Mid-trip, Kenya begins limping and they discover he has terminal bone cancer. While visiting Ashley’s hometown thoughts begin to drift to memories of her childhood when her father battled brain cancer and their estranged relationship as he was dying.
Haunted by these painful memories, Ashley does everything she can to out-run and out-maneuver death — surgery, supplements, holistic health — before finally accepting the inevitable.
In the end, it’s Kenya who teaches Ashley how to sit, stay and heal. To accept and even celebrate death as an essential part of life and to draw solace from the well of grief itself.
“Dying is nothing to fear. It can be the most wonderful experience of your life. It all depends on how you’ve lived.”
Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Q&A Panel
After the film, we will have time for a Q&A with an expert panel:
Ashley Mosher has written and directed 6 short films prior to making her first “featurette,” GOODBOY. She is most known for her last film, Love Birds, made in the Amazon jungle under the tutelage of Werner Herzog. She creates both fiction and documentary films as the writer, director, cinematographer and editor. An adventurer at heart, she writes about journeys of both the body and soul, often using her own explorations as the foundation for her films. Her short films include Love Biscuit (2015), The Bachelor: A Satire (2016), Back to Camp (2017), Love Birds (2019), and Side Order (2020) and TELL ME (2022), some of which have garnered accolades and awards.
Prior to creating short films, she partnered on building Feed Them With Music (
www.feedthemwithmusic.com), a non-profit using all things music to help solve starvation around the world. As the Vision Director she partnered with high profile artists (The National (2012), Train (2014), Gavin Degraw (2011) & more to create live music videos which inspired their fan bases to support the cause. Ashley has traveled the world making films and photographs, including capturing footage for a National Geographic film, Holy UnHoly River (2014). Her book, Ganga Maa (2017) is a photographic and written story of her experience working on the film as they traveled the entire length of the Ganges River. Ashley currently resides in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Dr. Stacee Santi, a 1996 DVM graduate from Colorado State University, practiced as the lead veterinarian at Riverview Animal Hospital in Durango, Colorado, from 2002 to 2016. Additionally, she is the founder of Vet2Pet, a technology communication platform for veterinary practices.
Julie Madden, MA is the Lead Grief Coach at The Grief Center of SW Colorado. She holds a master’s degree in counseling and specializes in grief coaching primarily with adults. Julie was the bereavement and volunteer coordinator for Hospice of Mercy for close to 25 years until 2007, working with Judy Austin to conduct children and family bereavement camps and facilitating grief support groups for adults.
Mindy Meiering, LCSW, is a licensed therapist, professional life coach and the author/creator of the Rainbow Bridge Pet Loss Deck, a healing tool that supports people after the heartbreaking loss of a pet. She works with people who are navigating various types of loss and life transitions, offering them tools to cultivate resilience and healing.
