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I was nine years old when I developed rheumatic fever. This was in the late fifties. I was confined to a wheelchair and kept home for two years. Then, very early one morning, the fever turned to flu and pneumonia. My mother and father took me to the doctor, who gave me a whole lot of shots. On the way home, I had a reaction to the shots and contracted hives in my throat and on my tongue. I couldn't breathe.

My father took me back to the doctor's office. There I was given another shot to make the hives go away. On our way home, I had another reaction to the shot. This time I started to have convulsions and swallow my tongue. I was choking to death and the only thing my mother could do was insert her hand into my mouth and hold onto my tongue. I almost bit off two of her fingers. This time, they took me straight to the hospital. They were wheeling me down a corridor and doctors and nurses were everywhere. It was at this time that I had my first encounter with the other side.

All of a sudden, I found myself floating in the corner of a room. I knew one thing for sure; it sure felt good to breathe again. I was looking down at the floor, but it didn't bother me because I could move without walking. I just kind of glided through the room wherever I wanted to go. I felt so happy and so alive. I was almost like an explorer finding a new country. I moved into a hallway. I could see people everywhere, but why couldn't they see me? “Oh! Maybe they are too busy,” I thought. I saw doctors, nurses, and even a delivery man. Nobody could see me, and I couldn't figure out why. Then I saw a minister with a bible. I thought if anybody would take time to talk to me, he would.

I could still glide through the air anywhere I wanted to go, so I followed the minister into the room I had come out of. Once back in the room, I retreated back into the safe corner I had come from at the beginning. What I saw next would startle me, but not really scare me. I looked down at the end of the bed and there stood a man and a woman. They were both crying and holding hands. Things were a little fuzzy, as if I were looking through a mist, so I moved closer. Oh, my goodness. It was my mother and father. What were they crying about? I called out "Mom, Dad, I am up here," but they did not look at me or talk to me.

I was starting to wonder what was really going on when the minister approached my mother and father with his bible, and began reading to me. I wondered who the three of them were talking to. I looked at the bed and said, "Wow! It's me." I was lying there very still in bed and not moving. I wondered how I could be down there, if I was up here. Then I heard the minister give me my last rites. At that time I felt a sudden sensation pulling me back into my body. I didn't want to go back because I felt really good where I was. I was told I must go back and continue with my earthly lifestyle, and that my parents loved me and needed me very much. (You see, I am adopted and an only child).

At this time, I opened my eyes and everybody was happy and hugging me. I had slipped into a coma and had been given 24 to 48 hours to live. Everybody thought that this nine-year-old had been in a deep sleep. They just didn't know that he had made his first trip to the other side.

It wasn't until I was 17 years old that I mentioned it to my parents. We were sitting at the kitchen table one night and I told Mom and Dad I had something to share with them. I said, "Remember the time when I was nine years old and you two were in the hospital room with me?" My dad said, "Sure we do." I said, "I could see you." Puzzled, my father said, "There is no way you could have seen us. You were in a coma." I told him he didn't understand. I said I could see him from the other side. He said, "Son, you have been watching too much Twilight Zone."

I looked right at them and said, "You were not alone. You had a minister with you giving me my last rites." My father looked at my morn and said, "How could he know that?" I told them he had on a brown jacket with a blue tie. It was at that point my father dropped his beer can and believed me. I had been given a very special gift, but would not realize it until much later in life.
***
Years later, when my dear mother passed away of a sudden and massive heart attack, I was devastated. I had lost my best friend, but I felt I could always ask her for help. Then one night, she came to me for help.

I was in Fort Wayne driving home one night, when all of a sudden the whole sky and everything around me became a bright light. Not a blinding light, but a beautiful, passionate light filled with love. I pulled my truck over. I was curious but not scared, because I felt my mother all around me. Her sister, my aunt, was in a hospital in Lafayette, Indiana at that time. She had terminal cancer and didn't have long on this side. My aunt was having trouble and needed some reassurance that somebody was waiting to help her cross over. My mother told me that I must travel 150 miles to let her sister know that it is okay to let go, because she will be waiting to help her to the other side. It was so wonderful to feel my mother again and I didn't want it to end.

I left that night to go see my aunt. My wife went with me. When we arrived at the hospital, I told some of the other family members exactly why I had come. I felt like a messenger with a very important message. They had mixed emotions. Some of them believed in what I told them, and some thought I was watching too much science fiction.

