Was in my baby’s bedroom with baby and dog. Realised it had been a while since I’d let the dog out. So I (securely) left the baby playing for a sec to nip downstairs with the dog, who usually trots after me. I reach the back door and realise the dog isn’t following.

She’d stopped at the top of the stairs. Would. Not. Budge. Just sat there glaring at me like, “ummmm… you forgot the baby 🧐”.

My partner built a really robust dog fence around the yard so our lab mix could let himself out the dog door to sun himself while we were at work. One afternoon, we caught the dog nonchalantly sneaking through a hole in the fence. "Uh, buddy, what are you doing?" He froze with the most horrified expression on his goofy dog face and slowly turned to see if we were, indeed, aware that he was sneaking out. Busted.

Turns out, he had been letting himself out for walks around the neighborhood for MONTHS and always making sure to get home before we did. He knew he wasn't supposed to do it, so he tried to keep it secret from us. The only reason he got caught was that he was so comfortable with it that he forgot it was our day off. The neighbors later confirmed that he was extremely well behaved and they assumed we were just allowing it. Truly, he was the best boy.

There was a mule at a barn I worked at that figured out how to open gates and latches, and would break into the feed storage at night. He didn't like getting in trouble for it, so he started letting OTHER horses out. SOB would then eat his fill, then relock himself back in his own paddock by morning, leaving the other horses to take the fall. Also he stole and chugged long neck beers if you left them unattended around him.


Pour one out for Moose.

My mom passed from cancer about 15 years ago. Our cat MAMA (MAMA cat needs to be in all caps because she was BIG MAMA, a 21 pound tabby) would sit on laps in the living room and only ventured to the kitchen to eat from her bowl or to the bathroom. She never went upstairs, mostly because she was a portly little soul and because she was 12. She was antisocial with most people and trotted away from everyone but me and my mom most of the time, even hissed and swatted at most.

Anyway, my mom moved out to my grandma's house to do hospice as things finally got to the end. MAMA walked around meowing at home whenever I saw her there (I moved into Grandma's to help take care of Mom but would go home to get clothes and this and that and feed MAMA and do the kitty litter) shuffling around at a much faster speed than normal like she was worried.

When my mom finally let go we didn't go home at all that week. My godmother did the cat chores for me as I was saying goodbye. Then we had the funeral and it was all a blur. I went home that night after days of tears and just pure exhaustion from grief. Despite the fatigue I couldn't sleep. My tear ducts and throat were worn out and had nothing left. Just that wrenching ache of sadness in my gut churning like a washing machine that they don't make any medicine for. It was probably about 1am when I heard MAMA meowing at the door to my Mom's room. Then saw her little bowling ball silhouette at the entrance to mine. She had loafed her way up the stairs for probably the first time in 7 years and half her weight ago. She locked eyes with me and stopped meowing, just struggled up to my bed and curled around my arm on my pillow after giving me a little nose boop.

Mom hadn't been home in about a month, I hadn't been home in over a week, and it's like she knew my mom was gone. There's a a cruel isolation to grief at the loss of a parent. If it's anything like my loss you see a ton of people all day but there's a figurative distance between you and your friends and family and you feel like you're on an island thanking people on a passing ship for being there.

When MAMA made her way up the stairs to comfort me it was the first time I didn't feel alone all day on a day I was surrounded by hundreds of people. I bellowed dry sorrow into her fur. The tearless echoey sounds you make when you scream at a concert all day. Normally she would have bolted away at the littlest thing, but she stayed right there until the first lights of morning.

I decided I'd take MAMA home with me to my apartment after that. She lived another 11 years! I said goodbye to her a few years ago now. She never climbed another set of stairs in her wonderful kitty life. She continued to be mean to mostly everyone but me and never sat in anyone else's lap. She was truly my cat. RIP MAMA! You were the best furry friend in history.

My husband had a dog… she was our first baby. (She was supposed to be mine, but my husband became her person.) She was a border collie/husky cross we think, and was beautiful, smart, well-trained, and fabulous with our kids. 

But she impressed me most with her malicious compliance. She’d started eating what the kids (still tiny back then) would leave on the table. I got mad and told her to stop eating off the table… so she picked up the bowl with left over mac n cheese in it, put it on the floor, and then ate the food. 

I couldn’t even be mad; she did exactly what she was told. 

She’s been gone for 10 years now. We still miss that girl. Best dog ever, and a great nanny dog with the kids. .

