All right, all right. Feeny talks with friends.
Episode 159 what's up?
Christina. Hi.
How are you?
Thank you for having me.
It's fun to be here in your classroom.
I know you beat me to it.
We're in a very special place with a special person.
We're here at Wolcott School.
What's Wolcott School mean to you?
I went to walk at school.
Should I say how many years ago?
Let's see.
I graduated high school. 91.
So we're going back 40 something years.
Nice.
Yeah. Wolcott school, 71 Wolcott Road.
I'm in my 13th year here.
13th year teaching at Wolcott School.
Oh, really?
It's flying by. My daughters went here.
It was an amazing time to teach and have my kids at the same school.
It was a dream come true. So.
Yep. We're in room 115. I teach third grade.
My name is Eric Feeney, founder and president of Friends of Feeny.
I use this podcast,
Feeny talks with friends, and I talk to a wonderful people
in the community that are doing great things.
And you have so much stuff going on.
You're a keynote singer, workshop facilitator,
author, CEO, music music educator, creator,
massage therapists, soulful songstress, and songs for the soul.
Yes. My goodness.
Where do you want to start?
First off, I want to start.
Gee, where do I want to start?
Yeah.
So, I mean, I've always been called to help people.
My mom came to this country when she was 25 from Sweden, and,
she was an umpire for a Swedish family in Hartford.
And most of my cousins in Sweden are work in daycares, or so
I think it's kind of in my genes to care for people.
It started out caring for people through singing.
I found I loved
how people felt when I sang songs that made them cry or made them feel
joyful, and I realized how healing it was,
just to be on a stage and sing to people.
And then, you know, after about 15 years
of professionally singing, I wanted to put down some roots.
And that's when I discovered massage therapy, because it was such a perfect,
compliment to my performing career because it was flexible.
And one thing I noticed is no matter how
wealthy someone was, or everyone kind of
fell back to old patterns of stress, I've had clients that came to me
every week, sometimes a couple times a week, and just never
were able to sustain that relaxed state.
And I realized that people need tools on a daily basis
to help them find their center, and so that they don't get caught
in the chaos of the world, because we need to be present
for each other or for ourselves.
And it's it's challenging these days, for sure.
That's great.
That's a wonderful background story.
Thank you for sharing that.
What, what do you been up to now recently, like?
Yeah.
So, a dear friend of mine, David Friedman, is,
an incredibly successful, accomplished composer.
He conducted a lot of the Disney movies.
He's he's incredible.
He's a platinum songwriter, and he's just author.
Yes. And author of The Thought Exchange, something that he teaches and transforms
lives through.
So he's not just an incredible composer.
He's also a teacher and a healer.
And, being able to work with him and,
create programs for children and families is truly,
an incredible opportunity and a great gift for both of us. So.
So he's like a mentor, role model.
Yeah, well, it's interesting. So he was a mentor.
I can back up a little bit.
I really have a really cool, meeting of David Friedman story.
So I was, in my 30s, living in Manhattan, pursuing, you know, the Broadway dream.
And, until I heard the song, my roommate at the time played me.
This song was called Listen in My Heart, sung by the late Nancy Lamotte.
And it stopped me in my tracks.
It was like it just spoke to me.
I was like, oh my gosh, this song is amazing.
And it was a song of David Friedman's.
So I was in maybe in the city for about a year at that time,
and I pivoted my, my passion was to meet David Friedman.
I wanted to meet this composer.
I wanted to sing his music.
I was just loving it. And,
he was in the cabaret scene at that time.
And, I remember my music director at the time said, oh,
you want to meet David Friedman? No way.
He's too busy.
He's on Broadway.
And I didn't give up on that dream.
And, I did a one woman show in Manhattan at Don't Tell Mama that year.
And Listen to My Heart was my opening song.
And after that happened, I ran out of money
and did what a lot of people have to do.
And I had to move back to Connecticut because I was previous.
Before that, I was a massage therapist in Connecticut and,
just focus on my massage career because I just, I ran out of money
and I didn't give up the hope in the dream that I'd meet him.
And about a year later, my mom was on the phone with me and I was depressed.
And she said, gee, you know, you need to find a spiritual community.
You're, you know, you stop singing.
And I said, okay, so I found out a Unitarian church
was in Norwalk, Connecticut, which is about 15 minutes from my house.
And I walked up the stairs.
I sit in the back row and who's sitting four seats in front of me?
David Friedman.
Come on, I kid you not. Wow.
And if there's a
message today that I want to give people is you have no idea
if you just let go and trust the unfoldment of your life,
that it works out.
But the hard part is trusting
and having to deal with what comes up in that trust.
You know, we all want to control, right?
We're all in fear and we think that our dream is there.
But you know, we don't know.
And that's something that I learned, you know, trust the unfoldment of your life.
And it will guide you not only to your highest dream, but also to your healing.
Because life isn't just rainbows.
And you know, lollipops.
Life can be hard,
but that is a part of life, and that is the unfolding of life,
and that is part of who we are in this life experience.
And I think if we deny that and we push that down, that leads to mental health,
that leads to stress when we we try to resist what's unfolding.
Well, so you saw them in church and now you are doing songs for the soul.
Yeah.
So David and I, we collaborated on a YouTube
series called Christina's Cottage, which is for children and families.
So we have, gosh, I think we have maybe 27 music videos.
It's kind of like the new version of Mr.
Rogers Got a woman.
I want to come as you are. Yes.
That's right, that's right.
And so I wanted to create something, a safe place for kids and families to
to do something together.
Because that's the thing I think nowadays there's so much isolation, not only,
you know, in communities, but among families because it's just busy.
And I wanted to create a program that they could do together.
Know, you know, kids can sit in front of the screen and the parent
and do exercises to help regulate their emotions together as a family.
And that was what was important to me.
So, so from that, you know, David and I, I love David's music.
My first album, I came out in 22,016 was all of David's music.
It's called the, Dream Bigger and his music is just it's not just music.
It's it's a curriculum for healing and for living in a way
that's more in alignment with who we are, our authentic selves.
And so I wanted to create a musical kind of, I don't want to say course,
but a journey, through an online platform.
So, yeah, we're launching, early, early March, and we're really excited about it.
It's, for parents and caregivers of children,
and it's really to help support them in helping them find their center.
We all have inner resources we need to navigate in our daily lives, to thrive.
But a lot of people disconnected from that.
And I want to bring them back to that.
And that's what this course does.
I yeah, I'm excited. We'll show the video.
But before the video, back to work at school.
So, we did a little tour.
What'd you think we did?
Because I got some pictures.
It's changed a lot, and yet it hasn't changed.
You know, like the main structures are all this.
The same girl, which is now our Esol room. Yes.
