One day, while working as a massage therapist, a client told me about her niece named Jessica who was then fifteen. At thirteen, Jessica had a heart and double lung transplant. She was born with a bad heart and had her first heart surgery at ten days old. Jessica had kept a journal of her experiences and had even written a widely published book about it called "A Will to Live: The Story of a Transplant Kid."

I soon met Jessica and felt led to offer her a massage, if only to give her body something gentle after all she had been through. By fate she happened to live five minutes from me in this area of over a million people. She was about five feet tall and petite. She had a scar from her neck to below her belly button, front and back, and scars all over her body from a lifetime of trauma. From the shoulders up she had a face of peace and happiness, and I would find out, wisdom. As I gently straightened and corrected her crooked body we talked about life and she was giving me advice. Very insightful advice it was, too... I thought that she was a little Yoda! She’d certainly seen life from a different perspective. The doctors actually sent her home to die at one point and she planned the details of her own funeral, yet she overcame all the odds with her overpowering “will to live”.

After that first meeting with Jessica, my life changed forever. Before that, I used to be frustrated instead of grateful. I wondered why a major record label hadn't offered me a contract in my over fifteen years of pursuing a singing career with original music. However, just being around Jessica's shining example soon chased away my inner dissatisfactions and taught me to become grateful about the blessings in my life, truly thankful for all the things I had accomplished in music - instead of uselessly focusing on what hadn't come my way. I realized I was *already* doing what I wanted - REACHING PEOPLE through my music through songwriting, producing, and performing up and down Beale Street and the Mid-South area. Once I started looking for them, I saw that the blessings flowed from everywhere! In addition to music, I have been a massage therapist for close to twenty years - helping to heal people - I have a beautiful wife and children, and a peaceful house in the country. All that was really missing in my life was gratitude. I had a lot to be grateful for and just hadn't noticed until she opened my eyes. Thanks, Jessica, for that miracle!

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