Sorry for the delay!

There’s a lot in the world I don’t understand. I’m 43 years old (turning 44 next month – YIKES!) and living the most exciting decade of my life, but I’ve discovered there’s so much I don’t understand. And yet with each new tragedy we also hear inspirational stories of surviving and thriving.

But going back to those things I don’t understand here are some. For instance: what is the value of taking someone else’s life? How does that improve anything? What has happened to someone’s moral compass that walking into a daycare that had 53 children under the age of 5 with a shotgun was an acceptable course of action? Or how about shooting older children in an elementary school, days before Christmas? Or even the young man that thought he would die a martyr if he put an axe in the head of a Canadian soldier? At what point did these people think that such extreme actions were acceptable? What could have possibly led to this?

Some of you may have noticed that I’m a little late in getting this newsletter out. It’s because – surprise, surprise – I was reading a book. The book was about a very accomplished, intelligent and skilled man who went over to Afghanistan because he wanted to help and his extraordinary wife. As a Canadian soldier serving with the NATO forces over there he was given the task of trying to help Afghan communities to rebuild, educate and shake off the influence of the Taliban.

This was usually accomplished by sitting down and having tea with the village elders in what was historically a safe environment. Sadly, the Canadian soldiers on one particular day were double crossed by the village. Unbeknownst to the soldiers, a young man came to the meetings with an axe and as Trevor Greene was just starting to speak, put that axe in his skull.

The injury was horrific but amazingly he survived until help could arrive to transport him. His journey ahead was now going to be the most challenging of his life. Without the incredible strength and fortitude of his wife Debbie, he likely wouldn’t have made it nearly as far. She is just as much a hero as Trevor is as a soldier.

Trevor should have died immediately, then he should have never come out of his coma, then he should have remained in a vegetative state, then he should never walk again. He defied all these odds and on his wedding day stood up.

I relay this story because it moved me. I remember the reports of his injury and was astounded at the severity. Over the years a news crew has followed them, documenting their challenges and recovery. I’ve watched everyone and almost always with tears in my eyes.

This is a situation where medically he’d been written off several times because that’s what the science told the doctors. But what science never seems to take into consideration is the power of the mind. With Debbie’s fierce support and his own desire to recover, Trevor defied the odds.

That leads me to something else I don’t understand. If Trevor’s recovery is a medical anomaly simply because he decided he wanted to be better – what can the rest of us do if we decided we wanted to achieve our own dreams? Why aren’t we all working to achieve our dreams?

Trevor and Debbie Greene are my heroes. They have provided me with the inspiration to continue my dream. If they can accomplish all that they have, starting from where they did, what can I do starting from where I am? My vision is to inspire creativity and imagination by providing high quality reading entertainment in any electronic or printed format for people all over the world. My belief is that if people have their imaginations inspired by the creativity of others, then they can use their imaginations for a better world. I need your help in being supplied with good quality, highly imaginative stories and to send these stories out into the world. The more people that read, the better off we all are.

If you would like to read more about Trevor and Debbie Greene, they’ve written a book March Forth. It’s worth the read.

Please feel free to send an email or comment on our blog or Facebook page (Pages Of Stories FB page) about what you love to read or write.

You can keep updated with all the exciting developments on this blog:

Take care and happy reading!

Darlene Poier
Publisher, Ficta Fabula
Inspiring Creativity and Imagination
A wholly owned subsidiary of Pages Of Stories, Inc.