Yeah, a lot of the. But, you know, it's.
I love the murals on the wall.
I love the positivity.
The halls got smaller, but I think I just got bigger. Yep.
Just fun.
And it's. Yeah, a lot. A lot is the same.
It's fun.
It's been, it's been a joy, too.
I got some surprises and some games. Oh, gosh.
But this is the first surprise. I got a picture of you. Yearbook.
Oh my goodness.
Yeah, that's Connor Maria Connors.
Yeah. Let's see. Won't go into words.
Feels like music.
Lacks.
So you play lacrosse? Yeah.
There's a lot of other
little. Yeah.
And of course that's what you do.
Talked in code.
Yes. Talk to go. Well should we post that.
Oh yeah.
Go ahead to wear the see a yearbook photo. Yes.
That's my high school yearbook. Yeah.
But Richard's maybe.
Yes, yes she is in that we are.
We graduated together. Good friend.
Yes. Any inspirations from Wolcott School that led you down your path?
That's where it's all started.
Miss Betty, in that music room you just showed on the screen?
I sang in music class, and a dear friend of mine
that I just recently reconnected with that went to walk it with me.
He was mentioning a song that we
she played a lot, which was, California Dreamin.
We sang a lot.
We did a rainbow connection, and she loved Jim Croce.
So we did a lot of Jim Croce songs and, yeah, I mean, she
she noticed that I not only love to sing, but I was good at it
and called my parents up and set them down and said, Christina
is really good at this, and you should support it and nurture that talent.
And they did. They listened.
And I think when I went to Sedgwick's
seventh, seventh grade, it was actually something at that time, I started
the hard school music, and I did private voice lessons from seventh grade.
All the way through high school and went to hard school for college.
Man, it
all started here and it started and ended.
And we're here.
We're back in the West Hartford school systems.
All right.
We're going to play this wonderful songs for the Soul by David Freeman.
So it's like directed towards
caregiving caregivers and parents.
A ten week
musical journey to help you find your center
not through more information, but through music speaks directly to your heart.
Your transformational mentor, Christina Connors,
David Freeman, multi-platinum songwriter, Broadway
and Disney.
Cool.
David Freeman is going to come by monthly.
Christina will be there weekly.
Everyone wins and take care of you.
Oh, there's a waitlist and starts February 26th.
Next month, people sign up at Christina connors.com.
Yeah, I know it's going to start in March.
Okay, March.
But get it in by February.
I know, that's cool.
It's really smooth.
So, yeah, you noticed, a lot of kids
you mentioned are overstimulated, disconnected.
Mental health is a huge issue, you know,
how does how can music heal a nature that nurture that?
Well, I think that once again, because our world is so,
so much information and so much information
overload and stress in the devices, and everyone's just.
And we were just talking about it in the hallway.
You know, I had my first boyfriend in sixth grade, and I have friends
who've got kids who graduated high school and never had a boyfriend.
It's like, how was that happening?
You know, it's like they're just in their own in their own worlds.
And I guess it's a different time.
But I what music does, it really helps us get out of our head
and drops us into our heart.
David's songs are really timeless.
They're unique.
They contain messages that are healing
in a way it how they help us see ourselves in the world
and in a way that's less stressful and more loving and more healing.
Like, for instance, the first week is his song Trust the Wind.
And what Trust Wind is really about is surrender.
Letting go of control and trusting invisible support
and trusting that we are being guided if we pay attention.
Right.
And, the next, the next week will be the song The Gift of Trouble,
which is one of my favorites of David, and it's really hard sometimes to swallow.
However, I do believe our adversity helps us grow
and to learn if we're willing to look at it from that perspective.
And, yeah, seeing challenges
as teachers and discovering hidden strengths.
And then the third week is help is on the way about recognizing
you're not alone and learning to receive support.
And something I tap into quite often in the ten week journey.
By the way, it is self-paced.
I decided that
it would be self-paced because, you know, everyone's busy
and they got things going on and I didn't want someone to be discouraged
and hopping on board on this incredible process because they don't have time.
You do it whenever you want.
And so once a week we do a different song. And,
each day of that week on audio, I, record a two minute
reflection on that theme of the song throughout the week.
And I do have worksheets for the deeper dive.
If a if a parent or caregiver chooses to dive deep, you know,
because some of these songs might bring up stuff
and some people just might not want to go there, and that's totally fine.
Maybe you'll take the course,
you know, the journey a few times and it's it's going to be evergreen model.
So it's I'm not launching it. It's just going to be available.
So you can sign, you know, you know, you can take on this journey
the ten week journey and finish it in a year.
I don't care as long as you take the journey. That's great.
And so I thought that was a really, really important thing.
And, you know, this work really is about reconnecting parents
and caregivers to their inner resources so they can feel safe within themselves,
connect to themselves and unconditional love themselves.
They can break unhealthy generational patterns that we've all taken on, right?
Subconsciously.
And that's another beautiful thing about David's music is, you know, will reflect.
We know during the week, I'll say so, you know,
how did your parents show you how they received or did they not?
You know, how you know.
And so we really because when we're kids, we learn,
you know, we learn through our parents and caregivers modeling to us.
And we take on those patterns, not even realizing we are.
And because of that, just what's so great about this music, it kind of like
it just makes you think, you know, you could be dry, you could be waiting
in the line to pick up your kids, and it's a two minute reflection.
Play it and just kind of sit there and reflect a little bit
is amazing things that will resurface.
And the great thing about it is we don't have to fix.
It's just amazing how when it's just bringing it
to the light of consciousness, awareness can actually help.
Just release it.
It's just bringing it out.
Oh my gosh, my parents didn't do that or whatever I did.
Just from that realization alone.
It's incredible.
That will transform. It's incredible.
And anything from our past is as long as we accept it, I think problem.
The problem with a lot of us, we've had hard
times is we're not able to get through, is because we never really accepted it.
Once we accept
what happened, that's when we can release it.
We can't we can't let go of anything that we're not accepting.
So that's so also important in this program.
And that's how we transform, you know, and loving ourselves through it.
It's not about it's not about feeling shame or whatever.
It's about just loving ourselves, accepting our humanity.
Where humans, you know, we have hard days.
One of my favorite, parent teachers is, Doctor Becky Kennedy.
She wrote a book called Good Inside
that I recommend all parents to read and caregivers.
She's amazing.
And she talks about when you have a moment when there's a rupture, right?
When there's a rupture, you know, you're cooking your dinner
and the kid does something and you, you flip your lid, right?
And everyone's going to flip their lid.
We all flip a little bit.
That's okay. We all flipper lid. We're human.
We're good people.
We just flip our lid and then her, her next thing is just then just go repair,
go into the room and say, hey, I am so sorry.
