This photo taken at Bailey Elementary School in  Las Vegas, March 2015 during one of three author-illustrator presentations that day. We did five that week.

one child at a time.

A dear friend, mentor, and brother from another mother of mine, whenever we speak, imparts some indispensable bit of wisdom. Without fail, he taps into something and reminds me of our role on this planet and our place in the universe. “Progress, not perfection” is one gem he left me with as well as “Don’t tell me what happened. Tell me what’s gonna happen.” There are others but, for one reason or another, these are the two that have stuck with me over the years. The first gets at one's ability to look past the granular details of making things just so in order to escape the paralysis of doing nothing. The second encourages us to not get hung up on the negative of what's transpired and, rather, compels us to focus on what lies ahead. For the perfectionists among us, neither of these things comes naturally or is easy to do. We're inclined to hone, refine, and craft whatever it is we're making till it sings, so that there could be no possible margin for error, misinterpretation, or disagreement. That's a virtual impossibility—one which often leads us to do nothing at all. We're also inclined to get hung up on the past, rehashing what's come before rather than determining what will come in the future.

On our own, we can’t change much, if anything. Together, we can change a lot. In a minute’s time, nothing much can be accomplished. Over the course of a lifetime, immense amounts of good can be done.

This photo reminds me of some good that we’ve done. We do good, then life gets in the way and we forget—beyond raising our children and being available for our families—that we are fully capable of impacting many lives, giving hope where there may be little, lighting a spark where none has been lit before.

We intend to continue lighting those sparks as long as we can and reminding kids (and adults) of all ages of their infinite potential.