Caring and compassion are two things I want my characters to discover in whatever world they must exist. Everyone encounters conflict, but if we can find those who will have empathy and stand by us, then somehow it is easier to make it through to the other side, no matter how much gets thrown down in our path. Just knowing you are in someone’s prayers, that you arise in their thoughts each day is powerful.

It could be that shared bar of Mon Aimee Chocolate, or the handmade card that greets you when you check into a hotel in a city where you’ve never been before.

Or the guy at the exit to the rental car place who senses your unease and hands you a bottle of water, calling you by name and telling you that you’ll be just fine.

Perhaps it is the hiker coming down the trail, just as you get to the most difficult rocky and steep part, who says, “Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you’ll make it.”

It is a word, a smile, a hand at your back. Be that for someone, won’t you?