I learned that we differed in the way we remembered things happening. After I read the collection of family stories I had written, I came to the conclusion that they were more about Red River being the Price family's river of dreams; than what I remembered about the truth. I named my family saga River Of Dreams. My bedside vigil gave me time to research; I found that I spent all my spare time researching what others had written about Red River. The folklore and history surrounding Red River and the people of the river captivated my thoughts. I began to write TreasureRiver in Two Thousand based on that research. After my aunt and mother passed, I had no desire to build furniture — my heart wasn't in it. I had discovered a new passion that consumed me. Writing aboutRed River and studying her and her history. Dad's long lost dream; that of making a float trip down Red River to the Mississippi River— rekindled itself in my heart. I reached the time in my life when I either needed to make the trip or I needed to forget about it. Extracting dogwood from the swamps had become more than my body wanted todo.More often than not, I found myself leaning back against a big cottonwood tree dreaming of floating down Red River. Sometimes, I didn’t think of anything; just drew stick figures in the sand. I set out on a fourteen-day four hundred-mile trip down Red River. My plan; gather material of a different kind. I needed material I could write stories about. I got serious about writing TreasureRiver and for the next five years that’s what I breathed and ate. Finally in August of 2006, GAP Publishing released TreasureRiver! My first novel! I got to see my thoughts, my words, and my labor all come together in print.