One of my strangest experiences ever happened when my grandmother died. I guess it was a dream, or some kind of a vision. She had been under hospice care and not conscious for the past few days. I distinctly remember hearing and seeing her tell me, "I haven't had anything to eat or drink for a few days, but I'm all right now." The next thing I remember after that is the phone ringing, my sister calling to let me know my grandmother had died. That was in 2001, she died a few months short of her 90th birthday. Since then I have dreamed about her a number of times but nothing like that. The cemetery where both of my grandmothers are buried isn't too far from where I live, so I'll be heading over there since it will be Mother's Day next week.

Moosmom, I hope you have happy memories of your father. I hope your smelling cigar smoke and knowing he was around was a good thing. I don't think it was a dumb thing for you to have done, and I'm sorry you can't get better answers. ---big hug---