Michelle Keil Coaching

November 25 – I am Grateful for…

Day 25… November 25

Today I am grateful for my family.

I have a lot of it!!!

I mentioned it in yesterday’s post briefly but I will elaborate a little more.

Specifically my family of origin.

My parents are Mike and Shirley Anderson.

They have 13 children. 10 sons and 3 daughters.

YES…. I have 10 brothers and 2 sisters. This picture includes the first sister in law.

As if this wasn’t unusual enough, we actually like each other. And we like each other’s spouses. And we like most of each other’s kids ….jk…. we love them all!!

I’m not sure how I don’t have a more recent picture of all the siblings but it is a little challenging to get all of us together at once. I need to find who has the pictures from last summer!!

This one is everyone who was present (missing 4 or so and there have been a few more born since then) back in 2014.

And thanks to Covid and the world shutting down, we were all able to be with our mom during her battle with pancreatic cancer.

Probably one of the favorite things ever overheard from a stranger describing our family came while a large group of us, with a good portion of our kids, were hiking The Narrows in Zion National Park.

YES…. I have 10 brothers and 2 sisters.

As if this wasn’t unusual enough, we actually like each other. And we like each other’s spouses. And we like most of each other’s kids ….jk…. we love them all!!

I’m Michelle. I am learning how to minimize my overwhelm, perfectionism, and people-pleasing and I am ready to help you do the same. I’m a certified Life Coach and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Come with me and learn how.

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It is an amazing blessing to me to have so much support and love in my life. And even though we are all very different individuals, and have all our own crazy lives, I am so glad that we are able and willing to share those lives with each other.

“All I know is they are all related and they are all really loud!”

I guess we are not an everyday occurrence for most people. 🙂

And we can be “a lot”!!!

But I love that we accept each other just as we are and we are all allowed to just be ourselves.

Some more pictures through the years, just for fun.

One thing is for sure…… no matter how many there are at a time, we love having fun together!!

It is an amazing blessing to me to have so much support and love in my life. And even though we are all very different individuals, and have all our own crazy lives, I am so glad that we are able and willing to share those lives with each other.

What are you grateful for? “Contact Me” and send me a quick email. If you prefer, you can “Schedule a Conversation” for a free session to discuss what you want to work towards and how to get started.

The work is GRATITUDE, and I want to become a master!!

And as always…..Remember…..It’s ALL good!!

November 24 – I am Grateful for…

Day 24… November 24

Today I am grateful for THANKSGIVING.

Thanksgiving in the United States of America is observed on the 4th Thursday of November.

I love Thanksgiving because more than just all the yummy food it is a day spent with family and enjoying some traditions.

One tradition that we try to maintain is using real dishes, glassware, and silverware. In a day when it seems that everything is disposable, it is very easy to let that go, but I love that we try to continue to make this a special holiday in simple ways.

This year I was able to host 2 of my brothers and their families and it was a small group of us for a change. Now when I say a small group of us, I mean it was only 19 of us. 🙂 Sadly, I didn’t manage to take any pictures of our group this year.

Just for reference, on the Keil family side, there are 52 family members still with us, and on the Anderson family side, there are 98 still with us.

To get “All together” is quite an undertaking, so it doesn’t happen all that often. But it isn’t unusual for our thanksgivings to be around the 40 or 50 people mark.

The older I get the worse I am at taking pictures of our activities together. That is something I want to get back into the habit of in the future.

It is a day focused on gratitude. I strive to make gratitude a regular practice that lasts longer than one day or month. It doesn’t always work out that way though. Thanksgiving gives me a good focus for an extended period and I like that.

It is a day focused on gratitude. I am striving to make gratitude a regular practice that lasts longer than one day or month.

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Even if I am less than perfect at that practice, I love that I can spend a day celebrating the many blessings that I receive all year long.

I love the foods we have come to expect from each family….Anderson’s usual include turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, rolls, black olives, and even the candied yams that not very many people will eat. 🙂 and lots and lots of pies for dessert.

….Keil’s usuals include turkey, ham, lamb, corned beef, (yes they need multiple types of meat!!), Samoan chop suey, steamed rice, taro in coconut milk, two different types of gravy, and then all the “normal” regular things like mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, vegetables, and all the desserts.