I just want you to know that was not your fault.
It's never your fault.
Because if we don't repair it with our child
or the children in her care, or a friend or a partner,
especially children, they live in that and that doesn't get repaired.
And then they take it and they internalize it. I'm bad.
And then they grow up thinking they're not enough.
Hence, here we are as adults, 98% of us.
None of us think we're enough.
And it's from that lack of repair.
And I think that's another big thing for me in this course is just to just
create a community.
So it'll be a community like my dream would be
literally the parents and caregivers of the town of West Hartford.
I will literally have a community for them
to talk through stuff, you know, connect with one another.
And it's like, I feel we need to just
let each other off the hook, because when you let someone else off the hook,
guess what? You let yourself off the hook.
If you think that you know by, you know, saying,
you know, you did this or whatever, that's going to bring you peace,
maybe for that second.
But ultimately, you know, there's this one spiritual teacher I love.
He said, if you didn't, whoever you damn damn,
whatever you damn, damn zip back.
And I love that.
Because really, we're all connected
and, you know, and I love the work you do with Fenian friends.
I mean, you help people who are going through tragedy, who had tragedy.
I personally feel we're
under tragedy all the time with the mental health crisis
that our youth and people are facing, and this is why I'm doing what I'm doing.
And David is so beyond excited to lend his songs to this,
because they're transformed, then they're transformational.
They truly are.
I yeah, you meant mental health and you shared some stats in Connecticut
54,000 youth experience major depression this past year.
Yeah, it's 599,000
adults are struggling with mental illness and the youth are multiply Health's
mental health diagnosis increased to 24% in just four years.
Yeah.
So yeah, mental health is, definitely coming to the surface.
And you're seeing it more and more.
And that's why I feel
that parents and caregivers do not have enough resources and support.
And that's why this program, in this course,
this journey is important to me because this is something I can do.
And, and it's not requiring me
to massage anyone, you know?
And I'm just I'm just
so honored to have created this course with David,
because I really think it's a game changer.
I think it's not only going to help people reconnect with their own inner
selves, their own heart, their own
piece.
Yeah, but life is too busy.
They don't have time for it. We have to make the time.
There's this amazing quote.
I have it here somewhere and it's
it says children are not a distraction from more important work.
They are the most important work.
C.S. Lewis and I'm like that is amazing.
Yeah. You know, and I love doing the little metaphor.
So I want you to take out the, 1972 silver
dollar out of your pocket.
Oh. You don't have one.
Oh. You don't.
Okay, so I guess we can give what we don't have.
And that includes care, unconditional love, kindness,
anything we can't give from an empty cup, we don't have it.
And so my job and my passion is to fill the cup of the caregivers and teachers.
So that they have enough to pour out the unconditional love.
So they work through all of these songs.
I promise they will not be the same people. I promise.
I love it,
I know you said music cuts through the noise and brings us back to ourselves.
Yeah, I like that. Songs for the soul.
Yeah, and I do in weeks.
Yeah, it's ten weeks because my daughter just did Driver's Ed.
I had to do driver's ed every Wednesday night.
Yeah, 6:00 on the dot.
Did you do triple AA or what did you do?
Somewhere in Waterbury, I don't know. Okay.
But she gets it. It's on your own.
Do the classes as you can.
So they have to.
Nowadays, with people being so busy, I think you hit it on the head with,
do it on your own pace.
I like that, and it's kind of funny.
So my husband and I, we just finished watching Land Man to watch it.
I started it, so it's.
And it's so funny because when a series just starts, they drop it
once a week in my husband and I'm like, we have to wait a whole week.
When I was a kid, Fridays and went the Muppets,
The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island every Friday wasn't Saturday,
it wasn't Tuesday, was it Monday? It was every Friday.
You missed it.
And it was funny.
We're so spoiled, right?
I mean, we are so spoiled.
And one of the things that that I think is a powerful tool is the heart.
We do it in the soul for for us, we we really utilize the power of the heart.
And I'm going to I'm going to say something here.
So the heart creates an electric electromagnetic field
that's actually 60 to 100 times stronger than the brain's research from the heart.
Math Institute has shown this when we teach children or adults heart magic,
which we called heart magic and gratitude practices and heart focused breathing.
So we basically place our hand on our heart and we breathe.
We're tapping
into the most powerful electromagnetic force in the body.
And this is why music is music and heart centered work are so transformational.
They bypass the analytical analytical mind and activate this incredible
and energetic resource that can shift
not only our own state, but potentially the energy of those around us.
So let's do one right now.
All right.
I would put your hands on the floor
and you're going to put your hands in your heart.
And what I know as a massage therapist is where attention goes, energy flows.
So when we place our hands on a body part,
that's subconsciously where our attention goes, okay.
Got it. Another synapse are you going to take.
We're going to take just a couple calm breaths in, ideally through your nose.
And breathe out.
And you're going to put your attention to your heart center.
And from that place I want you to think of something or someone
that you're grateful for, or someone or something you love
so much that when you think of them, you're like, heart explodes.
See, I think of buddy or a family dog.
As soon as I think of buddy, my heart explodes.
So I go right there.
It's wanting to think of something or someone you're thankful for.
And just relish in that feeling.
So you really focus on the feeling.
And then bring your attention back to your heart center.
You can feel the beating of your heart.
All right.
And that is a hard focus.
Breathing exercise is breathing in.
What happens here? Who I was thinking about. Yes,
I know
I have twin girls that was going through all the pictures today and I saw baby
a baby video and, man brought me back to tears almost.
And that's and it's amazing.
You know, Shauna Shapiro, she is an incredible mindfulness
teacher and scientist, and she does a huge TEDx talk in it.
And she says, what we practice grows and what happens,
there's a thing called neuroplasticity with the brain.
Right.
And so let's say you created trauma or your conscious set point is,
if you do that heart breathing exercise several times a day,
you actually change the the neural structure of your brain
and create new neural pathways to give you a little higher of a set point.
And that's something what's so powerful about those heart focused
breathing exercise.
And that's why your heart and breathing think capital.
Yeah.
Just think of something thankful for someone's like,
you should look in the mirror
and say good things to yourself every morning to that too.
If you can exercise, exercise,
I don't know.
One and one thing I always suggest to people every day,
do something for 15 minutes that brings you joy.
Something like, for me, I love to sing, as you know, and I love music.
So I'll sit in my car when I'm driving somewhere and I'll listen to music.
That's my 15 minutes. Like something or a podcast.
It uplifts me or something that gets me into that state
is very important for all of us to fill in up our cup.
Yeah. You gotta, you know,
you guys need a pick me up.
You should for 15 minutes.
Listen to the Feeny talks with friends.
There you go.
Guest I highly suggest it's really good for your heart.
