Review of A Voice from Heaven
Posted: 07 Aug 2023, 13:48
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Voice from Heaven" by Alexander V Girman & Cynthia J Girman.]
Review of “A Voice from Heaven” by Cynthia J Girman and Alexander V Girman
This is a true story written by Cynthia Girman and it is about death of her son who was a recreational user but died from a toxic overdose of Kratom which is said to be a dangerous opioid that is on the market with no regulation by the US Food and Drug Administration. Cindy’s credentials as a founder and leader of a consulting firm with pharmaceutical companies, holding a Doctor of Public Health in biostatistics and also a Christian makes her story real and authentic.
Before Alec’s death they were a family of four with their daughter, Vera being the youngest and her husband Tom. Part way through the book it was disclosed that Alec was adopted, his biological mother being a drug user. Cindy and her husband went to Russia for the legal proceedings. They brought him home to the US and started the exciting venture of being new parents. As time went on they realized Alec has emotional problems and was diagnosed as a high functioning autistic child (formerly called Asperger’s Syndrome) combined with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Testing indicated he was off the charts in math but low in reading comprehension. These traits led him as a young adult to become a “coder” in Washington DC through a friend of Tom’s.
Alec landed this job during the COVID pandemic. Being somewhat socially awkward and given the pandemic they found him a small efficiency apartment in DC for him.
Cindy began writing this book weeks after the first anniversary of Alec’s death during which time she had three psychic medium sessions. The first was a video conference session with a medium located in South Africa sighting many details that would be impossible for her to know. Initially Alec communicated with the medium by sending specific family memories. One example was about a special day in February that was the day she and her husband adopted him, they always called this his “Gotcha (Adoption) Day. With this their hopes and beliefs soared and she continued on with sessions, the next one was in person and without her husband to see if the experience would be different. The third session was with a different medium with whom Cynthia mentioned she wanted to write a book about Alec’s struggles with addiction and the medium suggested it be written from Alec’s perspective, letting his voice from the Afterlife. Alec eventually came forward during sessions with this medium and he eventually communicated with Cindy and suggested early morning communications “when the veil between the physical and spiritual world is the thinnest”.
Early in the book the author explained the method of writing she used, predominantly Alec’s voice and for clarification the beginning of each chapter specifies whose voice the chapter is written in. Questions for him were in quotes to distinguish her voice from his for the reader(s).
Cindy’s transcendental conversations with Alec showed concerned for his well being which led to many descriptions of what heaven is like, how souls communicate with each other, the many family members they meet and “just know” who they are. There are descriptions of scenery with colors not known by humans, vibrant light that’s warm and compelling, no more pain and suffering, background music but no specific person singing, existing on different levels of vibrations and often simultaneously with different souls or groups of souls and the all encompassing sense of Love for one another. Alec talks of different lives he and other souls have led and how his life on earth with his family was intended to be a short one for the sake of learning. Because of his past lives and experiences he entered the afterlife this time with the opportunity to teach others. He often tells his mother that she needs to work on overcoming her fears and work on decreasing her stress. She notes that having these conversations and learning more about the afterlife, her stress levels improved and she has come to accept his death for what it was mean to be.
Writing this complex book (in my opinion) had to be emotionally and mentally exhausting. As she titled one of the chapters “The Struggles Were Real”, reliving the past had to be painful for her, her family and friends is an honest labor of love to share what she experienced with the hopes of helping others with their grief and ultimately bringing light to the opioid crisis that began long before the COVID pandemic. Cindy and Tom continue collaborating with researchers on pharmacologican transcranial alternating current stimulation of the brain as treatment for substance abuse disorders. After administrative costs they are donating 50% of the proceeds for this book for additional addiction research.
There’s a beautiful poem at the end of the book that reminds the reader that once the numbness passes it’s time to live again, twice as hard and that the one you lost will find you and when they do, you’ll feel it.
This book was so well written, bringing the reader with her and her family during the many crisis leading up to Alec’s death. There were areas spoken by Alec that seemed redundant but I believe the author was emphasizing the point(s) he was making. I did not pick up on any typographical errors and the editing was well done. For these reasons I rate this book 5 out of 5. As intended, it is a great read for those who have suffered the loss of a loved one and wondering about the afterlife.
