Somers High School Teacher Answers the Call with New Book

Giving sounds good. We all do it to a degree. But going beyond lip service requires reaching a breaking point that allows one to reap life's true rewards, according Somers High School health teacher, Kathy Kelton. In her self-published a novel called A Silent Cry From the Wilderness, she describes the event that changed the course of her life.

"It's not until you surrender one hundred percent of your will and just turn it over," said Kelton. "You say, 'OK let me do this,' and that's when it's like hitting the sweet spot on a tennis racquet."

S.O.S. and she doesn't answer the call.

The account begins with her long affiliation with North Salem's Greyhound Rescue and Rehab and two lost greyhounds from the area. An S.O.S. email arrived on July 7, 2007 from Christine Johnson, CEO of the rescue operation. They needed people to scout the woods in search of two lost greyhound, she said.

As a greyhound owner, she certainly empathized with the owner's pain. But what she described as "a week from hell” kept her on the sidelines. Passing on the posse, Kelton admitted with a definitive mouse click that she was out. "I was being selfish," she revealed.

Instead, Kelton escaped north. She hoped that some hang time on her boat would alleviate both the drama of her week and the dogs' plight. "It was 95 degrees," she says, "and all I could think about was those greyhounds."

Returning home, her own loving greyhounds and more emails moved her, but guilt didn't trump the idea of traipsing around the woods. So this time she went to church to at least make a spiritual effort. "I said, 'I'll pray for the dogs," says the 25-year veteran of the Somers School District.

As it were, her faith wasn't put to the test but it did issue the exam. "There is chaos in the world," she sang the hymn, "and who shall I send—it is I."

Still, she wasn't there yet. Going to work and taking part in the typical Monday morning idle chatter did inch her closer though.

Impetus Finally Arrives

That night she learned one of the dogs was found and expressed guilt to the group for not getting involved. On Tuesday afternoon, she heard herself and finally put up. "I said, ‘That's it,’ and went hiking in the North Salem woods," she said.

Sweat soaked, six hours withering in the oppressive heat proved her limit. "I had given up," said the author.

At the bottom of a huge hill, she was drawn to an old stone wall that ran up the incline and was cool to the touch. "It was almost like the stones were calling out to me," said Kelton.

She resolved to climb, but at the top, she bowed her head in capitulation. "Then I see these two glistening objects that looked like black marbles," she said. "It was Sunny."

An Embrace Begins Transformation

In embracing the dog, she seemed to be sharing a language of thanks with the animal. In turn, Kelton said, "I've felt an electric surge of happiness, joy and peace."

Something she'll tell you can only be felt when you give of yourself. "That's the moral of the story," she said.

It turns out these are more than just words. Kelton gave up a her position at the Somers Intermediate School. One that she had long grown comfortable in. "It was a cushy job for me," she said.

So when administration was in search of a health teacher at the high school, she already knew how the story ended. Despite the demands the age group represents, Kelton compared the choice to helping turn Sonny's journey to a happy ending. "They need guidance like Sunny needed someone to find him," she said.

Citing all the muck and mire that teenagers need to navigate, she continues to answer the call. "It really challenges me but it's all worth it," Kelton concluded.

A Silent Cry From the Wilderness is available on Amazon and published by 5 Fold Media.