The Boys Are Back In Town

“The Boys are Back in Town,” by Thin Lizzy was one of my son’s favorite songs. I thought it would be an appropriate title for this post. Read on to find out why.

First, the backstory…

My son had a childhood friend named Christopher. They were schoolmates until kindergarten then went their separate ways to two different school districts. Despite this, they remained friends until they were in middle school, but the friendship waned as they became teens and they didn’t get together anymore.

That’s why I was surprised to receive a call from Christopher’s dad one day. He told me his son was battling leukemia and that Chris wanted Nico to come visit him. It was a little difficult for Nico, since he had a lot of social anxiety, even with people he knew well. He had great difficulty maintaining a conversation so he tended to avoid social situations and people in general. But I think Nico recognized that Chris needed him and he obliged. They enjoyed spending time together.

I often wondered why Chris wanted to see Nico after so many years. Chris was very social and had a large group of friends, yet he wanted to see Nico when he was sick, even though it had been more that five years since they had spoken.

We would visit Chris and his parents a few more times before Chris’ untimely death in 2013.

Christopher’s funeral was very difficult for me, and for Nico as well. It was the first, and last funeral he ever attended. Besides just missing Chris, I also felt sad as a mom and empathized deeply with Chris’ mom. She had lost her only child. I was filled with sorrow and couldn’t help but think, “What if I lost Nico?”

And then…I did.

When my son died I wondered if somehow Chris knew they would soon be together in the spirit world. Was that why he wanted to spend time with him?

A few months after Nico’s death, Christopher’s parents invited me to attend a session with a medium they had done readings with before. He had been able to contact Chris. They thought perhaps he could reach Nico as well.

According to the medium, Chris and Nico were indeed together in the spirit world, having a great time! I think this gave us all a great deal of comfort, and we had suspected as much.

End of backstory.

Every year on the anniversary of Christopher’s passing, his parents have a memorial walk and release balloons with messages to Chris written on them. They had made mention of a certain song they wanted to play this year and were trying to arrange for a speaker so all could hear it. They did not mention the name of a song.

At the end of the walk, the song was played. I was very surprised when it turned out to be “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Not only are rainbows a sign that my son is near, but my mom had recently purchased a memorial stone at our local JCC which read, “Nico-Son, Grandson. Over the Rainbow.”

Suddenly I felt as though the boys were around somewhere, watching. I started looking around and fixed my gaze on a nearby bench. A picture flashed through my mind of Nico and Chris sitting on the bench, with Nico sitting on the bench seat with his legs off the left side, where an armrest would be, and Chris, ever the rebel, sitting with his butt on the top of the backrest, and his feet resting on the seat. They both had to look left toward Chris’ dad, who had his back to the bench, but the crowd was facing the boys. I feel strongly they were present because I got such a specific vision of how they were sitting.

In “Love Never Dies,” Angela Dawn says that souls take on their human form while visiting earth. Perhaps it’s true.

The boys are back in town!