I love this holiday, and I am grateful for the traditions we can enjoy and pass on to our families.

The work is GRATITUDE, and I want to become a master!!

And as always…..Remember…..It’s ALL good!!

November 22 – I am Grateful for…

Day 22… November 22

Today I am thankful for music.

Music has always been a part of my life. Growing up our family was always singing and playing instruments, creating music.

Silly songs, classical songs, holiday songs, songs from church, songs from the radio, musicals, old songs, new songs, you name it ….my family sang it.

Our house was always filled with music growing up. Records (now referred to as vinyl :)) playing on the stereo, cassettes of our favorites, piano lessons, piano practice, violins, and violas. We all learned to play for at least some period.

I do regret that I have not kept up with the instruments, specifically piano and violin, that I learned to play in my youth. I think that might be a goal for next year. And maybe one day who knows, I will do something about my dream to play the flute.

I love that my kids all played instruments at various times. Not necessarily for very long but that’s okay.

Lots of violins, but we also had at one time or another a couple of trumpets, a baritone, percussion instruments, an alto saxophone, and a few piano players.

So many concerts from elementary school choir, strings and band on to junior high and into high school.

Tegan was the only one who chose to continue playing her instrument into junior high.

But after all the struggles to practice, we mostly stick to using our voices as our instruments. 🙂 All the kids have been in choir since elementary school. It has brought me so much joy over the years.

Silly songs, classical songs, holiday songs, songs from church, songs from the radio, musicals, old songs, new songs, you name it ….my family sang it.

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Mesquite High School choir had at least one Keil in it for 12 years, and for more than a couple of those years, there were multiple Keils. We have loved Mrs. Ubrig, our choir teacher. She was a great influence on our listening habits 🙂

As years have gone by we have loved attending musical theater productions together as well. Music will always be a big part of our lives.

Music is one thing that at times doesn’t seem fit in the self-coaching model. Music can stir emotions in me, it seems, without even thinking. Of course, my brain is thinking in those moments, but the emotion can be so strong, so stirring, it is as if the music touched my very soul.

The work is GRATITUDE, and I want to become a master!!

And as always…..Remember…..It’s ALL good!!

November 21 – I am Grateful for…

Day 21… November 21

Today I am grateful for our “bonus daughter” Julie.

Julie is Karai’s (our oldest son) girlfriend. I would love to say daughter-in- law ….. but no pressure Karai 🙂

Julie is maybe the smartest and kindest person I know.

As I said before, it is easy to love the people who love your people, and I am so grateful she is one of our people. She is easy to love!

Hanging out with our family has been a little rough sometimes I’m sure. We can be what you might call “abrasive”. But she hasn’t given up on us yet.

She is so thoughtful and kind that she is a vegetarian (leaning toward vegan) because she would hate to harm anything. Our kids have openly debated on which of the siblings they would eat first in a crisis. Haha

Julie and Karai met at the University of Arizona when they both worked at the campus Rec Center. It is hard to believe that was nearly 4-1/2 years ago now.

After graduation from UofA, Julie began law school at Louisiana State University. But that first year she missed us so much (or maybe it was HER family and her twin sister!) that she transferred to Arizona State University – Sandra Day O’Conner College of Law.

She only has some finals and one more semester before graduation. Then she just needs to take the bar exam. Easy peasy. So exciting!!

Julie is determined and hardworking. She began her first internship the summer after her first year of law school, finishing in the top of her class. She did such a good job for them that they kept her on part time throughout the next school year.

She had an internship that second summer doing more great work as well. So much so that she has already received a full time job offer post graduation.

When she is not busy with work or her actual classes, she is busy as one of the Managing Editors for the ASU Sports and Entertainment Law Journal. You can enjoy one of her articles here.

She loves Disney, especially Wall-e, and ALL the animals, most especially her dog Ozzi and cat RockoRoo. If she could meet the Erwins it would be a dream come true!

She loves the law, the beach, travel, Harry Styles and family. She loves to find thoughtful gifts for others. I’m just glad she loves our family.

