A few interesting details about this story...

1. The boy who wrote the poem that inspired the song playing in the background (also the title of my story) created a series of books of poetry before he died. He called those books Heartsongs, which happens to be nearly identical to the title of my Wassailia/Wedding-Themed story coming out in December. This was a happy coincidence.

2. Mattie J.T. Stepanek, the poet who wrote the background song, was only 13 when he died. He suffered from a rare disease called dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy.

3. Mattie was seen as an ambassador for peace in his short life, and he was also a motivational speaker.

4. Billy Gilman, a former child country singer (who has made a bit of a comeback recently), was asked to put Mattie's poem to song. Billy worked with the family and created what you hear now. Also, he performed the song via several media outlets and even made a music video on it, which you can see here.

5. These are a few quotes from Mattie:

• Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.

• Even though the future seems far away, it is actually beginning right now.

• Sad things happen. They do. But we don't need to live sad forever.

6. If you listen to the song or look at the lyrics, you'll see that quite a few of the lyrics can relate to Nana and/or the Enchancian crew in some way, which is why I was so thrilled to connect the two together. It's a fantastic allusion.

7. While Nana can't speak, she can observe, feel, hear, think, imagine, and anything else. I like to think she and Mattie might share similar view points after everything is said and done. :) It's rather philosophical for a Strawbaby, but then again, this poem/song came from another child as well. Children are far more astute and observant than we give them credit for.