There are some researchers who have been collecting and quantifying the data of Near Death Experiences (NDEs) for years now. They have created 6 categories/stages of NDEs that generally sum up most experiences.

1. The hellish experience. It can be either a mildly uncomfortable experience, a cold, dark, damp, loveless experience, or the traditional flames and devil experience. Sometimes say they are drawn out of this realm by an indescribable love. Very few people recount experiencing this.
2. There is another type of experience where one has an out-of-body perspective, and can travel freely. Often times this happens in an operation room where one's heart has stopped and the doctors are working to revive the patient. The individual many be able to go to other rooms in the hospital, or travel across the country. If they remain in the hospital room, they do not always recognize their own bodies on the table, and can feel confused. (quick note: there have been a surge in NDEs since the 1960s when resuscitation techniques became more advanced.)
3. Much like many of the other redditor's comments, there is another experience of blissful, warm darkness that just feels comfortable. It is indescribable nothingness, often without memory or any inkling of consciousness at all.
4. The next experience is similar to the last, but with an additional light that is usually far away, that emanates warmth and love and forgiveness. The individual is either attracted to this light and goes toward it (or the light itself comes to the person.) It allegedly gets better and better the closer one draws to the light, and so they continue. (Obviously this is where the phrase "go/don't go to the light" likely comes from.
5. This experience continues where the last leaves off, where the person has broken through the light (to the other side). They now are experiencing a love/compassion/forgiveness/state of consciousness that is unlike anything they can put into words. Sometimes they encounter a sort of guide (this could be a loving anonymous being, or a religious figure (if they experience this, it is sometimes linked to their beliefs on Earth, but not always.)) This experience is sometimes accompanied by the most beautiful music. This being may present them to loved ones, or show them a life review (this is a very common experience of those who have had NDEs.) It may be at this point where the NDEer decides, or is told to return to their body (there is sometimes a choice) because they have "work left to accomplish in their lives." And I put that last part in quotes because of how many people cite that as their reasons on coming back.
6. The final experience goes beyond the previous state of love and consciousness and is experienced only by a relatively few people compared to the previous others. They say that they experience a becoming one with the universe/universal energy that unites everything/God. They have stated that they understand everything; that knowledge is known just by thinking of a topic.

(Disclaimer: people have different words to describe all these experiences, but what they typically agree on is that words themselves can not come close to explaining their encounter, for all of the aforementioned NDEs.) Most experiences are overwhelmingly pleasant, they lose fear of death, and they cannot wait to return to this state. However they know they must wait.

The NDE's that I've looked into pretty much all fall into these categories, so I'd like to hear any others that might not. As you can tell, this interests me greatly!

I want to end this by saying that if you wind up researching NDEs, come to your own conclusions about them. Is there a reason for someone to be pushing a certain belief on you? I have confidence that what people say about their NDE's, they themselves wholly believe to be true. Whether or not you do is up to your own judgement. There are people who make videos and give talks about NDEs they supposedly experience, but to me some seem to be fake and over rehearsed. Take what you want from my spiel, and if you have any questions about this, I've done a fair share of looking into the topic, and would love to discuss further. If you want any directions on where to look first into gaining your own knowledge of NDE's, I can definitely help you find something. Your NDE plug, out.

I'm going to have to speak for my Dad here... he passed away a few years back. I wrote this out while back actually... but maybe this will be a relevant place for it to be also.


Dad was fearful in his last days. He had been to the hospital many times and every single time he came close to death, what he remembered didn't reconcile with what most people report when having a near death experience. He, in fact, had a lot of bad experiences. One in particular where he relived a day 3 times in a row where doctors sedated him but he was still fully aware of what was happening to him. He could hear the conversations, feel the pain, feel the choking and suffocation. When I saw him the next day he had tears in his eyes as he tried to communicate a question on how many days he was out. When I told him 1 day he was confused and it took him a while to wrap his head around it. He thought he went to hell and this was his eternal punishment. He pondered for a long time on what he could have done to deserve that as a punishment. He did not ever want to be in the hospital, he hated them his whole life and that experience made him hate hospitals even more.

Dad's last trip via ambulance, he actually walked out to the ambulance and it wasn't because of the usual shortness of breath, it was because of chest pains. I was sure this was going to be a short stay and he'd be back soon.

During his last stay, he experienced more sedation, more hallucinations and more disorientation. I went to visit him every single day to get an update on his status. One night in particular they had trouble getting his heart rate down. It was steadily beating at about 160 and would calm to 120 or so before going back up to 160. It wasn't good for him.