She is so thoughtful and kind that she is a vegetarian (leaning toward vegan) because she would hate to harm anything.

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She loves Disney, especially Wall-e, and ALL the animals, most especially her dog Ozzi and cat RockoRoo. If she could meet the Erwins it would be a dream come true!

I am grateful for her tender heart and gentle soul that helps calm down some of the rowdiness our family can bring. She helps me want to be a better person.

And I am grateful that her family lives here in Arizona so we can keep her close to us as well. Her mom, 2 brothers, and her twin sister are all wonderful people that we are grateful to know.

The work is GRATITUDE, and I want to become a master!!

And as always…..Remember…..It’s ALL good!!

November 20 – I am Grateful for…

Day 20… November 20

Today I am grateful for coaching and The Life Coach School.

For the past 3 days, I have been able to be a part of an in-person event held at the Arizona Grand Resort here in Phoenix. “Life Coach Live” was an event from The Life Coach School and its founder Brooke Castillo.

It was a time for learning and workshopping some of my own thoughts and plans for the future. It was time to take notice of what I wanted to create and what I am doing to get in my own way.

As a contract coach for The Life Coach School’s Scholars Get Coached membership, I also had the opportunity to coach some of the other attendees. The people attending ranged from Master Certified coaches to those who were invited to attend with someone else even though they hadn’t had much information about life coaching. I was able to coach those who were considering enrolling in the Coach Certification Program.

Some might have considered it a sales thing. For me, I had nothing to sell. I truly believe that coaching certification and becoming a life coach have had an immeasurable impact on my life.

And yes, this coaching program does cost a lot of money. And yes, it does take a commitment of time. And yes, it is challenging personally. And yes, I do believe it is entirely worth it.

So this weekend when people were nervous about taking this step to invest in themselves… when they were scared that it would be too much for them to manage… when their self-doubt came up, I was able to help them see how completely normal that was.

I was able to share what it was like to be at home on my computer and hit the submit button for my own enrollment. I was able to celebrate them in the decision they made for themselves.

As a contract coach for The Life Coach School’s Scholars Get Coached membership, I had the opportunity to coach with some of the other attendees… who were considering enrolling in the Coach Certification Program.

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I truly believe that coaching certification and becoming a life coach have had an immeasurable impact on my life.

And yes, this coaching program does cost a lot of money. And yes, it does take a commitment of time. And yes, it is challenging personally. And yes, I do believe it is entirely worth it.

And it was so fun to see them celebrate their decision in a “Red Carpet” reception at the end of the day today.

I am still learning to celebrate the decisions that have gotten me to this point in my life and in my coaching career.

Somehow, my brain tells me the things I have done are just things you do. Nothing special or extraordinary.

But I am choosing to celebrate the wins I create for my business and for my life. I am giving myself credit for the decisions I make that bring me the results I want to create.

One of those decisions resulted in this weekend for me. A time for me to consider the decisions that I have made and to give myself some time to be grateful for “2020 Michelle” that felt a little bit (or a lotta bit) selfish for spending the money “on myslef”…that felt unsure if this was really something I should attempt…that felt completely overwhelmed but was tired of disappointing myslef by giving up on what I wanted.

That was the beginning of Michelle the Life Coach. And today, I got to be a small part of other men and women, husbands and wives, sisters and friends (and even a couple of 19-year-olds) making that decision for themselves.

I am an extraordinary person. Not because I am different than anyone else, but because we are all extraordinary people. We all have such a great capacity to create good in the world. And for a few people today, I was able to see them start to believe that for themselves.

It was exciting! I am so grateful I was able to be part of it.

The work is GRATITUDE, and I want to become a master!!

And as always…..Remember…..It’s ALL good!!

November 19 – I am Grateful for…

Day 19… November 19

Today I am thankful for friends.

I will start with my “birthday twins” friends.

I have 2 friends that are near and dear to me who both have birthdays today.

The first one I met in 2005. We both had boys in the 5th grade together, boys in the 3rd grade together, a daughter for me and another son for her in the 1st grade who played on the same baseball team, other small children and we were both pregnant with our 6th kids. We both had daughters that year. 🙂

Though we were both members of the same church, we were in different congregations. We got to know each other through the elementary school and the baseball team and it was fun to make that connection.

