I had a great session with Jamie and Erik today. This was the first time I’ve every seen Jamie bust Erik though. He got banished to the couch because he and Bob Hope were goofing around so much that we couldn’t get started with the interview. Jamie got super irritated. Of course Erik was the instigator. Sigh.

Now, enjoy this interview of Amy Winehouse.

Me: Okay, Erik. Let’s pick between Marilyn Monroe, Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse. You pick any of these you want.

Jamie (you know who he’s going to pick! Oh, he’s gone.

Me: Probably Jim Morrison, I bet. Erik loved his music. Or it could be Amy.

Jamie: Oh, female. Amy Winehouse. He has her. I was thinking he’d pick the one with the biggest boobs.

Me (laughing): God, I didn’t think of that. Yeah, typical Erik.

Jamie: God, she’s LIT-TLE!

Me: Oh gosh, yeah. Hi Amy!

Amy: Hi.

Me: How are you doing? How was everything over there? I hope you’re getting your bearings okay.

(Pause)

Jamie: I-I’m asking her to speak up.

Me: She might just have to sing it! Sing your answers, Amy!

(Long pause)

Jamie: Um, we’re repeating the question. Erik’s kind of helping her speak up a little bit. It sounds like she’s in the other room. It’s really wild. You can see her in front of you. She’s wearing, uh, it looks like a black tank top and jeans. Very plain. And her hair is NOT done up like I’m used to seeing her. Big headband, and it’s just kind of fallen back. She looks like a little girl!

Me: Really?

Jamie: No heavy makeup. I don’t think I’d recognize her on the street!

Me: Interesting.

Jamie: Erik is still speaking with her. I hear him saying, “Go ahead, go ahead. “

Me: Just giving her encouragement?

Jamie: Yeah. Telling her what it’s about, filling her in on where she is. He’s really treating her with respect.

Me: Ah, good.

Amy: You want to know my first response to being dead?

Me: Yeah.

Amy: It was quite a shock. I didn’t have any inkling that I was going to die.

Jamie: So it wasn’t suicide?

Amy: No. No it wasn’t.

Me: Other than the shock, what was your transition like for you?

Amy: Surprise! I didn’t have much thought, because I didn’t have a point of reference. I just didn’t have one; I didn’t know what I was seeing and where I was seeing it from.  Mostly dream state until I was someone explained what this all was.

Me: So you thought you were dreaming then?

Amy: Yes.

Me: Oh, wow. Can you describe your surroundings when you just crossed over?

(Long pause)

Amy: It was just like another room in a building. I saw windows.

Jamie: The way she’s describing it there were blue floors, white walls, windows.

(Pause)

Jamie (giggling): She doesn’t remember seeing a roof.

Amy: Yeah, it’s odd to say now, but I don’t recall any roof. But I wasn’t alarmed by it. Kind of like how you put bugs in a box to transport them. That’s pretty much what it felt like, little bug in a box.

(Jamie, Erik and I laugh.)

Amy: I was never uncomfortable. I remember Frank Sinatra.

Jamie (to me): Frank Sinatra, he passed away?

Me: Mm hm.

Jamie: Okay, I didn’t know that.

Me: You’re way too young!

Amy: I heard Frank singing.

Jamie: That’s the guy who does “Singing in the Rain”, right?

Me: No, that’s Gene Kelly!

Jamie: Mm. Sorry.

Me: Whippersnapper.

Amy: I remember hearing it, and knowing I wasn’t alone; I was more entertained by looking at what the room was. I think that’s why I thought it was a dream.

Me: Was it a small room?

Amy: No, no. Very spacious, like a warehouse. No support beams, no compartmentalized areas or dividers. Just one big open room. No furniture, nothing in it. Blue carpet.

Jamie: Almost looks like a periwinkle blue in my eyes.

Amy: I thought I was in a dream, so there was nothing much to do—just dreaming. But then what happened next with seeing family members and people you know are dead who you can clearly say, “You are dead.”

Jamie giggles.

Amy: And then to have them respond to you so vividly, “You are, too!” was the real eye-opener for me.

Me: Yeah, I can imagine. Were you sad about it? In other words, was it a happy shock or a sad shock?   

Amy: Definitely a shock, but once I figured it out, I was more relieved than upset or angry.