Luis Elizondo

And so what makes Lou or what makes Joe, Joe? Well, it's not your physical self and probably not even your intellectual self. My mother... I was very close to my mother. My mother was an incredible human being. And I'll share this story with you and take away with it what you want. I was very young, maybe two, two and a half, three years old.

And I remember watching a show with my mother, one of my very first memories. And in this TV show, I don't remember what show it was, but I remember that a shark had eaten a dog. And I was shocked. My first understanding that what death was. And I looked at my mom, I said, mom, what just happened? And she said, well, son, the shark ate the dog. I said, what does that mean?

And I remember watching a show with my mother, one of my very first memories. And in this TV show, I don't remember what show it was, but I remember that a shark had eaten a dog. And I was shocked. My first understanding that what death was. And I looked at my mom, I said, mom, what just happened? And she said, well, son, the shark ate the dog. I said, what does that mean?

And I remember watching a show with my mother, one of my very first memories. And in this TV show, I don't remember what show it was, but I remember that a shark had eaten a dog. And I was shocked. My first understanding that what death was. And I looked at my mom, I said, mom, what just happened? And she said, well, son, the shark ate the dog. I said, what does that mean?

She said, well, the dog's not coming back. The dog died. I said, well, does everything die? She said, well, yes, son, everything dies. I said, well, mom, you're not going to die. You're a mom, right? You gave me life. She said, no, son, one day I'm going to die. And I remember spending, from that day forward, as God is my witness, I spent every single day of my life

She said, well, the dog's not coming back. The dog died. I said, well, does everything die? She said, well, yes, son, everything dies. I said, well, mom, you're not going to die. You're a mom, right? You gave me life. She said, no, son, one day I'm going to die. And I remember spending, from that day forward, as God is my witness, I spent every single day of my life

She said, well, the dog's not coming back. The dog died. I said, well, does everything die? She said, well, yes, son, everything dies. I said, well, mom, you're not going to die. You're a mom, right? You gave me life. She said, no, son, one day I'm going to die. And I remember spending, from that day forward, as God is my witness, I spent every single day of my life

knowing one day my mother was going to die. And it terrified me. I was very, very close with her. And one day, that day came. My mother was diagnosed with cancer. And she started, her body started failing. And despite the best efforts, we knew she wasn't going to make it. And when you love somebody sometimes, It doesn't sound right, but sometimes you deceive them.

knowing one day my mother was going to die. And it terrified me. I was very, very close with her. And one day, that day came. My mother was diagnosed with cancer. And she started, her body started failing. And despite the best efforts, we knew she wasn't going to make it. And when you love somebody sometimes, It doesn't sound right, but sometimes you deceive them.

knowing one day my mother was going to die. And it terrified me. I was very, very close with her. And one day, that day came. My mother was diagnosed with cancer. And she started, her body started failing. And despite the best efforts, we knew she wasn't going to make it. And when you love somebody sometimes, It doesn't sound right, but sometimes you deceive them.

They want to know they're in a bad state physically and mentally, and you say, am I going to make it? And you say, yeah, of course you're going to make it, right? Knowing full well that there's probably not a good chance you're going to make it. And so we're in the hospital, and my mother had at this point been in probably a state of coma for about a week.

They want to know they're in a bad state physically and mentally, and you say, am I going to make it? And you say, yeah, of course you're going to make it, right? Knowing full well that there's probably not a good chance you're going to make it. And so we're in the hospital, and my mother had at this point been in probably a state of coma for about a week.

They want to know they're in a bad state physically and mentally, and you say, am I going to make it? And you say, yeah, of course you're going to make it, right? Knowing full well that there's probably not a good chance you're going to make it. And so we're in the hospital, and my mother had at this point been in probably a state of coma for about a week.

And it was just me, my wife, and a couple members of the family. Very, very sad moment. my mother began this process of death called, you know when someone's gonna die, there's something called a death rattle. And it's when the mucus begins in the back of the throat to congeal. And it makes breathing—it can be very unnerving for the people who have to witness this. It's very, very common.

And it was just me, my wife, and a couple members of the family. Very, very sad moment. my mother began this process of death called, you know when someone's gonna die, there's something called a death rattle. And it's when the mucus begins in the back of the throat to congeal. And it makes breathing—it can be very unnerving for the people who have to witness this. It's very, very common.

And it was just me, my wife, and a couple members of the family. Very, very sad moment. my mother began this process of death called, you know when someone's gonna die, there's something called a death rattle. And it's when the mucus begins in the back of the throat to congeal. And it makes breathing—it can be very unnerving for the people who have to witness this. It's very, very common.

It's called a death rattle. It's the body beginning to shut down. And I knew something told me my mom was going to go very quickly, within the next 30 seconds to a minute. So long story short— My mother's body was, at that point, it was a husk, an empty husk. It was broken. Her brain had shut down. And yet, the very moment she passed away, within five seconds, I knew it.

It's called a death rattle. It's the body beginning to shut down. And I knew something told me my mom was going to go very quickly, within the next 30 seconds to a minute. So long story short— My mother's body was, at that point, it was a husk, an empty husk. It was broken. Her brain had shut down. And yet, the very moment she passed away, within five seconds, I knew it.

It's called a death rattle. It's the body beginning to shut down. And I knew something told me my mom was going to go very quickly, within the next 30 seconds to a minute. So long story short— My mother's body was, at that point, it was a husk, an empty husk. It was broken. Her brain had shut down. And yet, the very moment she passed away, within five seconds, I knew it.

It was just something weird. Something reached and said, this is it. She's going. And I reached over the bed and I looked at my mom. Her eyes all of a sudden opened up and she looked right at me. And even though her brain had been compromised and wasn't working, her body was nothing anymore. And she was a beautiful woman. She worked for Playboy. She was a beautiful lady, at one time a model.