Dorothy Natland's Life and Last Days
Nana was the most wonderful person I have ever had the privilege to have known, and she was a true mother to me. She taught me to cook, to sew, to love music and to be generous. There are a thousand stories I could tell, but the most important is the last day I spent with her. Despite being a very good person, Nana had absolutely zero religion. Even though she liked to say that she was a “good Christian woman”, she denied the incarnation and the divinity of Jesus. She was, as her father was, more of a Diest (along the lines of the Masons), than anything else. As a Catholic myself, I spent much of my life “trying to talk some sense into her” about her soul, the existence of the Trinity, and the necessity of belonging to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Nothing seemed to stick. My whole life, all of the instruction seemed to just “bounce off her”. On Sept. 9th, my father called me and told that Nana was dying. I looked to heaven and said, “OK God, it’s all on You now. I have been trying to get through to this woman since I was 3 years old. Please take over and help!”
I flew to California to see her, and when I arrived, she was unconscious and had been for several days. For all intents and purposes, her conversion appeared to be impossible. But, NOTHING is impossible with God! On Sunday morning, September 11th, 2005, I was left alone with my dying grandmother. By a miracle, she opened her eyes and became completely conscious. She had gone blind some years before, but she knew me and in fact, she was more lucid and cogent than she had been anytime in my entire life. I told her that she was dying, and that it was now time for her become a Catholic. In my complete joy and surprise, she said, “Yes, it is time.” She took the abjuration of error that I had brought with me just in case. As I read the prayer of thanksgiving by Thomas Aquinas, she said, “Oh Laurie, that is beautiful! Did you write that?” I laughed and said, “No Nana, this was written hundreds of years ago.” She then asked me, “Laurie, how are you so religious since neither of your parents are religious.” I started to quietly weep as I answered with profound joy, “By the Grace of God, Nana.” And then she said, “Oh yes, I understand now.”
I asked to conditionally baptize her and she said, “yes, of course.” For some reason, she was not given a middle name by her parents, and this had always bothered her. As I poured the water over her forehead, I said, “If you have not been baptized, Dorothy Laura, I baptized you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.” In effect, giving her my first name as her middle name. After the baptism, we continued to talk about Faith, and I was inspired to know the name of her guardian angel. I said, “Nana, your guardian angel’s name is Peter, and when you die, he is going to take you to see Jesus and it will be your wedding.” She said, “Oh, my wedding!”, with the sweetest joy. We sat and talked for an hour or so, and then my father and cousin walked into the room and were surprised to see her sitting up and awake.
Much to their amazement, she was talkative and lively. She spoke of her youth when she used to go to Pavilion on Balboa Peninsula with her friends during the summer. She spoke of her parents and siblings, her husband, and her life in politics and volunteer work. And then, something wonderful happened. She sat up, and looked intently across the room, which was a bit confusing to the rest of us as she was blind. She said, “What’s that fabric over there? What’s that fabric waiving? On no, it is a rock. I wonder what kind of rock that is?”
Although my father and cousin had no idea what she was talking about and just attributed it to the dying brain. I, on the other hand, knew that this was a sign to me. That fabric was, indeed, her angel, and the rock vision was a sign that his name is indeed, Peter (Peter means rock). Her angel was letting me know that he was there, waiting for her, and that he was going to take care of my precious Nana. Before the end of the day, I gave her a crucifix to hold. She was afraid that she would drop it if she “fell asleep again”, so I pinned it to her bed sheet with a ribbon. By the end of the day, she had slipped back into the realm of the unconscious and didn’t come completely out of it again before her death.
I went back to Washington the next day, full of hope and joy and giving glory to Almighty God that He had created such a miracle of Grace. Nana died seven days later, and my father and cousin were present when she left us, and she was still holding the crucifix that I had given her. Deo Gracias.
A few days after her death, she visited me in a dream. She looked very happy and told me that she was in Purgatory. I asked her what it was like there, and she answered, “Oh, it’s lovely!” I realized that as she had only seven days of slight impatience to suffer, she did not go through any sort of pain, but was just waiting to be released into heavenly beatitude. I asked her if Our Blessed Mother ever comes to Purgatory and she told me that yes, she does, and her presence brings everyone great joy. Nana told me that Our Lady’s face is veiled, however, so that they can’t really see her clearly. I awoke the next morning full of hope for Nana, and wondering if that had been my imagination, or if Nana had really spoken to me from Purgatory. It is known that God will often give signal graces to confirm spiritual visions, and that is exactly what He did that day.
I was in my children’s school, in the gymnasium, and a woman walked in dressed in full burka. Now, this is in Spokane Washington, in 2005, and there were very few (almost no) Muslims in Spokane. Although she was covered from head to toe, I could see her eyes through her veil and saw that she was searching for something. I walked up to her, introduced myself, and asked her if I could help her find what she was looking for. She said, “Hello and thank you, my name is Mariam.”
