Category: Survivors/Seekers
Author: Helen Greaves
About the author and why I chose this book: Helen Greaves was by Sister Francis Mary’s side as she lapsed into unconsciousness, after suffering from cancer. Then, one evening some three weeks after Frances’s death, Helen sensed her presence. This extraordinary encounter marked the beginning of contact between them from both sides of the veil—between life as we know it and life on “the other side.”
After my fiance died in the crash of Delta Air Lines Flight 191, within 18 months I entered a university program. I wanted to learn how to train employees on best practices for responding to survivors of workplace tragedies. I was still in need of help with my own grief–but had been disappointed in my personal quest. My favorite professor on my doctoral dissertation committee, Dr. Joan Guntzelman, who taught at the University of New Mexico Medical School recommended that I read Testimony of Light. When a loved one dies and disappears from our lives, physically, there is a need to believe that they are alive spiritually. This book published originally in 1969 details the conversations from the other side between Sister Francis Mary, who died of cancer and an experienced, respected writer, Helen Greaves. I found great comfort and hope in the scripts between the two women. It is one of my favorite books to recommend when someone is grieving.