theres a thread here about how one becomes stuck after death, we really need a new word other than stuck, but thats what we use right now according to TMI terminology and it's as good as any for now.
I rather see every soul as an energy field, and when such field is static, it is not moving into the higher thought realms, but we can see it as static.
we can see a retriever as an energy field overlapping the retrievee's field with this energy which we contrive to be PUL.
now, no one knows what PUL is. we argue here for days what it is. well, my thesis is that's why we come to earth to find out what it is.

for now just think of it as a nonjudgmental state of mind which has joy contained within the energy field, which nonjudgmentalness, like our friend JC, knew about and preached, a thing nobody understands, it's call giving. giving yourself away. forgiveness. to give as before you got pissed off by what was done supposedly to you, but really was also your agreement to have done to you as we are all one cloud of humanity, a collection of people who insists we are separate from one another, therefore the judgement process continues and brings pain to each.

I've told the story of retrieving my mother who passed in 2005 and which I had no knowledge she had passed until after the retrieval was performed. but I felt I needed to tell it again, maybe for Kroan who wonders, like we all may, what's going on with this idea of retrievals?
this gives me my personal verification that I'm on the right path to study retrievals, which I've had other verifications, but this one is so personal, it goes to the heart, to the quick and brings tears to my eyes, yet tears of joy to have retrieved someone I love so much.

I know Bruce retrieved his mother and that story is on this board and I'll go get a link when I'm done yakking. it shows our ability to retrieve our family members in a natural way through the bond of PUL.

Mother died 11/05 and the retrieval took place 2/06 without my knowledge of her passing. I had expected her to live many years with the aid of the heart implant she had secured. She must have decided to leave her body and all it's failing organs for some grander vista. 
now I don't know what part of a being's totality is being retrieved, whether it was her etheric body, a mere thought form which was alive with her essence inside it, whatever part of her it was, she and I came to a freedom to enact the retrieval, and we got back to the premise of life, a return to love and new beginnings, all hurts gone from between us.

I think it's important to note that we find many examples of family members visiting those left behind on this earth plane, as indeed I've witnessed this extensively in my own family, and it shows the value of this PUL, this foregiveness I like to speak about. the dead do not forget the living and they need your love.

mother was out there hollering my name trying to find me. I could not go in search of her, so this was her objective to find me. I could not go in search of her because I had not consciously known she had made her transition.
I consider it an honor mother searched for me, to make it right. I was up to whatever task she would present to me on these levels, because the bond is strong.
she also knew I did retrievals, but she didn't understand them. so note here that objective mind is working fine within her own death. She does not float in a dream, she is herself, a woman with a piercing voice at times, rather like ma kettle, a good sense of humor, a fierceness sometimes, quite colorful.
within my brains symbology, or mind's symbology as the retrieval commenced, I found my awareness in a crowded astral plane which looked like a very busy city, whose patrons rushed to and fro, on the way to work, or to their respective businesses, life as usual, bustle, bustle, crowds on the sidewalks as you might see in New York, people did seem in a hurry, I noticed this, as I am the opposite. I'm never in a hurry but of course there is no judgement. it is life and life only.
most people here or there, paid little attention to others. thats why it all seemed quite natural. However, there's always the exception to the rule. As my mother hollered my name out, appearing quite lost in the crowd a man responded to her trying to be helpful to give her some directions. well, if you ever heard my mother's voice, its hard to ignore her, you would be compelled to answer her just because you need relief from her voice..lol...in the astral as I watched he told her there was a reception area up ahead should she need some directions.
hmmm. jives with TMI focus 27.
I was maintaining according to my brain signals an apartment on focus 27 which was filled with bright light which came from everywhere. it was like a walk up. now I stood on the step and called out over the crowd OVER HERE MA!!   

lol. is it that easy to retrieve?  perhaps. mom had never let me take care of her in real life. despite she tried to forgive me my tresspasses against her in another life, as my nanny, acting as her guide, told her she must forgive, this is her soul's intention, she only got as far as "I didn't treat you right." then she hung her head, end of conversation. this while she was alive, there at the end.

now she had transitioned and we would enact this retrieval for both of our sakes. finally, this woman would let me take her higher. this redeems me and her both.
she saw me and smiled with relief evident on her face and made her way up the steps into my apartment filled with life which would be hers in my absence.

I told her she had everything she needed here, I would go and find other guides to assist her on her path. She let me lead her to her favorite object in life, an old sewing machine I used to want to throw out and replace with a new one.

she enacted her service to life with that old sewing machine. every job in life is a service to humanity and provides spiritual growth once we transition.

mother appeared at the beginning as "lost."  not stuck. but we can still consider this a retrieval as "lost and stuck" are somewhat related concepts. especially if the active values of PUL and forgiveness are brought into play here, we can understand how important it is to release each other from obligations through the act of PUL whether here or there, so we can get to the joyful living part.

When she found me, she was home free. there was more to come for her, as indicated by my speech to her that I would look for her placement and make sure she got to where she wanted to be.

now you know I'm not scientific. I'm on a heart path. my next life I will explore science I've been told. right now, all I have to give of myself is the words of a song which comes to mind: "I don't know much, but I know I love you, and that may be all we need to know."

and u can judge me if you want and say you yourself have never killed anyone. yet if you are on this planet you participate in the collective army which went overseas and killed in the name of righteousness. you had no choice and if you get a memory that you have done such a deed, what happens is the opportunity to change your mind and you evolve past it with the victims participation in your decision and that is how humanity progresses. and we are all capable of doing great harm to one another because of not controlling our thoughts or emotions.

we will stop killing someday as soon as we know, we keep returning and repeating the cycle by thinking that death is real. it's not real. and we can stop killing and we can make the buck stop here, in that case, less need for retrievals occurs and an instant ascent into light and joyful surroundings can commence. this is the opinion of me and not the management! lol...don't pick on me, I've been thru hell

See Bruce's article about his own mother and an experience he had HERE:
http://www.afterlife-knowledge.com/mom.html