Some report images and manifestations of departed loved ones

Not often, but sometimes, a person sees an image of a beloved or dear friend. A visual manifestation of their spirit, one you can actually see while awake. It could be very clear or more in a fog.

It happened to me the middle of the night, two years ago. I saw my beloved husband, Baheej, standing in the bathroom doorway. Very clear.

I was awake, as I usual, at about 3 a.m. He was right there in the doorway, just looking at me. He didn’t say anything, just stood there for about 30 seconds. And then he disappeared. It was 10 years after he died, which was in 2012, so it was 2022. It really happened; it was not a dream.

I’ve read about this — seeing images. And actually I thought it would happen to me much earlier because we had such a close relationship. I didn’t think I’d have to wait so many years. So I really don’t understand the timing nor the reason. Except I had been anticipating that 10-year milestone for some time. Probably because I have a friend whose husband had died much earlier and told me about how it was for her at 10 years.

And 3 in the morning is known as a time for spirits of our loved ones to be about. I have read about images and 3 a.m. and also have noticed the behavior of my kitties at that strange hour in the middle of the night. Coffee Cat or Sheba occasionally go darting about, and then perch on the top of Baheej’s favorite TV chair, meowing loudly and staring into space. This behavior by cats has been well documented. It is said they sense the presence of the spirit. So it doesn’t frighten me — it’s reassuring actually. I usually say, “Oh is Baheej here. That’s nice.”

I had friends and readers who’ve told me of such happenings — of seeing images of dear ones — sometimes during times of stress, sometimes for seemingly no reason. It could be a voice rather than an image. Or some other sign that assures you they are around.

My own sister had a visit from Father once, years after his death but when she was going through a difficult time. He sat on the end of her bed. She was awake. And he assured her everything would be alright.

My own mother had an “image visit” from an old friend the day before she died. She saw him clearly and even introduced him to a neighbor who had come to see her with my sister at the hospice.

Recently a friend told me her mother had two visits from her father after he died — one out in the yard and once in the house. Another friend said she heard her father’s voice out in the kitchen years after he died. He wasn’t there but she heard him speak to her. One friend told me she saw her father’s face twice, both in times of change and stress for her. Seems this sort of experience happens to many people.

The point is: As some know, I am very interested in signs. Signs come in many forms. Images happen but are not very common signs. But if you are open and observant, there are many other signs that happen more often and are understandable and meaningful to you in the context of the relationship.

For instance, after Baheej died I started getting lots of feather signs that would just appear in the house or in my walking path, or somewhere else in plain view. Baheej loved watching birds and after he died he sent me lots of feather signs.

Well just recently I got one. A beautiful, rather big feather, right outside the patio door. Not a sparrow or wren feather, or any of other usual patio birds. It made me very happy.

I hadn't heard from him for a while and the night before I had asked him for a sign. I stood in the window where Baheej used to watch the sunset and asked him to send me a sign. And the next morning, when I came home from exercise class, there it was!

• Susan Anderson-Khleif of Sleepy Hollow has a doctorate in family sociology from Harvard, taught at Wellesley College and is a retired Motorola executive. Contact her at sakhleif@aol.com.