My high school English and Literature teachers sparked my interest in creating scrapbooks of accomplished poets.  My favorite poet has always been Joyce Kilmer and my favorite poem has always been TREES. During the years that I was raising my five wonderful children, three girls and two boys, I wrote some poems and stories, but never thought seriously about publishing them.  After my 68th birthday, most of our nine grandchildren were grown, so I asked myself, “What could I do now to help ensure that the world might be a better place for my having walked here?” Two weeks later, I was inspired in church by what the pastor said to write my first published poem, LOVE NEVER DIES, which won the Editor’s Choice Award.  That gave me an incentive to keep on writing poetry, and I have since won many poetry prizes for an accumulation of over 600 poems published all over the world.