Then, the next time he was up, I walked in right around his dinner time. He couldn't wait to talk to me but he could barely talk. It took all of his effort and energy, but he had some things to say.

Dad: Son... I know without a doubt that there is an afterlife.

Me: Really?

Dad: *nods*

Me: How are you so sure? You've been seeing guns on the ceiling and all kinds of hallucinations...

Dad: That wasn't me, I wasn't here.

Me: You weren't here?

Dad: I was there.

Me: Okay well.... did you see anyone you knew?

Dad: *shaking his head no*
It's not like that...
you can see souls being born into life and its the most beautiful thing you can see. Everyone has their own color and they're trying to get to white.

Me: trying to get to white?

Dad: *nods yes*
Time doesn't exist there. Time is here because of us and we're here because of time. Ohhh, I should have done more.
*looks at his hands* I could have been another Jimmy Page (he's referring to his skill as a guitarist) I could have done more.

Me: But you were the greatest Dad and...

Dad: *smirking a little to indicate that isn't what he meant* Do more, do everything you can...

Me: So... like carpe diem? Like seize the day?

Dad: *brightens* yes! Do everything you can. Don't worry about the consequences. Everyone finds their way. People worry to much about the consequences... just do good and do as much as you can. Everyone eventually gets there. Tell the family...

Me: Can I tell everyone?

Dad: Yes, tell everyone...

Me: okay Dad... I'll tell everybody

Dad: *nods in agreement*

I can tell he's tired by this time...

Me: I love you Dad.

Dad: I love you too Son.

This was the last conversation that I had with him. I miss him terribly and have been trying real hard to find myself again after his passing. It's been a long time and I've been able to cope with it enough to finally write this all out.

I hope this finds someone that needs to hear it.

With Love

Edit: I just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful, heartfelt and deeply personal comments and messages that have been sent my way. I also want to thank the wonderful person that gilded this... I am truly overwhelmed by all of your kindness.

Not really sure what happened and it still freaks me out to this day. May daughter was 4 and developed pneumonia. Her breathing would stop in her sleep so we took her in to the emergency room. She was there for a total of 5 days. For the first 3 days her health kept deteriorating. And on the 3rd day my girlfriend got a call that her mother had collapsed and was taken to the hospital. She was without oxygen for 20 minutes and was declared brain dead. That night my daughter woke up and asked about grandma. No one had said anything to her or in the room with her. We asked her what did she mean. She told us that grandma came to her in a dream and said it's not your time yet. I'll go for you. Immediately the next day she was almost 100 percent better.

My girlfriend is anaphylactic, and it is triggered by a chemical called salicylate (found in pretty much every food). When she was in high school she had her first big reaction, and the school nurses refused to administer her epipen (adrenaline shot) until the ambulance got there. Now obviously, having an anaphylactic reaction doesn’t give you a lot of ‘waiting time’, so by the time the ambulance got to her school she was in pretty bad shape and barely conscious. The paramedics immediately administered one of her epipens, called the nurses “f*****g twats” and loaded her into the ambulance as her mother arrived. She continued to fade, so they gave her a direct injection of adrenaline this time, still nothing. They give her a second direct injection of adrenaline and this time it hits her about 30 seconds later all at once, and her heart fails. She stops breathing, no pulse, nothing. Dead to the world. For about 2 minutes and 46 seconds she was clinically dead. And the scariest thing is, she saw nothing. She tells me that when you are losing consciousness you can’t tell the difference between waves of drowsiness and when your body actually shuts down. All she saw was the darkness of her eyelids, and it felt like going into an extremely calm sleep where she couldn’t hear or feel anything, and she didn’t mind it. All despite the fact her mother and the paramedics were screaming at her to keep her eyes open and the ambulance was flying towards the hospital. She miraculously just came back to life almost 3 minutes later as they were giving her chest compressions, and the cardiologist that assessed her later stated that all the adrenaline in her body was enough to not only stop her heart, but to also restart it with the little help from the paramedic pumping it around. But still do this day, she can’t differentiate falling asleep after a long day, and dying.

Got in the bus in South London and some dude dressed up like a 1990s wizard wearing a starry cape, gown, hat AND had a cat riding his shoulders got on the bus. He waved his wand over the Oyster card reader, it bleeped and he sat down. This dude had disassembled an oyster card, got the chip and inserted it into a wand!! Apparently he's quite well known around there and that's his normal outfit, yes the cat normally rides on his shoulders on the public transport and in the shops.