Episode #154: Feeney Ventures into The Soulful Forest

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #154 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring The Soulful Forest.

It was great to talk with my #friends, Terry, Tara and Christina!

We talked about:
The Soulful Forest theme song (minute 1)
Christina Connors went to Wolcott School (minute 3)
Terry shows around The Soulful Forest (minute 5)
The Healing Chickadee (minute 7)
The Seven C's (minute 8.30)
Christina’s Cottage (minute 9.40)
Language matters (minute 12)
Tara Beall-Gomes (minute 14)
The Soulful Forest Tour Guide’s Manual (minute 16)
The Soulful Forest will be built in Naugatuck, CT (minute 21)
The Tweethearts (minute 24)
Christina sings “Help is on the Way” (minute 26)
David Friedman and the book, “We Can Be Kind” (minute 27)
The #BeAGoodFriend” song & game (minute 29)
Intimacy disorder (minute 33)
3 Keys to the Soulful Forest (minute 39)
Events: First, Last, Best, Worst (minute 43)
Marty and Friends of Feeney (minute 46)
Favorite restaurants (minute 48)
Where will you be in 5 years? (minute 53)
Upcoming events(minute 57)
Feeney & Christina sing! (minute 58)

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Creators and Guests

Host

Eric Feeney

After teaching for nearly a decade at his alma mater in Waterbury, in 2014, Eric Feeney began teaching at Wolcott Elementary in West Hartford. Shortly following, Sam Sohn, the father of one of his students, passed away suddenly from a heart attack. He left behind four beautiful children and a loving wife, Nancy Wallace-Sohn. Eric saw first-hand the toll this took on the family as they navigated their way through this unthinkable tragedy. The following year, Rashad Collier Sr., another father of a student in Eric’s class, passed away in Hartford as a result of gun violence. Rashad left behind two fantastic children and a loving wife, Denise Villegas. The impact of these tragedies weighed on Eric and motivated him to build an organization that could provide assistance for similar situations. With that, Friends of Feeney was born. In 2019, Friends of Feeney Inc. became an official 501©(3) nonprofit organization, allowing more funds to be raised and expanding the range of services provided to children and families in need. Today, over a decade since Eric’s idea to build a community organization dedicated to supporting our friends in need, Friends of Feeney has burgeoned into a reputable and recognized organization capable of providing financial and resource support to numerous families and individuals across greater Hartford and beyond. Through this work, an incredible community of children and families has been recognized, who care for and appreciate each other’s kindness.

Producer

David Chmielewski

David started his video career in the early 1990s working on video crews as an independent contractor for such companies as Martha Stewart Living, IBM and Xerox. After graduating Southern Connecticut State University with the degree in Corporate Communications, David continued his video production career and accepted a position at WFSB in Hartford, CT. Within a few years the news and production studios became his charge and David designed, installed and maintained the televisions sets for the various programs at the station. At the end of 2013 David founded DirectLine Media, a video production company that specializes in creating memorable and compelling video content for businesses.

Editor

Stefania Sassano

Stefania's acting journey began as early as the fourth grade, where she took on the role of Scarlett O'Hara in a stage production of Gone With the Wind. This early experience sparked a lifelong passion for the arts. With a background in musical theater fueled by her love of music and singing, Stefania stepped into larger roles, such as Fraulein Kost in Cabaret during her sophomore year at the University of New Haven. This performance earned her a nomination for the prestigious Irene Ryan Acting Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival—an honor she would receive again in her junior year.

What is Feeney Talks With Friends?

Eric Feeney talks with #friends! Eric is the founder of the nonprofit organization Friends of Feeney. Their mission is to help children and families who need assistance after heartbreak and tragedy. www.friendsoffeeney.com

Friends of Fini podcast 154.

We're going to start
with a beautiful song.

The Soulful Force theme song.

So of course
that's where you will find the answers

to so many questions
floating around your mind.

In the summer forest,
there's so much to see and do.

A list of all the songs.

Forest you discover, you.

Find the tranquil tree with me.

That's where new friendships start.

And it's really interesting.

And you'll go right.

And there were jokes about today's boy

hunting time, and you'll learn.

