Free Animals and the Afterlife by Kim Sheridan Page B

know,” she assured me. She then told me the story of her beloved cat, who had died and then returned to her in a new body. I wondered if it could be true. During my lifelong exploration of the afterlife, I had heard many quite compelling stories of reincarnation. However, these stories had always involved humans . I had never considered the possibility of animal reincarnation. I had always felt in my heart that animals have souls just as humans do, but I’d never really found any concrete answers. Something clicked inside of me in that moment.
    Later that same day, a man attending the workshop, who was psychic, approached me; he wasn’t aware of the conversation I’d had with the woman earlier.
    “As you were talking about June,” he began, “a very powerful image came to me. While looking at you, I saw a small male dog with long, floppy ears. June will be coming back to you as a dog, and you can call her—or rather, him — Junior!” He smiled through sincere eyes. I smiled back, not sure what to say.
    What a sweet man, I thought to myself. He probably thinks that the promise of a new puppy will comfort me. He doesn’t realize that I could never love another animal. I’m June’s devoted person, and now that she’s gone, well, that’s that. I was skeptical about his vision, but I didn’t let on, not wanting to hurt his feelings.
    Never before had this idea of animal reincarnation occurred to me, and yet, there it was, twice in one day. It’s been my experience that whenever something comes up twice in a row like that, there’s a significant reason. I wondered what the reason was. Still, I was skeptical and tried my best to get on with life.
    The next day, the woman who had approached me before did so again. She told me she’d been thinking about me and got the very strong impression that I was supposed to be doing something important involving animals. She felt guided to share this with me. I felt my life moving in a whole new direction. And I had thought I was just there to cry.
    I called and left messages for all of June’s animal communicators to let them know that she had died. Somehow, telling people about her death helped me to deal with the grief. It helped me to feel that I was not alone in the experience and that people cared. I didn’t tell anyone what I’d recently heard about the afterlife or about June coming back. I thought they’d think I was crazy, and besides, I didn’t believe it myself.
    Shortly thereafter, several of the animal communicators left messages on my answering machine, telling me that June had said she’d be coming back to me, but that it would be a while and she wouldn’t be a rat when she returned. For the first time, I felt a glimmer of hope about the possibility of June’s return; but I was still very skeptical, and I wondered to myself, Why not a rat?
    One day I was feeling particularly depressed and lost, and I was becoming doubtful that there even was an afterlife. I didn’t know where else to turn, so I made an appointment with a professional animal communicator I had never worked with before. I had read that this particular communicator, Gail De Sciose, specialized in communicating with the spirits of deceased animals. I missed June immensely and needed some kind of reassurance that she still existed somewhere . I didn’t let Gail know that I’d spoken with anyone else, nor did I tell her anything I had heard about June coming back to me.
    “June tells me she’ll be coming back to you,” she began, “but not as a rat next time.” Why not a rat? I wondered again. I didn’t say a word. She continued.
    “She’s coming back as a dog. A small male dog. It won’t be right away, but when the time is right, June will be back.”
    I was blown away. I had that certain goosebumpy feeling you get when something extraordinary is taking place. Nevertheless, the skeptic in me asked for proof that we’d really contacted June. I wanted June to tell me something