Help Me Live As I Die

This is not a story about death.

It is a story about one couple's journey of acceptance, love, and internal awakenings. Kelly and Joe met by chance, but were bound by fate. One morning in the summer of 2010, Kelly Boedigheimer, a thirty-nine year old man in good health, discovered what he thought was yet another ingrown hair on his chin. That was the first step on the life-changing journey he would share with Joe Peterson, his life partner since 1998.

Months later - following three surgical procedures, where each was more aggressive than the last - Kelly and Joe faced the inconceivable: Kelly was diagnosed with melanoma.

In early 2011, Kelly met with a team of specialists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Another surgery, this one more wide-ranging than the others, removed a section of skin from his chin and a portion of his cheek. A graft from his arm provided new skin for those areas. Highly concerned about this aggressive melanoma, doctor's proceeded quickly to save and protect Kelly.

Here, Joe lovingly and painfully recreates Kelly's final nine months through journal entries, e-mails, blog posts, texts, and more. Their relationship was tested as too many are; in this visit back to those days, Joe unfolds an inspiring telling of the power of love, optimism, and hope.

This is not a story about death. This is a story about love.