In the tranquil

tree, you'll discover how you can.

We. Here, look. Come on. Take over you.

So you be alone.

And then you find your matters.

Someone's left your flat.

The foreigners swing it over to you
after you take care of them.

That you fly with me to the forest

where there should be
stacks of songs and story.

Safety and serenity. The song

is when all your dreams come true.

I know when.

I sign, you.

Up. I thank you for joining us.

Good night
everyone. No, that was beautiful.

And, Christine, you wrote you sang that,
and you hit the high pitch and everything.

I did.

Wow, that was beautiful. That was so good.

Thank you.

And David Freeman wrote it. Yes, David.

Go ahead.

A dear friend, David Friedman,
who is, written for Broadway in Disney

and lots of films and,
he's a good friend of ours who is

just as committed to supporting the health
and well-being of children

and their families as we are so nice
to be part of everything that we do

well. Welcome.

Feeney talks with friends.

This is episode 154.

I'm honored to be speaking with some
really good friends.

We have.

Tara,

Terry and Christina.

Sorry. Tara. Tara. Tara.

To my left. You're right.

Terry. Christina.

That was Christina
singing with her beautiful voice.

We'll start with Christina.

a new soul song. Yes.

Where did you get the inspiration?

Well, you told me.

This is so exciting and so fitting.

And what a coincidence.

Listen to this, listeners.

Where did you learn to love singing?

I grew up in West Hartford,
and I went to Wolcott Elementary School.

Let's go. This is Rossetti.

Many years ago was the music
music teacher, and she called my parents

one day and said, hey,
your daughter loves to sing.

She's good at it.

You need to really support her
and nurture this talent.

And they did. And

looking back, I'm
just so grateful that my parents listened.

Not all parents listened.

And, to have my parents really listened to

that and support, that was a true gift.

Truly. Yeah. That's amazing.

Small world.

Woke at school and listeners
know that I've been there for 13 years.

My daughters went there.

I teach there to have them both at
the same time was a dream come true.

Walk. It's a special place.

And being a teacher, that's amazing to me.

Like if you have a kid that has a passion,
whether it be art,

archery, dance,
you just give them the opportunity.

And that's what your parents did.

And here we are,
and you have a beautiful, beautiful voice.

The best teachers and parents
team together and support the children.

I think that's the best way
a child can be raised is your partnership.

You know, it's to support the health and
well-being of the children in your care.

As parents and teachers.

So it's, as a
teacher, thank you for. Yeah.

And how
did you connect with the soulful Forest?

Terry and I have been friends
for many years, and,

And I share a passion of helping children
and their families.

And, we were at a restaurant one day

and just having a meal, and we said, what
can we create?

Can we create something to help children
and their families?

And this idea of creating this
and actually originally was supposed

to be like digital, where thinking
it was going to be some online thing.

And that's
where this whole map came about.

And we said, gee, you know what?

If we had and it was fun.

It was like gratitude,
garden camp kindness.

And it was just all trying to coming up
with all these

different ways to say things, river
resilience and mindful mountain.

And, you know,
so it was really, really fun, fun process.

It took us a while.

And then some, some great starts.

Can I tell you about this?

Oh, let's do it.

Yes. The only way into the the forest
is through the garden of gratitude.

Because we know all the things
started. Gratitude.

We want to spend a lot of time
at the top of mindful Mountain,

at the top of mindfulness,
where you to trick or treat here and now.

You don't regret yesterday
and you don't fear.

That's one of the
the keys for emotional and mental health.

To stay present,

we have to go down the river of resilience
because there's loss and fear and grief.

But we always end up down at the calm
waters of the reflecting pool,

which is where we can see our reflection
and see what we've learned along the way.

Sometimes we spend time
where we learn to honor

the sadness
and the emotions that come from the loss.

This is one of my favorite places.

It's called the field of forgiveness.
It's where we learn to laugh

and forgive.

When we love accepting forgive ourselves,
we can love accepting.

Forgive others.

This is my other favorite place that
you need all the time on highway 84 for.

Tranquil tree is where children

have the the mental picture
of sitting underneath the tree

to get space between how they feel
and what they choose to do and say.

