Are you interested in knowing about those cherished people in your life who have died? HEART TO HEART ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE brings authentic witnessing to after-death communication. The book weaves autobiographical experiences with the stories and personal testimonies of others to tell how the deceased are not dead, but living in spirit, and still communicating love and support. This reality was made especially evidential in the author's "reading" with a psychic medium; the account of this occasion gives readers a window to the visitations of her loved ones and their intimate messages.

The spirit world reaches out in many ways to the temporal world to bring enlightenment to our earthly journeys. Contacts from those in the realm of spirit inspire individuals to care for one another and to use their life energies in positive ways. The spiritual dimension in these pages encourages us not to be locked into a prison of fear but to move forward, always confident of continuing life and love in the hereafter. You will see that people from different backgrounds and times of history have discovered new meaning and purpose in their lives because of connections to the souls departed. You too can experience consolation and peace of mind through the ever-present energies of your loved ones in the afterlife, who patiently await your receptivity to their companionship and charity.

When you visit their tombstones on occasion, do you wonder whether your people are captive to the graves where they are buried? Does your thinking get stuck there, so that you too become entombed in the burial sites? Maybe you find yourself instead looking skyward and wondering how far away those relatives and friends are who were once part of your everyday life. The void with its astronomical secrets doesn’t give you what you want to know either.

In the past when I’d walk my Samoyed pup, Panda, in the evening, I’d often gaze at the sky lit with stars and talk from my heart, "Thank you, Mom and Dad, for everything; I miss you, I miss you." After death put my folks out of reach, I’d wonder if they were floating spirits in the universe somewhere, perhaps astray out there in the galaxies. I’d recall how my mother shook her head and teased me sometimes as a young child, "You have the greatest imagination." That imagination continued to keep my closeness to them alive, despite the gaping void that hung between us. Always in that same sweep of mental meandering under the cold sky, warm memories of bygone days rushed to my mind and heart to bring connections once again. But, connections to just memories, or, indeed, really to my loved ones? And so, in those sacred moments, I would pray to find answers to "Are you really there?" and "Where are you hanging out if you are really there?"

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant said, "At some future day it will be proved, I can not say when and where, that the human soul is, while in earth life, already in an uninterrupted communication with those living in another world." Research in after-death communication has given us much convincing evidence to take us closer to that day Kant talks about. The darkness of ignorance continues to give way to the light of knowledge that emanates from after-death communication, a communication as old as mankind.

ADC is an experience that occurs when a person is contacted by a family member or friend or other individual (e.g., a religious figure) who has died. Psychic researchers (investigators into the paranormal) say contact from the dead can come in direct and spontaneous communications without the help of hypnotists, psychics, or mediums. The ADCs are always initiated by the deceased and can happen anywhere and anytime. It is not necessary, moreover, for someone to believe in this kind of communication in order to receive a message, with or without words, from a person who has died.

People have reported many different forms of direct ADC with their deceased family and friends. A common form of contact is sensing a presence. It’s a definite feeling that a loved one is right near you, even though the person cannot be heard nor seen; individuals have reported feeling a loved one’s embrace or kiss. You know too when the presence comes and when it leaves. This distinct presence may be felt in the weeks immediately after death and even months and years later. Another common ADC is hearing an external voice, as when a living person is talking to you. Most voice communications, though, are heard through an interior means, i.e., hearing in a nonphysical way. St. Joan of Arc (1412-1431) was one of the greatest historical clairaudients (one who hears without the physical ear). Voices spoke to her from early childhood, giving advice and encouragement and impelling her on a successful mission to defeat the English at Orleans in 1429.