Blogger: On Death, the Afterlife, and a Little Boy's Lesson

The thing about death is that it is so final. Someone is here one minute and gone the next. But their stuff, remnants from their last days, their life, remain. The ones who are left behind are the ones who suffer the most as we mourn the death of a loved one and try to make sense of a life without them. To everyone who has ever lost someone I want to take this time to reassure you ... Heaven is For Real.

As we brace ourselves for the second anniversary of my father’s death we try to spend our time celebrating his life, his accomplishments, and the stuff he did that can still make us smile. We miss him terribly and I know that we are all looking forward to that one special day when we are reunited with him ... For me, one of the most difficult aspect of dealing with my father’s death was that it shook my faith in heaven. Although I am not from a very religious family I strongly believe in God, the afterlife, and heaven but it was not until my father’s death that I really started to think long and hard about the afterlife. My biggest fear was what if this was it? What if he were just gone ... gone forever … The thought of such a thing left my heart aching for an answer.

What I can say, almost two years later, is that my family and I have been blessed with the knowledge that the afterlife exists ... In truth it started the day following my father’s funeral. Benjamin and I were in the car, going somewhere, and I was crying so inconsolably that my poor husband tried everything to calm me down. Now before I continue I should say that my husband is what I would consider an intellectual and is typically skeptical of anything he cannot explain. He believes in heaven but his understanding is more similar to the Buddhist belief in Nirvana ... more that you become part of everything, not necessarily a destination. With that being said, Ben and I pulled up to a stop light.

Ben turned to me and said, ”I don’t believe it.”

“What” I said sitting straight up and wiping away my tears.

”Read the licence plate in front of us.” I sat up, leaned forward and did not believe my eyes … it read DADZ OK … From that point on I knew, Heaven is for Real.

It was through this experience and others like it that I came across Todd Burpo’s book entitled “Heaven is for Real.” He recounts the story of his son Colton’s brush with death and his amazing stories about God and heaven as a result. This book made me laugh, cry, and will forever send chills down my spine. I can honestly say that this book changed me tremendously … I will never be the same and feel the same way about life, death, or heaven.

I have recommended this book to everyone I know and those who took me up on this recommendation all said the same thing: there are forever changed. It came in particular handy when my former students were faced with one of the most heartbreaking of situations, the untimely death of a friend.

Jenn Mejia was the type of person who radiated sunshine from her pores. She was kind, friendly, and had a sense of humor one could not help but notice. Jenn was well loved by her friends, family, and the community in which she lived. When I was a teacher I was fortunate enough to have Jenn as a student for three of her nearly four high school years. Jenn’s life, however, was cut short, by a man trying to rob the pharmacy where she worked. What a terrible tragedy, one that took a young girl, in the prime of her life, on Father’s Day of this year.

As I looked around at former students, coworkers, friends and family of Jenn at her funeral I saw in them the same struggle I had within myself when my father passed away...was this it? Is she really gone? It was at that moment I knew that I needed to tell others about this amazing book and how much the story of little Colton Burpo profoundly changed me. I began recommending this book on the memorial page set up by Jenn’s family and in response to former student’s facebook posts about Jenn and what happened. Again, the response was the same, this book profoundly changed them... aiding in their grieving process in a way that nothing else could touch ... Colton Burpo’s story is a gift to us all.

I encourage you to place this book in your summer reading plan if you had lost someone or not … you too will never be the same ...

Happy Reading and Remember ... Heaven is for Real

- Jeannie Sargent