Rosanne Norris' Validation with her son Lee through Jennifer Brazier
Posted
-
- Jun
- 22
- 2026
by Elizabeth Boisson
A Reading with Jennifer Brazier — Lee Comes Through
Binghamton Helping Parents Heal
Our Binghamton chapter recently gathered for a group reading with Jennifer Brazier, and seven of us sat together as our loved ones came through. Jennifer brought through each of our kids with incredible details, and Lee was among them.
Jennifer described someone who loved sports and competition but wasn't particularly agile. Lee was on the small side until late in high school, and not particularly fast. He was a three-sport athlete, but baseball was his best sport. Jennifer picked up on a wrist injury connected to a sport. Lee dislocated his thumb playing football which ended his participation in the game.
She mentioned a milestone birthday coming. Lee will be forty next year, and we were just talking about throwing a big party for family and friends. He was listening.
Then she said something that surprised me. Lee said to prepare for a big change connected to my book, coming in about three to four months. I am a debut novelist with a book launching this fall. I don't know what the change is — but I'm excited to find out.
Lee brought the image of a boat that holds four people. We live on a private lake. We have a paddleboat that seats exactly four. I imagine him with me when I am there.
He talked about his dad working somewhere damp and cold. My husband has a small office space where he stores his tools. It is damp, cold, and — Lee was right about this too — it is messy.
Then Jennifer said something about wearing a mask. My mind went immediately to the time five of us in the family dressed as the Addams Family for a Halloween wedding held in a cemetery. Lee came as Pugsley. Jennifer followed that image by saying Lee is the comic relief of the family. Anyone who knew him would agree.
Lee's sister was part of the reading. He told Jennifer that his sister works in education — she is a school nurse — and that a new opportunity is coming for her. April works two jobs and has been quietly thinking about making a change. He also mentioned her nails. She had just had them done.
The final piece is the one I am still sitting with. Jennifer brought up the name Dean, and no one in the room could place a Dean. Jennifer said there was a motorcycle accident. She felt I would be reaching out to the mother. I recently read about a young man in a motorcycle accident, and I had been thinking about sending a card to his family through the funeral home — something I do sometimes. When I looked up the story, I found out the man’s name is Warren, but he has a brother named Dean.
For those in our chapter who were in the room, we were gifted with the verification that our kids continue through the amazing details that came through Jennifer. And for those reading this in early grief, I want you to know that this is what love from the other side looks like — not vague comfort, but specific, verifiable, sometimes laughing-through-tears recognition of the person you love, still present, still paying attention, still exactly themselves.
Rosanne Groover Norris is an affiliate leader and caring listener with the Binghamton chapter of Helping Parents Heal, a David Kessler-trained grief educator, and the author of beLEEve: A Journey of Loss, Healing, and Hope. Her debut novel, Always Looking Up: A Knewing of Pearl Harbor, will publish in 2026.