Heavenly tomato seeds

Are tomato seeds or tomatoes special to you? Do they evoke happiness? The picking of juicy red fruits from your summer garden. Salads. Pasta sauce. For me, they’re a hello from heaven!

My dad, who died a couple of years ago, when alive, was one of the very best tomato growers on the planet. Truly. You’ve never tasted a better tomato than one grown by my dad.

And he loved sharing his produce with family and friends. He was a very generous man. Huge, fleshy, scrumptious tomatoes – a meal in one. Bite into it and you’d be transported to paradise.

You’ve probably guessed, these weren’t your average Bunnings variety tomatoes. Rather, they were grown from seeds brought (smuggled!) into Australia by dad from Yugoslavia in the 1960s.

 

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The seeds were cherished. Planted. Grown. Picked. Dried. Saved. Shared. They brought something of the old country to our new home and for decades we celebrated the abundance they provided.

Tomatoes are heritage. My ancestors ate this variety of tomatoes. They supported life, strengthened family, and built community – they had superpowers!! They even whispered truths to us…

Like in the year 2000 when I came home from my first date with Rob (my future husband), and there, piled high at the kitchen sink – ripe and ready to devour tomatoes picked by my dad.

The tomatoes whispered: This is the man for you. Marry him. Have babies!

The previous boyfriend got a bag full of lemons – picked by my dad. (And yes, we went sour.)

 

 

Dad’s after-death communication

So, you can imagine the great emotion I felt when in late January 2018, following my dad’s passing (September 2017), I went to a drawer in my bedroom to retrieve sticky labels for my children’s school books and unexpectedly discovered an envelope filled with magic.

From the outside the envelope was blank but when I looked inside I saw a photo of my dad and me, one which I’d wanted for his funeral service but couldn’t find at the time, and a smaller envelope was also tucked inside, filled with dad’s treasured tomato seeds!

Oh, how the emotion swelled up in me because that day, January 29th, was my dad’s birthday! He’d have been 83. At that moment, I felt his undying love for me. Finding the envelope with a picture of us happily smiling together, along with his tomato seeds was a great big hello from heaven!

Yes, the magic really is in the timing. Ordinary things delivered with exceptional timing. Ordinary things that mean something to someone (even if only to you or me). This is how heaven speaks. To the heart. This is how our dearly departed say hello and tell us they’re still with us, in heaven.

 

As much as we think of them, they think of us. I cannot tell you how many times my dad has communicated with me via tomato seeds and tomatoes since his passing! And always with impeccable timing. When I’m not expecting him. It always stops me in my tracks.

For instance, one morning, when I arrived anxiously at my GP for an appointment to discuss my son’s possible ADHD diagnosis. A man entered the surgery and delivered a plastic bag full of red ripe tomatoes to the receptionist. Yes, he put that bag on the counter right in front of me.

Immediately, I felt my dad was with me, in spirit, reassuring me that all would be OK. And though ADHD has been a difficult journey for our family – we are navigating it, together, and making good progress. So, thanks for the sign, dad. Thanks for helping me through the sludge.

Then there was the time dad came through while I was at the hairdresser. There were three of us: the hairdresser, myself, and another client, a woman who was a complete stranger to me – turned out she was a budding spiritual medium. She said: “Why is your dad showing me tomatoes?”

 

 

Heavenly signs & messages

There are myriad ways your dearly departed may communicate their spiritual survival and enduring love for you which may provide healing and personal transformation.

You may sense their presence, hear their voice, feel their touch or smell their fragrance. You may see them as an apparition or in a dream; receive a symbolic message, sign, meaningful coincidence, or synchronicity that is pertinent to them. And often only you can perceive or understand it.

Prayer, meditation, contemplation or simply being in the flow of daily activities may help align you with your loved one in spirit. Creating a sacred place in your garden or home where you may talk to them in a heartfelt manner and open the channels of spiritual communication.

Often, what the dearly departed want for you is peace. For you to know that they have transitioned, and they’re happy. And that you will be together again someday. But until then, they want you to get on with living to the fullest and not be burdened by grief: Live. Love. And be joyful.

 

 

A child who has passed will want their parents to know they are OK and being cared for in heaven. This may be by deceased family members or their soul family. The child may go to great lengths to communicate their spiritual survival to reassure and support their grief-stricken parents.

Accept into your heart those unexpected miracles – often small, private miracles brimming with personal meaning for you – lights, rainbows, birds, butterflies, feathers, flowers, music, and numbers. And many other signs, dreams, and mysteries. They’re a hello from heaven!

Acknowledging spirit messages communicates to your loved one in spirit that you have received their love. And that you are open to receiving more. It brings them joy. They may be in need of healing too. They may be seeking your forgiveness. Or wish to say thanks or goodbye.

I’m always grateful for my dad’s after-death communication. It helps me through my grief which moves in waves of remembering him. I feel supported and loved by him, still, and know we are connected beyond the physical world. He continues in spirit and in my heart for eternity.

 

 

Hello from Heaven – Book

One of my favourite spiritual books is Hello from Heaven! co-authored by Bill Guggenheim and Judy Guggenheim. It’s an excellent read, published in English and 18 other languages, and filled with many heart-warming after-death communication stories.

Bill and Judy are researchers who first coined the term after-death communication (ADC). There are 353 ADCs featured in Hello from Heaven! selected from 3,300 first-hand accounts the authors gathered over seven years from the US and Canada.

The accounts were arranged into different ADC types and include a short summary or conclusion after each which is especially helpful if you’re coming to the subject of ADCs for the first time.

 

Hello from Heaven – Synchronicity

You can imagine my utter surprise when with only a few chapters of Hello from Heaven! left to read, I received an email out of the blue from Bill Guggenheim – telling me how much he enjoyed reading my book Where The Light Lives. Well, hello! It made my day!!

Quite a synchronicity, don’t you think? And I do looove synchronicities! So, what were the chances of Bill and me reading each other’s books at exactly the same time, me in Perth, Australia, and Bill in Florida, USA – having never met before? Magic really is in the timing!