******
A Voice from Heaven
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Review of “A Voice from Heaven” by Cynthia J Girman and Alexander V Girman
This is a true story written by Cynthia Girman and it is about death of her son who was a recreational user but died from a toxic overdose of Kratom which is said to be a dangerous opioid that is on the market with no regulation by the US Food and Drug Administration. Cindy’s credentials as a founder and leader of a consulting firm with pharmaceutical companies, holding a Doctor of Public Health in biostatistics and also a Christian makes her story real and authentic.
Before Alec’s death they were a family of four with their daughter, Vera being the youngest and her husband Tom. Part way through the book it was disclosed that Alec was adopted, his biological mother being a drug user. Cindy and her husband went to Russia for the legal proceedings. They brought him home to the US and started the exciting venture of being new parents. As time went on they realized Alec has emotional problems and was diagnosed as a high functioning autistic child (formerly called Asperger’s Syndrome) combined with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Testing indicated he was off the charts in math but low in reading comprehension. These traits led him as a young adult to become a “coder” in Washington DC through a friend of Tom’s.
Alec landed this job during the COVID pandemic. Being somewhat socially awkward and given the pandemic they found him a small efficiency apartment in DC for him.
Cindy began writing this book weeks after the first anniversary of Alec’s death during which time she had three psychic medium sessions. The first was a video conference session with a medium located in South Africa sighting many details that would be impossible for her to know. Initially Alec communicated with the medium by sending specific family memories. One example was about a special day in February that was the day she and her husband adopted him, they always called this his “Gotcha (Adoption) Day. With this their hopes and beliefs soared and she continued on with sessions, the next one was in person and without her husband to see if the experience would be different. The third session was with a different medium with whom Cynthia mentioned she wanted to write a book about Alec’s struggles with addiction and the medium suggested it be written from Alec’s perspective, letting his voice from the Afterlife. Alec eventually came forward during sessions with this medium and he eventually communicated with Cindy and suggested early morning communications “when the veil between the physical and spiritual world is the thinnest”.
Early in the book the author explained the method of writing she used, predominantly Alec’s voice and for clarification the beginning of each chapter specifies whose voice the chapter is written in. Questions for him were in quotes to distinguish her voice from his for the reader(s).
Cindy’s transcendental conversations with Alec showed concerned for his well being which led to many descriptions of what heaven is like, how souls communicate with each other, the many family members they meet and “just know” who they are. There are descriptions of scenery with colors not known by humans, vibrant light that’s warm and compelling, no more pain and suffering, background music but no specific person singing, existing on different levels of vibrations and often simultaneously with different souls or groups of souls and the all encompassing sense of Love for one another. Alec talks of different lives he and other souls have led and how his life on earth with his family was intended to be a short one for the sake of learning. Because of his past lives and experiences he entered the afterlife this time with the opportunity to teach others. He often tells his mother that she needs to work on overcoming her fears and work on decreasing her stress. She notes that having these conversations and learning more about the afterlife, her stress levels improved and she has come to accept his death for what it was mean to be.
Writing this complex book (in my opinion) had to be emotionally and mentally exhausting. As she titled one of the chapters “The Struggles Were Real”, reliving the past had to be painful for her, her family and friends is an honest labor of love to share what she experienced with the hopes of helping others with their grief and ultimately bringing light to the opioid crisis that began long before the COVID pandemic. Cindy and Tom continue collaborating with researchers on pharmacologican transcranial alternating current stimulation of the brain as treatment for substance abuse disorders. After administrative costs they are donating 50% of the proceeds for this book for additional addiction research.
There’s a beautiful poem at the end of the book that reminds the reader that once the numbness passes it’s time to live again, twice as hard and that the one you lost will find you and when they do, you’ll feel it.
This book was so well written, bringing the reader with her and her family during the many crisis leading up to Alec’s death. There were areas spoken by Alec that seemed redundant but I believe the author was emphasizing the point(s) he was making. I did not pick up on any typographical errors and the editing was well done. For these reasons I rate this book 5 out of 5. As intended, it is a great read for those who have suffered the loss of a loved one and wondering about the afterlife.
******
A Voice from Heaven
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon