I had the pleasure of interviewing Maureen Hancock (a.k.a. the "Overseas Operator"), who has a the gift of communicating with the other side. She uses her talent to bring healing, deep understanding, and delightful humor wherever she goes, and she goes everywhere. To hospitals, churches, people's homes, police stations, bookstores, and to her sons' football games. She's so good that ABC has given her a television pilot.

Lese Dunton: When you help people pass on, at whatever age they might be...what are some basic things to remember? What's good to know when you're going through it?

Maureen Hancock: With an adult, they say to me, "What's it going to be like? Is it just darkness? Is it black? Are there people waiting there? Do they come down here? Are they up there? Who will be there for me? What's it going to feel like at that moment that I pass?"

I always say:

"I won't know completely, until I get there, but here's what I've been told countless times: a few days before you pass, they start to gather in the room. You may or may not start to see them. When you pass, it is indescribable. The best way I can describe it is elation; ecstasy in the most joyous amazing way.

"You literally take a breath and go 'Ohhhhhh...beautiful!!' And it feels...like Heaven. The most beautiful, stunning, outrageously amazing feeling that you're released from the physical. You feel light, you feel love beyond how you could even put into words what love feels like."

I've witnessed many physical passings and people literally sit up, even if they couldn't speak from a stroke or whatever and they say, "Oh my gosh, it's beautiful!! Can't you see it? Oh wow!!" And then they pass. So, if you can put that into words, it's outrageously amazing.

Then I say:

"Everybody is gathered around. Your most special, closest loved ones are in the front, and you'll see friends and relatives gathered around behind them."

Some people do see that light. Others don't. It's a little bit different when it's tragic, like a car accident or a suicide. They're still there for you, but there's more of a feeling of confusion, like, "Whoa, whoa. Wait. What?" And they fight between wanting to come back and this amazing feeling. "Oh this amazing...wait a minute, my family! This is so tragic I have to go back..." So some actually come back into their body and others will travel on. Sometimes a relative or somebody will say, "It's not your time. You have to go back."

I believe that everyone has a soul contract for how long they're to be here. If they're meant to come back, they will. If they're meant to journey on, they will.

In the case of suicide, they have to sit with that pain that they caused everyone here if they made that decision that really wasn't up to them to make. So they went against what I would say is God's will or their soul contract or the Universe's ultimate plan for them and they couldn't handle it. They do have to go into a little bit of a school to learn. Hey, here are the challenges you were presented with and here's how you dealt with them, and here's how we were hoping you would pass these little tests, but you decided to just cut it an leave. That wasn't up to you to decide, so I want you feel what everybody here is feeling now and how and how much they miss you and love you. And it doesn't feel so great.

With a child passing, I tell those around the child whos is going to be there to greet them because they want to make sure someone is going to be there to take care of their child. After they pass they ask, "Are they safe? Are they okay? I just want to make sure that make sure that my child is safe, and with people, and being taken care of, and okay. Are they happy? Are they peaceful? Do they know how much we love them? Can he see me? Can he hear me? Why can't he send me more signs?"

My biggest thing when someone is passing, especially a child, is to say, "This is who's going to be there for them. They're waiting right here to take their hand. Your child is going to know that it's not the end and they're going to be happy because they know that you're going to be along when it's your time, and you'll all be together again. There's no time on the other side. So they don't feel the pain that you feel. Because when they pass they go, 'Oh, Mom's going to be along and we'll be together. I can see the reunion.' They see it without a time frame."

We need to live FOR them because when you laugh and smile, their energy goes right through them. It just vibrates through their soul. Their essence. It just makes them feel so good. Then the parents say, oh okay I'll do that. I teach them.

LD: Teach them to be joyful.

MH: And I teach them how to let go of fear when someone's passing because that loved one will stick around because they can feel that you don't want them to leave. They try to hang on for you. They're worried about them. I teach them how to say, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You can let go now. You're going to be okay. You're going to still be with me. But you're going to be out of pain and you're going to feel wonderful. So, let go. It's okay."

They'll know if you don't really mean it. They're getting ready to pass so they're all knowing, and they know the true meaning of your words and what you're really feeling. They can feel it with you.

LD: Do kids ask you questions?

MH: Yes, they ask questions. I have a little boy who I'm going to be talking to on Skype, who's in Pennsylvania. He's 6 years old and his mother says he has questions for me. He wants to know what Heaven is like. Where's he going? What's it going to be like? Can you imagine that conversation? It's just amazing. How do I help him pass over Skype? When I'm there I rub their head, I rub their feet, I talk to them, I get to know them. This is so different. It's a challenge. How do I get him to trust me, to like me, to know me, to feel comfortable without me being there in person?

It's just the hardest thing on earth to help a family let go of a child. I have to do it later this afternoon. I'm going to a children's hospital for 7 year-old who just took a turn for the worse.

LD: You've said you're a conduit that helps people get in touch with their own healing ability.

MH: Yeah, I never say I'm a healer. I'm a facilitator and I help others heal themselves. I help them to re-spark their inner healing ability. I give them the tools they need to activate their own inner healing ability. So really I'm just the middleman...lady.

LD: You've used the metaphor of "sliding into home plate." Could you elaborate on that a bit?

MH: I picture when people are stuck in grief, they're just going through the day to day life, going through the motions.

Their wish for us, because we're still here — we're still in the physical living and they're onto the next chapter of their story — is to live life to the fullest.

When you're living, don't just walk the bases. When it's your time, and you get to home plate (home plate being Heaven), slide in! Like, "Wooooo!" Like you weren't just walked home by the pitcher.

You have to use all your adrenaline and you rush to get to home plate, and then you slide in with enthusiasm: "I won, I did it, I lived life to the fullest. Hip-hop hooray." And you high five everyone who's waiting for you when you get there. And they say, "That was awesome. You lived such a great life. You lived it. You didn't tip toe around. You ran, you jumped, you prayed, you found joy."

I know that this is one tool in your process of grief that can be comforting. You do have to be careful because there are a lot of charlatans or mediums who take your money and they're not coming from the heart. They're not for real. That's why when I do my private readings, they're all free because I want people to really take in this experience from my heart to their heart and not have any, oh it's this much money, or oh she's taking advantage of my grief. I just want to be clear on my goal here. I'm here to help you and that's it. And I'm paying it forward. And I survive in other ways that God helps me, so that I can work for free during the day to give back. Then there's no weirdness around it because there's not expectation like, oh, I have to be "on" because what if they're disappointed.

I do believe people should give back in some way. We can squeeze a few minutes of a day to give back. Whether it's a call to an elderly relative, someone who needs to be heard, soup kitchen, you name it. A million and one ways. We are here to spread love and peace and comfort in whatever way that is. Even if it's just a smile to someone. We don't smile because we think people think, oh she's crazy.

LD: You're setting such a great example, not just for mediums but for all people.

MH: I want to teach people about life. How do we survive here? How do we put things into perspective? I might be "The Perspective Lady."

I teach doctors and nurses, lawyers, detectives, stay at home moms, electricians, every walk of life finds its way to me and I'd love it to be more accessible, so that if they're not in New England I can reach, like in a webinar, anywhere in the world.

LD: I hear you have a television pilot.

MH: Yes. I've been offered many things over several years. This finally felt right with ABC Disney, the executive producers of the Ghost Whisperer, and the Style Network. Style's brand is "Before meets after, a transformation," so I think that my mission fits right in with their brand, which is transformation. I'm happy about it.

She lives in a small town south of Boston, Massachusetts, with her husband, two children, and chocolate lab, Ally. Visit the author at www.maureenhancock.com.