God Squad: More 'God winks,' signs from the other side

Q: Recently, I set out for Delaware with my brother to find and visit the grave site of our grandmother. This was a "Bubbie" I never knew. We knew the cemetery in which she was buried, but now needed to find the obelisk-shaped gravestone.

My brother and I started on opposite ends of the cemetery and walked the line. I happened to fall upon it. I called to my brother, and suddenly found myself with my arms draped around the gravestone choking back sobs. The gravestone faced north, so the 1919 engravings were quite weathered and hard to read. My brother and I wiped away as much of the gravestone's moss and lichen as we could before I snapped a picture, and then started to read. I submit the first attached pic of the gravestone after we had cleaned it, as best we could.

No more than five minutes after taking the first picture of her gravestone my brother turned to me and said, "Look at it now!" I looked up. I now submit the second picture. Both pics were taken with the same iPhone 12 camera, mine, five minutes apart, after purposefully attempting to replicate the same size image in the view finder. We both stood there aghast and awed, perhaps even spooked. The gravestone had suddenly become clear and easy to read. Her gravestone now spoke loudly and clearly. Same blue-sky background, same distance from gravestone, same image size; no PhotoShop tampering. The camera captured exactly what our naked eyes saw. Chalk our experience up to your category of: "No words but special effects." But this time we have evidence! I too think that things go on way beyond our ability to perceive and comprehend. I sincerely appreciate your time and interest in this subject matter. It's very nice to have a rabbi to speak to about our experience. — J

A: Thanks for your spooky "God wink." I looked at the pictures you sent me of your grandmother's obelisk headstone and the pictures do confirm your amazement. The first picture is almost illegible, and the second picture is clear as a bell. Hard to know what to make of this. If, as you say, you did nothing to alter the stone and the pictures were taken in the same light, this is indeed an amazing transformation.

Q: My husband, Fred, of almost 30 years died on 12/12/20. He was not overly religious, but after we were married in a Presbyterian church ceremony and he became available to attend church services on Sunday, he did accompany me almost every Sunday. When we first married he was the tennis pro for a private club and had to work on Sundays.  On May 31, 2021, almost six months after he died, I was asleep and had what I call a "visitation" dream. In my dream I was standing at the end of some counter, like at a dry cleaners or something, and I got a call on my phone. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Hello.

Caller: Honey? (I didn't recognize the voice, but no one called me "Honey" but my husband, Fred.)

Me: Who is this?

Caller: (stuttering) F-f-f-red (My first thought was "Freddie," his son, but the stutter was the thing that convinced me it was Fred because he did stutter.)

Me: How is this happening?

Fred: I have special lines available.

Me: How are you? (I think I told him that I was shaking terribly from the shock of the call at this point.)

Fred gave no real response, just a muffled laugh like "how do you think I am, I'm dead." At that point I remember specifically saying to myself "Get it together and ask some really important questions.")

Me: I miss you. Are you with God?

Fred: Yes

Me: Have you seen people that you know there?

Fred: Yes, the guys from my club. (I took this to mean guys he hung out with when he was young, but it could have meant guys from the tennis club where he was the tennis pro for 17 years.)

The call faded out … nothing more … I woke up immediately.

I was so happy and comforted to know that he was with God, and I carry that with me to this day. I totally believe he reached out to me from the "other side." — L

A: And so it goes. The line of souls on the other side who want to share their Godwinks with me gets longer and longer.