First 2 Weeks

The first 2 weeks were a blur. I spent them in Al's apartment helping Jack, the executor to his Trust, do all the things one does. So here's all the odd things that happened in those first 2 weeks:

Jack had to rent a car since he had flown in from out of state. The rental company gave him the exact same car Al drove, a black Ford Explorer. Jack didn't ask for it and was in total shock when he saw it.

As I was helping to clean out Al's apartment I kept being drawn to a pair of green slippers and a white tin of candy. I wanted to take them with me, but logic kept telling me I was nuts. He had so many beautiful pieces of artwork, why was I drawn to slippers and candy? Later in the day his sister called from New York and asked if he had had the chance to give me the green slippers he had brought back for me!! and she also asked if I had found a white tin of Italian candies he had bought and was popping endlessly he liked them so much.

At one point I started doubting how much he loved me (I later learned this is a common feeling). That same day, his niece emailed her eulogy which included Al's dream of moving to Italy with "his beloved Aedan."

4/25/08: His sister found a gift certificate for Bed, Bath & Beyond. She used it and drove home wishing she had another one. On an impulse she looked in her gift certificate envelope (apparently she had several for other places) and found another one from BB&B she swore wasn't there before. It certainly could have been an oversight, except the gift certificate was from Al and it had expired on the day of his death 4/14/08.

Later in the day, as I was walking up the stairs to his apartment, I was wishing for a tangible sign for myself from Al. As soon as I walked in the door Jack and my friend Kristy said, "You want a sign?" ???? I'd never said anything out loud to anyone; in fact, I had just thought it just then coming up the stairs. They gave me a Euro with a harp on it (I play harp). Kristy said she had just found it on Al's desk and the weird thing was, she had completely cleaned off the desk earlier in the day. I was later told by a friend that it's an American custom that if you find a penny it's from a departed loved one. Little did I know then he was to send a lot more coins in very unusual ways.

Two of my friends both heard a male voice shouting their name two days after Al passed. One was sleeping and it woke her up; the other was in the shower. Both asked their roommate/husband if they had called for them and both answered, "No."

4/28/08: I was sitting in the living room talking on the phone to a friend. My apartment then was full of noises from creaking floorboards from overheard neighbors, to birds and squirrels outside; it was constantly filled with noises of some sort that I learned to ignore. Suddenly, a noise in the corner of the room caught my attention. I looked in that direction and thought "Al?". Then I noticed the glass door on my antique clock was open. I've had this clock for years and the door has never opened on its own.

4/29/08: Came home from work, tired, depressed. The cat gets out and does his usual "chase me" game. This usually goes on for at least 10-15 minutes. As soon as he got out I just felt too drained for the game and thought, "Al, would you please get the cat to stop." The cat immediately dropped to the ground and waited for me to pick him up.

4/30/08: One of Al's friends for many years (and originally someone he had dated in his 20's) called me to see how I was doing. When she started talking about an old girlfriend of Al's, the phone started crackling so I couldn't hear what she was saying. When the crackling stopped, she was on another subject.

That morning the phone woke me early. The ring tone was the tone I had set to let me know when Al was calling, and I only had it programmed for Al's cell and home phones. By this time both had been disconnected. It rang once then stopped.