know the words of our ancestors for all families are linked together like a chain.Children must know the value of their particular link.They must strengthen their bond and pass on the words to their children so that future generations can grow in spirit. But how do we do this?Children are really taking a back seat in our society.Many children are spoiled,lacking nothing,but lacking much.For what they lack are the words that would jump start their human spirit.The words that would make them tingle with an excitement to learn new things and explore their natural environment. I have crafted many stories about human relationships,but one day I was really struck by this particular notion of purpose.My daughters and I were walking home from school when a simple brown leaf fell silently from an oak tree lining the sidewalk.No one really noticed.My kids kept walking but suddenly,for me,time stood still.It was sort of a"if a tree falls in the woods"moment.Why did the leaf fall,I wondered,and who really cared?I realized that even that leaf had a purpose,one that it may not have even realized. We are all like the leaf.We all have a deep,profound purpose to our lives that we may not even understand until it becomes manifest.This purpose may be very simple on the surface,but may deeply affect the course of many lives.We are all instrumental in each other's greater purpose.You never know when you might be the one with the words to create the next Mother Theresa or the next loving mother who nurtures and creates a wonderful child. This leaf struck me to my core and from my notions I crafted a story of simplicity and truth. It is called A Simple Brown Leaf.It tells the story of an autumn leaf that thinks its life is over when it falls from a tree,not realizing that it is being watched by a squirrel who plans to use it to line her nest for winter.Its main message is that every living creature has a purpose,no matter how we try to trivialize it. I truly believe that this is one of the most important messages we can give children today. Many children grow up believing that they could disappear off of the face of the Earth andknow the words of our ancestors for all families are linked together like a chain. Children must know the value of their particular link. They must strengthen their bond and pass on the words to their children so that future generations can grow in spirit. But how do we do this? Children are really taking a back seat in our society. Many children are spoiled, lacking nothing, but lacking much. For what they lack are the words that would jump start their human spirit. The words that would make them tingle with an excitement to learn new things and explore their natural environment. I have crafted many stories about human relationships, but one day I was really struck by this particular notion of purpose. My daughters and I were walking home from school when a simple brown leaf fell silently from an oak tree lining the sidewalk. No one really noticed. My kids kept walking but suddenly, for me, time stood still. It was sort of a "if a tree falls in the woods" moment. Why did the leaf fall, I wondered, and who really cared? I realized that even that leaf had a purpose, one that it may not have even realized. We are all like the leaf. We all have a deep, profound purpose to our lives that we may not even understand until it becomes manifest. This purpose may be very simple on the surface, but may deeply affect the course of many lives. We are all instrumental in each other's greater purpose. You never know when you might be the one with the words to create the next Mother Theresa or the next loving mother who nurtures and creates a wonderful child. This leaf struck me to my core and from my notions I crafted a story of simplicity and truth. It is called A Simple Brown Leaf. It tells the story of an autumn leaf that thinks its life is over when it falls from a tree, not realizing that it is being watched by a squirrel who plans to use it to line her nest for winter. Its main message is that every living creature has a purpose, no matter how we try to trivialize it. I truly believe that this is one of the most important messages we can give children today. Many children grow up believing that they could disappear off of the face of the Earth and