The doctors and nurses said that my aunt was in a coma and would not respond to anyone, nor would she know me. There were about ten people in my aunt's room when I walked in. Among them were her two sons. As I walked in, her eyes opened up and she said, "Hi Kenny." (That's what my mother always called me). Everybody in the room gasped. I looked at her and said, "I think you know why I am here, don't you." She said, "Yes I do, but I need to hear it from you, and so does my family. I told everybody in the room about my mother waiting for her, and it was O.K. to let her cross over. Then my aunt slipped back into a coma.

Two days later, when my cousin called me to tell me his mother had passed on, I told him I already knew. He said the nurses wanted to know if my aunt had had any visitors the night she had crossed over. He told them that the family had been there earlier, but everybody had gone home.

The nurses said they heard my aunt tell a lady by the name of Edna that she had been expecting her and that it was nice to see her again. Then Edna said, "Take my hand and we can go now." The next time the nurses checked on my aunt, she had crossed over. My cousin told me I had a very special gift, but I wouldn't find out until later in life just how very special it is.

***

It was a fall evening in 1998, and I was walking home from work. I was about one block from home when a car pulled over and four or five guys got out with baseball bats. I was beaten and left for dead, but I don't remember much about it. I do remember falling down in somebody's front yard and the next thing I knew, it was 32 days later. I was in the hospital with a broken back, convulsions, and seizures. My kidneys, lungs, and brain were all failing to function. I was put on life support in ICU. My children were planning my funeral.

It was at this time, I went on the most beautiful and wonderful journey of my life. It was a journey to love, compassion, and the planes of knowledge. It was a journey into time, where time does not exist. It was a journey home.

I walked along a great spiritual path to knowledge, where all the questions about creation you could ever think of were answered. The answers were within. I was the essence of creation. I couldn't really say I was walking down this path. It was more like when I wanted to be somewhere all I had to do was think of where I wanted to be, and I was there. The abundance of knowledge I was picking up was unbelievable to me. Then I was told if I came back, I could not bring some of it back with me.

I learned that compassion, love, and caring have a lot to do with where our soul starts its journey on the other side. Forgiveness is one of the greatest assets of all. Not only should we forgive others, but, most of all, we should forgive ourselves.

I saw many beings of light. The ones with a deeper knowledge of love, compassion and caring had a brighter and more intense light. They were almost of a higher power. You could almost say they were like teachers of the light.
The light was so bright and intense, but like my mother's light, you could stare at it and never blink your eyes.

I continued on my path of knowledge until I came to a beautiful green pasture. I absorbed all of the knowledge that I could from this beautiful setting. I was told and shown that all creatures have a soul and a spirit - that we should care for and love all creatures, whether they are two-legged, four legged, or otherwise. It was a beautiful arena of beings, where loved flowed everywhere.

It was at this time that I was told and shown that I must return to the earthly side, and I would be shown later that there is much to be done on the earthly side. Now that I understood more about them, they told me it was time to cross back and learn more about myself.

When I opened my eyes, a doctor was standing above me. He said, "Mr. Prather, can you hear me?" I said, "Yes, I can." He told me that I was in a hospital and needed a very serious operation. I asked him what time it was and how long I had been gone. He told me I had been on life-support and in and out of ICU for over a month. It seemed like only seconds to me, but now I realized where I had really come from and could understand the timelessness of it all. On the other side, there is no such thing as an earthly time span. Time is forever, and forever is now.

The doctor said, "If we don't operate on you, you will die. If we do operate, we have a 50% chance of losing you on the operating table. If you make it through the operation, it is very doubtful you will ever walk again." The doctor said to me with a puzzled look, "This doesn't seem to bother you at all, does it?" If he had only known where I had been and why I had come back.

The operation was a success, and I had two 13" Harrington rods inserted into my back to hold my spine straight. The doctors had told me that I would never walk again. I was out to prove them wrong with a little help from my friends. I spent the next 3 months in the hospital. I not only started my physical recovery, but also my spiritual connection and my spiritual education with the spirits from the other side.

It was during my third month in the hospital that I received a very wonderful gift - a gift from above. One night I was feeling a little down and asked for a sign of any kind to let me know that I was headed in the right direction. Two nights later, I woke up and almost sat up in bed. (That would have been a miracle in itself.) I felt a wonderful and warm presence in the room. I was wide awake, so I knew it wasn't a dream. The presence was almost as strong as when my mother had come to me. There, before me, emerged a beautiful angel dressed in the most brilliant green dress I had ever seen. She had long blond hair and wings to match. She took one look at me and said, "Continue on your path." I knew at this time, I was on the path of my own destiny.

I had been sent back to do a job - a job that I would soon find out about. After three months in the hospital, I was transferred to a long-term facility. It was a nursing home with about 150 residents. Among the residents were many people with terminal illnesses. I seemed to form a very close bond with these people. It was very uncanny, but I seemed to know when souls were ready to cross over.

