Going to a Place Where You Already Are

Book excerpt: Is there a heaven? Joe says no; it's all a bunch of hokum. His wife, Roberta, has always claimed to agree. But lately she's beginning to wonder, especially when they find themselves in church a lot, having reached the age when funerals are more frequent than weddings. Their granddaughter, Ellie, doesn't have time in her own busy life to ponder the afterlife. But when mortality confronts them, her grandmother's claim to have gone to heaven and back doesn't sound so crazy after all. With thoughtful storytelling and quiet wit, Brunstetter looks at beginnings, endings--and an enigmatic angel.