Jill Kelly - Without a Word: How a Boys Unspoken Love Changed Everything

Copyright 2010 by Jill Kelly

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scriptures noted KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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First eBook Edition: September 2010

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ISBN: 978-0-446-57435-8

Jim and Jill must be commended for sharing this heartfelt story. Their bravery and courage are unsurpassable. This book has given us a different view of the Kellys: we always knew them as part of the extended football family, but now we see them as a family with real struggles a family who used their faith in God and their love for one another to press on! We will forever look at them in a different light. The Kellys are amazing parents, but off the football field Hunter was the true warrior!

Brett and Deanna Favre

We know through our own experience of having a son with autism that challenges also present many blessings. We admire the fact that Jim and Jill have been willing to share both their struggles and successes with the world. This story is a tribute to Hunter James Kelly. Hunters short life transformed the Kelly family, and through the work of Hunters Hope, the foundation that bears his name, his life will touch countless other families. Reading this book was like watching a miracle unfold.

Dan and Claire Marino

Jim and Jill Kelly were always headed toward greatness. Who knew that a Hall of Fame career with the Buffalo Bills would be dwarfed by their son, Hunter? This is a story that refuses to detail a sadness that would seem only natural. Instead, it is an uplifting tale of courage, hope, and love. We are proud to call the Kelly family our friends. You will, too!

Chris and Katherine Berman

Jim and Jill Kelly have lived every familys best sports dream and every parents worst nightmare. Theyve also faced every couples greatest challenge. In WITHOUT A WORD, Jim and Jill open wide the doors of their home and their hearts and invite the rest of us inside to share the joy of having Hunter, the heartbreak of losing him, and the beautiful healing God has brought to their lives.

Nancy Guthrie, author of Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow

The story of the Kelly family is painful, but it is not a story of pain. Its a story of redemption, grace, reconciliation, and the powerful activity of the work-all-things-for-good God. I found myself left without a word as I read ithumbled by the courage of Hunter, the love of his sisters, and the indescribable way that God demonstrated His love to Jim and Jill. Their story has served to enflame my faith, and it will yours as well.

Dr. Jerry Gillis, lead pastor, the Chapel
at CrossPoint, Buffalo, NY

I was emotionally drained but inspired when I read Jills book. Gods timing was perfect. This wonderful book helped me to see my own trials in a completely different light.

Denise Jackson, author of the #1 New York Times
bestseller Its All About Him

WITHOUT A WORD was more than a book to us. It was an education of faith. Jill Kelly embarks with you on her journey of love and heartache the heartache only a mother blessed with a terminally ill child can describe. Yet you remain inspired through her pain. Jim and Jill Kelly unselfishly invite us all to have our hearts changed by Hunters precious life, to be devastated by his early departure and, finally, to be restored by the faith he left us with. These words will change your heart forever.

Thurman and Patti Thomas

Without uttering a single phrase, Hunter Kelly came, lived, and departed having poignantly pioneered hope and rescue to the future lives and stories of thousands and thousands of families. Within the pages of this raw, honest, and tender revelation of intimate family ties, it is my prayer that you will feel the same emotions of joy, anguish, anger, heartache, thankfulness, forgiveness, and love that I have had the privilege to share with these very, very special friends. Because Hunter was such a precious gift from God, the Kelly family will never be the same. Due to the reading of this inspiring journey, neither will I, and neither will you.

Richard R. George, pastor, the Chapel
at CrossPoint, Buffalo, NY

February 14, 1997August 5, 2005

Our lives are forever changed because of you.

Your bravery taught us to be bold.

Your courage made us strong.

Your humility inspired us.

Your hope encouraged us.

Your unspoken love changed us.

We thank God for your amazing life.

See you soon, little buddy.

I dedicate this book to my two daughters,

Erin Marie and Camryn Lynn.

Girls, this is for you so that youll never forget how

God rescued our family and how the unspoken love

of your brother, Hunter, changed everything.

I love you girls so much!

Well see Hunterboy before you know it.

I cant wait!

Jim and Jill Kelly are some of the most courageous people we know. Their work through Hunters Hope on behalf of terminally ill children living with Krabbe disease is as legendary as Jims NFL careerand even tougher. Like the McGraws, the Kellys are all about the things that really matter in life: faith and family. Theres nothing that brings us as much pleasure as our girls and each other. Our family is a blessing, a gift from God that we refuse to take for granted no matter how busy life gets.

This is a story of love and redemption, of dreams lost and dreams found, of light in the valley of the shadow of death. Its the story of their son, Hunter. And woven through its pages is a tapestry of joy, grief, pain, and healing as the Kellys willingly take you to a sacred place. A place hidden deep within the treasures of a parents love for a terminally ill child. A place few of us, thank God, have had to go.

Hunter never threw the football his father longed to toss around with him. He was unable to give his mother the hugs and kisses she ached for. And he never wrestled around with or teased his two sisters. Yet he accomplished so much more than many of us ever will. His extraordinary bravery in the face of incredible suffering taught Jim, Jill, and their children life lessons they would not have learned otherwise. Lessons that healed the deepest of all wounds and saved a family.

We were profoundly moved by the courage it took Jim and Jill to be so agonizingly honest. It is rare to find people willing to be vulnerable enough to bare their souls and open their lives to all of us so completely. Yet they would admit that it was Hunters courage that strengthened them, and his love that made them willing to risk loving deep enough to take us behind the closed doors of their marriage and family life.