I took a step back and realized that God had just confirmed my dream. He literally sent me a woman with a veiled face named Mary, as Mariam is Our Blessed Mother’s real name (Mary is the Anglicized version). This was all the confirmation I needed to know that Nana was safe, happy, and I will see her again, if I do my part to Know, Love and Serve God in this world.
I flew to California to see her, and when I arrived, she was unconscious and had been for several days. For all intents and purposes, her conversion appeared to be impossible. But, NOTHING is impossible with God! On Sunday morning, September 11th, 2005, I was left alone with my dying grandmother. By a miracle, she opened her eyes and became completely conscious. She had gone blind some years before, but she knew me and in fact, she was more lucid and cogent than she had been anytime in my entire life. I told her that she was dying, and that it was now time for her become a Catholic. In my complete joy and surprise, she said, “Yes, it is time.” She took the abjuration of error that I had brought with me just in case. As I read the prayer of thanksgiving by Thomas Aquinas, she said, “Oh Laurie, that is beautiful! Did you write that?” I laughed and said, “No Nana, this was written hundreds of years ago.” She then asked me, “Laurie, how are you so religious since neither of your parents are religious.” I started to quietly weep as I answered with profound joy, “By the Grace of God, Nana.” And then she said, “Oh yes, I understand now.”
I asked to conditionally baptize her and she said, “yes, of course.” For some reason, she was not given a middle name by her parents, and this had always bothered her. As I poured the water over her forehead, I said, “If you have not been baptized, Dorothy Laura, I baptized you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.” In effect, giving her my first name as her middle name. After the baptism, we continued to talk about Faith, and I was inspired to know the name of her guardian angel. I said, “Nana, your guardian angel’s name is Peter, and when you die, he is going to take you to see Jesus and it will be your wedding.” She said, “Oh, my wedding!”, with the sweetest joy. We sat and talked for an hour or so, and then my father and cousin walked into the room and were surprised to see her sitting up and awake.
Much to their amazement, she was talkative and lively. She spoke of her youth when she used to go to Pavilion on Balboa Peninsula with her friends during the summer. She spoke of her parents and siblings, her husband, and her life in politics and volunteer work. And then, something wonderful happened. She sat up, and looked intently across the room, which was a bit confusing to the rest of us as she was blind. She said, “What’s that fabric over there? What’s that fabric waiving? On no, it is a rock. I wonder what kind of rock that is?”
Although my father and cousin had no idea what she was talking about and just attributed it to the dying brain. I, on the other hand, knew that this was a sign to me. That fabric was, indeed, her angel, and the rock vision was a sign that his name is indeed, Peter (Peter means rock). Her angel was letting me know that he was there, waiting for her, and that he was going to take care of my precious Nana. Before the end of the day, I gave her a crucifix to hold. She was afraid that she would drop it if she “fell asleep again”, so I pinned it to her bed sheet with a ribbon. By the end of the day, she had slipped back into the realm of the unconscious and didn’t come completely out of it again before her death.
I went back to Washington the next day, full of hope and joy and giving glory to Almighty God that He had created such a miracle of Grace. Nana died seven days later, and my father and cousin were present when she left us, and she was still holding the crucifix that I had given her. Deo Gracias.
A few days after her death, she visited me in a dream. She looked very happy and told me that she was in Purgatory. I asked her what it was like there, and she answered, “Oh, it’s lovely!” I realized that as she had only seven days of slight impatience to suffer, she did not go through any sort of pain, but was just waiting to be released into heavenly beatitude. I asked her if Our Blessed Mother ever comes to Purgatory and she told me that yes, she does, and her presence brings everyone great joy. Nana told me that Our Lady’s face is veiled, however, so that they can’t really see her clearly. I awoke the next morning full of hope for Nana, and wondering if that had been my imagination, or if Nana had really spoken to me from Purgatory. It is known that God will often give signal graces to confirm spiritual visions, and that is exactly what He did that day.
I was in my children’s school, in the gymnasium, and a woman walked in dressed in full burka. Now, this is in Spokane Washington, in 2005, and there were very few (almost no) Muslims in Spokane. Although she was covered from head to toe, I could see her eyes through her veil and saw that she was searching for something. I walked up to her, introduced myself, and asked her if I could help her find what she was looking for. She said, “Hello and thank you, my name is Mariam.”
I took a step back and realized that God had just confirmed my dream. He literally sent me a woman with a veiled face named Mary, as Mariam is Our Blessed Mother’s real name (Mary is the Anglicized version). This was all the confirmation I needed to know that Nana was safe, happy, and I will see her again, if I do my part to Know, Love and Serve God in this world.