That emotional regulation is so important.

Once we teach it to children,
we're going to teach it to,

Congress.

Diversity universities where we don't
just tolerate or understand differences.

It's where we learn
to celebrate the differences and the

well nest
clinic is run by a birthing doctor,

and she teaches children
how to take care of their bodies and camp.

Kindness
is where we learn compassion and civility.

You always want to avoid camp
Chaos at Valley Acres Farm,

where everyone is constantly alarmed
and usually on screen.

So she and I spent time.

She and I spent time coming up,
but there was a lot of coffee.

We were jacked up a lot.

So when we came up with this stuff

and then we said, okay,
now we've got this, what do we do with it?

And we ended up
doing three things with it.

We ended up creating the healing.

And again, this,

has David songs and her amazing voice
in her heart and soul healing

for children that have come to the death
of a loved one.

And a little bird shows up, a little bird.

And then there's music and videos by
a group of friends called the sweethearts,

and they help children.

That has gone out to almost

a thousand children across the country
in children's prayer centers.

And so that has been
an incredible manifestation.

The other thing that we came up with is,
the soulful Grandmother Gate.

We go into third grade classrooms,
we're coming to your mom.

And that again features Christina's music.

There's a song that she sings called
We Can Be Kind,

and the kids sing along with that.

It's like a it's like Woodstock,
you know, or everybody's kind of dance.

It's just so, so fun.

The teachers seem to like it,
so we're going to come to that.

And then, the other thing
that we have created from

this is a substance misuse, program.

And the reason that we created it is
there are 19 million children right now

living in homes where, someone in the home

is struggling
with substance misuse, and that creates

chaos. And,

it's a tough place to live.

And that is truly the report.

And so we came up with Tamara
and I worked on this together.

And we're just going to do this

like I'm talking about. No,

this is something counselors are using.

I can't control it.

I can't cure it.

I can take care of myself
by communicating my feelings,

making good choices,
and celebrating myself.

I think the most important one right
there is the top one,

and we can use that in so many situations.

You can, can I do?

So the, the, the two purposes
of the substance misuse program

is getting children to know the sentences
and then helping society in general

change our language regarding addiction,
because the change of language,

when we change how we go about it,
it changes how we think about it,

it changes how to feel about it,

and then it changes what we do
as individuals and as a society.

And working with Tara has been amazing.

We came up with a guidebook for children
that we have been giving out to kids

that are living in
these situations, and then,

manual tours.

So, that's what has manifested
from the forest.

And we're having,

my husband calls this the most

expensive mental.

He might be right,

but it's me off the streets,
and then I meet all kinds of people.

Yeah, it started out with this.

An amazing program
for children and emotional regulation.

And you talk about that?

Yeah.

So David Friedman
and I, put together a YouTube series,

and I wanted it to be a free resource,
and it's called Christina's Cottage.

I liken it to like a newer Mr.

Rogers, but a woman.

And it's a safe place
where children and families can go.

And it's got fun characters,
and we learn all different things to like,

you know, by saying,
it's not bad to be sad.

We do, you know, everybody has, you know,
everybody feels scared sometimes.

It's really just a way to help parents

and children and teachers
just come together and and sing

and just learn
how to regulate their emotions together.

A big thing for me is I want to reach
parents and teachers, actually, of young

children, because the younger children
actually rely on us to regulate.

So they don't know how they they don't
have the tools to regulate themselves.

So they need us to be regulated
so they can regulate themselves.

And so

in the last 15 years or so, I'm noticing
more young parents are coming to me.

I also own, massage therapy practice,

completely dysregulated.

And, I was concerned because these parents

are coming home to children, and children
don't have that safe parental

figure to help them manage their emotions.

And so that's what spun on the inspiration
to decrease in this cottage.

So yeah.

Yeah, man, you have so much
wonderful things going on.

I'm so honored to speak with you.

Christina's cottage, soulful forest,
helping with trauma

and betrayal and all types of other
and paternal trauma.

So this is great.

Yeah.

This is let me just.

This is Feeny talks with friends.

