I started preschool when I was 4 years old. On the 6th of May, I turned 62—my entire life has encircled around the agrarian needs of a school calendar with its beginnings and endings differing from the traditional 12-month calendar.

True joy is a limitless, life-defining, transformative reservoir waiting to be tapped into. It requires the utmost surrender and, like love, is a choice to be made.

This past week, Michael and I traveled to Long Beach to join my brother and sister-in-law to memorialize our friend, our family member, a person we loved.

Start by looking at what you are planning to eat. What do you notice visually?

Now, smell the food carefully. What do you notice?

If applicable, do you notice any sounds? If you’re eating something like a raisin, try holding it close to your ear as you squeeze it gently. Or if you’re unwrapping a chocolate, listen to the crinkles of the wrapper as you unfold it …

For the last three years, I’ve been preparing for a paper for an international conference involving my 5th grade students, a program called Anatomy Academy, and all of it during a time when we were all being taught over a platform called ZOOM during a worldwide pandemic.

Anatomy Academy is an outreach and research program to combat childhood obesity through education.

“The world lost a bight light, a beacon of love, with a heart that held so much love and compassion” writes Jean. “Brian loved BIG, laughed long, and knew how to make others feel heard and seen.”