Queen Creek resident Ellen Delano didn't realize what her mother was working on when she'd get up in the middle of the night to jot things down. "She would say 'I just had something revealed to me,'" Delano said.

But later in life Delano discovered her mother's revelations were a collection of poems spanning 70 years. Delano took the life-inspired poems by her mother Ann Ohrt and published a book that's fulfilled her mother's dying wish.

Ohrt died in February 2007 while living with her daughter's family in their Queen Creek home. The book entitled "Divine Inspirations" is what Delano calls a "handbook for the heart and soul" and contains a collection of her mother's works and family photographs.

Delano started small, publishing a spiral-bound book, the only version her mother got to see.

"Then all these interesting people dropped into my life," Delano said.

A graphic designer, a veteran book publisher, people who helped Delano craft the book into what it is today - an ornately decorated book complete with photographs, a ribbon and a gift tag.

"I didn't want it to be just words on pages," she said. "I wanted it to have pizazz."

Delano took responsibility for some of the pizazz herself, hand-tying ribbons to each book until she discovered ribbons with adhesive.

After working for almost a year, Delano published the first 1,000 copies last October.

"I believe she knew I'd follow through and accomplish her desire regardless of her earthly presence," Delano said.

She describes her mother as a "ball of fire" and tells stories about Ohrt, who was the mother of two and a wife to a professional farmer.

Ohrt asked that, if published, a portion of the proceeds from her work go to children. For now, the proceeds from sales in Ohrt's home state of Illinois help the Peoria Children's Home in Peoria, Ill. But Delano said she will continue to look for new charities.

Since the book has been published, Delano has found more of her mother's work and plans an eventual second book.

"Life has really put me through tremendous trials and tribulations but life is what you make of it," Delano said taking inspiration from her favorite of her mother's poems entitled "Life." "That all comes from my mom. She was such a role model for me."

Julie Benson, a former Queen Creek resident, said she got to know Ohrt and said the book is a true reflection of her.

"I'm just blown away at how beautiful it is," Benson said of the book. "I recently lost an elder in my family and through reading the book I really related to my own sense of history and got in touch of a sense of who Ann was and who my grandmother was."

Benson said she keeps a copy of her book on a desk in her home and she'll pick it up on occasion for a moment of respite.

"It's like a calm moment with a mom," she said.