In the past, I’ve shared sad and upsetting news about my personal life here with you, friends and readers, but today I’d like to share some that’s much more hopeful and wonderful (because doesn’t the world need a little bit more of that?)

Since my brother Matt passed away, I’ve gotten signs from him—regularly and consistently. I believe everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. I believe a lot of people think signs/spirits/etc. is all bullshit and lies, because I’m related to several people who do! And that’s fine. They’re entitled to think that, and so are you. My personal belief is that there is an afterlife, and we can receive signs or messages from our loved ones after they leave if we stay open to it. (I struggle to understand why you would choose to think otherwise, especially if it’s your child/sibling/spouse/etc who has died, but I digress). Most of the rest of my family of origin do not believe this or are not open to it, so I also think that’s why I get so many signs from my brother. (For the record, I have had other experiences with spirits and ghosts, some alone and some in the company of my husband). Some signs from Matt are really blatant, like the Mother’s Day card from him I mysteriously found around last Mother’s Day, weeks after he passed when I was desperate for a piece of his handwriting. I’ve come across long-forgotten childhood mementos in the process for looking for something else entirely. When I went to fetch our Easter decorations, I found myself holding an essay I wrote about him when I was 14 titled “Boasting ‘Bout My Brother”.

Besides these “discoveries”, my husband and I have each experienced phenomena we can’t explain, like seeing someone out of the corner of our eye who isn’t there, hearing the door open and close when it’s triple-locked and no one ever came inside, or hearing footsteps come running down the stairs when the kids are sound asleep (I checked) and I’m downstairs alone watching TV. My children and I have also asked him for things, then gotten a direct physical response (help finding lost objects, or suddenly meeting an old friend I’d been thinking about but hadn’t seen since I was young).

We live in the house I grew up in. We bought it from my parents and its where Matt spent most of his life. There are a lot of memories there. My kids both sleep in bedrooms that used to be Matt’s at one point or other. It makes sense to me that he visits us there.

I’ve spoken to a popular local medium more than once, and gotten messages through her that are obviously from him, capturing his personality and circumstances of his death in ways she could never have known. I know he’s fine and watching over us. He’s promised he will always send us these “signs”. He’s told me he’s visited me in my dreams and he explained step-by-step through the medium what he was feeling & experiencing over the course of the 24-hours before he died in a freak slip-and-fall accident. I even know which of my deceased relatives waited with him in ICU as he lay dying to help him cross over (and it’s not who I expected!)

This weekend, I had two new “events” happen. Saturday evening, I was in my bedroom getting ready for bed and some artwork we have hanging up caught my eye (full disclosure—it’s an intricate illustration we bought at the Haunted Mansion in Disney). It has a quote within it and I forgot what it said, so I went to read it. It’s actually a poem about things that happen when ghosts are present and *as I’m reading it* the cabinet door on my dresser popped open. The last time I’d touched that door was at least 7 hours earlier. Directly above that cabinet is where I keep my memorial necklace with Matt’s fingerprint, which I wear every day. It was equal parts scary, exciting and hilarious (my brother definitely had/has an odd sense of humor!)

The next day, Sunday, an hour after the kids were in bed, hubby and I were watching Game of Thrones and chatting when a nerf gun bullet sitting on the ottoman directly in front of us rolled itself over for no apparent reason. We both saw it happen. Hubby poked it like it was a snake, but it didn’t move again. The first thought for both of us was how Matt loved more than anything to have nerf battles with our kids when he visited.

I love when this stuff happens, and these little messages from beyond, letting me know he’s still with me. It feels like actual magic. My brother’s life and soul has always been dedicated to family, and being there for those he loves whenever and however he can (especially if he can make them laugh in the process). He has gone way over the top with his expressions of dedication more times than I can count. Of course that wouldn’t change even if he’s here in a different form now. Take this as a reminder to be open and observant for signs from your own loved ones who have passed, because you just never know… They’re with you, whether you look for them at your side or not.