You know, my name is Eric Feeney,
founder and president, friends of Feeny.

Our mission is to help

children and families that need assistance
after heartbreak or tragedy.

And I use this podcast.

Feeny talks with friends,
and I talk to wonderful people

that are doing great things.

So I just want to share how excited I am
to have you here.

And I'm learning so much.
I love the language matters.

I because that is so true.

You can say something in a certain way,

instead of someone that's homeless,

they're,
you know, experiencing homelessness or,

you know, a slave is an enslaved person

or someone that's disabled
is a person with disabilities.

So you want to put the person first.

And I see that you're doing that.

You're a fourth grader
and your dad is in jail or in rehab,

and somebody says, your dad's an addict,
and the child can respond with,

my dad has a substance use disorder.

And I know that seems very small,
but it's really very big because it takes

it takes that judgment off of that,
and it helps

the child
have more of a tender heart towards them.

And I come at this from,
a point of view is I have a stepdaughter.

She's beautiful, she's funny,
she's wonderful, she's amazing,

she's a dog groomer.

And she also suffers
tremendously from substance misuse.

We just found out today
that she left a rehab and she's out.

We don't know where she is right now.

So this has been an ongoing thing.

I have to tell you,
when it comes to this substance misuse,

program, she has informed me

more than any teacher, more
than any more than any encyclopedia.

She and I have worked
on our relationship for decades,

and I've learned a lot,
and I'm wishing her well tonight.

I give people a lot of credit, and,

I have trouble handling. I'm an adult.

Imagine if you're in fourth grade.

Third grade?

So I'm I'm glad that we're doing this,
and I'm so grateful to you.

Because she stepped out, she gave

pretty much wrote this was novel.

It was fun.

A lot of fun because language does matter,
but also understanding language

that kids respond to and that it changes.

I mean, are we saying
bro or brah right now really?

Like, think about that.

You know,
like what changes that are, bro?

I don't know bro.

Whatever.

Six seven like, give me a headache.

Yeah. Right.

Where are you like starting from there.

Like.

But it matters. It matters.

And also just to be able to understand,
how it also has to be accessible

for the adults in the kid's life
to be able to work with the kid, too.

Because if the adult is reading it
and feeling activated by something,

coagulation that's going to,

you know, lend itself for a place
of not being able

to really come to the table and heal.

So this I like this because
it really offers a common language, common

definition.

This helps families to create
a shared story and a shared truth.

Because there's always two truths, right?

You have the person who's struggling
with the substance misuse

and the person who is, you know,
the family system.

They have their story, their truth.

And to be able to have a common language,

you can least have a shared story
and a shared truth.

I love I read a lot of these kids
that have their stories of kids like you.

This book is for you.

I again, being a teacher for 22 years,
having friends and family

that have experienced some of this,
I don't want to say what's the word?

It would be a good use. Substance misuse.

So, you know,
I have a lot of connections, so.

Oh, yeah. There you go.
These people are the first page.

That idea

to put this on the first page of the book,
there's two things that we offer.

There's a free website that has with books
and music and activities

for the whole family.

And we we can make sure
that our nonprofit, it's 100% free

because it's the kids that need it
most that are least likely to get it.

So we want to make sure that that,

and this talks about all of the kids
with different kinds of experiences,

and probably one of the kids
or one of the parents that is reading

this with the child can relate.

We also have a play that they can do
together about family roles

and you know, the, the, the scapegoat,
the one that's, you know,

hanging upside down
and the one that's the responsible one

and how people with even the inner child
that much more.

Yeah.

So we've gotten that so many different
things and activities and,

that they can do.

Oh wow. This is pretty thick book two.

So very informative.

Pretty pretty colors and very,
interactive.

Yeah. Very interactive. That was word up.

And then we have a so for this group,
the tour guides manuals.

So when you're an adult
or you're a therapist,

this, you know, kind of takes you through

and some of the other ideas that other
people come up with, we tried to teach.

Oh, the hug coupon.

That's cute.

I did that once for Valentine's Day.

I gave you my wife.

Like, I'll do the dishes. Use that card.

I'm only use it once
because hugs, massages.

So it's funny.

