Lori Burke's Validation with her daughter, MaryEllen, and her son, Kevin, through Fara Gibson

I scheduled our appointment with Fara Gibson last September, shortly after the HPH conference. It was a long six-month wait! We wanted to connect with our daughter, MaryEllen, who passed in May. MaryEllen had a very rare degenerative condition that caused immobility, blindness, and the inability to talk. (which Fara picked up on right away)

In February of this year, MaryEllen’s younger brother, Kevin (with the same rare condition), passed after a short illness. Our appointment with Fara was three weeks later.

We’re fairly new to the HPH community, spiritualism, and all the 'woo woo' that goes with it. After the physical death of our children, the need to know they’re okay outweighed everything else. There’s no other way to explain this connection Fara has to heaven—it’s real, heartfelt, and so deeply healing.

Kevin came through first. He explained his passing with such clarity! Fara told us things no one knew. She knew Kevin didn’t have ‘real pneumonia’—it was more like a fluid problem in his lungs. She said he became septic, with a blood imbalance, all caused by a UTI that went unnoticed for a few days. All of this is correct. Kevin also conveyed he was on medication, but not antibiotics. He was on other meds. I now understand this to mean that before the hospital, he always took something to keep UTIs at bay—a medication (not an antibiotic) that they didn’t continue at the hospital, even after I brought it up many times. He also said we ‘brought him for fluids’—this is exactly true! Kevin had a stomach bug and couldn’t keep anything down, so that’s why we initially went to the hospital.

Fara understood the nature of the rare condition both kids had and knew it was progressive over time.

Then, MaryEllen popped in! She said, “I could move better than my brother!” (Haha!) This is true! Fara then reminded us of a MaryEllen memory: when she was young, she went on a rollercoaster, and her ears kept falling off! Yep! We went to Disney and Universal when she was little, and MaryEllen went on all the rides—her Mickey ears were always falling off because of the wheelchair headrest! (What a fun memory!!) MaryEllen also conveyed that we moved hers and Kevin’s bedroom around. We did do this right before she passed. (She was in the hospital and didn’t get to physically enjoy the little room makeover.)

MaryEllen also reminded us of the water therapy we used to do with both of them. We did try to do this as much as we could so they could enjoy movement.

MaryEllen wanted to express her appreciation for her Dad knowing that 'he worked so hard so Mom could stay home with us.' This is also true. She, again, expressed gratitude that Dad made it all possible. She also brought up her sister, Katie, knowing she lived out of our house and was so proud of her. She knew her sister is in the medical field and good at what she does.

MaryEllen was happy to remember she had a Christmas tree in hers and Kevin’s bedroom every year! Yep, true!

Then Kevin chimed in that he had the same name as his dad and that there was something with the middle name. As in, there was another one. (Haha, yes!) We have another son with Kevin’s middle name (James) as his first name. That was a fun charade-like play to figure out!! 

It was so fun to see Fara going back and forth between the kids. Both kids were very talkative and competitive in a playful way!

Fara knew about Kevin not liking baseball caps and that he found a way to get them off all the time. Haha—this is so true. Kevin had a headrest on his wheelchair that included a baseball cap to help keep his head upright. It never worked! He fought that thing and used everything he had to get his head out of it! This was also a funny memory for us. 

Kevin wanted to bring up the Superman memory. Right away, I remembered his superman t-shirt photo. Fara knew it was a superman tee under a shirt. Yes it was! One of my favorite photos of Kevin. 

Kevin also talked about his home haircuts and that 'Mom f’ed up my bangs!' LOL, that was so funny. My sweet boy who LOVED bad words could now say them through Fara!!

Both our beloved dogs are with the kids—a large tan dog, a black dog, and (LOL) the dumb cat! (Hahaha!) The cat is our other daughter’s cat that passed before MaryEllen, and they were just giving their sister a funny validation. LOL!

Kevin wanted to say something about a swing outside. Kevin used to swing in an outdoor camp chair and listen to outdoor podcasts. Even though this was regularly done inside, the outside reference was very clear!

MaryEllen then brought up her other brother, James, and that he will have a new job position that is a big deal and that he ‘passed the test.’ James just interviewed for a new job that is a big deal and he just got called back for his second interview — so fingers crossed! 

There were so many validations during this hour-long appointment that I could just keep going on. Every single thing was spot on. It was an amazing, healing appointment that brought us peace and the feeling of so much love from our kids. Fara reiterated that our kids are amazing and that their purpose was to teach the medical community and bring us so much unconditional love. (They most certainly did <3 )

Thank you, Fara! Heaven IS right here. <3

~Written by Lori Burke, Mom of MaryEllen and Kevin