Two days before he died, Jack told Sandra, "After I go, I’d like you to get in touch with me. But give it some time. Let me get settled on the other side." Several months later, contact was made – but not in the way Jack might have planned it.

Sandra and Jack had been best friends since elementary school. Though they went to different universities, they kept in touch by telephone, through greeting cards and, later, email. After graduation, both returned to Toronto. Sandra introduced Jack to Victoria, his wife, and the couple attended Sandra and Leo’s wedding. As Sandra and Jack lived into their 50’s, both became spiritual in their own ways – Sandra grew closer to her church, and Jack embraced Buddhism. The idea of the eternal soul intrigued him.

Moving forward several years, Jack was diagnosed with liver cancer, which quickly metastasized through his body. He entered a hospice, and Sandra visited him often. They talked about their feelings of the afterlife, and Jack confessed that he’d once seen a medium. The experience had been quite profound, as the medium had connected him with his parents who’d passed when Jack was a teenager. This was a great comfort, and made him more firmly believe in the continuous existence of the soul.

Jack’s funeral was packed. Sandra’s husband consoled her, and they talked about the times the two couples had gotten together to see a movie, or celebrate New Year’s Eve or an anniversary. When Sandra’s third grandchild was born, they named him Jack. And as time crept on, Sandra thought less and less of her dear friend.

One night, Sandra woke from a deep sleep with Jack on her mind. He seemed so close, it felt like he was in the room with her. She said his name, almost expecting him to answer. Find my medium, she thought he had said.

Giving in to her curiosity, she Googled "Toronto medium" and now Sandra was on the phone. "I think Jack was sending me a message, she said. "I remember him telling me once that he went to you for a reading." She paused a moment, then slowly shook her head. "Honestly, I’m not even sure that Jack has the ability to enter my dreams."

"Let me explain something called ‘visitations’" I said. "When we’re asleep, we’re open to visits from the spirit world, especially loved ones who want to touch in with us. It’s easier for them to enter our subconscious mind because we’re more receptive, more at peace. So, let’s see if I can connect with Jack and see what he wants."

While I didn’t recall reading for Jack – I see hundreds of clients every year – I concentrated on the picture of Jack that Sandra had sent me. I felt a broad-shouldered man with a Welsh connection step forward. He was holding a lotus and pointing to his robe and sandals. Sandra confirmed that Jack’s parents were from Wales, and he was a Buddhist who believed that in a past life, he’d worn the saffron-coloured robe of a monk.

"He wants to tell you he’s fine and, yes, the soul does live on after the transition we call death," I said. Then Jack said a few personal things for Sandra to end the session on an empowering note.

Afterward, I felt light-headed and amazed. "This is the first time that I’ve read for a client in the flesh, and then contacted him in the spirit world," I said. "And now that Jack knows you’re open to spirit contact, talk to him whenever you’d like – even when you’re wide awake."