About a week ago I had a dream. I was at a large family gathering. My aunts and remaining uncle were present and I was being introduced to a small boy, maybe 4 or 5 years old who was linked to my late uncle Jim (whose baby son had been adopted out at birth over thirty years before and none of our family had ever met). My uncle, like Lily died of cancer. This uncle whom I so adored as the gentle, funny and charismatic person that he was never met Lily but Lily died on 6 September, my uncle’s birthday, which forever links the two for me. They didn’t meet in the physical but they are together now and it is no coincidence to me that they share this date. We are family and family remains connected, in spirit or in physical, no matter what obstacles seem to keep us apart.

In this dream as I was introduced to this little boy, my heart welled up with emotion and I simply couldn’t contain my tears. I had never met him before but there was tremendous love there already and our reunion was a deeply spiritual thing.

This dream message I knew was coming from my grandmother in spirit and possibly from my uncle in spirit too. My “proud and overflowing with love” grandmother never came to terms with her precious grandson’s adoption out, nor did my uncle. I will never forget the day my uncle Jim came over to our house before he died to share the news that he had discovered his son’s whereabouts and how the similarities to him in looks and personality were so uncanny. He beamed with pride, the happiest I had ever seen him my whole life, as he showed us the cherished picture of his long-lost son. His daughter Alex, my cousin, has recently begun a relationship with her long-lost brother which she protects and honours wholeheartedly but none of the rest of us have yet had the privilege.

So after this meaningful dream, I emailed Alex, whom I love dearly but am in contact with very, very rarely. I explained the dream and asked her if she had been in contact with her brother as I felt my grandmother wanted us all to get together.

I got an instant reply back from her. It read “Hello lovely! You won’t believe it. I just woke up after having a huge dream about you! We were all staying in a house together... I can’t remember exactly what was happening but you were the main character in the dream! How weird!! I have been in touch with my brother. We are starting to become close and I am going to see him in a few weeks and meet the rest of the family. I will try my hardest to organise a meeting between he and you guys as soon as possible. It would be wonderful. Hope you are well darling. Much love xx”

So not only had my family in spirit come into my dream to instill in me the idea of this up-coming reunion with my long-lost cousin, they had gone into my cousin’s dream to tell her about it too! I almost never see Alex, having contact with her perhaps once every 3 or 4 years and suddenly we dream a uniting dream of each other on the exact same night!!! This is one of those extraordinary experiences that simply cannot be dismissed as coincidence. This is one of those extraordinary experiences that demonstrates our continuing and powerful relationship with our loved ones in spirit. It is one of those extraordinary experiences that means we are not alone as we walk through our physical lives. Our loved ones in spirit may not be physical but they are definitely present in our lives and guide us the best they can to live our highest fulfilment while we are here on earth.

I do hope I get to meet this lovely long-lost cousin of mine in this lifetime but I know that whether I do or not, whether we meet in this world or the next, we are still family, he is still my cousin no matter what and we are forever connected.

Love Erica Farrimond, best selling author of "Soothe Your Soul from Grief". To find out more go to amazon.com/author/grief xox