Fast forward about 20 months and we were now in the same congregation for church due to some boundary realignments. (Our congregations are determined by geographical locations) It was nice to have a familiar face in this “new to us” congregation.

I am so grateful for her and love her dearly. We have both gone through a lot over the past 17 years and I am so glad we still connect. (We need to do lunch soon!!)

The second of the “birthday twins” is my dear friend, Brigitte. To many, it might seem like an unlikely friendship. Today she turned 94!!!!

She is an amazing woman with a fantastic sense of humor. And she has been through and experienced some pretty amazing things.

Born in 1928, her mother died 8 days later from an infection transferred from the midwife. Soon she was adopted by her maternal uncle and aunt and raised in Berlin, Germany.

She didn’t learn that she was adopted until she was 14 yrs old and her mother and father (aunt and uncle) still never said a word about it but acted as though it was not a thing.

I love Brigitte for so many reasons. And I am amazed by the life she has lead. From Nazi Germany to England to be a nanny, to the United States where she joined the military to receive her citizenship faster, she has amazing and heartbreaking stories to share.

I know that at age 94 time with her is a gift for me that I don’t know how long it will last, but I want to take advantage of it every chance I get!

So “Happiest of Birthdays” to my birthday twins!

There are so many wonderful friends that have blessed my life so much.

My kid’s friend’s moms who have become so dear to me – and the mom’s that I wanted to be my friends so we led our kids to be friends 🙂
My neighbors that have become friends
My friends that are in my church congregation
The friends that I decided on and made them be friends with me 😛
New friends that I have made through this world of coaching – the process of becoming a coach, meeting others on the same path, working with The Life Coach School, as well as my coaches who continue to help me grow and develop my skills
My “new” book group friends – It is fun to get back together after a long break for some reason I forget…..something that starts with a “C”?
My two most dear friends that have helped me survive high school, junior high, and elementary school as our kids did it together, brought me so much laughter and joy at the bus stop, shared and helped me carry frustrations, and broadened my perspectives on the world – Anne and Nina, I love you!!
My “old” book group friends – I mentioned them in my post about books. “Prose before Bros” (a recently adopted name due to some of us relating a little too close to any name with the word “old” in it!) has been meeting for around 20 years.

There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends who become family.

–

A true friend accepts you for who you are, but also helps you become who you should be.
Unknown

Brigitte

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As one of these women said once, “I will always love these women because we “grew up” as parents together.”

These women are family to me. We have been together through births, deaths, tantrums, 100’s of kids’ school projects, kids’ health problems, junior high kids, moves across town, teenagers, our own health problems, tantrums from our teenagers, moves out of state, graduations, weddings, divorces, kids going to college, kids graduating from college, grandkids (for some…..) As one of these women said once, “I will always love these women because we “grew up” as parents together.”

I am so very grateful, and realized how truly blessed I am to have so many wonderful friends. They bring so much more to my life.

The work is GRATITUDE, and I want to become a master!!

And as always…..Remember…..It’s ALL good!!

November 18 – I am Grateful for…

Day 18… November 18

Today I am grateful for my second born son Chase.

Chase is an amazing example to me of being yourself to the fullest.

As the second child, Chase taught me the beauty of individuality. As a new parent I thought I was starting to figure things out. I quickly learned what I had kind of known but never really internalized.

Genetic bonds are one thing, but you truly are born with your own unique personality. Your “spirit” has traits that are eternal and those traits influence the way you interact with people and the world around you.

Even as a baby he was always moving and never wanted to miss out on something.

From the start Chase was a very “strong” person. But how could you not love that smile?!?

Chase is kind-hearted, intelligent, athletic, determined, independent, fun-loving, and has a heart for adventure.

I love that he is willing to go after what he wants in life. He was the first of our kids to decide to move far away for college. He came up with his plan and executed it as he moved out of state to attend Utah Valley University.

Some things he has loved for a long time….Lego for example.

His 6th birthday.

