Life After Death: What My Mother’s Passing Taught Me

The Question

My journey into writing gay romance novels about reincarnation didn’t begin with a place. It began with a question: What happens when someone dies?

The Answer

The answer came quickly: death is not the end. It is simply a transition.

With degrees rooted in Christianity, the Bible, and theology, I’ve long believed that once a person dies, they move on to another plane of existence. The teachings I grew up with said that when we die, we are judged and go to heaven, hell, or someplace in between. We move on to a place different from here.

But in no situation do we stop existing. Life continues after death.

The Day My Mother Visited Me After Her Passing

I didn’t think deeply about that belief—until the day my mother died. On that day I knew, beyond any doubt, that when the body stops functioning, the person within does not stop existing.

My mother had been in serious decline for some time. I lived in another state. One night, near morning, I woke sensing someone at my bedroom door. I turned on the light expecting to see who was standing there. The light revealed an empty space.

I checked the clock on my nightstand. Noting the time, I knew I could get a couple more hours of sleep, so I shut off the light and drifted back to dreamland.

Later that morning my sister called: my mom had died a few hours earlier. I asked for the time, and goosebumps crawled up my arms. She told me the exact time I had sensed someone at my door.

My mother had come to see me one more time. Was she checking in on me? Or letting me know she had just died? I don’t know the purpose for the visit, but I know it happened. She left her body to visit me. There was life after death.

How This Experience Led Me to Write Stories of Love Across Lifetimes

That moment changed everything. Life wasn’t about sitting on a cloud singing all day. It meant we could still interact with others, visit loved ones, think, make decisions, and act.

And then came a new thought: What if someone didn’t want to stay dead? What if they wanted to return—to a love they had before they died?

That was the start of my adventure as an author, writing stories about soulmates, second chances, and love across lifetimes.

— M.J.