Who is Crystal Aceves?

I am a wife, mom, granddaughter, and storyteller who loves research, history, and family. I also love learning about new cultures and languages. After graduating high school, I spent a year in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico as a Rotary exchange student. I went to learn Spanish and came home with a deeper love for people and their stories. I also met my husband, Ali, with whom I have four wonderful children.

During my final semester of college, an idea began to grow. I wanted to bring together my granddad’s World War II story, the history surrounding it, and my love of writing. That idea became Captured by the Enemy: The True Story of POW Carl Leroy Good. I interviewed him, recorded his memories, ordered Army records, talked with others, and retraced his steps. After eight years, finishing the book felt like a promise kept, and it has been a joy to share his journey with readers who care about courage, faith, and survival.

While I wrote his story, one paragraph stayed with me. I described how people carry “secret shadows of pain” in their eyes and how pain has no preference. It touches the rich and the poor, the young and the old. Every person carries an unseen cross.

That thought became the seed for Messages For Your Soul, my project of gentle encouragement and hope for people who are carrying something heavy today. My work now lives in both places. Through Captured by the Enemy I honor the past. Through Messages For Your Soul I speak hope into the present.

Thank you for being here and for caring about true stories and the hope they can bring.