Fascinating nine lives, thanks for telling the story.
Haven't experienced the phenomenon with clocks, however feel that your father was sending you and your brother a message, that death is not the end.
Some months prior to my father's passing he said words to the effect that he would not be around for much longer. At the time my reaction to him was that was not the case. He said no more, but having lived many years on have noted that it seems as if most know when their passing is close at hand, even when seemingly well.
It was a shock when Dad died in his sleep some months after his pronouncement. He was only 68 years of age and still a handsome with barely any grey hair.
He died in the early hours, at which time I was living some hundreds of miles distant, however I awoke unusually early and clearly remember thinking how odd it was as I sat up to greet the day feeling better than I'd felt since being diagnosed with cancer some months previously. It was quite unreal, including my dream just prior, it was as if I'd experienced the process of dying in tandem and then the final emancipation from this life.
No clock experiences, however some weeks later he appeared to me and spoke a few words. I was too stunned to react in return, but basically he said he was just resting and not to worry.
Your dad's visits from his mother are not far fetched at all. I've seen it many times having worked in hospitals. The patient will go a little 'nutty' naming people long gone who are standing by the bedside (only they can see them). Usually their parents or siblings who have already passed. These patients never leave the hospital alive, even when their health seems that this would be an unlikely outcome.
The world and our existence is far stranger than we have been led to believe. The mystery is astounding.
