I spent two days at Creekview Intermediate and met some amazing students.

Dreams Really Do Come True

During my author visits, I discuss the importance of having a dream, and following it–even when others tell you to give up on your dreams. The truth: Failure is just a stepping stone to success. Sometimes the lessons learned from failures are greater than lessons learned from success. I love when the students share their dreams. We have future astronauts, school teachers, marine biologists, NFL football players, and engineers on the way! My favorite response of the two-day school visit was: My dream is for there to be no more wars and have peace in the world. I say AMEN to that young man. This was such an appropriate statement since we had been celebrating Veteran’s Day, and sharing stories about all of the hardships and atrocities our soldiers lived through to ensure our freedom. We talked about the prisoners of war and how they used poetry to endure their captivity.  The POW’s said that their captors took away their freedom and their dignity, but they did not have the power to take their words. We used my latest book, Bonded by Battle, to learn about the military war dogs and the soldiers as they fought the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Iraq, and Afghanistan. We ended each day with a writing workshop. The imaginations and the talent of these young people was nothing short of awe-inspiring.