Beyond the Rainbow

In June of 2012, vibrant 16-year-old Leanna Mae Knopik was hospitalized with a rare and sudden cardiac infection. In this unflinching account of her final month of life and the searing sorrow that followed, a grieving mother deepens her relationship with her deceased daughter and-through the grace of God-finds a path to true joy. Beyond the Rainbow describes in candid detail the arduous task of piecing a family back together in the wake of tragedy, and the transformative spiritual awakening that emerges. Not just for the bereaved, all readers will benefit from the author's journey through searing pain and her ultimate discovery of God's grace. This memoir offers a model for how family members can move through grief. It presents an honest and complete examination of the coping skills that worked for the author and her family-and the ones that did not. The goal of Beyond the Rainbow is twofold: 1) to shorten the path to healing by offering a roadmap through the early stages of grief, and 2) to broaden the reader's perspective on loss; with God's grace, they can and will live a joyful life.