"Do loved ones bid farewell from beyond the grave?"

[orleans]

10. you ended your post with "don't you think?" so i'm feeling a bit compelled to respond

no, i absolutely don't think that it is "much better to accept that people are totally gone when they die"

it would go against what i have experienced throughout my life.

but i understand your viewpoint--i tried convincing myself of the "when you're dead, you're dead" line of thinking when i was in my twenties. it was easier, more dismissive, more logical and rational. but it didn't hold up when i took into consideration various experiences i had had. still, i went with it for a number of years.

and when people talk about their stories of "woo woo" (as i affectionately refer to after-death communications) in various forms my initial response is to be skeptical and look for the logical/rational explanation for the experience. many times there *are* logical explanations (including simple coincidences). other times not so much.