When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: Prologue

Life is filled with enldess emotions from happiness to sadness, love to hatred, peacefullness to suffering, and understanding to confussion.  These emotions not only define who one is, but also who one will be as emotions guide one's decisions and actions along the path of life. In Le Ly Hayslip's When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, she recounts the beginning of her journey of life by connecting with the reader through the power of emotions.

In the Prologue of the story about a journey from war to peace,   Le Ly prepares the reader for the path ahead which is characterized by suffering on a road to peacefullness in the antithesis:

"The special gift of that suffering, I have learned, is how to be strong while we are weak, how to be brave when we are afraid, how to be wise in the midst of confusion, and how to let go of that which we can no longer hold. In this way, anger can teach forgiveness, hat can teach us love, and war can teach us peace."  (xv)

This powerful quote reflects the theme of the journey for Le Ly, in that, despite the suffering and hardships she faced, she continued to find the positive in each situation and thus, was able to survive.  Today, Le Ly's lesson continues and is taught by people around the world who, despite being faced with suffering, found the optimism to continue on life's journey.  Josh Bleill is an American hero who on October 15, 2006, lost both of his legs to roadside bomb in Fallujah, Iraq. Though he could have given up, he fought on and today serves as the inspiration for a nation.  Mr. Bleill has come to represent a true soldier's heart as he chooses to not only fight for his own life, but the lives of others.  He inspires people daily through his book One Step At a Time and as the spokesperson for the Indianapolis Colts. One can follow him at http://joshbleill.blogspot.com/.

Josh Bleill leading 66,033 people in the National Anthem at
 the Indianapolis Colts' stadium 

Josh Bleill's Book