The Afterlife of Billy Fingers by Annie Kagan

Years ago, I went to a past life regression therapy session with Dr. Peter Wright, an experienced hypnotherapist. I don’t tell many people this story for a couple of reasons. For one, most people I know aren’t entirely comfortable with the idea of reincarnation; for another, almost no one I know likes to talk about death or the afterlife. Whether you believe in it or not, I felt much more at peace after that session than I did after any massage.  I say this because I had a similar experience while reading The Afterlife of Billy Fingers.

Annie Kagan, a licensed chiropractor and songwriter, lost her brother, Billy, after he was hit by a car and killed instantly. In the book, she describes her shock hearing he’d died, although she was not entirely surprised. He’d been a drug addict for many years and was living out of his car. They hadn’t spoken for a while, so when he unexpectedly died, she found it extremely difficult to cope with her guilt and grief. After weeks of hardly getting out of bed, Kagan hears her brother’s voice.  His soul has left his body, but he is able to communicate with her and comfort her with information from the other side.

“I’m drifting weightlessly through space with these gorgeous stars and moons and galaxies twinkling all around me. The whole atmosphere is filled with a soothing hum.”

One of Billy’s first admissions is surprisingly beautiful and comforting. He tells her, “I want you to know, darling, there’s nothing hard or cruel for me anymore… I’m drifting weightlessly through space with these gorgeous stars and moons and galaxies twinkling all around me. The whole atmosphere is filled with a soothing hum” (13). If that’s what happens immediately after you die, I’ll take it.

Mind you, this is nonfiction we’re talking about. Kagan stands by her story and it’s hard not to believe her. She writes of Billy contacting her friends and leaving signs in her everyday life to let her know the reality of her experience. He answers the question about how he knows all of this by saying, “Honestly, I don’t know. All of a sudden I know

Annie Kagan (Huffington Post)

a bunch of things I didn’t know when I was alive. When you’re born, when you pop out, that big pop gives you a kind of amnesia. One of the main things we’re doing when we’re alive is trying to remember the things we forgot” (19). The idea that you can gain absolute clarity when you die is more than just comforting — it’s life affirming.

“One of the main things we’re doing when we’re alive is trying to remember the things we forgot.”

I’d like to leave you with one last quote because it has to do with one of my favorite subjects: love. “What is bliss?” he asks, “Bliss is like being in love multiplied by a thousand, but it has nothing to do with anyone else. It’s fulfilling in and of itself. On earth you usually need someone to give you a reason to feel love, and that feeling usually has its ups and downs. With bliss, there’s no downside – and you don’t need a reason for it” (27). And isn’t that the big picture message, to feel bliss here on earth and love unconditionally? While I cannot praise this book for its expert writing or subtle metaphors — it doesn’t have either of those things — I can say that it provides an uplifting view of the afterlife and good advice for living fully here on earth.

The Afterlife of Billy Fingers will be available soon. You can pre-order a copy here: www.redwheelweiser.com