A Review of Second Life: An Atheist’s Journey to Spirituality by Anne C. Cooper

 

(2017). ISBN: 978-0-9991237-0-6

Wise ones have said (and I count my blessings every day that I have never had to test it) that the most unnatural thing in the world is a parent outliving their child. If the loss is related to suicide or drug use (and sometimes it is all too unclear) then the burden must be even worse to bear.

Anne C. Cooper lost her youngest of three sons, Todd, when he was 16.

The author’s journey to healing, forgiveness, and understanding is the core of this book, which is much more than a story about the death of a child. It is a brutally honest autobiography of a mother and wife’s experience of alcoholism across multiple generations, and the damage addiction does.

Useful books on grieving are hard to find, although there are many (many) titles available on the subject. My favorites are Neil Donald Walsche’s Home with God: In a Life That Never Ends (which was invaluable in helping me process the loss of a spiritual mentor, who was also my aunt), Elaine Mansfield’s Leaning into Grief, and The World is Not Going to Stop for my Broken Heart, by Amy Jo Giovannone, which I reviewed in 2020. Amy Jo’s daughter, an academic and sports superstar, became addicted to painkillers after back surgery, which led to opioid addiction, then seeking illegal drugs from nefarious types, and, ultimately and tragically, her brutal murder. My wife, a psychic medium, has been in contact with Amy Jo’s daughter, and she has provided her mother with some comfort and peace.

What if you are not spiritual by nature—or an atheist as in Cooper’s case—and such unspeakable tragedy occurs? There are of course many paths, but becoming a Seeker is one that often makes the difference between Life and Death for the surviving parent.

I met the author several months ago when she attended a Zoom presentation my wife and I were giving on our work as paranormal investigators, mediators between the living and the dead, authors, and researchers. During the Q&A we were impressed by Cooper’s knowledge, and were familiar with many of the books she was mentioning to us—books that were the paving stones on her road to healing.

Second Life begins with the aptly titled “The End,” which briefly relates the circumstances of the day Todd died. He was struck by a car after spending the night at his maternal grandparents’ after an episode at school. Cooper introduces us to a family in turmoil­—she and her husband Jonathan (an alcoholic) are sleeping separately, and life has been difficult for years.

Part one is called “First Life,” which starts with “The Beginning.” For those readers interested in the complexities of Intuition and Fate/Destiny—and we all should be—the courtship of Anne and Jonathan is fraught with red flags and at times may make you wonder why Anne went through with the wedding. Jonathan’s family, although successful and well known in some quarters, was riddled with alcoholism, and the section where his mother moves in and terrorizes them for months on end is truly a cautionary tale about whom we allow to stay in our homes, no matter their relationship to us.

Add in the fact that Jonathan, a talented industrial designer, was previously married and had a daughter who died young to all of this and you have the set-up for familial disaster.

As First Life unfolds, the tensions and frustrations mount over money, raising three boys, and Anne’s place in the world outside of the family. When Todd starts to withdraw and have trouble in school, Anne tries to help him, but anyone with teenagers knows how difficult that can be. In the midst of this, Jonathan gets a DUI and is unable to sustain his once-successful business.

Again called “The End,” the final chapter of the first section provides more details on the day of Todd’s death.

Taking the same title as the book, the next section, Second Life, is Anne’s journey to healing, forgiveness, and understanding that there is more to the workings of the Universe than an atheist’s worldview will allow. It begins with “Rebirthday” and the journey continues to unfold with Anne’s realization that Todd died/took his life on her birthday.

After the funeral, Anne works through the stages of grief by becoming an Activist and Seeker. Learning that Todd was taking drugs that might have contributed to his emotional struggles and death, she uses her position on the school board for conversation and advocacy, involving admitting there was a problem in the school system and finding constructive solutions rather than pretending the problem didn’t exist. She also pursues higher education degrees, filling her time constructively, with an eye toward making a difference, even as her marriage sees its final dissolution. She adjusts her diet to eat healthier, and as she widens her circle of friends and colleagues, she begins to explore the Spiritual—first through books. There was psychic medium James Van Praagh’s Talking to Heaven and Healing Grief. Lynne McTaggart’s paradigm-changing The Field. Carolyn Myss’s Anatomy of the Spirit. Having read all of these books since 2002 on my own spiritual journey, it was clear that Cooper was being led to the foundational information she most needed as she needed it.

Having a foundation in the chakras, consciousness surviving death, and the interconnected nature of all things—as well as sensing she’s guided by a higher power—Cooper was led to a more active experience of these concepts in the form of readings by a number of psychic mediums using various modalities in order to contact Todd on the Other Side. Similar to Mike Anthony’s Love, Dad, which I recently reviewed, Cooper and her two surviving sons apply healthy skepticism throughout the sessions, so their ultimate belief that it was Todd who was communicating with them is all the more weighty as evidence that consciousness survives death.

Through these communications (the contents of which are related in detail in the latter half of the book) Cooper finds healing, hope, and meaning. As the husband of a psychic medium, I know based on extensive experience that this is the goal and value of a genuine communicator with the Other Side.

The ultimate reveal has to do with reincarnation, but I will leave that for you to discover when you read Second Life.

This book is not only for those grieving the loss of a child. Anyone searching for meaning in these trying times will find value here. Read the books that Cooper suggests (in the same order if you’d like) and experience the work of skilled, legitimate psychic mediums—they are out there and every day science is testing and affirming that what they do is real. Consciousness exists after the death of the physical body and, when a confirmed atheist comes to this conclusion after extensive study over the course of years, that is the most valuable evidence we have.