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A Visit from Denise

M. G. Raub

Washington

When I was a junior in high school, I had a friend named Denise. We shared art class together. She had been absent from school for several days when I decided to go visit her at home to see how she was feeling. We had a nice visit, and she seemed well enough to return to school. She told me that she'd had a cold, but now she felt better and remarked that she would be back at school the following day. I remember that she was smiling when she told me that. I visited with her for a while, then went home, did my homework and other activities before going to bed.

That night I was asleep in my room when I awoke for no apparent reason. My dog Duchess was also awake and stood beside my bed looking toward the door to my room. I sat up in bed and looked toward the door and there stood Denise. She was standing in the corridor facing my doorway.

She was not misty or glowing or anything. She appeared to be just as real and whole as any living person. I did not feel any fear when I saw her, only mild confusion as I asked her what she was doing there in my house. She was smiling as she said, “I just wanted to stop and say ‘Goodbye.'” I said “Goodbye” to her but did not ask her where she was going. My sixteen-year-old mind seemed satisfied with her answer. She turned as though she was going to walk on down the corridor toward the stairs. I did not see her disappear or fade away. I glanced at my alarm clock noting that it was 4:30 in the morning. I settled in and soon went back to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and thought about Denise's visit. It had not been a dream so I was at a loss to understand it. I decided to tell Denise about it when I saw her at school since she had said that she would be coming back that day. As soon as I got to school, another friend walked up to me. She asked me if I had heard about Denise. I said, “No.” Then she told me that Denise had died earlier that morning.

Later I was told that her cold had suddenly developed into a very severe, virulent form of pneumonia and that she'd been rushed to the hospital where she had passed away. It was all very sudden and totally unexpected. I was absolutely stunned! At that moment, when I'd heard the news of her death, I experienced emotions that I still cannot describe. Afterward I found out that she had died at 4:30 a.m. which was the exact same time when she had come to visit me in my room! She'd visited me before I knew that she was dead.

This happened many years ago, but I still think about Denise from time to time. I will always be grateful for her visit because in some ways, by doing what she did, she gave me one of the best gifts that I have ever received. This is the gift of assurance that there is life after death and that we do go on. This knowledge has been a great comfort to me over the years.