Featured Book of the Week - House of Miracles

"Cliff, if you can do this for us..."

Trina's voice trailed off. She didn't have to finish her sentence, and now, I would have to write the most ambitious book of my life.

You see, Trina's beautiful son, Anthony, was stricken with a mysterious illness that left him needing constant care. Trina might be the greatest Mom in the world.

Her eyes sparkled each and every time she spoke about the boy laying in that bed.

House of Miracles was a book idea that actually hit me while I was taking a shower.

(I'll give you a moment to gather yourself as you chase that image).

The night before I had attended a parent advisory meeting at the Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo and Trina's story had hit me so hard.

The 'what ifs' were all centered around:

What if I spoke to doctors, nurses, patients, administrators, the hospital chaplain and the hospital photographer?

What if I interviewed them and told their story?

Now I had a bit of an ax to grind as I wrote, and it still bugs me to some extent. The sports teams in this town garner all the attention while good doctors and great nurses toil in anonymity even after saving kids lives.

It never bothered even one of the people I spoke to.

They were doing their jobs well because they loved it.

I spoke with one surgeon who was nationally recognized for his work on children. I asked him what he thought when he considered that he's at the top of his field.

"Success will eventually find you if you work hard," he said.

And those were the types of things that I learned as I interviewed and then compiled these stories...of ordinary men and women...who do extraordinary things every single day...just for the matter of doing them.

As the book was coming together I was getting some feedback from my publisher.

They were looking for the first single, so to speak.

How would we make people want to read such 'heartwarming' stories?

(Because people like more of the negative, blood & guts stuff).

I didn't much care about that, but one night I was watching television when someone I'd met and respected, and spoke with about Counting On A Miracle popped up on the screen.

I sent Jill Kelly, mother of three, and wife of Hall-of-Famer Jim, a text asking Jill if she'd like to write the foreword for the book.

Of course, it's right there, and Jill knocked it out of the park as well. She told her heartwarming story and later we visited the hospital together.

House of Miracles is a story about the kind of love that you reach for when you need it.

Trina spoke to me, at the end of the interview that I did with her so long ago.

She told me that you find the strength because you want to.

Because the love makes you do it.

Every day.

Every single day.