Ali Norell - The Truth Inside: Lessons from My Daughter in the Afterlife

My wish is to acknowledge each and every person who has touched my life, from early inspiration to my development as a medium and an author to the love and support I received following Romys passing. This is impossible, so if you do not find your name written here please know that it is written in my heart. You all know who you are.

Firstly I would like to thank my publisher, John Hunt Publishing, for taking a chance on an unknown author and helping me to get this book out into the world. I am both touched by and grateful for your belief in my work and commitment to helping it realise its potential. John Hunt, Dominic James, Maria Barry, Elizabeth Radley, Beccy Conway, Mary Flatt, Nick Welch, Stuart Davies and Trevor Greenfield: thank you for your sensitivity in working with my words and your brilliance in adapting images for a truly meaningful cover design. I would also like to thank my dear friend and mentor Theresa Cheung for her gracious and generous support and for her many superb books, which have inspired and comforted me, both before and after Romys passing. My thanks also to Claire Broad for her support and encouragement.

I thank from my heart Gerrie March and Dorothy Young, two exceptional mediums who have been instrumental in helping me to develop my abilities. Thank you also to the other members of our Brighton Circle whose warmth has lifted me and carried me forward. I would also like to recognise the work of Gordon Smith, a kind soul and inspirational medium who has used his exceptional abilities to bring relief and understanding to many bereaved parents.

Of the many amazing people I am fortunate to call friends, a small number I have to mention by name as their support has helped me in shaping this book. Thank you, Natasha Merchant, for patiently attending Spiritualist churches with me, for your beautiful photography and persistence at being my friend during the most difficult days. Thank you, Em Myers, for your loyalty, for encouraging me to move forwards with my mediumship and for your amazing cakes. Heartfelt thanks to two dear friends: Jennifer Plenty for such constant support and for always remembering Romy in such small but significant ways and Suzanne Mark for your friendship from the first days of our arrival in Sussex. To the entire Dharma Primary School community for welcoming our family and enveloping us in your warmth when we so needed it. Thank you, Jeannette Adair, for sharing such personal memories and for listening so well over lots of cups of tea. Thank you, Karla Courtney and Celina Lucas, for your time and input into my first book proposal. To Leslie Mallman, my thanks for your enduring friendship across many years, thousands of miles and countless slices of chocolate cake. You are a reliable sounding board and I am so thankful for your friendship.

I must thank Bill Kistler, my friend and mentor, for all the opportunities you gave me in the world of work and for showing me by example that generosity of spirit towards those around you is always the way to go. Your photograph of me with Romy is among my most treasured possessions and it is a privilege to call you and Ulli my friends.

To Melanie Sanders: thank you for going above and beyond and for giving your wonderful friendship and love to our whole family, especially during my fourth pregnancy. Although you never made it to a birth, you have always been with me in spirit and your positivity and belief in me carried me through. To Helen Piper, for encouraging me with the blog which eventually became the seed of inspiration for this book, for driving six hours in one day just to sit with me for an afternoon when I needed you and for still being my friend even though you think my outlook on life is weird.

To Michelle Ramiro and Emma Round, for their lifetime (in fact I am sure this is many lifetimes) of friendship. There are so many things I could thank you both for; most of all for always knowing what I am thinking without my having to explain anything. I marvel at how we have grown together over forty years of friendship despite distance and challenges. You are family and our bond is unique. I can always, always rely on you both to be late for anything.

It goes without saying that I have much to thank my family for. I consider myself truly blessed to call Suzanne Norell and Nuria Kruger my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Thank you both, so much, for your enduring love and encouragement during the writing of this book and for being so willing to embrace my interest in Spiritualism and healing. Suzanne, thank you especially for flying over from Spain to look after our children while I wrote, and Nuria, thank you for setting up the blog that became such a lifeline to me in my darkest time and for giving such helpful feedback on the first draft of my proposal for this book. The cheerleading you have both given me from afar has helped me more than I can say.

I would also like to use this opportunity to give my love and thanks to my two wonderful brothers-in-law, Rory McGauran and Les Kruger. Thank you for your quiet support over many years, and for always being there when needed. My love goes to all our wonderful nephews and to our niece: Ryan, Luke, Elliott, Julian and Stella.

I would like to give special thanks to my aunt, Sue Fulling; one of the few people to really know exactly what I have been through. It has helped me beyond words to know that you were always on hand to listen right from the first hours after Romy passed. This book is also for you, for Ken and for Nicola, with my love.

To my parents, Ray and Viv Cuthbert, and my sister Claire McGauran: thank you all for always having my back and for listening to and supporting me without judgement. Mum and Dad, thank you for buying me my first typewriter and, many years later, the laptop on which this book was written, for encouraging my writing as a child and for bringing me up to be open to the spirit world. On a practical note, thank you also for your hours of childcare that have enabled me to write. Claire, thank you for your loyalty. However hard things have got in my life I have always known that I can rely on you without question and this is truly special. Thank you for being there for Romy, and for us, during her last hours with us. Thank you for celebrating our differences, for never being afraid to tell it how it is and for all the times we have rendered ourselves helpless with laughter.

In line with the subject matter of this book I must also thank all my guides, helpers and loved ones in Spirit. I thank my guide, Xian, for his patience and understanding as I conquered my fears and all the guides I feel standing in the background, ready to come forward and help me in my mediumship and my life. In particular I give thanks to Noory and Jeannette Norell and all four of my grandparents Stuart and Sylvia Cuthbert and Bert and Eleanor Fulling whose love and encouragement I have felt throughout my life, from this world and the next.

Thank you to Kasper, Layla and Macsen for choosing me as your Mama. Your own individual gifts make you a joy to be around and you have been my inspiration to keep going at times when I have felt I couldnt. Thank you, Romy, for all that you shared and continue to share with me.

My final thanks have to go to my husband, Darius Norell: the north to my south and the air to my fire. The things I have to thank you for are countless, but the most special are the four amazing children we created together. Thank you for always wanting to give me the world, for walking beside me even when I could not stand, and most of all for always encouraging me to follow my dreams. This book would not exist without your love.

Ali Norell is a mother of three children here and one in Spirit a wife, an author, a healer, a medium and an inspirational speaker.