Hello believers, non-believers, and everyone in between.

You're listening to Stories with Sapphire.

I am Sapphire Sandalo.

Now get cozy and open your mind because it's story time.

This episode is about death, just a warning if you're not in a headspace for those kinds of stories right now.

On September 5th, 2021, I said goodbye to my dog, Zisu.

The vet came to our home and we went out to her yard.

I held Zisu in my lap.

He was calm from the first injection.

The vet came over and I watched as she inserted a syringe into his leg.

And the moment she pulled it out, I felt this strange, warm rush come over me, like something passing through my chest.

The vet placed her stethoscope on his chest, turned to me, and said she was very sorry for my loss.

I had heard stories of people feeling the souls of their loved ones as they leave their bodies.

I think that's what that sensation was.

I've been fortunate enough to have only experienced this transition from life to death once,

but I know that it looks differently to other people.

That's what the day's episode is about.

The many ways the moment of death appears to us, whether peaceful or horrifying.

First, I narrate the experience of a man and his aunts who all saw the same face of death.

Next, I tell the tale of a grandfather who saw death come for him in the form of a woman.

Then, I recount the times a woman saw dead people in her dreams.

And finally, I tell the tale of someone who died in their sleep and came back.

...