Yeah, like and subscribe on YouTube and Spotify.
That's right. There you go.
No. You're doing great work.
You got a wonderful testimonial from Angela.
Santa mero. Santa Myra. Yep.
She created Daniel Tiger and Blue's Clues.
Steve from Blue's Clues.
That's what people used to call me Steve for Blues Clues.
I don't there, but no.
So the wonderful, testimonial. You.
She ends it, right?
I trust her completely.
I love that's a good ending.
But, authentic voice in a world full of noise.
What she offers doesn't come from script or trend.
It comes from deep.
Well, passion, presents and lived integrity.
If you feel it the moment she speaks. Yeah, you.
I just felt that a minute ago.
Her voice alone is grounding, nurturing in a real way.
It makes you instantly feels like you're being held.
Oh, that's cute. In my work,
voices are warm up and I'm reading to myself.
That's exactly it. This is good.
This is good. Thanks.
Yeah.
No, I mean, it's, It's important to do this work we're doing right now.
This musical journey to me is a passion of mine
to help as many people as possible.
Because I think, in a world right now, it's so divided and so chaotic,
I think people need to tap back into that inner resource within themselves.
And, a lot of people don't know how to do it.
And then.
Oh, we mentioned this last time.
Yeah. I'll mention it again. Yes.
Christine and the love bugs.
We can be kind, I love it. Yes.
David Friedman, it's based upon David Friedman song.
We can be kind and, Yeah.
I mean, that's, a message we want to scream on the rooftops is just.
We can be kind, you know?
And it starts with being kind to ourselves.
Right?
Take this ten week self-paced journey and be kind.
Art can be kind to yourself.
So that way, I mean, because, you know, we can't give what we don't have.
And, you know, when we take care of ourselves, everyone wins. And
it's not it's not really necess.
It's it's not.
We have to do it.
It's it's necessary now we have to
and, and it's fun and it's, you know,
we created an amazing community because I don't have to do it alone.
And I always I want to encourage book clubs.
I have a good friend of mine who Scott little kids.
And she's in a book club.
Okay.
Well, what if for ten weeks
and you didn't do the book club and you did this together?
That's a good one. Yeah.
You know, or all of the teachers and parents of walk at school, you know,
they do it together.
You know, I think creating a community through this practice into this
work is powerful unity and community.
You know, it is I mean, the end of the day, something tragic happens.
You know,
it's the community and those who love you and who are going to be there for you.
Yeah.
And so we have to reconnect each other and we need to reconnect to ourselves
so that we can model how to reconnect to ourselves.
Right.
If we're we're constantly looking outside ourselves, our child is going to think
that it's normal, that we they look outside themselves. Right?
We do have an inner compass.
We've a lot of people have lost it.
And, that inner compass will help you trust the wind and learn
to help you understand, you know, the gift of trouble within your own life.
So you don't become victim of it, but rather learn from it and grow from it,
and let life teach us how to be better humans
and better friends and a better community coming together.
That's what we need.
And that's what this course is about.
This is what is with friends for.
Yeah, absolutely.
Purchase the soul for the songs, for the soul ten week program.
Learn as you want.
Worked with David Freeman, I love it.
Anything else you want to share?
It's at Christina connors.com. Yep.
So, yeah, you can just get on the waitlist right now at Christina connors.com,
and we'll have you on that way.
Listen, soon as it's released and as soon as it's available, we'll
email you and you'll get the early bird rate and, yeah, grab,
grab your friends, grab anyone you know, and let's, let's do this together.
It's takes a village and I'm ready.
We're ready. And we're excited.
We're excited to share these songs and help people drop into their hearts.
And, during the process of making this soul for the soul,
were there any challenges?
Was there a moment where you learned something about yourself or,
or learned something new about David or.
Well, one thing I know for sure is it's a lot of work.
We're talking
hours and hours and hours of work and creating this program,
you know, and having to come up with the different reflections.
I had to reflect on my own.
You know, I think of,
you know, we lost my brother six years ago.
He had an epileptic seizure and passed away.
He was 47.
And one gift
from his passing is, I have so much grace and compassion for those who are going
through tragedy and hardship, because I know what it's like
to get to go pretty low and to have a really hard time.
So now I really can relate.
It inspired me to become the voice of the Healing Chickadee, Terry's nonprofit.
So Terry has, my friend Terry Murphy has a nonprofit called
The Healing Chickadee, in which I lend my voice
as the bird to help, children and families through grief.
I'm glad you mentioned that. I wanted to reach out to her.
She said that if we have families that we need help
she would send a chickadee to.
And we just helped a couple families.
So I got to follow up with that is an incredible program.
We had a father and son,
got into a car accident together.
We help the mom.
We have a family, three different families in a three family house
at a house fire there.
All three of them are displaced.
We helped all three families. It's amazing.
So, yeah, you're doing amazing work, you know, and I this is this is.
And the work that you're doing through Friends of Feeney
is something that I feel that's a calling.
This songs for the soul is a calling.
And I believe, you know, there's a definition that I.
That I love for life purpose is finding that intersection
where what the world needs and what you love to do and what you're good at.
Merge.
And so I love to sing and I love to help people
and to be able to create this journey,
a safe space and a community to help people find their center and learn
to navigate life's challenges with grace and responsiveness rather than reactivity.
That's my purpose.
I like it and, you know, purpose.
Thank you, thank you. Yeah. I mean, it's, powerful.
Thank you. I'm. I'm excited. I feel very aligned.
This is the most I've aligned.
I've felt in a pro in a program or a project in a long time.
So it's a good feeling.
Yeah, it's a really good feeling.
What about, any.
Are you singing anywhere? You singing?
Yeah, I'm singing downstairs on my on my studio
creating this, this journey.
Yeah. Right now when we're in the recording stage.
Not right now.
I'm focused on this program, and I'm focused in the recording studio
we are putting together, which I'm really excited about.
This is another project we're doing, we're creating, posters
for pediatric offices with QR codes of our songs and the characters.
So, because, you know, it's scary for a child
or even a parent to be sitting there waiting in a pediatric office,
whether it's a physical or if they're sick.
And when they click on a QR code, it's
one of the characters, buddy, which is based on our family dog.
He talks and sings a little song about.
Yes, that's funny about, the instruments the doctors are going to use
to kind of ease their minds a little bit, and then we're going to be
doing a song called, happy. And.
Oh, so there's going to be a lot of fun QR codes to help support the kid in the in
the parent
need to calm down while they're waiting in the
in the waiting room, which we're really psyched about.
That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. No, it's it's fun.
It's a lot of fun. To the best of luck.
And if there's anything I can do, I can reach out to a pediatric.
I could try to connect you with some West Hartford schools.
Great. Yeah, let's try to get it.
