the strangest thing that ever happened to me

I will tell you a story of the strangest thing that ever happened to me.

When I was teaching in Cambridge I had a great friend called Bill Farrar. Bill and I were like brothers. I thought the world of him. One day I got a phone call from Bill and with great courage, he said, ‘I’ve been told I have six weeks left to live, will you come over and see me before I go?’ I said, ‘Of course I will.’ For the next six weeks, I drove from Cardiff to Cambridge to spend the weekends with Bill. Then I got a call from Bill’s village priest, Ian, who said that he was very sorry, but Bill had passed over. One of his last requests had been for me to conduct the funeral service in the village church. I said, ‘Yes, of courseI will’. Father Ian said, ‘Come over on Thursday night. Stay with me in the rectory; we’ll do the service together on Friday morning.’ Now I am not psychic at all, my feet are very much on the ground, very much a Harley Davidson rider, but while we arranged the service, I saw Bill. The last time I had seen him alive he weighed six stone, but he was healthy again, back in his 20’s, and he gave me a great big smile. I could feel the happiness coming off him; it was like sunlight. He said to me, ‘Tell Ian, Juliana was absolutely right.’ And then he was gone.

Ian had seen and heard nothing. I felt if I told him what I had seen then he was going to think that I was coming off the wall, but if this were the other way around, Bill would have done it for me, no question. I took a deep breath and said, ‘Ian I am sorry if this sounds strange, but I have just seen Bill. He looked young again; he was radiant, and he asked me to tell you, Juliana was absolutely right.’ Ian nearly fell off his chair. He said, ‘You can’t have known that.’ He went on to explain that during the last 20 minutes of Bill’s life he had told him the story of Lady Juliana of Norwich, who had been a saint. Everyone thought she had become ill when she seemed to be about to faint. She had recovered herself and explained that she had just seen heaven. Everyone there was ecstatic with happiness, and all was well. Ian and I prepared the rest of the funeral service with great joy brought by Bill’s message. When you have an experience like that, you take more of an interest in mysteries and the supernatural.

Lionel Fanthorpe
TALKING TO LIONEL FANTHORPE
WALES ARTS REVIEW 24th April 2020