damn the muse

Mattie Stepanek is no longer among us, and this saddens me. You want to talk about amazing, that boy had it all. I never read his poetry, but I wish I had. I even thought it was pretty impressive that he was published and not even a teenager.

I never met Mattie, but I could relate to him because he was someone like me. He was a person who never let his problems get the best of him. Rather, he used his hidden abilities and turned them into something profound and beautiful. Everytime he was on Good Morning America I would stop whatever I was doing and just watch him talk. He was just a child after all, but as children we have such dreams. It's important to always strive for what we want and never let go even if everyone is saying, "No, you can't."

I remember when they surprised him with the visit from former President Jimmy Carter. The look on his face was just priceless.

You could tell that the anchors were near tears on GMA when they announced his passing this morning, and I'm heartbroken. He was such a special boy, and where ever he is now, I hope he is at peace.