I was told the time was coming five years ago. Every night as I slept I had many dreams with a reoccurring theme. One night I watched a bird made of creativity fly though the night sky leaving a wave of inspiration in it’s wake. Another night I saw my home town crowded with painters, song writers, and sculptors. Many nights when the bird flew by I would grasp for its tail feathers to see where it would lead and always I was left behind telling stories with nothing but a color changing feather as proof.
    They were all just dreams to many, but to me they were building blocks that were shaping my future. I knew my place in life and slowly I was learning how to make my way through it to be there. That was the hardest part. I was keeping my attention so focused on the end of the tunnel that I kept tripping over challenges along the way. It was a fun road and I wouldn’t trade it or change it for anything.

Now I am at a point in life where the keys to my earthly heaven were handed to me and my real journey began. I was ready and my eyes were glowing from the anticipation and the excitement was shining from my face. My real dream, my life’s dream was just finger tips away. All I had to do now was start the plan and hold on to the action. I was going to bring art and music to downtown in my home town.
    The town had a growth spurt that lasted about ten years. What had been built as a by-pass to relieve the traffic through town became the image that danced dollar signs in the eyes of town officials. They built fancy rich hotels. They built high class restaurants.  Even our hospital moved from the center to what use to be the ‘outside’ of town. The old downtown become “historic” downtown with no plans of modernization. It was truly a sad sight to watch main street move.
    This movement left the old City Hall building with a for sale sign in the parking lot. This was a great thing for my life’s plan. This building was perfect to house a recording studio, an art studio, a dance studio, a photography studio, a writing studio, and a video production studio. It has over fifteen thousand square feet of space that spanned through three floors. The best part was that the asking price was only 349,000 dollars. This was truly the perfect location for a community art center. I decided I was going to dedicate to my third grade teacher, Sue Knapp.
    The next challenge was where to come up with the money for the building and equipment to run the center. That question was soon answered with a little creativity. My friend was trying to sell his super fancy sports car during an economic recession and he was only asking 12,000 for it. The gears in my head were turning and when the steam stopped pouring from my ears, my artistic creative side had made a plan. I decided to buy the car and raffle it off to produce the money needed to buy everything.
    I would advertise every way possible about my plans of starting a community art center and the raffle intended. I would sell the tickets for twenty-three dollars a piece and run the raffle for six months. I knew once the public knew that I was doing it for so cheap that they wouldn’t stop at buying just one ticket. Who would with a chance to win a convertible Pontiac Solstice?
    The next step was finding the money to buy the car with. Since the country was in a recession many letters in my mail box and many TV commercials were all clucking about grants and stimulus checks. So I went to the Grants.gov web site and started to browse through the individual grants that were offered and the first one that caught my eye was one for 25,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts. It was a literary grant and since I am a writer, then it seemed to be the most logical way to obtain the funding that I needed for an art center. I filled out the necessary paperwork and as I hit send a feeling of excited relief flushed through my body. I knew the money was coming; now I just had to wait for them to tell me when I can have it.
    I started going to the library to check my e-emails. Three days after my submission I received a response. As soon as I saw that the message was from Grants.gov my face began to illuminate and I took a deep breath before I clicked it open. It was two sentences, “Your proposal has been successfully accepted. Your tracking number is 110084536-ge3.” I didn’t let this get me down because I still knew that I had intrigued them with my “project idea”. All I had to do was wait a little longer and then do what I said I was going to do. It was still that simple. By the end of the year I was going to start a community art center and bring to life a part of town that was given up on by the people who governed it. I saw people smile and laugh as I ran out the library yelling “yes… yes,” with the biggest and happiest smile seen by anyone since they had announced that we were in an economic recession.
    It felt like forever after that. The weekend came and went. In reality it had only been six days, but it was like waiting on Christmas. I had already started making all kinds of plans.
    My friend that owned the car was getting married in less than a month and I was waiting on the grant moneys to buy a one way plane ticket, get a new suit, pay for the car, and purchase insurance. I was going to drive the car from California to Arkansas and the road trip was going to be plenty to write about. I knew the money was coming. There was no way that I was going to be let down. This was destiny and I had complete faith in the Lord.
    The next Monday I was found at the library again emotionally dancing on the inside a telling everyone I saw that I loved them (secretly to myself of course). My attitude was so contagious that everywhere I looked all I could see was smiling faces. I know they knew I loved them all. I made my way to the back of the building, sat down at a work station, and turned on my lap top. It seemed like forever as I waited for the WiFi to give me the globe symbol. When it finally did I went straight to my e-mail.
    Three new messages were there on the screen. I read one that said “in reference to your application……” I was holding back my excitement. I tried with a hurry to move the pointer across the screen but of course it wasn’t cooperating. So I sat back, took a deep breath, and tried again. This time it worked with ease and I simply just clicked on it. There in black and blue were the words” Your application has been granted if you agree to these terms. “I e-mailed the required materials back the next day and my check arrived a week before the wedding.
    So now I had all the keys needed to start the journey. Now all I had to do was just live it and write about it. I was on my way with a new suit, to see a friend start a new life, to get a new car, and start a new chapter. President Obama was right. It was a great time for a change.
     That was all almost a month ago. In all reality, I didn’t make it to my friends wedding in California. And he sold his car one week before the wedding and not to me. And I still have not been granted any money from the National Endowment of the Arts. That was all just a dream. I love dreams because if you are persistent with them, then they will come true. I have not heard anything about the grant since they sent me the tracking number. I believe no news is good news.
    I did make it to a friends wedding that weekend. It was a great friend from what seems like a lifetime ago when I try to think about it. She is truly living a life of miracles. I would wish her good luck but she doesn’t need it. I really do love all of my friends.
    There were so many familiar faces that sunny spring day. Her wedding just happened to be on the only sunny day that week. I saw one of the girls I miss the most from that life time. I tried to find her in the parking lot but she was gone. All I got to say was, “I’ll meet you outside”.
    The bride’s servant and I decided to decorate the couples SUV while everyone was still inside shaking hands. We had a fun time with the window crayons that I brought with me. There was not a glass panel without something wrote on it.
    We were standing at the door to the church when a group of people ran out towards the car. Half to the car, the crowd stopped smiling and dropped their jaws. “I guess we stole some of their glory.” I said quietly to her. She smiled back. The crowd finally went back to what they were doing and soon the car was truly transformed into a coach.
    My friend’s car was purchased by a guy from Texas and like my plan; he purchased a one-way ticket to California and drove the car home. Good luck for me and bad for him, the transmission started acting up on his way back. I feel bad for him, but I really do feel lucky. Last thing I want to do is Raffle off a car that falls apart soon after. I love the way things are usually good even when it sounds bad.
    I still see the Sue Knapp art center in my near future. I know this is the year for change and I am going with the flow. I hope to see you all there and Thank you for reading. I will write again soon.