It's laminated.

Yep, yep.

Oh that's great.

Hug coupon expires
the day after forever as beautiful.

This is super cute.

So, Tara from main Street.

Yeah. Main Street recovery. Counseling.
Yeah.

So I well, you know what I wanted to
you asked kind of what word to use,

and that comes up a lot.

I just want to jump right in
because of the word addiction. Okay.

And then we're using the word substance
use or substance misuse.

So in my field
that word is interchangeable

depending on who I'm working with.

So if I'm working with an adult

I would say you're struggling
with addiction or unwanted behaviors.

So I think it's okay to use that word.

But I think the reason
why we're really working as a field

to understand
what words used in is my opinion,

not the opinion of any organization
that has certified or credentialed me.

Okay.

I always have to put that disclaimer out
because you're not the opinions of

outlets or, you know, whatever.

I think

that, you know, it's the word
addiction is not in the DSM.

So just for diagnostic process,
for a diagnostic reasons, addiction is not

they are not the ICD,
which is the international manual.

Right?

It is, but it's not in the DSM.

So I think that's why we hear the word
substance misuse, substance

abuse, gambling

even that gambling addiction.

So anyway, I could talk about that
forever, but because I think, well,

do you want to know who I am, who you are,
and how you got involved?

And who's your daddy and what's he do?
What's he doing?

Oh, boy. Oh, that's okay.

I know who my dad is.

Okay. So, my name is Tara.

I actually own, masonry
counseling and grit and grace recovery,

so I'm here today
wearing my great grace recovery hat.

I specialize in porn and sex addiction,
and I also specialize in betrayal trauma.

So for purposes of today,
I have the addiction lens,

my hat or my lens that I'm speaking.

My voice today
is really on betrayal trauma and how the

the addiction, the misuse affects
the entire family system.

So great Grace recovery again focuses
on sex addiction and betrayal trauma.

I'm certified
by a couple different organizations.

I'm the only person in Connecticut
that's ABS.

I was trained
as a clinical specialist in that.

So I hold that credential with, with,

respect and careful.

Because I don't want to misrepresent that
in any way.

So it's really important to me.

I have so specialized for all of this
deconstructing, gaslighting, and yes,

but I started as a school counselor,

so I do have that in the school system
where,

I was down in well,
I started my days as a substitute teacher

in Greenwich and, but then I started
as a certified school counselor.

And you, Kanan.

And then I ended that part of my career
in Bethel.

Nice.

I spent some time in Stratford,
Bridgeport, Shelton.

But my longest runs for New Canaan
and Bethel.

And then I left.

So I started my practice in 2011.

So for seven years I did both full time.

And then when I had my fourth child,
I have six kids.

When I gave birth to my fourth,
I was like, maybe I should choose a job.

And then all I did
was add another practice

and another gig on the side of that.

So I really just replaced that,

which maybe financially
was not the best decision

because I don't get
that school system retirement.

But that's okay, right? Yeah.

It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be great.
It's gonna be great.

And my husband, today's Veteran's Day.

I cannot spend today without honoring him.

24 years in the Navy.

So this addiction lens is very special

to me as well,
because so many of our frontline service

members are struggling
with this invisible battle at home.

And that's really not talked
about enough in our, in our service.

So I, I do tend to get
a lot of clients too,

who are either active duty or retired
or retired veterans or veterans.

Yeah, 24 years active duty.

That's real deal. Yeah.

I did eight years in the National Guard.

That's like a Boy Scout compared to him.

I won't say it came out of my mouth.

Yeah, not to deal with the ego, but, Yeah.

No, this is great.

You guys form a wonderful team.

It's like

Voltron, and, I don't know, it's a bad.

It's a
it was also a video game or a cartoon.

They each had their strength
and they came together

and they fit like a puzzle.

And they worked like a wonderful team.

So, I don't know, go out
and look out. Voltron.

It was all same time
with Transformers, G.I.

Joe, bull, Trump.

I'm aging myself, but so but I love how
you guys all have your niche or

your specialty and come together to form
this wonderful program of Soulful forest.

And I think it's wonderful.

