You'll never guess where I am...

Hey everyone. You'll never guess where I am! Guam. Yes, Guam! It's a tiny island in the western pacific, about three hours from Japan, Australia and Hawaii. If you look at a map, it's a dot in the middle of the Pacific. A group of Catholic nuns, some of whom heard a seminar I gave last year at a large educational convention, invited me to speak at some of the schools here. Getting here was arduous to say the least. I flew from Chicago to Salt Lake City, Utah, connected to Tokyo, and from Tokyo flew to Guam. It took nearly twenty-seven hours all total to travel here. The time change has been a trip too! Guam is fifteen hours later than Chicago, so I'm still struggling with jet lag.

Something amazing happened on this trip that I have to tell you about. For those of you familiar with my books, you know I'm a big animal lover and passionate animal rights activist. While walking around the grounds of my hotel, I saw a parrot in a cage that was neglected. I immediately sprung into action, contacting hotel management, doing everything I could to fight for this bird and find it a good home.

I was so scared I wouldn't succeed. I kept praying and hoping, calling my mom constantly for moral support. It's amazing what can happen when you don't give up. It turns out one of the alumni of the high school I spoke at yesterday is the daughter of Guam's former governor, who's currently running again. He's one of the most influential people on the island, a political powerhouse dedicated to the people, someone who fights for the under dog and believes in kindness and fairness. When his daughter explained to him my plight, that I was trying to rescue a neglected parrot, he too sprang into action, both he and his daughter accompanying me to a meeting with the hotel's top management. When the manager of the hotel saw the governor walk in, you should have seen the look on his face! It was priceless. And to the manager's credit, he genuinely cared about saving the bird, and was very open to our intervention. The governor also brought with him a family friend whose parents are animal rights activists and do exotic bird rescue, who have offered to adopt the parrot. The hotel has also volunteered to relocate the bird to an aviary at one of their other properties that is overseen by an exotic bird specialist. So as of today, this beautiful parrot that had been forgotten and taken for granted, surrounded by bystanders who saw his sad circumstances but chose to look the other way, now has two options for a wonderful home, both of which offer specialists well schooled in the care of exotic birds.

Today, I'm following up with everyone, to make sure all is fine with this beautiful creature and he is relocated to the best possible new home.

The reason I'm writing about this is because what happened with the parrot is very similar to what happens in schools all across the country. We see someone suffering and we don't take action, thinking someone else will do it. Well you know what? Someone else won't. If you see someone suffering, whether it's a classmate, a friend, a stranger, or an innocent animal, don't walk away. Stick you neck out! Take action.

People often ask me what the word activist means. An activist, I tell them, is someone who takes action to motivate action in others.

Please, join me in my determined quest to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves, to give a voice to those who can't speak for themselves.

And I have one special request to ask of all of you. Be compassionate towards all God's creatures. Adopt your pets from shelters, save the life of a cat or dog that will otherwise be euthanized unless you step in. Fight for animal rights. You can start by providing a home to one animal in need. Be a hero. Make a difference. Make me proud.

Talk to you next week---hopefully by then I'll be over the jet lag!