Running in the rain without a coat or umbrella, each step gasping for air. The faster I run, the harder my heart beats out my chest, as if I were a track star favored to win the title. Heavy thunders rattle the walls of buildings so intense it echoes the many voices screaming in my head

“Go Erik! Keep going! Don’t stop!”

Suddenly, I realized there’s a microphone standing before me and that loud roar I heard was a thousand audience members. Watching as I calmly reminisced about being a young shy teenager afraid to speak,

Although, I stood in surprise as the applauds rapidly increased, all I thought about was seeing the smile on my mothers face, as her voice sounded in my thoughts “son I’m proud of you”. And when I walked down the stairs from the stage a woman seated in the second row politely grabbed my hand and said “when the desire of hope meets the determination for success the only thing that becomes unforgiving is not having the sight to see the reality of your dreams”. When I got to doors of the auditorium I remembered moms voice in my mind saying, “Erik believing in yourself will keep you motivated but being unselfish will provide the honor of becoming significant.

When, I stepped outside I reached into the front left pocket of my jeans and pulled out a piece of paper with the letters, “D. F. S.” written on it which was the constant reminder of what my mother said to me when I was a child, “be determined, stay focussed, and always strive”

ERIK NELSON
DOC #445-941