You have ties to Southbury and Naugatuck
I wouldn't mind talking about.

Right. Yeah. Very, soulful Southbury.

And, somebody heard about Christine
and I in the soulful forest.

It was the mayor of Naugatuck, and,
a young lady who owns,

a non bar bar,
which is kind of up and coming right now

where animals and stuff
instead of alcohol.

And it's really becoming quite a thing
and which is which is good news.

And she had heard that she and I had met.

So she introduced me to the mayor.

Her name's Bobby the awesome. It's 3 to 1.

I have to say that. 3 to 1.

No kidding.

On Church Street
in, in Naugatuck and the mayor heard

about the social
forest, and I said, it is,

we could put

together
a park that actually has all these things.

It would be the first park
in all of Connecticut devoted

to and, highlighting mental health.

Because parks are about physical,

there's going to be a gratitude garden.

The youth center is working on that.

The garden club is doing the field
of forgiveness.

The Exchange Club
and the Rotary Club are getting together

to create a Seven Seas ship.

So we're going to we're going to have
an actual part of it devoted to the seven.

That's great.

You know, seven cities.

And so so I was I was tracking I like it.

And so it's a unity
and community project.

Yeah.

That's what happens when three women
get together and say, yes,

how may I be of service
and how may I help?

Then things and people and places
just come at you.

And I have to tell you,

you're a really good therapist
because we're working on this.

We were working on the activities
and stuff.

I start talking
her, I start crying, and it's just

it's not your personality.

I'm just saying you just face
that makes people cry.

Yeah, your face makes a lot of people cry.

Okay? That's one of my kids.

Yeah. My teenage safe space.

Yeah. It is. Yeah, yeah.

You're locked in.

Yeah, very locked in.

And it's interesting

because I was, you know,
if I'm interrupted in a session, I'm like.

So I become dysregulated because I'm
so locked into what someone say.

They're sharing your story.

This is heavy stuff.

Like any of these kids
that are sitting in a classroom.

I remember being in the school system,

and I'm finding this
I remember being in the school system

and we would have, you know, outside
people come in and talk and that's I okay.

That's another so, okay, so
after you retire, because I don't want to

deal with any kind of like,
you know, whatever.

But but we would have
people come in, which is great.

But then it got to a point
where they're like, oh,

we don't want to have anyone come in,

because what if a kid raises their hand
and makes a disclosure like,

I'm not sure I understand the problem
here, but okay.

So it's it's like, of course this is going
to make someone say something.

And if you talk to 400 kids and two kids,

raise their hand,
have only done what we're supposed to do.

So that's how I feel
if I make one person a cry day, okay,

like I'm doing all right. I'm all right.

I like that
math works out on a very safe space.

Thank. I think that's one.

Yeah. Whoever your counsel.

These are great.

Thank you.

And I think ultimately,

my dream and I think a shared dream
is that this whole forest

park becomes some sort of,
you know, as many towns in the country,

to, to be able to put a park

that actually will have a pavilion
where we'll have, do you know, programing

for not only the children,
but for also caregivers and teachers,

which I think, once again,
that's my big passion,

is to support the
adults around the children.

It's just really, really exciting.

And, we have a Trust the Wind Trail,
which is based on David Song

Trust the Wind.

And, that will go around through the park.

And so and there'll be QR codes with music
all over

benches for reflection. And,

we have an incredible,

architect
who's going to be designing it, Artemus.

Architects.

So excited to hop on board.

She actually designed these.

Ended up memorial.

And, yeah, just really excited
to just take this idea and this dream,

the virus and and build it in
as many towns as we can because I think,

you know, mental health is is just

such a we're in a crisis.

And, this to me is a park
that is needed now more than ever.

These are some of the messages
that are going to be throughout the park.

I love in sweetheart Wisdom
because it's a group effort, because birds

are just I think they're very symbolic
for so many different things.

But one of them is every day might not be
good, but there's good in every day.

Love. Accepting. Forgive.

This is one of my favorite.

It's safe
to reveal what I used to conceal.

I am going
to do whatever is good for my soul.

I can communicate my feelings.

I can celebrate myself.

I can make healthy choices.

