In December of 2000, the authors husband, Randall, fell from a deer stand while hunting and broke both legs in several places. Randall had always been a strong, healthy, hardworking man with a wonderful job, but this took him and his family to a very low place in their lives. He spent three months in the hospital and had five surgeries to repair his legs. The doctors said he would never walk again Shirley carried many burdens during that time including tending to a crippled and broken man and handling crashing finances because he was unable to work. Feeling really hopeless and alone, she shed many tears and prayed very hard. One night (actually about 2:00 a.m. in February of 2001), she sat up on the edge of her cot in her husbands hospital room and begin to write in a journal she was keeping. When she finished writing her prayer to God, she read it and realized that it was in the form of a poem (Why Are You So Afraid, My Child) Since that time the poetry has flowed from her heart in a miraculous way. And she has written a huge collection of poetry She believes the poetry is a gift from God to help her express what she is feeling deep inside. It flows from her heart in a matter of minutes and falls onto the page in poetry form She praises God for this gift