His 26th birthday

Genetic bonds are one thing, but you truly are born with your own unique personality. Your “spirit” has traits that are eternal and those traits influence the way you interact with people and the world around you.

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Chase is kind-hearted, intelligent, athletic, determined, independent, fun-loving, and has a heart for adventure.

Some loves are more recent than that; his love for soccer jerseys, movies, travel, and chess.

He is a huge Tottenham Hotspurs fan who is a great soccer player in his own right. Or maybe you will find him playing volleyball on occasion. It could be Settlers of Catan or chess he is playing.

He is a good brother and supportive of his siblings in the things they do. And as much grief as he may give them at times, he is fiercely protective of his family.

And still a fantastic smile!!!

He is still very independent and after graduating from UVU continued living and working in Utah for another couple of years. You may have seen him on Instagram or Twitter. He may be on other platforms too but I’m not so I have no idea 😛 You might even be one who misses his “graveyard shift” stories on Instagram. They were always entertaining and insightful. 🙂

As challenging as it might be for him, I am glad he recently decided to move back home to save some money on rent for a little while. I love having him here and being able to be around him more.

I know life has been a struggle at times but I am so very grateful he is learning to accept himself. Hopefully, he sees all the wonderful things I have always seen in him. I sure do love him.

The work is GRATITUDE, and I want to become a master!!

And as always…..Remember…..It’s ALL good!!

November 16 – I am Grateful for…

Day 16… November 16

Today I am grateful for nature and the beautiful world that we live on.

I don’t have too many words to say today other than noting the immense awe and wonder I feel when I take in the beauty of God’s creations.

I enjoyed a discussion of this talk (Our Earthly Stewardship) given by Bishop Gérald Caussé at the most recent General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

It was a good reminder of the stewardship we have in creation ….. caring for, being mindful of, participating in.

Just know these are simple photographs taken with my phone camera so they do not do justice. But they were moments of beauty that I wanted to remember.

So without further adieu, I will just post some of my favorites to enjoy.

I don’t have too many words to say today other than noting the immense awe and wonder I feel when I take in the beauty of God’s creations.

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The work is GRATITUDE, and I want to become a master!!

And as always…..Remember…..It’s ALL good!!

November 15 – I am Grateful for…

Day 15… November 15

Today I am grateful for my son that chose our family. Well at least he chose our daughter to marry and got stuck with the rest of us in the process! 🙂

Jordan is everything you didn’t know you always wanted in a son-in-law. He is thoughtful, respectful, patient, considerate, kind, …. a Jazz fan….. so many things.

My husband loves him even more because of his love for basketball. He is always up for a game of one on one or Around the World or HORSE… even though we will lose. He finally brings some height to our family!

At 6′ 4″, Jordan is the basketball player my husband always hoped for in his boys. Besides the height, he has some skills too! Our other boys didn’t get the height or the desire to play all that much.

I love how mindful he is of others. Before they got engaged, Jordan called and spoke to my husband on the phone. He asked for Robert’s blessing as they planned to get married. And I don’t know if he asked for any advice, but the advice Robert offered, Jordan listened to.

Then not long after, he called me and spoke directly to me about their plans to get married. He asked for my blessing as well. That was so thoughtful and appreciated.

He is a hard-working ICU nurse and is working towards the goals he has for continuing his education. It seems like he is always working toward improving himself.

I look forward to sharing book recommendations with him and reading the things he recommends.

He is a loving and supportive husband. I love the way he loves Ally. They are so good together it is almost hard to believe how much they love each other.

He is so supportive of Ally and her goals as well. So much so that they are enjoying an adventure in Florida for a couple of years while she works towards a master’s degree.

As a parent, it is so easy to love the people who love your people. That’s why it was easy to love Jordan from the start. And now I am so glad that he is “my people” too!

He puts up with all the crazy things our family puts him through……nerf wars for Christmas morning, individually wrapped bottles of Nesquick, family reunions with extended families (on both sides), multiple photo shoots (Haha!! His favorite!), multiple parties to celebrate the “happy couple”, and “alternative” wedding send-offs, just to name a few.

Not your typical couple!!!

Jordan is everything you didn’t know you always wanted in a son in law. He is thoughtful, respectful, patient, considerate, kind, …. a Jazz fan….. so many things.

