grief therapist said: “When a loved one dies, the love does not die with them. Signs can be a healthy way of keeping that love alive."

Twice in the year after my stepdad Chris died, I woke up to see I had a missed call from his cell phone – both times at 3:33am. After the first call, my phone also showed I had a voicemail from him. But when I listened to the message, it was just some muffled background noise, as if someone were on the other end but not saying anything.

Since then, 333 has become a significant number for our family. We constantly catch the clock at that time and see it on receipts, boarding passes, phone numbers, buildings and license plates. I later learned that repeated number sequences like this are known as “angel numbers” – which makes the timing of those phone calls all the more special to me.

I know not everyone believes in this kind of thing. Some people would say Chris’ number probably got reassigned after his phone service was shut off, and it was purely coincidence that I got two calls at the same time. Some would chalk it up to a random tech glitch.

But others, like myself, find meaning in these occurrences. We view these signs as little reminders that we’re still connected to the people we love after they die, even if we can’t explain how.

Grief therapist Becky Stuempfig, who is based in Encinitas, California, told HuffPost that seeing or looking for signs from the deceased can be a normal and healthy part of the grieving process.

“Signs can be a way for the bereaved individual to keep the deceased person as a part of their present day life rather than part of their past,” she said. “When a loved one dies, the love does not die with them. Signs can be a healthy way of keeping that love alive for the bereaved.”

“People often assign spiritual meaning to signs, which can help them feel that their loved one is still with them despite not being in the physical world,” Stuempfig continued.

We asked our Facebook audience if they had ever received a “sign” from a loved one who passed away. Below, they share their stories.

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Flower Petals

“When my Papaw died, I took a rose from his big funeral flower arrangement. When I got home, the petals were fairly dried. I pulled them off, put them in a Ziploc, and then put that Ziploc in a photo album that I closed and kept under my bed.

“The morning after his funeral, when I woke up, the petals were strewn across the ground in a neat pattern.” — Chelsey V., Tennessee

A Special Seashell

“In 2014, I had a baby boy stillborn at 20 weeks, two days with anencephaly. We named him Gabriel. At the time, I had a 3-year-old daughter and another son who had just turned 1.

“We aren’t religious and I wasn’t sure what to tell my daughter when she asked about the baby when I came home from the hospital.........

© HuffPost

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