Helen Writes About the Sudden Passing of Their Daughter, Nita Padgett

June 20, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well, my dear Ned, you have had your little girl leave you, as you now feel, but she has not left, for she will be more with you than ever and happier than she could possibly have been had she remained in the body.

I was with her as she passed over and received her in my arms and told her that she was with her mother and had nothing to fear. That she had come to the spirit world and would now know what love and happiness are, and that all her troubles had left her forever. I told her that she would not have to leave you and her brothers, except as regards her body which was no longer a part of her, and which she would soon realize was merely a covering for herself. She was not afraid and nestled in my arms as I kissed her and told her that now she would understand how much her mother loved her and how happy she would be in that love, and that in a very short time. she would be perfectly content and feel so happy that she had left the cares and troubles of her earth life.

I was with her before she died, and she actually saw me as I waited at her bedside for her spirit to find a release from her body. She recognized and talked to me and actually heard my voice as I encouraged her and called her to come to my arms. She was not afraid and I know that I was as visible to her as I ever was on earth.

She is now with me, or rather I am with her, and am trying to help her realize fully that she is a spirit; and she is convinced for, as she tells me, she remembers the many talks that you had with her in which you told her of my coming to you and to her with all my love and desire to make her happy, and that as she remembered these things, it seemed to be natural for her to have the experience of having me with her as her real loving mother.

I will be with her a great deal and so will many other spirits who love her. Your parents and mine were with her when she came over and spoke to her of their love and encouraged her to believe that she was really with them and had nothing to fear, and that only love was around her.

She will soon be in a better condition to appreciate her surroundings, and then I will bring her to you and let her tell you of her experience and her love for you and the boys. I know that you are sorrowful to have her leave you in the body and that your heart is very heavy, as you expected to have her with you more intimately than ever and to find much happiness and comfort in her presence. But dear, you must try not to worry or grieve, for as I have said, you have not lost her. She will be with you more than ever and you will feel her presence and know that she is so much happier than when a mortal.

I wish that I could make myself visible to you so that I could comfort you the more and cause you to believe that your Baby has not left you. Let not your belief in the fact that we are really alive go from you. We are more alive than ever and can love you more than when in life on the earth. So do not grieve, but know that it will not be long before you will be with us, and that this is a certainty.

Oh, my dear, I love you so much tonight and want to comfort you with my love, and with the assurance that now, as you sit in your room at night and feel lonesome and sometimes wish that Baby could be with you, I and your baby, who will soon be a bright spirit and enjoy the happiness that love for you will bring to her, will be with you.You, as I say, must not grieve, for you are not strong and grief will not be beneficial to your condition of brain. Only think of her as being a beautiful loving spirit, filled with love for you and always glad when she can be with you, and only sorry that you may not be able to feel her arms around you and her kisses on your lips. You are not in condition to write more tonight and must go to bed.

Well, dear, I wanted in the first place to encourage you and keep you from worrying so that you would not be unhappy. And next I really believed that she would not die, but that she would have the strength to overcome the results of the operation; but I was mistaken and for your sake, was as sorry as you could possibly be. We cannot always foretell the results of contingencies affecting the material conditions of mortals. We do not know these things as a matter of omniscience, but merely base our conclusions on what we believe will be the results of certain causes. I was so anxious to comfort and relieve you from your worry, and the real fact is that you have no cause for worry, but I did not allude to this when I told you not to worry, for I believed that she would recover from her sickness, and so thought the others who wrote you encouraging words. And even Dr. Campbell thought that she would be able to withstand the results of the operation. But in these things we cannot always judge aright. We are not infallible and cannot always exercise the power which we possess to bring about results that our loved ones on earth may desire. So sweetheart, do not feel resentful because my promises did not come true.

If you could only fully understand what the condition of your baby is, you would not want her with you in the body. I know that you will, at times, feel very lonesome and long for her as your dear one of earth form and companionship, but you will soon have such an experience with her as your spirit baby, that you will not often sorrow because she left you. This I know without the possibility of your being disappointed, and you must try to believe me.

Well, sweetheart, when you are a little stronger I will come and write you more in detail about baby's passing and she will write also. Love me and love her, and pray to the Father. Say good night. God bless and comfort you, my dear husband.

Your own true and loving,
Helen