My mother's fondest desire was to have a book published while she was alive. Not just any book, but a beautiful volume...full of wonder and sparkling imagery that glittered a message of hope for the world. We had similar goals, my mother and I, but coming from different generations and quite different personal experiences, we didn't have much in common in terms of how we chose to live our lives...or even in terms of what we saw as genuinely hopeful...