It was 11:00 pm when the news just came on TV - tomorrow is the Fourth of July and I was thinking about a cookout in the back yard. My son Todd was at a picnic, and should be home soon. My wife was in bed sleeping.

I heard the sirens of emergency vehicles in the distance, and then as the vehicles got closer to my home, the sirens got louder and louder, I looked out the window and saw emergency vehicles - police, ambulances, and a fire truck rush past my home.

I felt a strong knot in my stomach. Little did I know that they were rushing to the scene of an accident that took my only child's life. In a split second our lives would change forever.

Within a five-year period, I lost my son, my job, my mother, my father, my house, and my wife.

A child represents your future, your spouse connects with your past. When you lose them both, you have no future, no connection to the past, only the present, and the present is dark and filled with dismay and uncertainty.

It took ten years to write this book. I wrote the first part after three years, because I wanted to remember my son, but all I could write was about his death. Three years later, I wrote the second part, because I felt well enough, I thought, to be able to finish the book. Another three years would pass before I could write part three, and another year to complete the book.

My life has taken pretty much the same course, in three parts. The normal years before Todd dies, the grieving years of uncertainty and healing, and part three, a new life has emerged.

This book describes what I went through when I lost my only child. It describes a period of time I call the "Five Years of Hell", and how I coped with it. I also explain my recovery period.

Fortunately not everyone takes it as hard as I did, or may not show it, and not every one goes through every thing I did. But I believe there are a lot of things that happened to me, that you will be able to recognize and understand. I hope the book finds its way into the hands of people who want to understand what it's like to lose a child, or help someone who has lost a son or daughter to cope with the loss.

The Guardian Angels I speak of are people and spirits that helped me back to an existence that I never thought I could achieve again. It is nice to be back. And I often wonder if Todd is up there watching me, and saying "Atta boy, Dad!"

It was 11:00 pm when the news just came on TV - tomorrow is the Fourth of July and I was thinking about a cookout in the back yard. My son Todd was at a picnic, and should be home soon. My wife was in bed sleeping.

I heard the sirens of emergency vehicles in the distance, and then as the vehicles got closer to my home, the sirens got louder and louder, I looked out the window and saw emergency vehicles - police, ambulances, and a fire truck rush past my home.

I felt a strong knot in my stomach. Little did I know that they were rushing to the scene of an accident that took my only child's life. In a split second our lives would change forever.

Within a five-year period, I lost my son, my job, my mother, my father, my house, and my wife.

A child represents your future, your spouse connects with your past. When you lose them both, you have no future, no connection to the past, only the present, and the present is dark and filled with dismay and uncertainty.

It took ten years to write this book. I wrote the first part after three years, because I wanted to remember my son, but all I could write was about his death. Three years later, I wrote the second part, because I felt well enough, I thought, to be able to finish the book. Another three years would pass before I could write part three, and another year to complete the book.

My life has taken pretty much the same course, in three parts. The normal years before Todd dies, the grieving years of uncertainty and healing, and part three, a new life has emerged.

This book describes what I went through when I lost my only child. It describes a period of time I call the "Five Years of Hell", and how I coped with it. I also explain my recovery period.

Fortunately not everyone takes it as hard as I did, or may not show it, and not every one goes through every thing I did. But I believe there are a lot of things that happened to me, that you will be able to recognize and understand. I hope the book finds its way into the hands of people who want to understand what it's like to lose a child, or help someone who has lost a son or daughter to cope with the loss.

The Guardian Angels I speak of are people and spirits that helped me back to an existence that I never thought I could achieve again. It is nice to be back. And I often wonder if Todd is up there watching me, and saying "Atta boy, Dad!"

An inspirational true story, Returning Home shares the spiritual journey that author Jeffrey Cole and his wife, Audrey, traveled on as Audrey cared for her father during his final four weeks of life.

With Audrey's father leading the way, the three had experiences that were not of this world, leaving them with no doubts about the magnificence that awaits us all on the other side. Returning Home shares their profound experiences.

Returning Home is a story about a simple and ordinary man who became extraordinary as he offered his family a glimpse into the world that lies beyond. It's a story about a man who struggled to come to terms with his life as time was running short. It's a story about his transition. It's a story about a daughter's devotion to her father during his final days on this Earth.

Most of all, it's a story about enlightenment and insight.

As the author's father-in-law lay dying in a nursing home bed, he worked tirelessly day and night to resolve his life, to understand his purpose. At the same time, he worked to help his daughter and son-in-law understand the magnitude of what he was doing and where he was going. Their experiences were profound and life-changing. Their view of the world and their purpose here were forever shifted.

The author's hope in sharing this story is that comfort will be brought to anyone faced with saying good-bye to someone close to them. It is also the author's hope that comfort will be brought to those facing death.

Returning Home reveals that profound experiences do, indeed, happen to ordinary people.

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