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He is a loving and supportive husband. I love the way he loves Ally. They are so good together it is almost hard to believe how much they love each other.

He followed his father-in-law’s advice and “properly” asked Ally to marry him.

He is up for all of it!!

This post might kill him because he never wants to be the center of attention. But I think he (and all of you :)) should know how grateful I am that he chose all of us.

When I got married, someone shared the advice that you don’t just marry a person, you marry a family, and I have found that to be a great blessing in my life.

I wasn’t sure how that would work when our kids started getting married, but as we near their second anniversary, I am so grateful for Jordan and his family as well. He has wonderful parents and siblings and we are so happy to share our lives with them.

I hope all parents are as lucky as we are in the people who have chosen our family. This bonus son of ours is a true gift for us! He is a good man and I love him.

The work is GRATITUDE, and I want to become a master!!

And as always…..Remember…..It’s ALL good!!

November 14 – I am Grateful for…

Day 14… November 14

Today I am grateful for my youngest son Bryce.

Bryce is an amazing young man. He joined our family in some difficult circumstances. He was born 2 years after the death of his older brother whom he was never able to meet in this life.

He was the sweetest baby and a soothing gift after heartache. I feel like he was shortchanged at times with so much placed on him to help heal my heart. He has always been a gentle soul and so very thoughtful.

He is quiet and unassuming. He is generous and extremely kind. He is determined and sets goals for himself. And then he goes to work.

He is currently working in the VIK before and after school program where the elementary kids love “Mr. Bryce” and think he is pretty great. Especially when he plays 7 on 1 soccer with them.

He is also going to college, after taking a year off to work on his plan. His goals include degrees in exercise science and sports medicine.

Bryce is a man of many talents.

He has played soccer since the age of 4 and is very skilled. His one flaw on the soccer pitch may be that he is too willing to sacrifice his body. This unfortunately led to some injuries over the years. But it is because he is always willing to give 110% effort.

Besides soccer, he also played volleyball and did track and field. He is quite skilled in the long jump and triple jump events and did well on the track as well as in the pole vault. Unfortunately, an injured hamstring cut his last season short and made things more challenging for him.

Using those skills and his knowledge he was able to be the Jumps coach for Mesquite High School’s last track and field season.

Outside of the sports arena, he is a very talented singer. He was able to participate in the highest choir, Advanced Vocal, for 3 of his four years in high school.

Bryce has faced more than a few challenges in his life but always met them with strength and determination along with love and kindness. I am so grateful for him and the strong characteristics he has.

He is thoughtful and willing to serve others. He is very good at helping others to feel included. He has been this way, always looking out for others, since he was very young.

He was a watchful older brother to his younger sister and always wanted to be included with his older brothers.

I think that is one reason he has been such a skilled soccer player. When you learn how to play with your brothers who are 7 and 9 years older than you, especially when they don’t make it easy for you, you gain skills fast 🙂

I feel bad that I don’t have more recent pictures of him but he is too busy for those things. When he is not working or at school he enjoys playing soccer, both in real life and online, playing volleyball, and going to the gym, and has done quite a bit of work to achieve his goals there as well.

He is quiet and unassuming. He is generous and extremely kind. He is determined and sets goals for himself. And then he goes to work.

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Bryce has faced more than a few challenges in his life but always met them with strength and determination along with love and kindness. I am so grateful for him and the strong characteristics he has.

While he is currently living at home, he is looking forward to getting a place of his own (with a roommate) and leaving the watchful eye of his parents. He works hard to be independent and was even able to move up to Utah for a while last year before coming home to handle some health challenges.

I am so very grateful for the example he is to me of love and kindness and accepting others where they are. He is an amazing friend and willing to serve, always thinking of others.

I hope he can see and know how very loved he is by his friends and family. I hope he can see what a gift he is and what an example of good he is for so many.

Today he is under the weather and so I wish I could do more to help him feel better. But he is the one who has helped me heal these past 19 years. I love him dearly!

The work is GRATITUDE, and I want to become a master!!

And as always…..Remember…..It’s ALL good!!