Let's try to onboard as many parents and caregivers we can for this program.
How fun would it be for, you know, to get grants and funding
so that actually, for instance, someone grants all of the parents
and teachers of Wolcott Elementary School to take this program for free.
You know, that would be amazing.
So because we have a nonprofit, we have obviously the healing charity
to nonprofit we can go through or friends of Feeney.
Let's try to make this happen.
And let's, let's get parents and caregivers
this resource because it's it's it's needed.
Yeah. No, I think it's going to be great.
Thank you. So much. Sign us up.
Sign me up. I'm going to sing.
We sang last podcast, remember?
So, Christina, you guys don't remember.
Go back and check out 154 with the Soulful Forest.
It was Teri. Tara.
Christina. Yes.
154 it was at Sally and Bob's.
We talked about Walk It. Minute three.
We talked about Christina Cottage.
Christina's cottage at nine.
How's that going?
Christina's cottage. It's going.
I watched a couple today. Yeah.
I love your intro on how you explain what it is.
You know, you got, like, over 500 subscribers, which is great.
You're posting a lot.
How's that going?
It's going good.
So, you know, we're just it's, it's a lot of work.
So we we have an amazing artist.
So how the process goes as we go in the studio.
Well, no, actually, first I decide on what I want the song to be about.
Then I give it to David.
David writes the song, and then David and I get into the studio.
I write the script, a little behind the scenes.
I am the voice of every character.
I am the voice of every bug, including buddy.
Because buddy started talking now
by the way, in the poster for the, pediatric offices.
But he's now going to be talking, is it like a dog or dog?
Dog voice. What do we got? Let me hear you, buddy.
You'll hear.
Well, that's a thing.
So I'll say I'll like, talk.
And then he tweaks it. Oh, yeah.
Just the mix.
Oh, you mean just the volume? Yeah. Oh, interesting.
Yeah.
So he he brings the
he brings the frequency up so that it sounds a little bit more playful.
It's amazing.
It's it's incredible being in the, in the studio.
Yeah.
So now we'll actually go in the studio in a couple weeks to record the
couple of videos for the poster for the pediatric office of the,
do you have pediatric offices already
waiting for your posters like you talked with them already?
I have two neighbors on each side of me
that are pediatric nurses, and I've gave them kind of like a mock,
idea of it, and they're just beyond blown away.
Oh, nice. Yeah. It's because, you know, I mean,
ideally, we don't want kids to be focused on the screen, right?
All the time.
But like my friend Angela Santa Maria, you know, Blue's Clues and Daniel Tiger,
I mean, she's got some amazing programs that are educational and
and as long as it's healthy, good content and it's not all day,
I think it can be amazing.
She read a book. Gift.
Yeah.
Angela has a book called Life Clues,
and she also wrote a book called Radical Kindness, which I really love
with a with a foreword by, Deepak Chopra.
She's amazing.
She's an amazing human.
Confirm or deny Blue's Clues.
Steve was asked to leave
because he started balding and didn't connect with the kids anymore.
Did you hear the story?
Well, let me tell you something.
Knowing Angela, I can tell you 100,000%.
That's not the case, okay?
There's no way that's the case.
So I'm going to debunk that already.
You're going to debunk it. All right, all right.
How about songs?
We can be kind.
So do you want me to sing a little bit?
Save the singing for later?
Okay.
How about your song?
You're what? It was the first song that you sang.
Do we talk about this or any first song?
Last song in the program?
No. Like you personally. What's your first song?
Your most recent song, your best song and your worst song to fun.
My first last best, worst.
Shall I say my flagship song is that.
Is that.
Yeah.
Flagship I would say is listen to My Heart, David song.
And that's what led me to him.
Oh, that's right.
Yeah. He wrote it first.
Yeah, yeah, he wrote it and I heard it and was obsessed.
And that's actually it's amazing when I think about it.
That song is probably the reason why I'm sitting here right now
and doing what I'm doing.
I would have never met David if I didn't hear that song.
So once again, that trusting or trusting
the flow of our life, it's incredible.
I mean, I wonder where you were when you heard it.
Oh, yeah, I was in my apartment in Brooklyn.
Listen to my heart.
Yeah.
Was it on the radio, TV, movies?
Gosh, we're going back. What?
How many years?
20, 20 something years ago.
So was probably a CD.
At that time.
Oh, yeah, it was probably a CD.
And, I never went back.
That was it. It's amazing.
Like that pivoted my my focus on where I wanted to be.
And I didn't care about Broadway anymore. I didn't care about anything.
I just wanted to meet this composer
and sing music that opens people's hearts and heals
love.
And, Yeah.
So, I mean,
I would say almost all my favorite songs are David Friedman's,
there's two songs in the program that are not on my album, so they can hear
all the songs that are on the program on my album Dream Bigger.
Remember you wanted to sing?
Yes. You ready to sing? Oh, yeah.
I said there's a surprise. Oh, boy.
Ready for your surprise? You want to go get the door?
Oh, gosh. Who's here? Lord have mercy.
Could be at the door.
Gosh, is it like an old teacher or something?
Maybe.
You zoom in in.
All right.
I'll see.
Oh, my God, you are not
somebody I know this year.
You did not, I did you tar and all.
Oh, look at that.
Oh my God, how close are you to?
I lost
oh, I know, like, so I can get back.
Well, you are all good.
I000, you get out
Prize.
That's a prize.
Do you do know that they broke?
They they nest up your room, they post about.
Oh, now you must rest.
They divide it into two pieces.
My room, my closet.
That was a little closet.
Oh. I'll see, like a closet. Oh, my.
Oh my God, I can't believe this is.
Irving is here.
So glad to see you.
Well, we've been in touch.
Yeah, I know we're Facebook friends, so on Facebook.
Wow. Yeah.
Okay.
So, have you been.
I'd p
we will put you right here.
You've been here.
This is amazing.
You started it all I did.
You did? Well, I started my teaching career. Well,
let's talk more on the mic now.
Oh, sorry.
Thank you.
My oh my gosh.
Yeah.
This is amazing.
So did you know this?
Yeah.
Oh, my old, carefully guarded secret, surprise.
Right. And this work though.
Okay.
So you're you live in Harvard, so I go all the time, I don't.
Okay. Right down the street. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
You know, I went to church there, right?
I know you are, Lucy. Oh. I'm here.
Yes, I going to you.
Oh, my. Oh, sorry.
Oh my gosh.
So where are you living now?
I live in Stamford, Connecticut.
Oh. Oh, you're a long way from here.
I am a long way from home.
Oh, nice I am.
Wow. Oh, my God, this is zero. Very.
You can call me Kathy now.
I can't, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
That's how it is.
That's how I wasn't my kids friends. You know me.