It was at this time I started an outreach program called Reaching for Joy. It was not only about helping people on this side, but also helping people make the transition from the earthly side to the other side. Now I was beginning to see my purpose and destiny more than ever.

I was asked by many families to sit with their loved ones as they were getting ready to cross over. I also found out that my being there helped the families left behind realize that it is not the ending, but only a different beginning.

Even while I was in the rehabilitation hospital, I knew there was something else I should be doing. I knew I had to continue down my path. There was still a lot to do.

Then I found the Hospice Organization. At once I understood I had to be a part of hospice. If anybody could understand everything I was going through, they could. The people were so loving, caring, and compassionate. I knew I had found a home.

I started making counseling calls for hospice even when I was in a wheelchair in the nursing home. My physical therapy was coming along really well, and I was starting to walk with a walker. This is when I was given a roommate. His name was Frank.

Frank was admitted with terminal lung cancer and was given two months to live on this side. As it turned out, Frank lived ten months. Everybody thought that we would make really good roommates. You see, Frank did not believe in the other side, but I knew right where he was headed. It turned out that we would be teaching each other. The ten months I spent with Frank was another gift from above. It was gift of a higher education I could never get from a college or university - an education in life's lessons.

Spiritual Visitor

Frank had a dog named Brutus. Every Friday, Frank's son brought Brutus to the nursing home for the day. Frank would take Brutus around to see the residents and make their day a little more cheerful.

It always seemed that Frank would go to sleep and I would get stuck taking care of Brutus. But that's okay. The dog and I had a very good working relationship.

Frank was in his ninth month with me, and his health was declining very rapidly. It was on a cold winter night when the night nurse woke me up at 2:00 in the morning. She said that Frank's dog was at the back door. I told her that was not possible. Frank was sound asleep and I could not wake him. I took my wheelchair to the back door, and there standing outside was Frank's dog. We let him in and the dog just stared at me. We called Frank's son and he said the dog had come up missing at 6:00 p.m.

The dog had walked eight miles on a cold winter night to be with his master, who was getting ready to cross over. The dog had never walked to the nursing home before. He had only come in a van. Once inside the room with the dog, I knew Frank and I had a very special visitor. I felt the presence of a spiritual being in the room, and a golden glow formed around the dog. It was at that time I knew the dog had not walked alone, and truly had a spiritual guide.

It was such an amazing story that the local TV station came out to interview Frank about the dog the next day. I truly knew that it was just another chapter in my education from the other side.

Frank passed away two weeks later, seeing the other side. I have now been out of the rehabilitation hospital for one year. It was then that I found I.A.N.D.S. What a wonderful organization they are. I understand now that there are many people who have crossed over and come back. Many of these people are confused and need compassionate help.

I now understand my destiny is not only to help people from the earthly side to the other side, but also to help people from the other side back to the earthly side.

I keep myself busy as a hospice counselor, and operating my outreach program called Reaching for Joy. I am also happy to say that Reaching for Joy is an I.A.N.D.S. support group in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Since my departure from the hospital, I continue to grow and learn from the miracles and gifts sent my way. I hope by writing this, I have shared some with you. The spirit world is constantly present, but you must be channeled in to them with love, compassion, and understanding.

In closing, I would like to thank the hospice home of northeast Indiana and the I.A.N.D.S. Organization for being a part of my path of destiny. I will leave you with a bit of knowledge and wisdom to help you find your best friend.

Since my accident almost three years ago, many people have asked me:
A. How do you deal with it?
B. How did it affect you?
C. Are you mad about everything and at anybody?
D. Did it depress you and how do you move on?

Let me first of all say that spiritually and mentally, it was a blessing in disguise. The next article best describes how I feel on my journey back. It will be in an upcoming book to be entitled "Joy's Stories."

Finding My Best Friend

The essence of man is his spirit and soul.
The spirit and soul is the combination of mans inner self.
To become patient and content,
man must find one's own inner self and become his own best friend.
When man has found his inner self, he has found his true soul mate.
Having now attained the knowledge of knowing himself,
man can now conquer all problems with the help of his spirit and soul.
His spirit will take him to levels of knowledge and self-discipline
that he felt he never could attain.
Once he knows himself, he becomes much closer to his creator.
With your spirit and his spirit combined,
there is nothing the human soul cannot overcome.
How do you know when you have found your inner self?
When you are content and happy being with you.
But most of all,
when you cannot only ask the questions,
but can give the answers.

In Spirit,
Reaching for Joy
Ken Prather