Olivia Newton-John’s Family Reveal ‘Supernatural’ Encounters with Her 1 Year After Her Death (Exclusive)

Over the past year, Olivia Newton-John’s loved ones haven’t just felt the late superstar’s presence – they’ve seen her.

Opening to PEOPLE in this week’s anniversary edition Fat and the pop music icon died of cancer at 73, those closest to Newton-John are sharing details about her final days, what this past year was like and how they say she visited them in ways they never imagined.

“Two weeks after she passed, my phone happened to take a picture of my dog, and there was a little blue orb floating next to his head, the same color as this one,” says her daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 37, touching the aquamarine pendant necklace of her stepfather, John Easterling. (71) once gave it to her mum, who then gave it to her before she died last August.

David Livingston/Getty

“Mom and I talked a few years ago. We’d be watching these paranormal shows, and I’d be like, ‘You’ve got to show up for me.’ And she said, ‘I’m going to appear as one of those globular things.’ ”

Olivia Newton-John dies at 73: Star and ‘Grease’ icon dies of breast cancer

Easterling had similar encounters. Two months ago, he visited Peru with his wife’s ashes to hold a private ceremony at the site where they said “I do,” marking their 15th wedding anniversary. “I took a picture and this blue orb is right between my eyes,” he says, showing the picture on his phone. “This has been a supernatural year.”

John Easterling and Olivia Newton-John.

Denise Truscello/Contour by Getty

On August 8, 2022, Newton-John died peacefully at her home in Santa Ynez, California, after a 30-year journey with breast cancer. (First diagnosed with the disease in 1992, she privately faced a relapse in 2013 before publicly revealing in 2017 that the cancer had metastasized to her sacrum.)

Mark Sullivan Bradley; Elizabeth Weinberg

While the world lost a beloved film and music star — revered for her role as Sandy in the Fat, timeless pop hits like “Physical” and a famous positive attitude in the face of multiple cancer diagnoses – Lattanzi and Easterling have lost the person they loved the most. “There’s no substitute for it,” Easterling says.

John Easterling and Chloe Lattanzi for PEOPLE August 1, 2023

Elizabeth Weinberg

Over the past year, Lattanzi, Newton-John’s only child with ex-husband Matt Lattanzi, and Easterling have come together to honor the late legend, first with a private service for family and close friends in California, followed by a star-studded state funeral in February her home country of Australia.

Family and celebrity friends paid tribute to Olivia Newton-John at the State Memorial Service in Australia

In October, she will lead her annual Olivia’s Walk for Wellness in Melbourne to raise funds for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Center along with life-saving cancer research with her Olivia Newton-John Foundation currently testing the effectiveness of medicinal herbs for cancer treatment.

“It’s an honor,” Lattanzi says of continuing her mother’s advocacy and preparing to lead this year’s walk alongside Easterling. “I know it’s going to be really hard emotionally, but I’m excited to do this for her.” Easterling adds, “I have to stop and just be grateful. She wants us to live life and love life and never lose sight of the good things.”

John Easterling, Olivia Newton-John, Chloe Lattanzi.

Courtesy of ONJ Cancer Center

For years, Newton-John used the same mantra as she defied the odds. After announcing in 2017 that her cancer had returned, the star remained optimistic despite the sobering prognosis. “I don’t think I imagined that I would live this long! I feel very blessed,” Newton-John told PEOPLE in 2021, who combined traditional cancer treatment with homeopathic practices and remedies advocated by Easterling, an herbalist and naturopathic entrepreneur.

Olivia Newton-John.

Mark Sullivan Bradley

Although Newton-John’s condition worsened, her positive spirit endured. “She loved her place outside her bedroom to watch the birds,” says Lattanzi, who returned to help care for her mom. After she spent some time in the hospital toward the end, “we thought, ‘She doesn’t want to be here,'” Lattanzi says, and they brought Newton-John home.

“We wanted to bring her home to the animals, the birds.” It was there, in her and Easterling’s peaceful hideaway in a valley surrounded by mountains, that Newton-John breathed her last. “[Her caregiver] Carol says she opened her eyes, looked at me and mouthed, ‘I love you.’ It is a very special last memory for me,” says Lattanzi.

Chloe Lattanzi, Olivia Newton-John. Chloe Lattanzi/Instagram

“We had a symbiotic relationship,” she adds, “I struggled with a lot of things in my life. She would always say, ‘You are so powerful and strong and magnificent.’ ”

Olivia Newton-John and daughter Chloe released a new duet together called ‘Window in the Wall’

In her broken heart, Lattanzi, a singer like her mother, was buoyed by an unearthly sense of encouragement. “I heard her say, ‘You are my daughter. You carry the torch,’ says Lattanzi, who recorded the duet “Window in the Wall” with Newton-John in 2021. “I know that it is taking over me and now I believe in myself. We feel it every day.”

For more on Olivia Newton-John’s final days and lasting legacy, check out this week’s Friday issue of PEOPLE.

For more information on Olivia’s Walk for Wellness visit walkforwellness.com.au.

For more information about the Olivia Newton-John Foundation and research projects, visit onjfoundationfund.org

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