I would also like to point out that my dad died unexpectedly, and these are some of the odd events that happend surrounding this sad event.
During the week preceding my dad's passing, I had some odd feelings that I chose to ignore. Once such thing was during a conversation with a co-worker, who said something, and in reply I said "Hey that sounds like something my dad used to say", I paused and I said "Uh.. I wonder why I said 'used to say' he's still around!" I was pretty close to my dad, and they say for those we are closest to, we feel things like this when something is going to happen to them. I chose to ignore little things that kept happening during that week to "remind" me of my dad. I couldn't understand them, because at the time my dad was still living. I thought maybe it was because I was working a lot, and barely getting to see my husband, I had little time to spend with my folks.
I did get to see my dad the day he died, he was cooking breakfast, and my husband and I stopped by on the way to take my car into the shop to get the fan-belt changed. We had a great breakfast, then it was time for me to leave, I was pretty reluctant to go, I just had a gut feeling, again I chose to ignore it. At around 4pm my cousin showed up where I worked, and told me my dad wasn't doing well, which I could not understand as he was ok when my husband and I were there. She drove me to the hospital, and unfortunately, my dad was already "gone". Needless to say, I was angry with myself for ignoring my feelings that had been going on all week. However, I don't think my dad suffered at all. We believe it was a heart-attack, or perhaps a blood clot from his bad knee, which had been "acting up" lately.
On to the stranger things: The night before my dad's visitation, we were at my parent's house, my husband, my brother and his wife, and my mom. My sister in law and I were talking about my dad, as the neighbor's had brought all kinds of meat and cheese trays to mom's house, and we said "Gee I bet dad is looking down and saying "Man, I wish I hadn't died! Look at the food!" " and we both noticed the lights flickered. Thereafter, that night when we talked about dad, the lights flickered. My brother, being the rational skeptic, told us to quit talking about it, that we would upset mom. (However, he is the one that is having the worst problems with dad's passing, and to this day, he still won't speak of it)
After my brother and his wife left, my husband and my mom and I sat down and talked about the arrangements and so forth. I asked what sort of flowers did they get to decorate the coffin with at the funeral, and she said "Daisies, because dad always sang 'I'll give you a daisy a day, dear'" to my mom. The lights flickered. After the visitation, the lights no longer flickered. None of us recall the lights doing that before dad died either, and to this day, the lights no longer flicker. They didn't flicker at regular intervals, or when the furnace kicked in, so I truly believe it was my dad, letting us know he could still hear us.
My mom had revealed to us after my brother and his wife left, that she was having trouble sleeping the night before, but she experienced something very strange. She was sitting there, wide awake, and she said she saw my dad's mother's face, plain as day, she died in 1990. She was smiling a very peaceful smile, and it brought a calm over her. She said she felt like dad's mom was telling her that he was with her now, and he was safe, and not to worry. It gave my mom a sense of tranquility.
I also had some strange dreams around this time, when I did sleep. The first night I dreamed that my dad and my grandpa had been reunited (my mom's dad, whom my dad always got along well with), and for some reason they were doing a 'soft-shoe' tap-dance to "Tea for Two". Tea for Two was a song that my grandpa used to sing to my grandma, and I assume the tap-dancing meant, if this was a 'message' to me, that he no longer had the old knee pain, and that grandpa had been the one to take him home. (See a bit more about my grandpa in the link "my grandma") The next night, I had a dream I was trying to find my cat, and I was at an air-port. Suddenly, down an escalator, I saw my dad. I yelled "HEY! Dad!", and he turned to look at me, he was smiling, but a single tear was visible going down his cheek. As I made my way to the front of the lines to where I saw my dad in the dream, he was gone, and nobody knew where he went. The final dream I had, involved a phone call from my dad. I was dreaming I was at my house, the phone rang (in the dream) and I picked it up. It was my dad, and I asked how he was, and he said he was good. He said he'd see me again someday, but he had to leave. I asked him where he was, could I see him again, and then I woke up in a cold sweat. Perhaps our deceased loved-ones do communicate with us in dreams.
I still miss my dad, he passed away in December 2000. He was an awesome guy! Before he passed he was working as a supervisor at a factory that made air-conditioning coils, the tag on the bouquet of flowers from the guys he supervised read: "To the Best Second Shift Supervisor We Ever Had!" That's what kind of guy my dad was.
He was the best!