I shouldn’t have met my husband. It wasn’t part of my plan that day. Boy, am I glad the universe had a different plan.

When I lived in Chicago after college, I came down with a mysterious illness, that to this day, goes undiagnosed. All I know is the doctors had me on drugs for TB (although they admitted it wasn’t TB) and, well, the side effects were pretty detrimental. At the time, I had no car, so had to take the train back to my parents in Wisconsin. This particular day, I really needed them.

So, I went to the train station the same as I’d done many times. But this day, the snow caused not one…not two…not three…but FOUR trains to be canceled!

I made my way back to my apartment, resigned to sulk in my room all weekend, when I remembered my friend was having a Christmas party that night. Begrudgingly, I went, but I’m sure glad I did, because I met the man who would become my husband and the father of my children that night.

It wasn’t wasted on me for a minute, then or now, that had those trains arrived on time, I never would have met him. And since then, I have a philosophy that sometimes things that seem bad in the moment, turn out to be good–even for the better. BUT only, if you do something. If I had, in fact, stayed home and sulked, I still never would have met him.

I’ve seen this happen in my life time, and time, again. From undergoing the stresses of buying/selling a house, to interviewing for multiple teaching jobs, to where I am now, querying agents trying to get The Wishing Willow published. I hold on to the knowledge that what feels hard now (and waiting is the hardest part), I know it will all be worth it when the perfect agent for ME makes an offer. Remembering this gives me hope and helps me remain patient when life is taking a little too long. This philosophy brings me hope and keeps me going.

While writing The Wishing Willow, I wanted to bring this message to kids. When Wesley moves to rural Wisconsin from Chicago, he thinks his life will never be good again. This change makes his struggles with anxiety and panic even worse. He feels hopeless. But as he makes wishes underneath a willow tree in his yard, things start to happen–never as he expects however. Through it all Wesley finds friendship and confidence in himself he never knew before.

So much of The Wishing Willow is part of me. This message running throughout the book is an important lesson I’ve learned, and bringing his message to readers will hopefully help them the same way it’s helped me.