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beyondthepicketfence365

The Book

Beyond what the world sees, two voices tell the truth 

About The Book 

Published by Tree of Life Books and told through Joe’s heartfelt Revelations of a Married Man and Elaine’s candid commentary, their dual-voiced memoir pulls back the curtain on a forty-year marriage tested by infidelity and betrayal, family tragedy splashed across the front pages—and a life lived for a time—against the back-drop of murder and violence on the mean streets of Philadelphia.

In what they would later call “Seven Days in June,” Joe and Elaine must decide whether love is strong enough to shoulder responsibility, fear, and the weight of family expectations. The choice they make sets them on a path neither could have imagined.

Theirs is a story about two imperfect people navigating the trials, tribulations, and experiences of a life traveled together and at times, secretly apart. When everything else seemed lost, even in the face of the unthinkable, they found forgiveness, redemption and humility, gaining a shared wisdom forged in fire––and the courage to pass it on.

The Authors | The Creators 

Meet Joe & Elaine

Meet Joe and Elaine Dougherty, authors of Beyond The Picket Fence and creators of Beyond The Picket Fence 365. Get to know the people behind the book and the platform—their personal backgrounds, life experiences, individual journeys, and the paths that shaped who they are today.

Unfiltered

Book Reviews | Feedback | Your Story

Unfiltered is where you can read and post a Review about Beyond The Picket Fence. You can also voice your opinion about a
broadcast or webcast on LIVE 365 Channel as well as tell your own story.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Love, Marriage, and the Kitchen Sink

1

1. The Institution of Marriage

3

2. Love & Marriage: The Principal Revelations

7

The Story Of Us: It’s Not Where You Start

9

3. The Journey of a Lifetime

10

4. The Story of Us: Joe and Elaine

17

5. Young Love and Growing Up in the Blink of an Eye: The Anatomy of a Relationship and a Statistic

30

6. Seven Days in June

41

7. A Frantic Scene and an Unexpected Voice of Reason

48

The Trials, The Tribulations, And The Revelations

55

8. The Ties That Bind and the Words to Come

56

9. The Good Fight: The End of the Innocence

58

10. Communication 101

73

~ Talk Is Cheap

74

~ Listening: As Personal as It Gets

82

~ The Art of Emotional Listening

91

11. The Unimaginable: Tragedy on the Front Pages

99

12. The Business of Marriage, AKA the Family Business

115

13. Laugh Your Asses Off!

128

14. Amidst the Struggles and the Joys of Marriage, It’s the Little Things That Mean the Most

137

15. Address the Stress: Murder on the Mean Streets

148

16. Sex, Life, and Marriage!

168

17. The Forbidden Fruit: The Unfaithful

187

18. A Guiding Light, a Safe Haven, and a Love to Aspire to

215

19. The Marriage Counselor

241

20. One Hand For Yourself, One Hand For The Company: The Unfaithful: The Trainer Part I

258

21. The Gift of Companionship

267

The Trials, The Tribulations, The Revelations, And The Reasons Why!

275

The Afterword: It’s The Best Part!

278

Endnotes

279

Acknowledgments

281

In Memoriam

282

About the Authors

283

BASIC INFORMATION

The Details:

Who & What

Title :

Beyond the Picket Fence: Revelations of A Married Man + Confessions of a Married Woman

Authors : 

Joseph J. Dougherty with Elaine M. Dougherty

Publisher

:

Tree of Life Books publisher logo

Tree of Life Books

Publication Date

:

February 9th, 2026

BPF 365

A Marriage is What
You Make of It

If you love it, it will love you back.
If you respect it, it will respect you
back. If you nurture it,
it will grow forever.

And if you take it for granted and
disrespect it, it will run over you
and crush you like a grape.

~ Joseph J. Dougherty
from Beyond The Picket Fence

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