I Am Really There

A loving reflection on the subtle ways a beloved one may make their presence known

If you arrived on this page, perhaps you have felt something you do not know how to explain.

A soft presence.
A feeling in your heart.
A dream that felt different.
A memory that arrived suddenly.
A sign that appeared exactly when you needed it most.
An intimate certainty that your beloved animal companion was still close, even though their physical body was no longer here in the same way.

And maybe, after feeling it, doubt arrived.

Was it real?
Did I imagine it?
Was it only my desire to feel them close?
Can they truly be with me?

When we are navigating grief after the physical loss of a beloved animal companion, the heart can become very sensitive. Sometimes it perceives things the mind does not know how to organize.

This page was created to accompany that delicate question: when you feel their presence and a part of you wonders whether they are really there.

Not to convince you of anything.
Not to turn love into proof.
Not to tell you how you should experience your process.

But to open a soft, loving, and respectful space where you can remember that some bonds do not disappear with physical absence.

Sometimes, love finds very subtle ways to make itself known.

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A Note of Respect About the Original Text

For many years, different versions of the text known as “I Am Really There” in English and “Estoy realmente ahí” in Spanish have circulated in spaces of grief, comfort, and spiritual remembrance. As happens with many spiritual readings shared in contexts of loss, its origin can be difficult to confirm clearly.

From a place of respect and care, I do not reproduce the full poem or a complete translation on this page.

Instead, I wish to honor the deep message many people have found in it through my own words: a reflection on subtle presence, doubt, the love that continues, and the ways a beloved one may continue accompanying us from spirit.

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When You Feel Their Presence and Doubt Yourself

There are moments when something within you may feel them close.

Maybe upon waking.
Maybe when entering a room.
Maybe while walking through a place you shared.
Maybe while listening to a song.
Maybe while looking at the sky.
Maybe when another animal does something that reminds you deeply of him or her.
Maybe in a dream, a sensation, an inner image, or a calm that arrives without explanation.

And right after that, the mind may try to explain everything.

It may tell you it was a coincidence.
That it was imagination.
That it was only your need for comfort.
That perhaps you are inventing something because you miss them too much.

But not everything the heart perceives can be understood through logic.

Sometimes their presence expresses itself in a more subtle language.

It does not always arrive as an obvious sign.
It does not always arrive as something you can show someone else.
It does not always arrive in a way you can prove.

Sometimes it arrives as a gentle certainty.

As a feeling of companionship.
As warmth in your chest.
As unexpected peace.
As an image that appears in your mind.
As a memory that arrives exactly when you need it.
As a presence you cannot explain, but your heart recognizes.

And maybe you do not need to fight that feeling.

Maybe you can receive it with love.

As an intimate moment between your heart and the deep bond you share.

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Presence Does Not Always Arrive the Way We Expect

Sometimes we expect a sign to be clear, strong, obvious, or impossible to deny.

But many times, the spiritual presence of a beloved animal companion arrives in softer ways.

It may be felt at home, in that place where their energy is still part of your story.
In the corner where they used to rest.
In the bed where they used to sleep.
In the hallway where they used to walk.
In the silence where their steps used to be.
In the spaces where your heart still looks for them.

But it can also be felt outside.

On a walk.
In the wind.
In a cloud.
In a butterfly.
In a ray of sunlight.
In the song of a bird.
On a path you used to walk together.
In a sky that appears just when you were thinking of him or her.
In an unexpected place where, for a moment, you feel that you are not alone.

Their presence is not limited to a room, a home, or a memory.

Love does not live enclosed in only one place.

Sometimes it makes itself known in everyday life.
Sometimes in nature.
Sometimes through other animals.
Sometimes through people who say exactly the words you needed to hear.
Sometimes through an image, a scent, a sensation, or a coincidence that touches something deep within you.

It does not always arrive the way the mind would like.

But it may arrive in the way the heart is able to receive it.

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From my experience as an Animal Communicator, animals in spirit often show us that their presence does not disappear with physical departure.

Many times, during sessions, they come close with love to remind their family that they are still part of the bond.

Not from the physical body.
Not from the routine as it was before.
Not in the same way they were present when we could touch them, look into their eyes, or hear their steps.

But from love.
From consciousness.
From deep connection.
From that subtle way in which spirit can continue accompanying us.

I have perceived many times that animals in spirit do not want their family to live chasing signs or doubting every experience.

They do not want the bond to become anxiety.
They do not want their person to suffer trying to prove whether something was real.
They do not want physical absence to turn into a desperate search.

Rather, they often come close through a loving, soft, and respectful presence.

Sometimes to accompany.
Sometimes to comfort.
Sometimes to send calm.
Sometimes to remind us that love is still alive.
Sometimes to say, in many different ways:
“I am here, even though you now perceive me in a different way.”

The presence of an animal in spirit may be felt in very intimate moments.

When you cry in silence.
When you say their name.
When you remember something you lived together.
When you visit a special place.
When you care for their siblings.
When you go out into the world and, suddenly, something makes you feel them close.
When your heart opens just a little and can receive a feeling of love.

It is not always something spectacular.

Sometimes it is a small calm.
A brief sensation.
A dream that embraces you.
A certainty that arrives quietly.
A presence that seems to tell you the bond is still alive.

And even if you cannot prove it to anyone, perhaps your heart can recognize it.

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When You Do Not Feel Anything

It can also happen that you do not feel any signs.

That you do not dream of him or her.
That you do not perceive a clear presence.
That you do not receive the sign you were hoping for.
That other people tell you about their experiences, and you wonder why it is not happening to you.