I'm going to be in every moment.

And and I have a right to be safe
in this one.

I love this.

It's not bad to be sad,
which is a sign of David's

love.

It should go to Healing chickadee.com
and go to the Twitter page

because you will hear all of the songs in
there is life is one of my favorites.

I have a lot of favorites.

Tell me the other songs
because I'm on my way.

Come on. Can you give us a little note?

Can you give us a little something?
Are you warmed up?

Can you give us a

help?

Is on the way.

Gibson is on the way

from places you don't know about today.

From friends you may not have met yet.

Believe me when I say I know

help is on the way.

Oh, beautiful.

I saw that you had a song
about being kind, right?

Is it being or the book being kind or.

So David and I wrote a book.

David is, by the way, a brilliant writer.

He's not really brilliant songwriter,
but I was I approached David

Gilbert.

David's on the podcast fourth Guest.

Sorry if I approached Dave like

a children's book based on his song
We Can Be Kind.

And he said, yeah. And I was like, okay.

As I get to his house,
it literally took him like,

I think it took us an hour
and he wrote it in poem style.

He's like brilliant.

So yeah, we were we created
a, a picture book called

We Can Be Kind and features
the characters from Christina's cottage,

and it has QR codes in here,
and it goes to the song we can be Kind

and the dog buddy is actually inspired
by my family dog, Buddy Connors.

And, Yeah, and these little seven little
love bugs and, yeah, it's it's exciting.

It's so it's like a multi-sensory book
and, Yeah.

And each. Yeah, there's Tootie or Rudy.

They're characters names.

That's,

Yeah.

Okay, so we have the red bug name.

Rudy.

Rudy, and then valor,
and then a mora's the green one,

and then Chad is the blue, and then sage
and then spark

and those of, those of you who do yoga,
they're actually inspired by the chakras.

So rubies, root chakra
bug and enjoy is the creative bug.

And then valor is the solar plexus.

And then a more is the green heart
chakra bug

chakra.

And then sage is the third eye,
which is wisdom.

And then spark is just, you know,
we are all of, you know, world.

We are all individual
sparks of the divine, which I believe.

And that's so cool.

Remember that I think, like I have a read
aloud for tomorrow right at school.

And then maybe later
you'll sign it for it.

All right.

Autographed copy.

This is beautiful, Christine.

And the love bugs and buddy, too.

We can be kind.

So how do we get a be a good friend song?

Can we get a be a good friend song?

So we
can we could probably make that happen.

So our models be a good friend,

you know, hold the door, pick up trash,
give compliments, be charitable.

I want to thank you guys
all for being a good friend today.

These are stickers. Thank you.

Yeah.

So, friends of Feeny,
our mission again is to help children

and families that need assistance
after heartbreak or tragedy.

We've just helped our 127th family
and provided over

$265,000 to families that have heartbreak
or tragedy.

Cancer, house fires, car accidents,
you name it.

So all volunteer
based, community based organization

and just love making connections
with wonderful friends like you.

So now what makes we're going

to go around the room in unit share
what makes you know Christine.

You'll tell what makes Teri a good friend.

Teri Tarot a good friend.

Tara Christine a good friend.

So it's like a morning meeting?
Yes. Morning meeting.

We're going to hold hands while we do it.

Okay.

Who wants to go first?

Tell you.

Christina

Connors is a great friend of mine
to one of the wonderful things

that she's taught me
is that it's you're so non-judgmental.

You are just so open and receptive and

so free with whatever crazy ideas
we come up with.

You never shut.

And then to that I think that you are

loving person.

And everything I love the most about you
is what we just talked about.

But if I was that you're just so safe
and, and I just trust you.

I mean, you have that energy of trust,
and you were so generous

with your time, like,
you're a big deal, right?

You do have all these businesses
and stuff, so you the big deal.

And you always took the time with me

to make.

So I can say,

since Tara and I just met,
I can say you have a beautiful smile.

Thank you. I'll say that.

As far as Terry being a good friend,
Terry

makes me laugh.

Thanks.

She said she's hysterical.

And, I think said,
what makes you a good friend is when you.

When I need you, you're always there.

