By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
For Christine Frank Petosa and her husband, Jim, it wasn’t “goodbye.” It was “talk to you later.”
Jim Petosa, flight department manager and a pilot for Carrington Capital Management, died of esophageal cancer Oct. 11, 2011. But with the help of Catholic mystic medium Elizabeth Williams, Chris Petosa said she has been receiving communication from her late husband.
Last fall, Williams and Petosa released a book about the Petosas’ struggle with Jim’s cancer and what life is like after death, interspersed with reflections from Jim gleaned over the course of eight readings, or sessions in which Williams relayed messages from the afterlife.
“Jim’s Flight: One Soul’s Perspective from Heaven,” published by Findhorn Press, has already gained some recognition. The book came in first place in the Body, Mind, Spirit Book Awards’ afterlife category and was a finalist in the spiritual healing category.
“Jim’s Flight” was released Oct. 11, 2016 — five years to the day after Jim’s death. The publisher had chosen the release date not knowing it was the anniversary of Jim’s passing, but Petosa said it was no coincidence.
“It was planned from up there,” she said.
‘We’re waiting for you’
The Petosas first met Williams in 2010 just before Jim’s diagnosis. On the suggestion of her sister-in-law, Petosa bought her husband a gift certificate to see Williams for a reading in which Williams channels people who have passed away.
When Jim never got around to going, Chris Petosa used the gift certificate herself. Through Williams, she connected with her father, who had passed away a decade before.
“I always believed that I had that reading so I would be more comfortable knowing there is active life on the other side,” Petosa said.
A month and a half later, Jim was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. He lived for 19 months after his diagnosis — more than a year longer than the initial prognosis of six months his doctors predicted — but eventually, his cancer spread. By then, Jim had endured six different treatment protocols, but he was on the fence about stopping chemotherapy.
At the time, both Jim and Chris Petosa were seeing Williams for reiki, the Japanese practice of touch-based stress relief and healing.
“Elizabeth said [to Jim], ‘You might want to have a reading and see what the angels say about stopping chemo,’” Petosa recalled.
Unfortunately, the decision was already made for Jim when scans showed the cancer was no longer treatable. Jim decided to go ahead with the reading.
“His family members who had passed, as well as his dad, were gathered,” Petosa said of the reading. “His father said, ‘It’s a big Italian family [party]! We’re waiting for you.’”
Messages from the afterlife
Around the time of Jim’s passing, Petosa sought the help of a traditional counselor, but it wasn’t quite enough.
“She was wonderful,” Petosa said. “She was great, but it wasn’t doing what I needed, and I didn’t quite know what that was.”
Petosa continued her weekly reiki sessions with Williams. A month after Jim’s death, they met for a reading to communicate with Jim. Williams went on to do eight readings for the Petosas, which became the basis of “Jim’s Flight.”
According to her website, Williams has 20 years of professional experience as a nurse and “16 years of experience in both traditional psychological therapies as well as the healing arts” such as Reiki and hypnotherapy. She said she has seen 8,600 clients in the last 18.5 years.
Williams said the ability to commune with “those from the Heavenly realms” has been passed down through her family. Her mother, brother and late uncle shared the gift.
“I was born this way — like Lady Gaga,” Williams laughed. “It’s a generational thing.”
Williams said she has no memory of her communications with angels or those who have passed away.
“It doesn’t come from me. I just listen — I’m the pipeline,” she said. “I never censor anything, and it’s not my stuff so I never remember anything, which is good because a lot of people that come in are in distress.”
Petosa said Williams is the real deal. After Jim died, Petosa could not find the password for his iPad. During a session with Williams, she asked about the password. She said Jim told her, through Williams, that the password was the name and number of a plane he never got the opportunity to fly. It worked.
“We like the naysayers the most, or at least I do,” Williams said.
Williams said she and Petosa have received a lot of positive feedback about “Jim’s Flight” from readers who say they are no longer fearful of death.
“It gives them a whole different picture of what it’s going to look like,” Williams said.
To learn more about “Jim’s Flight” and read an excerpt from the book, visit chrisfrankpetosa.com.