If that happens, I want to tell you something with so much love:

It does not mean your bond is less strong.
It does not mean your beloved is far away.
It does not mean they do not want to come close.
It does not mean they do not love you.
It does not mean you have lost the connection.

Sometimes the pain is so great that it covers our perception.
Sometimes the mind needs to protect itself.
Sometimes the body is tired.
Sometimes the heart is in shock.
Sometimes we are expecting one specific form of presence and cannot yet recognize softer ones.

The connection does not depend on being able to feel signs all the time.

The love you share does not disappear because today you cannot perceive it.

Your beloved can continue accompanying you even on the days when you cannot feel them clearly.

You do not have to force anything.
You do not have to open before you are ready.
You do not have to turn your grief into a constant search.

Your heart also needs to rest.
And their loving presence may still be there, in a deep and subtle way, even when you cannot yet recognize it.

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Receiving Without Forcing

When we deeply miss someone, it is natural to want to feel them close.

We want a sign.
A dream.
A certainty.
An answer.
Something that helps us feel that the bond is still alive.

And that desire is born from love.

But it is also important to remember that spiritual connection does not need to be forced.

You can open gently, without pressuring yourself.
You can speak to them from your heart, without expecting an immediate answer.
You can be grateful for a sign if it arrives, without searching for signs in everything.
You can trust a feeling of love, without turning it into proof.
You can allow the bond to find its own paths.

Sometimes, when we soften the need to prove, the heart can receive with more calm.

Not because we stop loving.

But because we stop asking love to appear in only one way.

You can say to them:

I am here.
I love you.
If you can come close in a way my heart can recognize, I will be open to receiving you.
And if today I cannot feel you, I still trust our love.

That gentle trust can open a space of encounter through love.

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When a Sign Reaches Your Heart

Sometimes something happens and it feels different.

You may not know how to explain it, but something within you moves.

A song appears at the exact moment.
A light enters through the window in a special way.
An animal comes close unexpectedly.
A dream stays with you when you wake.
A phrase appears just when you were thinking of him or her.
A beautiful sky seems to embrace you.
A feeling of peace arrives in the middle of the pain.

And even if the mind wants to analyze it, the heart may feel that something in that moment mattered.

When a sign arrives with love, with calm, with tenderness, or with a deep sense of connection, you can allow yourself to receive it.

You do not have to explain it perfectly.
You do not have to convince anyone.
You do not have to prove that it was real.
You do not have to make it bigger or smaller than it was.

You can simply be grateful.

Thank you for coming close.
Thank you for reminding me of your love.
Thank you for continuing to walk with me in this way.
Thank you for letting me feel you, even if only for a moment.

Sometimes a sign does not come to resolve all the pain.

It comes to gently touch the heart.
To remind you that the bond is still alive.
To accompany you in that moment.
To open a small light in the middle of physical absence.

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Resources That May Accompany You in Your Grief

When your heart feels it is time, you can also find other loving spaces to support your process.

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Sometimes, after the physical departure of a beloved animal companion, the desire arises to feel them close again, to listen to what they wish to share, or to understand something about the bond you lived together.

Animals in Spirit Communication can open a loving, intuitive, and respectful space to listen from the heart.

It does not replace your grief process, nor does it seek to turn love into proof.

It is a space to honor the bond, receive whatever is possible from love, and remember that the connection with your beloved animal companion can continue to be present in a deep and subtle way.

When you feel it in your heart, you can learn more about the available sessions and choose the space that may best accompany this moment.

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Their Presence Can Continue Finding Its Way

Maybe there was a time when you felt something and did not know whether to trust it.

A sign.
A dream.
A sensation.
A presence.
A coincidence that touched your heart.

Maybe one part of you wanted to believe, and another part was afraid of imagining it.

You do not have to resolve everything through the mind.

You can allow your heart to have space, too.

Because the love you shared does not need to become proof in order to be true.

Your beloved animal companion is not limited to the place where their physical body once was.
Their presence can accompany you at home, on your path, in nature, in quiet days, in everyday moments, and in unexpected instants when something within you remembers that the bond is still alive.

Maybe you cannot always feel them.
Maybe they do not always arrive in the way you hope.
Maybe there are days when physical absence feels heavier than any sign.

And still, love remains.

It remains in your hearts.
In the story you shared.
In the memories that continue to embrace you.
In the way their life touched yours.
In the deep connection that continues to unite you.

May this page remind you that you do not have to invalidate everything your heart perceives.

You can receive with love.
You can be grateful with tenderness.
You can trust gently.
You can allow your beloved one’s presence to continue finding its way to you.

Because some bonds do not go out with physical absence.

They become more subtle.
More silent.
More spiritual.

But they remain alive in love.

With love,

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Who Accompanies You in This Space

My name is Erika Apellániz, and I am a Professional Animal Communicator, certified since 2017.

Throughout my path, I have accompanied thousands of animal communication sessions and processes, including many encounters with animals in spirit and families who are navigating grief after the physical loss of a beloved animal companion.

My work with animals in spirit comes from a place of deep respect, love, and sensitivity. For me, each session is a sacred space of listening, where the bond is not seen as something that ended, but as a connection that continues to live in a more subtle, luminous, and loving way.

I accompany these processes with the intention of honoring the story you shared, receiving what is possible from the heart, and remembering that our beloved animals continue to be part of our family, even though their physical presence has changed.

This page was created from that same perspective: as a space of comfort, hope, and love for those who deeply miss a beloved one in spirit.