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[Music]

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my name is Maureen McGill and I'm a

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second time author with Ozark Mountain

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publishing my first book was called live

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from the other side and it's about true

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messages that our loved ones give us

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after they die and I wrote that with

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NOLA Davis co-authored that book and now

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I'm on to my second book called baby

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it's you messages from deceased heroes

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these fellows died in war or in

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stateside accidents or suicide and it's

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really the love story on how these

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couples met and then how they meet now

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they often meet through the senses

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that's where the message comes through

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is through the senses the loved one

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might feel his touch or hear his voice

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in her ear or she might smell him or

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that song might come on the radio and

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there are think thirty-one stories in

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the book and each one is attached to a

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song which was their song so it's the

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love love story really on how they met

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and then how they meet now there's also

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stories from mothers Gold Star mothers

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who lost their sons in war and also

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three surviving heroes that are also in

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the book that shared their mystical

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experiences that they had during war and

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during service you know it was an easy

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communication to have these stories told

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to me by these loved ones who had lost

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their love in in warm service usually

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the military wants to know how they died

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how's the family surviving but the widow

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or the mom just really wanted to tell me

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this story that seems so real to them

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the experience really came from their

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heart it was very reassuring that they

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received this message and so in that

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sensibility it was quite easy for these

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widows to tell me the story

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you know the stories are out there quite

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a few stories and we have a few stories

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in the book and suicide there seems to

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be more and more cases of suicide now in

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the military in terms of the horrible

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tragedies that they have faced over in

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Iraq Afghanistan but once the word got

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out to these Goldstar widows and as well

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as mothers it was an easy collection for

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me to receive these stories these

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special stories they shared these

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stories often over the phone with me

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first they would share it over the email

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with me and then I would have a

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conversation with them you know in my

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work I was a university professor and I

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taught dance and in dance you know I

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always felt that this awareness you know

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extends beyond the body and so it was

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kind of easy for me to connect to that

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those messages I also became very

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interested in the International

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Association of near-death studies and

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these are where people have flatlined

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gone over and then come back and they

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will often talk about these sensory

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experiences in that experience that they

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do so that can open the door for me to

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be interested more and more about how

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the message comes and how important that

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message is for healing the grief that we

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hold here and not being able to connect

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with our loved ones so my goal in this

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book really is to share the

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unconditional love that never dies to me

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love is eternal in it never dies and we

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think when the body goes that's it it's

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over it's done you know it's flatlined

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he's dead he's in the cemetery but

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really they're not there so with us and

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the message confirms that how that song

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would come on the radio at the least

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expected time I mean what are the

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chances for that to happen you know what

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are the chances for the child who to

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children who are getting on the bus

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school bus they turn and look on the

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front steps and their mom is waving to

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them and both of them turned stark white

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and they run over to the porch and my

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and then my mom says what's wrong what's

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wrong and they go we just saw death

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waving to us you know and they were both

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they were they were stark white but they

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were so excited to know that their dad

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was there in their first day of school

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so you know it's just that kind of

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reassuring message that I would like to

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give to those in this world that that

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love is eternal in that it never dies I

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would like to share with you a beautiful

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poem that I wrote at the beginning of

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the book on how the couples really met

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in true life and then how they meet now

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in the messages so I connected the the

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stories to a wonderful song by the

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reflections called just like Romeo and

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Juliet all right now I'm speculating

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wonder what tomorrow's gonna really

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bring just like Romeo and Juliet just

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like Romeo and Juliet we met in the

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laundry room in college he carried my

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underwear to my dorm room

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in high school

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wrestling tournament through my cousin

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at a country bar on a Thursday night at

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a dance club at a costume party with

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masks and a hat on instant messenger he

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was 17 I was 19 through his best friend

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Jeremy

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in grade school when he played on the

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playground on Facebook and we were

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married after one month at the pawn shop

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on a blind date on New Year's Eve in the

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convertible when he pulled up right next

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to me at Burger King where we both

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worked on a website called hot or not we

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exchanged photos when he was a football

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player and I was a cheerleader what we

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meet now in my dreams in the hallway

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when I smell him in bed when I feel his

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skin touch mine when I see his

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silhouette his shoulders his head and

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how he held out his arms like he was

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holding a blanket when the song comes on

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in the elevator in church or in a

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restaurant when I find pennies on the

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ground in the weirdest places when the

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basketball bounces on the court and

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nobody's there when I see him staring at

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me from the waist up when I'm in bed

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when I find the Dutch key ring in the

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middle of the desert from him when I

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meet the police officer who's wearing

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your memory bracelet when I hear your

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voice saying my son when I find the

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heart-shaped sticker on a leaf when the

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digital frame stops for no reason at

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your photo when he comes to me with a

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message and when I hear his voice

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singing his favorite song just like

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Romeo and Juliet just like Romeo and

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Juliet so that's the that's the way that

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the couples Matignon then how they meet

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now and it's so touching because all the

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senses seem to be involved and also

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music and sound that comes through with

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that special song that comes on the

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radio for them you know love never dies

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it's only the body we cannot hold new

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breath follows us in dreams and visions

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waking magical moments that feel very

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real songs fuel our hearts and dance in

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our memories that imprint never leaves

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it's all good it's all bad and it's all

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ugly and it's all beautiful and it's

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everlasting love I also included three

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stories about 9/11 in the our to two

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stories about 9/11 because I really

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considered that a kind of military

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service that they did they died for our

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country and so there are two two stories

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in the book about heroes that died in

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9/11 firefighter that died in 9/11 and

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financial fellow who worked in the

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hundred and fifth the Twin Towers and it

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was a beautiful story there in the 105th

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floor this gal Sally she grew up with

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this fellow who worked to the 105th

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floor she herself worked there as well

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they worked for quite some time but she

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decided to quit in 1993 because of the

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first bombings that happened there at

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the twin towers and so she said you know

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but that day she had not she was not

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working in the in the building and she

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still had that close friend who was who

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was working at 150 was not found

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afterwards and the only thing that was

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found was his watch so for several days

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you know she'd go up and down the

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streets because people were holding up

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signs of loved ones and messages that

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you know they might be able to see a

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sign that they saw that body or saw that

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loved one and what happened was even her

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dad was a firefighter and he was looking

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for him as well but they didn't but they

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did find his watch but that's all they

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found and so what happened in the end

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was she was walking it was the sunny

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days what eight days after 9/11 she was

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walking along this sidewalk and all of a

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sudden it was a little bit crowded on

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the sidewalk you know all of a sudden

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she felt this hand come around her waist

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and she looked to her right and she

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looked to her left and the Sun was just

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beaming in because it was warm in this

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it was still Ashley and smoke was kind

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of everywhere and there was nobody to

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her right and nobody to her left and all

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of a sudden she heard Vinny's voice

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saying I'm okay you know I love you it's

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okay it's okay everything's okay and I

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want you to tell everybody that I love

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them I just want you to tell everybody

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that I love him and she said you know I

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just was totally shocked because his

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voice was so clear

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I knew it was him and it was such a

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relief for her because she knew that he

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had crossed over because of that

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experience and it was a relief to her

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that she made a connection with him

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because she felt so lost by not knowing

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where he was so it's really quite

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beautiful so there was a there's a

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foreword by my book by Reverend bill

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McDonald and Reverend bill McDonald is a

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Vietnam veteran who serves as a chaplain

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now in a non-denominational way in

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helping veterans across the country kind

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of heal from the grief and from the

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sorrow he's been through probably six or

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seven near-death experiences and he I

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was very touched that he was willing to

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write the foreword for my book and you

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know one of the things he said to me is

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that about it is that the book is is

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truly a sacred place for the memories of

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those who have contributed but it's also

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an altar of hope that heaven's door is

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not really closed to those who love and

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I really like that so I'm going to say

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that one more time this book is a sacred

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place for the memories of those who have

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contributed but it's also an altar of

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hope that heaven's door is not really

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closed to those who love so baby it's

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you you know messages from deceased

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heroes you know the knock at the door

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brings that message that the brides are

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the mothers of the fathers really never

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want to hear in their heads and then

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they hear it over and over but it's from

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that moment on that the love messages

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really begin to unfold and it might be

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the song it might be the fragrance it

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might be the touch or the kiss on the

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lips but it tells us truly that's the