An Angel Walked Beside Me: Amazing stories of children who touch the other side. Joan Charles

told me her big brother had died of leukaemia when she was only a toddler.

      ‘He’s there to be with you,’ I told her. ‘He is there to assist you in your life and help keep you on the right path. Do you know what I mean?’

      ‘Kind of,’ Lucy answered, ‘but I don’t really know how I can work out what I’m meant to do. Is he sending me messages?’

      I tried to explain. ‘You’re very psychic but you’re scared at the same time. There’s a part of you that wants to take your gift forward but you’re not sure how to do this. I sense that there’s also a part of you that doesn’t know if it’s right. Am I correct?’

      Lucy nodded. I notice this in a lot of people; even if they are intuitive they still have some residual wariness about how appropriate their feelings and senses are. In my opinion there is nothing more appropriate, but not everyone has that secure knowledge.

      ‘Your brother is here to ensure that you follow your path. Be guided by him. He wouldn’t lead you into danger or allow you to be drawn to anything that wasn’t good for you. He may not be on this plane, but he still has your best interests at heart – he’s still your big brother. He will be your guide for the time being and this may or may not change depending on how your development progresses. Be open to what you feel, act on your intuition, and you will blossom – he’ll make sure of that.’

      Lucy said that she felt such relief that I had brought all of this up and confirmed what she had always felt – that her brother was there beside her. She said that she had barely known him, but actually that wasn’t strictly true. He had been beside her all of her life in one form or another, and, as we chatted further, she told me many examples of times when he had clearly been communicating with her. A brother’s love, or a sister’s love, does not fade or disappear because they have passed over, and Lucy was a remarkable woman in that she had an awareness of her spiritual connection. I only hoped that she would take what I had given her and use it to move forward in the rest of her life; thankfully, her next words made me feel that this had a real chance of happening.

      ‘I want to take this as far as I can,’ she told me. ‘I want to make a real start on developing myself.’

      I told her that she could go to a spiritualist church and also recommended some books to set her on her way, but emphasised that the most important thing was that she should listen to her brother and follow her intuition. That was the biggest gift that she could give both of them.

      Lucy has kept in touch with me since then and her journey has been an inspirational one, as has that of her brother. I know that her mother and father, not the sort of people who would have believed in ‘this sort of thing’, have actually become very open-minded as they have witnessed concrete examples of their daughter’s talent. Lucy has been able to pass on information about the son they lost, and they have realised that she is indeed communicating with her brother. In doing so, she has brought all of the family together again, and given her parents tremendous peace.

      The face in the window

      Those who have not lost a child can never fully understand the pain and emptiness of those who have. We can sympathise but never empathise. It would be terrible of me to say that there is nothing to grieve as your child is still here, albeit on a different plane, because that would underestimate the horrific emotional cost of a child’s death. However, I would gently suggest that there are ways to channel your grief and perhaps to look at whether signs remain of your son’s or daughter’s continuing involvement in your life.

      The idea of reincarnation can be very helpful to people who have lost children. For some it may be an unthinkable notion, a step too far – but why? If you have ever thought to yourself that a child has ‘been here before’ or that they are ‘old beyond their years’ then surely the logical progression is to consider reincarnation?

      It is difficult to find healing energy after loss. For a time you will feel despair and you may feel as if you will never be happy again. You won’t want anyone to tell you that you need to move on or that time will heal, but it’s true. In my experience, the child who has passed may also need some help.

      One woman, Diane, asked me to come and do a reading as their son kept seeing a face at their window. Diane told me that her little boy, Nathan, was very disturbed by it and that no one else could see what he was seeing. She told me that there was no way anyone was playing a prank, and that the face Nathan could see was that of a baby.

      I went along to their house one night. First of all I noted that there was definitely no way anyone could get access to the first-floor windows from outside. I started doing a reading for Diane while Nathan, who was about six, played on the floor with his toy cars. I asked him how he was, what school he went to, and lots of little questions like that. He answered them in a friendly fashion, then asked me why I was there.