A Mother Talks To Her Dead Son

It's often been said there is no pain greater than a mother mourning the loss of a child. But some, like Vicki Funke, believe that death doesn't always mean good-bye.

If there is such a thing as a perfect baby, her son, Jimmy Lombardo, was it. For the first seven months of his life, there was no hint of trouble. But in his eighth month a shadow fell over the golden boy. Jimmy's mother noticed that he was having trouble using his legs. And the doctors confirmed her worst fears. Jimmy had spinal muscular atrophy and the prognosis was grim.

"They told us that he would live to be 2 and he would get progressively worse. He would deteriorate and within a couple of years, that would be it," said Jimmy's mom, Vicki Funke.

But she refused to accept the diagnosis as a death sentence. She worked with the devotion only a mother can know, helping Jimmy move, eat, breathe, and live.

"When I think of Jimmy, who he was, there was never anything that we couldn't conquer together," Funke said.

And together, they fought. It was as if Funke was keeping death away by standing guard at her son's side.

"I felt like the two of us made up one person. I was the arms and the legs, and he was the one with the mind, and what he wanted to do," she said.

She tried to give him a normal teenager's life, and even helped to arrange a meeting with his idol, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. But not even the power of a mother's love could stop the merciless advance of the disease. In time, Jimmy grew so small that his mother could pick him up.

"I remember soaking the carpets around his bed with tears at night, praying for God not to take him from me," she said.

Because he was on a feeding tube, Jimmy communicated by spelling out words on a clipboard. And in the fall of 2000, he said the last thing his mother wanted to hear.

Funke said, "One night, he spelled out heaven on his clipboard, and then he spelled out when. And I said, 'Are you ready?' And he said, 'Yes.'"

The boy who was not expected to live past age 2 died one month short of his 18th birthday. Today, while 3-year-old Derian plays under a palm tree planted in his big brother's honor, Funke dreams of communicating with her dead son.

She draws hope from people like John Edward, a psychic and host of "Crossing Over," and says she'd like to meet him some day.

Funke explained, "Jimmy would say, 'I know that if there is a way for my mom to connect with me, when I'm gone from this world, that she will find that way.' And that's my reason for trying to connect with John Edward."

Funke, who lives with her husband and three remaining children, said memories of Jimmy will always be her inspiration.

"I know that I've told you but it's also true, 'Jimmy, you were the biggest man that I ever knew.' Love, mom," Funke said.

So on The Early Show Wednesday, Funke met John Edward.

"I cannot believe this," a very surprised Funke said, noting that she had seen saw Edward in Las Vegas.

To help her out, Edward said, "One of the things I always tell people is, you've heard me say this, it's not as important to be read as to understand the process."

So he invited Funke back to New York in November for a workshop he is teaching.

"I'm doing a workshop on teaching people how to raise their awareness about the subject matter. And I think there's no greater gift to be able to give back to your son than to be able to recognize his energy when he's around without ever needing to go see somebody like myself to be able to do that. So I've got a goodie bag for you and an invitation," he said.

Funke responded, "You have no idea how much this means to me."

Edward noted everybody can learn how to communicate and "cross over" without his help.

Funke said she has done it before and when she does it, she says to her son, "Mostly thank you for being a part of my life. And I thank God for of all the women in the world, he chose me to take care of that kid. And I was 100 percent dedicated. And I cannot thank you enough."