Beyond the Visible Edge: A Grieving Mother’s Pilgrimage While Walking the Dog

by Betsy Kelleher

An unexpected phone call creates a foreboding fear of death, testing a mother’s faith. "Hi Mom, it's your son Bob." Her smile quickly fades; her son is in the hospital. He has just been told he has multiple myeloma—a bone marrow cancer—and there is no cure. Betsy found hope in her faith that God could heal, so she waited and prayed for four years and three months for a miracle. Unfortunately, prayers did not bring healing, and this mother’s heart was broken. Dealing with grief became unbearable when an exceptionally comforting Boston Terrier became another loss.A journey of restoration begins with a newly acquired Boston Terrier named Ribbons. While striving to accept God’s will in the loss of her son, Betsy discovers that walking the dog becomes a spiritual pilgrimage. Healing happens as God and grief meet in a secluded field just beyond the visible edge of her mobile home community. Moments of deep sorrow yield to the comfort of God’s beauty in nature. A field of cheerful yellow flowers…a majestic morning sunrise…a bird’s delightful song…all become gifts of joy and hope. The fear of death fades after one special moment in that field she calls her healing place, where she experiences God’s intimate, healing presence. In this wonderfully written memoir, the author hopes to help others overcome their fear of death and to reaffirm their faith in God in spite of the very real struggles of dealing with grief. It’s one of those must-read books on grieving the loss of a child that will help people trust God’s wisdom and goodness beyond the edge of this visible life.

165 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 20, 2018

About the author

Betsy Kelleher grew up on an Iowa farm that cultivated her love of nature and animals. After earning a journalism degree from Iowa State University, she wrote radio commercials, newspaper articles, and scripts for both audio and video training programs. She's the author of two books for horse lovers, and for twenty years she wrote a column titled "Sometimes God Uses Horses" for the Illinois Horse Network newspaper. She and her husband, Russ, live near Granite City, Illinois, with their Boston terrier, Ribbons.