It was a blackboard to the end of sight, and any story might be written on its surface.~Leif  Enger (From I Cheerfully Refuse)

On her first birthday, she sat on her dad's lap as he helped her rip away the shiny giftwrap. She'd opened a storybook. Lilly held the book in her hands, lifted it over her head and shouted with robust infant joy. It was as if she could see the blackboard of her life, and right then, began filling the surface with the intricacies of her love for words and writing. A sea of stories swelling journals and computer files for all her life.

Now she's twelve. Tall and willowy, my darling granddaughter excels in school and loves playing the clarinet. But more, she is a girl who doesn't rebel against the light. She is kind. She is generous. She looks for the good in others. She is empathic. She loves God. And she's reached a milestone in her writing career. She is the recipient of  the South Carolina Parent Teacher Association's Reflection Literature Award for not only her Middle School, but also for the entire state.

Please join with me in celebration as you read her poem, Hope...

Hope

Hope fills all our hearts in times of need,

Carries us away from trouble like a noble steed.

Hope burns in our hearts like fire.

It knows our heart's desire.

Hope nourishes our dreaming,

Hope makes our thinking true.

It gives us a purpose that we are meant to fulfill,

A longing that cannot be killed.

Hope can supply us comfort when there is none.

It can thrill any child,

Make the universe smile.

It starts out small,

Like a planted seed,

Then it gathers root and grows into a tree.

And finally

I start to realize how very powerful

A single spark of hope can be.