Dreams and Intuition Before Loss

2020 Reflections.... Part 2 of 5

Three weeks before my mother passed away, I had a dream. We were sitting at a desk and we were planning something. I was helping her make arrangements. We were both sitting on the same side of the desk next to one another. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what it meant. I prayed about it, wondering what God was showing me.

I didn’t tell anyone. I even tried to convince myself that the dream might be about my grandmother, who appeared in the dream but wasn’t really there. But in my heart, I sensed this dream was about my mom — and about the role I would soon need to step into.

When the Heart Knows Before the Mind Does

Looking back, I believe that dream was my mother’s way — and God’s way — of preparing me for her transition. She knew, even before she left, that I would be certain to take care of her final wishes.

When she passed, I moved into action almost without thinking. I was numb, but I knew my priority: to make sure she was treated with dignity, respect, and honor. That sense of duty felt like an extension of the love and trust she placed in me — something that dream had already planted in my spirit.

The Mystery of Intuition in Grief

As a grief counselor, I’ve seen this happen in many forms — a vivid dream, a sudden feeling, a small moment that makes no logical sense but later carries great meaning. These experiences can be unsettling or comforting, depending on how we interpret them.

They remind us that our relationships and our inner knowing are often deeper than we realize. Sometimes, the heart gets the message before the mind is ready.

In grief counseling, we often talk about meaning-making — the process of finding personal significance in experiences that might otherwise feel random or confusing. For some, that might mean seeing a dream as a sign of connection. For others, it may simply be a reminder of their own strength or faith.

Meaning-making doesn’t erase the pain of loss, but it helps create a framework for living with it. It allows us to integrate both the sorrow of absence and the comfort of what remains — the love, the memories, the moments of knowing.

If You’ve Experienced Something Similar

• Write it down – Record the dream, feeling, or moment while it’s fresh.

• Sit with it gently – Don’t rush to assign meaning. Let it unfold.

• See it as connection – For many, these experiences are a sign of love, trust, or preparation from the one they’ve lost.

  
  

Final Thought: Whether you see it as divine preparation, intuition, or simply the heart’s way of protecting us, these moments can be a quiet gift — a reminder that love doesn’t stop at the edge of loss.