Every day since she died I have spoken to Julie. As an atheist I know it is just to appease my head and yet it makes some sense to me.
I wish her the world of the after-life - stars and angels - were true and I feel comforted keeping her hopes alive.
I understand why 'believers' get in to the head-space of 'it is true'. I too can hear Julie replying to every question, re-looping conversations. Questions I posed when she was alive and conversations I can extrapolate. I hear Julie blowing a kiss as I walk out of the door, saying hello as I come home again, but none of it is real.
Try it believers - ask a genuine question to which you don't know an answer and there is a deafening silence.
Yet, today I felt a scowl, as I knew Julie would not have approved, but I don't know what it is I actually did that she would have disapproved of.
Lost the plot, but happy doing so.
I'm no believer in any religion or the common notion of God, but I do believe that the human spirit is far too wonderous a thing to just disappear after our brief 'conscious' life. My Dad died when I was 18 but he is with me every day of my life and occasionally answers those questions, Julie is with you too and always will be.
It certainly feels like it.