You're still Mrs.
Rovelli. You are Mrs. Rovelli.
How about the picture?
Oh, yeah. We got.
I've got to get some pictures to know I'm beautiful.
I love it.
Reunited you. We just.
Oh, yeah. You guys, are you guys going?
Because I was going to go for it.
So we were talking about the songs that you'd always play on your guitar.
And, I brought my guitar.
Oh, my God, one of the songs. Oh, God.
So we remember California Dreamin. Okay.
And remember Rainbow Connection.
You were a big Jim Croce fan, right? Didn't you talk a lot?
I'll. I'm in a bottle.
Last year, I oh, I got to be.
That's actually a depressing song.
Been listening to that.
I was like, that's actually time in a bottle.
Is like, makes me cry.
Yeah, right.
Right, right.
Oh, my gosh, that is.
So I brought leaving on a song. Leaving.
That was a big one too.
Living on a jet plane. Yeah. Peter, Paul and Mary.
Oh my.
Jim John Denver actually wrote the, they made they made it the hit.
They really covered his hits.
I mean, yeah, I've heard him sing it, but I always thought it was Peter, Paul,
Mary. That's.
Yeah, yeah, they made it famous.
Oh, my God, I sing. Did not know that.
John Denver.
John Denver. Yeah, yeah. He wrote it at an airport.
Apparently he was cats between flights.
Oh, and he was.
Apparently the song was about, him
traveling because he was, you know, on the road all the time.
Oh, my gosh. Forming and just missing home.
I thought, oh my God, I'm so, so Mrs..
We're very sorry.
I got to call you this.
I can't, I can't, I can't sorry.
You're forgiven.
So you were the person who had told my parents that I could sing.
Yes, I remember that.
And you were like a fourth grade or something.
But you do realize you you you were the reason why I'm sitting here right now.
Oh, and you're also the reason why I didn't go skiing
every Wednesday in through middle school and high school.
Because I had private voice lessons.
Because you told my mom to give me private voice lessons, right?
So, I mean, you did a recital, I remember, I did, you invited me to.
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Oh, gosh.
With that hard school.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was because of you.
Oh, no.
I'm dead, you know, and not to be it what was because of you.
And it was also because of my parents.
That they listened.
Yeah. Yeah.
You had support.
I had and I think that from home I can only imagine I mean I'm
lucky my whole life since I was little, little I always knew what I wanted to do.
I always had a passion and love for singing.
So there was always a place that I returned to for my joy.
And not everyone has that button.
Yeah, yeah. Really?
You remember telling my parents, I remember that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And just a little, little one, you know, fourth grade.
All right.
Well, let me say
so I they used to call me something and I, they used to call me Peabody.
That was like my little nickname when I was an elephant.
Because I was tiny. You were. You were little.
I would, like, feel like one half of a seat.
I was I don't know what happened.
I got plenty of me now, but, I mean, but I was tiny, Oh, my, I love this.
Feeny talks with friends. I'm a teacher.
I always mentioned my favorite teacher was Mrs. Geral.
I ask every podcast guest their favorite teacher.
We finally brought
our podcast together with their favorite teacher on the same podcast.
So this is a remarkable podcast.
159 we're really excited.
Feeny talks with friends.
West Hartford walk it school teacher, Mrs.
Revathi.
Yeah, and your room was right here.
That's right.
We took a picture in front of it.
Well, we'll take a tour later.
So it's not the music room anymore.
It's, Oh, thank heavens it was awful.
No windows, real windows.
I used to have dizzy spells in there.
Let's just off.
You remember those transparent things that you used?
Yeah, yeah.
Overhead projector. Yeah.
So it was like the projector, the lyrics that I would pop up on that thing
and used it.
Yeah. On the screen. Right.
Oh my gosh. Yeah.
Yeah. Then.
So I was here for 19 years. You're 19 years.
And then I moved over to Whiting Lane.
Oh you did.
And my last 14 years. Was it Whiting Lane?
Oh, I didn't know that.
And then I retired.
Oh. So, 33 total.
3737. Oh, mathletes.
I forgot about Northfield.
Got three years, and Whitman and Elmwood was one year.
Oh, wow. Right.
I had a child, and, well,
they put me in two schools when I came back.
That was not very nice of them.
But then I went back to Walker so that that's what happened.
Yeah. Very nice. Yeah.
37 years.
I'm on 22 right now.
Right. Well, yeah. Did you enjoy it?
Yeah.
Yeah, for the most part.
Did you play guitar all the time too.
Did you do anything else or.
Well, I was an organ major in college.
I did my senior recital on the organ,
play piano all the way through, sort of taught myself guitar.
And, don't play a whole lot now, but,
I take voice lessons myself.
I've been doing that just for fun and singing two choirs.
I have a choir rehearsal a little later tonight.
Right down the road at Temple Sinai.
Yeah.
I sing with the West Hartford Women's Chorale, and I sing in my church choir,
which is, Grace Episcopal Church in Hartford.
Yeah. So.
So that's what I do.
And I'm a director of a food pantry at the church.
Oh. That's nice.
So that keeps me out of trouble.
Staying busy. That's the best thing to do.
Will be there tomorrow morning
setting up bright and early, and then the people come on Thursday.
Yeah, we sometimes serve over 300 families a week.
It's going to be cold. This is going to be.
Yeah, we might not.
We haven't been getting as many in January just because I think the weather's
a little colder.
But it was 361 time not too long ago. Wow.
Because the Snap benefits were being cut I remember.
And people were in a panic.
And so coming over for food and
so Thanksgiving we had about 360.
We gave away turkeys and chickens and gift
certificates and well that's that's a great thing that you're doing.
You're being a good friend. Oh my gosh. Stickers say be a good friend.
Thanks for being a good friend.
That's for you. And thanks for being here.
This 000 my gosh you're kidding me.
This is like the dream right here.
Oh, Mrs. Rossetti, I mean, when I come to.
I haven't been here in a long time.
To an inside walk at school anyways, I haven't either.
No, we did rehearse here.
West Hartford Women's Chorale rehearsed here one year, but it was before Covid.
Oh, wow.
Okay, so I was on the same seat.
Was broken, and, and the auditorium had been broken when I was here.
Wow. Yes.
I sit in that seat. I think I know what you're talking about.
I know which one it is. Right? Right.
Yeah. Is is dead.
Some of the lights overhead, we're still burned out.
So that's like, oh my God.
Yeah they do.
And that have been years and years and years 20 years.
So I know. Yeah. Yeah.
We rehearse here one.
So I saw there was an artist who was painting
figures on the wall as we were rehearsing that year.
Oh, they Eric was saying that they do a lot of murals on the walls. And.
Yeah, I think that's really cool.
