The cover of the Oct. 15 Newsweek declared “Heaven Is Real.” It was written by a neurosurgeon. I needed no convincing. I “died” during a recent liver transplant. I saw angels. I heard a heavenly choir. I saw the face of Jesus.

Hallucination? Not a chance. Before that, I was obsessed with a fear of dying. Now I no longer fear it. I submit that hallucinations can’t produce such a life-changing effect.

Had I any doubts at all, it was all settled by this: I floated down a passage. To my right, in a plane that I wasn’t able to enter, was a large banquet table. I passed a woman sitting there whom I recognized. Esme was a classmate of mine at HLV High School 40 years ago. But she was still alive on earth, wasn’t she?

It was only after I went home that I found out she had died in 2004. I’ll see Esme again. I know exactly where she is. Indeed, heaven is real.

James Dean

McNeish

Iowa City