One of my favorite television shows is Jennifer Love Hewitt's Ghost Whisperer. I've seen all four seasons and cannot wait for the next one. As always, I don't really care what other people say about the show; what's important for me is that I enjoy it and I get a lot of good lessons from it.
Ghost Whisperer is about a young woman named Melinda Gordon (J.Love) who has the gift of seeing the dead (spirits). However, the show is not at all what you expect of supernatural stories. It's more heartwarming than scary, actually. You see, Melinda has a huge responsibility, and that responsibility involves using her gift. She sees spirits of dead people and helps them "finish the unfinished" so they can cross over and "go into the light".
Here is an excerpt taken from CBS.com, Ghost Whisperer's home studio. "Inspired in part by the work of famed medium James Van Praagh and of Mary Ann Winkowski, a real-life communicator with earth bound spirits, GHOST WHISPERER explores the spiritual side of life and death."
Melinda is married to Jim Gordon, a paramedic who knows about her gift. Jim is very supportive of her and even accompanies her sometimes when she does her investigations. She and Jim have an unconditional love that goes beyond any boundaries. Theirs is the stuff that we all dream of having.
Melinda's mom (Anne Archer) is also gifted but is not as open with the whole idea as her daughter is. The two of them just recently "restored" their relationship.
The Ghost Whisperer is surrounded by loving friends who never fail to help her. She has Delia (her best friend who helps run her quaint antique shop), Ned (Delia's son), and her "sidekick" Eli (Jamie Kennedy), who has the unusual gift of "hearing" (but not seeing) ghosts. In the previous seasons, Melinda's "sidekick" was Jay Mohr's Professor Payne. Also, in the earlier seasons, Melinda had another best friend who was killed when a plane crashed in Grandview (their fictional town). Melinda helped her go into the light.
All these characters have their own stories to tell; and all their stories somehow connect with what Melinda does.
What's really good about this show is that it makes you feel good after watching it. No matter how many tears you shed, you will always get that wonderful, happy feeling after watching one full episode. I've cried many tears watching families saying goodbye to loved ones about to cross into the light; or couples declaring their undying love; and parents reconnecting with children who left them early in life.
A lot of changes have been happening in the show (like Melinda and Jim finally having a baby), and I'm extra excited to find out just how powerful their little one will be.
Sometimes, I envy Melinda because she helps a lot of people without really asking for anything in return. But most of the time, I get scared thinking about what I'd really do if I were in her shoes. My greatest wish, though impossible, is to meet Melinda and spend a day with her. I'm sure I'll learn a lot from her. For we all know that even those who have gone on ahead of us have tons of new knowledge to share with us.
The show also reiterates something that I learned a long time ago, back when I was yet an innocent high school senior: "even in death, love speaks".
I hope Ghost Whisperer goes on air forever. But then again, like what the show is unconsciously trying to tell us, forever is in another realm. Maybe I'll just content myself with the idea that there may really be a Melinda Gordon somewhere in the world. And that I might get to meet her someday. Maybe in this lifetime, or in the next.