Yeah, they do that. We're in school.
Yeah, yeah, I'm just going to.
And then I got Mr.
Dick's reached out to Mr.
Hugh. Rob.
Who did Rob hue replace you or replace me. Yeah.
Yeah I moved to white.
It was sort of a year of upheaval because they were regrouping, the schools.
So the fifth grade was also going to middle school as sixth graders.
So it was sort of a year to change.
And they said, well, if you're going to make a change,
let's make it now, because a lot of the teachers
here were moving on to middle school and Mr.
Hine and Mr..
Sorry you remember Mr..
Carnival Mr..
Carnival he passed away I did and wasn't that old either.
Who was your principal Dave duvall yeah. Mr..
Do Mr. Duvall yeah.
And then Tim Dunn.
Okay, I remember him.
Mr.. Dan Plato, Carol fellows.
Yeah, I remember Carol. Yeah.
You were here.
Well, no, but I remember because I grew up in Barton Street, right down the street.
Okay. You were here for doctor K?
I was for a couple of years.
Oh, wow. Yeah, he was my neighbor. I live on Brimley Road. Okay.
All right.
And then Mr.
Dunn is our current principal, and that's Scott Dunn's.
And that's Tim Dunn's nephew.
Yeah. Right.
Yeah, yeah, I knew that. Okay.
Yeah, I met him years ago.
We did the Celebration of Excellence project, out in work
by campus, and I know Burlington
and, he was there. Nice.
And he said, oh, I'm Tim Dunn's nephew.
And first thing I know, I turn around and he's principal here.
Oh, that's so funny.
Was crazy.
Remember, Mr.
Duvall was very tall and thin, remember? Yeah, yeah.
And he'd come in with this huge pile of food for lunch.
So where are you going?
To put all I did, I could eat.
It's very nice. Oh, it was very nice.
And now Mrs.
Freeman in the in the office.
Maude Freeman. Yes, yes.
We used to say she had roller skates, that she would run.
Oh, you'd hear somebody running.
I said that white hair, that white hair, that white hair.
And then she goes, oh, it's you on.
Oh, I'm sorry, I thought it was a kid.
That's funny.
So. Funny. Yeah.
Oh my gosh. Yeah.
And she easily lived to be over 100.
I'll bet you I didn't stop.
I mean, she's unbelieve.
She was amazing.
She was so nice. Yeah.
Yeah, really, it was so nice.
And I had Miss Levine for second grade.
Oh. Betty levine. Oh. Okay.
So when did you come?
Were you all the way through kindergarten or did.
Yeah, I went to nursery school at the church across Market Park.
That's right.
So I went to that.
Yeah, they're from nursery school and then from here, from kindergarten
straight up through sixth grade and then went to Sedgwick.
And then I went to Conner Conner. Okay.
And then the hard school.
And and hard school. Yeah. That's great.
Yeah.
I did my music at, at the heart school.
Oh you did. Yeah.
Yeah.
Because I graduated from Connecticut College
with a major in music but not any education courses.
So it was like having to take a fifth year of college.
It was 36 credits.
Had to take all the instruments.
Yeah.
Oh, I know, and I never taught
instrumental music, particularly except for guitar and recorder.
But I remember recorder.
Remember the recorders in third grade?
Do they still do recordings for the kids?
They don't.
Maybe in second grade now.
Oh, maybe in third grade.
They start, they pick their instrument at the end of third grade
and they start their instrument career in fourth grade.
I remember hot cross buns.
Yes.
Classic doo doo doo doo doo squeak squeak squeak.
You do doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.
So is it time to sing the last thing you want to sing.
Leave it on a job.
Oh my goodness gracious. You know, like I'm.
The thing is crazy.
We're like, oh I like, envision you standing up
and you have your guitar or that strap across and just
have a strap on this guitar crystal that says, hey, that's okay.
But I just like my visions, you know, like, it's so this isn't.
This is insane.
Okay, I brought the lyrics.
How did you get in touch with the how did you how did that work?
I know they call me Feeny.
Gets whatever you need. Feeny gets.
You need to get in touch with someone.
You let me know. Oh. For you. For me,
I guess you guess.
I'm not singing.
Yeah. That's fine.
Do you know I'm leaving on a jet plane?
You don't know this.
Oh I do, oh, yeah, I actually I would sing this in my music class too.
Seriously. At Kingsbury School. Mrs..
Tullock, Mrs.. Tulane, Mrs..
Tilak, Mrs.. Tilak.
Oh my God. Hi. Black tie.
You know, it's weird, like
when I'm in, when you're in a place, it's amazing how old names and everything
kind of come back. Yeah.
You know, like it's incredible.
Like guitars cold.
Oh, well, I'm not surprised. Me.
Is this a new guitar? Have you had this one?
It's probably better I don't sing, well, stuff several years old.
I'll just enjoy the show.
And the one with the strap.
And we've got kind of warped.
And so, it's kind of hard to press down.
So our church was getting a new organ,
and while they were installing it, which took like six weeks,
some of us did, preludes and postlude.
So I got the guitar for that.
Oh, my God, did, guitar.
And another gal played the flute.
That's amazing.
I love that you're you're creating music still.
You know, you're just.
I love that it's not just about me.
right now.
And my son, my son plays in the Philadelphia Orchestra, so.
Yeah, he's a violinist now, so,
yeah, I just got a text from
chats over the chat with all of that, say, all right, you ready to sing?
Oh, gosh.
Yeah.
And it change your.
Oh, my bags are packed.
I'm ready to go.
I'm standing here outside your door.
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye.
But the dawn is breaking.
It's early morn. Taxi's great.
And he's blowing his heart already
I hold on to my good God.
Right.
So kiss me and smile for me.
Tell me that you wait for me, oh me.
Like you never let me go on air for us.
Leavin on a jet plane.
Don't know when I'll be back again.
All day by day to go.
There's so many times I let you down.
So many times I played around.
And I tell you now then I'll
be loving
every place I go I think of you.
Every song I sing, I sing for you.
When I come back I'll break your heart
every day.
So it's me.
And smile for me.
Tell me that you're away from me.
Oh me.
Like you'll never let me go
I'm leavin on a jet plane.
Don't know when I'll be back again.
Oh babe, my day to go
I like time.
It's time for me to leave you one more time.
Like he kissed you for you to close your eyes
I'll be on my way.
You dream about the days to come.
But I won't have to leave alone.
By the time I won't have to say so.
Kiss me and smile for me.
Tell me that you'll wait for me.
Hold me like you'll never let me go.
Cause I'm leavin on a jet plane.
Don't know when I'll be back again.
All day Monday to go one more time
I'm leavin on a jet plane.
Don't know when I'll be back again.
