If you don’t believe that this is true, you may change your mind after reading this story.

It was July 2011 when my mother, Mary Margaret Herstad, known as “Margie”, passed away at the early age of 73. At the conclusion of her memorial service I was approached by three individuals who expressed such gratitude regarding how our mother helped them on their life journey.

Margie was a natural care giver. Even though a widow at age thirty-eight, with four children, she always had room in our house for someone who came across her path. Our spare bedroom was rarely empty.

It was a month after mom’s passing, my youngest sister Julie and I were driving past our old house on the country road, 2nd Line West. The house was a ranch bungalow on four acres of land. Plush hedges running down both sides of an eighty-foot driveway brought you into the home. During the 1970’s to mid 90’s this was the home where Margie helped many people recharge their life, not just us children. As we remembered these individuals our list totaled eighteen souls. I said to my sister, “Let’s go find them and interview them on how their time in our home and their relationship with our mother impacted their life.”

That night I awoke in the middle of the night and wrote on my Mothers Facebook page, “I am going to write a book about your life that will be a movie one day.” This was the moment my dream journey started!

Well, it took Julie and me three years, but through social media, and word of mouth we completed all interviews.

After the interviews were completed I started pulling the pieces together. The writing would wake me up at 3 a.m. like clockwork. I got up, put on my slippers and house coat to find my way up the almost vertical stairs to the loft at the top of the house. In the center of the loft was my table, chair, laptop and an old 1960’s Remington typewriter for inspiration. The writing would flow from me. It could take twenty minutes or up to four hours then it was back to bed. I pinned the stories up on all four walls so I could stand back and rearrange them. Over a three-week period I had a sixty eight page draft.

What happened over the next 8 months was quite astounding:

1) I was sat directly beside the same Best-Selling Author/Writing Coach on two separate air plane flights one week apart who agreed to help me edit and publish the book. She has the same birthday as my mother, May 14th.

2) The books first edition was published in 2016.

3) I was mistaken for someone else and as a result was introduced to a movie director’s wife who read my book and then handed it to her husband, Paul Saltzman.

4) I signed a book option and a movie contract with Sunrise Films for the making of the book into a motion picture.

5) The screen play was financed by a lighting customer of mine (I am also a lighting designer) after reading the book on vacation. Michael and his wife Laura expressed, “This is a message that needs to be shared with the world.”

We have finalized the screen play with Tom Schlesinger which triggers the production budget and hope to start shooting this year.

These are the valuable lessons I learned on this journey while chasing my dream:

1) I had to believe that my dream could come true and this started with a declaration to myself.

2) I had to write down my declaration. This happened on my mother’s Facebook page and it remains there today.

3) I became more aware of my energy. I had to protect it and avoid conversations where people talk negatively about others.

4) I created a Vision Board and continue to update it along the way.

5) I realized I had to relax into the journey because when you follow a dream you are committing to a journey. The destination will take care of itself.

6) I realized that I had to let go of how the dream is supposed to happen. This is a BIG one!

7) When inspiration was a challenge or self-doubt crept in I would go to nature. A walk in the woods or by water would do it.

8) I had to stop myself from focusing on the fact that my dream had not happened yet for the road was still under construction and I must be patient.

9) I limited my time watching tv news as I realized it was affecting me negatively.

10) When my dream came true, I knew I had to share it with others as I have just done with you.

Tom Herstad

For more information on Tom please visit www.TomHerstadOfficial.com His book is titled 2nd Line West.