Side by Side

By Dianne Edgett

Times were good for Ben and Tommy. The best friends just graduated from elementary school and had an entire summer full of adventures ahead of

them. Or so they thought...until Tommy was

• Language: English
• Publisher: Authors Press
• Release date: Apr 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781643145358

Dianne Edgett

A Born-again Christian and former youth advocate, Dianne Edgett is a wife, mother of 5, grandmother of 14 and counting, and a great grandmother to 5 children. She is a native of Duluth, Minnesota. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and Special Education. Dianne grew up next to Lake Superior where she learned to swim, and vacationed in the summer on the lake and traveled in her folk's 43' boat to Isle Royal and the Apostle Islands as well as Lake Superior's beautiful beaches, and small towns. An avid bookworm, she would go to the public library and check out a stackful of books to last through every vacation. Almost all of her childhood pictures show her with book in hand sitting on the dock or on a beach.

Book preview

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Copyright © 2021 by Dianne Edgett

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN: 978-1-64314-449-8 (Paperback)

978-1-64314-535-8 (E-book)

AuthorsPress

California, USA

www.authorspress.com

Contents

Introduction ix

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

About the Author 53

"Take heed that ye despise not one of the little ones;

for I say unto you that in heaven their Angels

do always behold the face of my Father,

who is in Heaven."

Matthew 18:10 (

kjv

)

Introduction

To my readers, I thank you for picking up this first book in my series, and I pray that it becomes a blessing to everyone. In writing this book, I undertook a serious topic that sometime in our lives we all will experience. Much of this book include feelings and reactions to our final exit, death. Much of the feelings were mine when my daughter Teresia went to be with God and when

I lost my son David Jr. to the Lord from cancer.

I decided to write this book from a Christian perspective, showing emotions raw with disbelief and sorrow. Even though the book is largely Christian fiction everything is Biblically correct and COULD happen someday. In reading this book, which is written for young children as well as teenagers, I have gotten excellent feedback from adults who said it helped them understand and heal as they read this book.

This is one of my seeds to plant for the Lord to both bless and help folks of all ages. I truly hope you like it!

Chapter 1

Mourners

A soft breeze blew throughout the classroom as Ben gathered up the last of his papers at the end of the school year and jammed them deep into his backpack.

Hey Ben! came a shout from across the room, how about stopping for some soda pop at the store on the way home?

Can’t, Tommy. I’ve got to go straight home today, but I’ll see you later, ok?

Ok, I’ll call you after supper tonight and see if you can sleep over. My mom already said it’s alright, if it’s ok with your mom. "That sounds great, and I’m positive my mom will let me.

After all, we just passed sixth grade now, and we should celebrate. Just think, we are seventh graders now!" Ben answered his friend with a smile.

See you later! Right!

Ben turned and watched as Tommy shot out the classroom door with a WHOOP! swinging his worn and faded gray backpack over his shoulder. Turning back to his desk, he took out the remnants of pencil stubs, broken crayons, and bits of erasers and tossed them into his own blue backpack.

Done, he thought to himself, as he took one last look around his old classroom before leaving.

Have a nice summer, Mr. Simonson! Ben shouted from the door.

You too, Ben and enjoy junior high next year! the teacher replied as he waved to Ben.

Ben nearly flew down the school hall in his exuberance to begin summer vacation. He and Tommy have big plans for the summer, and he did not want to miss a minute of it. They had planned to do some camping in the tree house at the big pond they had discovered on one of their treks up the mountain. It was their secret place they discovered, except for their dads who carried up some wood to build the treehouse. That was a great father-son day.

Ben and Tommy planned to do some fishing and working on improving their treehouse during the summer months. Yes, it was going to be a great summer, just he and his best friend Tommy. But first, Ben thought to himself, shopping! Not that Ben liked shopping, but this was a special occasion. He and his mom were going shopping for a birthday gift for Tommy right after school. Tommy’s Birthday was next week. He wanted to find a cool gift to surprise Tommy, like a headlight for his bike, or s backpack for camping, or…Ben stopped. My house! I almost walked past my own home! Ben thought in surprise. He had not realized that he had walked this far already!

As he entered the house, he noticed that the breeze had picked up a bit, carrying the sounds of traffic from the street beyond and the distant wail of a siren.

Mom, I’m home! Can we go shopping now?

Sure! I’ll be right down, Ben, his mother called out from one of the rooms upstairs. Put your things away and I’ll meet you by the car.

Going up to his room, Ben shoved his backpack deep into the back of his closet. After quickly brushing his golden-brown hair and making a couple of faces at himself in his bedroom mirror, he ran downstairs and out to the car.

His mother was already