Oh babe I hate to go.
Oh, I miss you.
Oh yes.
Oh, my God, I love it.
That was amazing.
Wow. And did you know, because I went to Sweden every summer when we were kids.
I saw that on Facebook.
Yes. And, we sang me and my cousin sang this one, I would leave.
Oh, and when my youngest cousin
got married, I sang this at her wedding.
We've been on a jet plane, so.
But such a perfect example as.
I mean, I'm not a teacher as far as, like,
thinking about how you influenced my life, not just through the songs,
but just being someone who recognized my talent.
And yeah, I mean, that's such a gift.
So thank you.
Oh, I realize you were,
you know, once in a while there was somebody like yourself that
just sort of stood out, and, and that's what I remember.
I remember you saying, oh, holy night, remember that?
And that's in the concert.
And I mean, honestly, God, you brought down the house.
And it was just it's really, really amazing.
And that's why I said to your parents usually,
usually we didn't really recommend voice lessons for people that young, but,
but you were different, so you were exceptional.
So thank you. Loud.
You're pursuing. Oh my gosh.
So what are you doing now?
God, I know you've written a book.
Yeah, I wrote a book called We Can Be Kind.
And now I'm, I've been a massage therapist for 22 years,
so I've merge the two.
So I created, an online musical journey Through Earth,
weaving through ten songs and helping people self-reflect
and get back in touch with themselves through song.
And, because I feel that music can be so healing.
It has, it not only is just music healing,
but it also brings people together.
You know, like choirs, right?
It brings communities together.
And you think about the Olympics
and what brings Olympics together is, you know, the music and the sports.
So it's like, I feel like music is, a powerful tool for transformation
for the better. Very much so.
So that music therapy is going to be quite, a, quite a field now.
Yeah, I heard that.
Yeah.
I sing with somebody who's a music therapist and
she tells us all sorts of things.
She works with all sorts of ages, you know, older people,
all young children and house babies, you know, crawling.
And what's interesting, I had done several shows at senior homes.
And, what was fun, I would do, you know, Judy Garland, I would do older musicals.
Right? Judy Garland and all that kind of stuff.
And I remember one time I sang Over the Rainbow.
Oh, yeah.
And there was a guy that mentioned that on the phone. Did he?
I think you remember. Did you mention that she was.
Oh, no, Alice in Wonderland or Dorothy, who were you in a blender?
I'm sorry, man, I don't remember that.
Maybe. Maybe I messed up.
No, but, he started to cry, and after my show,
I went up to him and he said that that was him in his wife's wedding song.
And, you know,
you just realize it's like music touches people, like, so many different ways.
Yeah, there's some songs.
I get me so many different kinds of musicians who.
And it's nice to respect all different kinds.
I know I'm doing voice lessons, I do classical,
I also do like this folk music
and pop and so I use
head voice as well as chess for like, I know or you mix.
That's right. I find you find that that mix.
Right.
Right. Oh, well, that's. Yeah, that's.
I just so glad to see that you're still doing the music.
And, Yeah, I had a one point.
I had an Oregon scholarship from, American.
That was my Covid project. Oh, really?
So a friend of mine was a certified organist, teacher
from a NGO, and, so she offered to be my teacher.
So I took about four years of organ lessons, too.
Just recently I've stopped kind of because she's traveling along.
I have a lot on my plate with the food pantry.
It's all gone. But, But, yeah, I keep up.
I've kept up the voice lessons for about, almost ten years now, so that's good.
Benjamin Rausch is, I don't know if you know him.
He's a teacher at the art school,
and he has a private studio, so he's a countertenor.
Oh my gosh. Well gorgeous voice.
Well, I walked up the fourth to the fourth floor every Wednesday for my.
Mrs. Coleman was my voice teacher, Yeah, she lived in Ellington.
So I remember we went did a couple things in Ellington, but yeah, she was,
but I remember at one point, you know, these teachers are tough.
And she was like, don't go skiing.
I don't want you breathing in the cold air. It's not good for your voice.
I was like, forget that.
I was like, I love to sing, but I'm not going to not I'm not scared.
I'm not going to not ski. Right.
So wow.
Well, here at Walk school we give out Buffy's bests.
Oh my God, for being respectful, responsible and ready to learn.
So I like to share it to Buffy's best.
Oh my god.
One with Katherine.
Betty, thanks for coming.
Buffy is our mascot for the Walker Eagles.
Were you always an eagle with the Eagles?
Yeah. Good to know.
Good to know. He's spying for good behavior.
So that's why he has the magnifying glass ourselves.
That's good.
Yep. And the walk it way. Use the walk it way.
So respectful, responsible and ready to learn.
Oh and love that Christina.
You work hard every day.
Today she was a wonderful podcast guest and she was interesting engaging.
Great job Christina. Thank you.
Thanks for coming in Singing you are an inspiration.
I appreciate all that's for you. One.
Once again, as a teacher, you know, Eric, don't ever underestimate, you know, the
the influence and the power you have to, you know, change
the course of children's lives like he did to me.
You know, it's. Yeah, that's very nice.
I hope I'm sitting on a podcast in a few years, and some kid says that,
or I get invited on for a kid that says I was his favorite teacher.
So that truly means the world for you being here.
That's great. I'll be back here. Oh my God.
We usually shoot for 50 minutes. Where? I think we're past an hour.
I don't know if you want any closing remarks.
I can't thank you enough.
We can take a tour and chat, but we're going to shut down the part.
I did have a the school.
I was walking the dog once, and a kid goes, Mr.
Feeny, I said, hey, how you doing, costar?
And he's like, I'm in computer science now.
I'm like, oh, that's great.
He goes, you gave me a laptop.
I guess my wife had a donation from her work and he may have needed a laptop.
I gave him a laptop.
So just like you said, you never know what what, spark
you're going to flame or, you know, whatever inspiration you're going to lead.
So I think kids need you people to see them and to acknowledge them.
And recognize their talents and to, you know, I think kids need that.
And, sometimes people are just too busy.
They don't pay attention.
My husband is actually a para prepare professional in Darrin's middle school.
Okay.
And Bill works with a lot of kids that the teachers weren't able to connect with.
My husband would say something like, how can they not connect with them?
You know, the kid walks down the hallway with the Jets hat and I just say, hey,
how about those jets? And immediately a connection.
And and he was like, for my husband, it's such a natural thing to notice that.
But apparently not everyone notices, and that's so important, you know.
Oh, can we can you sing us out with be a Good friend on the guitar?
Be a good friend will say, be a good friend a couple times or something.
I don't know if you're attuned to be a good friend.
Now make one up. Let's go.
Be a good friend, I love it.
We are good friends here. If
we can end with that one.
The feel good friend.
Be a good friend, right?