So if I call or text and say I need to
talk, I mean, you're right there.

And I think that's so important
for all of us to have,

a partner of safety and trust,

whether it's a pod or a friend
or someone to call when we're struggling.

I think that's key.

So thank you for that.

Time is my love

language,
and it's what I like to give and receive.

Everything else, really.
I mean, stickers are cool, I love that.

Okay, cool. If I can try.
Yeah. Okay. Deal.

Knock off Yeti. But it's going
go on there.

So I think your compassion for others,

but also you're passionate
about what you do.

So I really like to be friends with people

that understand the importance of energy.

I really believe energy transforms.

I think a guy named Einstein came up
with that idea, but I just transfer.

It's not transforms.
I'm sorry, just transfers.

And so I feed off
of other people's energy.

And I really like that about you.
And I like being around you.

And, I know we were working together
on a, magazine article,

so it was really cool, like,

just throwing ideas back and forth, like
someone that I can be vulnerable with.

I can feel that,

and I think vulnerability is something
that anyone that's picking this up

needs a little more help
with or support around.

So I like that I can share space with
other people that are vulnerable as well.

It's really important to me.

Well, thank you for sharing.
Being a good friend.

You know, you serve,
hey, you'll make a good friend.

Thanks for you to. Yes.

Soulful forest teller.

And she's,

I like it.

Thank you.

Gifts

to for the kids.

Thank you. This is great.

Of course.

Say whatever you want.

I've only got phase one in my notes, but.

So you know what's really cool about this?

I was just thinking,
as we're sitting here,

is that the clients that I have come in
and the families that I work with

and the people I, my colleagues
across the country who are just phenomenal

at this work,
what we talk about all the time

is how any, any type of addiction
is an intimacy disorder, right?

And so it's the inability for others
to connect really on an intimate level,

all different types of intimacy
and how how amazing to be able

to pick this up
or to go to this place in honkytonk

and not have the pressure
of we're sitting in front of a therapist

and we have to talk about everything
that's going on.

The language is there, the ability
to connect using our inner

child, our playful child,
like it's all there in a very,

not intimidating.

Why is that word
not intimidating? I'm not.

You don't intimidate.
So it's not intimidating. Yeah, right.

So it's not intimidating,
but it still gets the message.

And so that's point across.

Because all of what I work
with are people who really struggle

to connect and to form
an internet connection with people.

And so this is amazing.

I mean, how can you be how can you stay
mad if you're in the gratitude garden?

And what we know about nature is what you
and I connect it over is just being able

to connect with a higher power,
something bigger than you.

You know, we talk about a lot
that we talk about this

a lot in my world of this
need to connect with a higher power.

And for some people, that's God.

For some people, it's Buddhism
for for some people, me, it's nature.

Like that's
where I like to connect with that.

And you're offering it
mother nature, Mother Nature, nurture.

And in both of these programs

and all of the programs
we teach us on real life, first,

because what I would have loved,
what the reason the healing came about, is

when I was ten years
old, my 16 year old brother died suddenly,

and it's through our family
and absolute chaos.

And, what I needed
at that time, I wanted at

that time was all in the healing program.

But I would have given anything
to have an adult just walk around

outside of whether we found the birds
or not.

It's about spending that time outside
with the trusted adult.

And that's where you're going
to get a child who's talking and telling

you stuff when you're not staring at them,
when you're just walking along,

looking at trees.

It's one the connection for me
there, Terry, is.

So you're talking about grief
after the death of someone.

So in my world of betrayal trauma,
big teen trauma,

you talk about disenfranchized grief,

so you're grieving the loss of something
that's still there, or.

But you're trying to rework that,
trying to figure it all out.

So grieve that.

It's like those two people experiencing
the grief of someone who died,

and the grief of betrayal
in a family system like this family

attachment wound, that that substance
misuse causes that grief is there.

And so to have someone be able
to connect with you on that

so powerful.

Where is the
exact location of the park in Naugatuck?

Because I'm familiar with Naugatuck,
65 acres.

It's up on the top of, Where?

They're getting ready to dig
the access road and get this thing going.

It's actually called the

YMCA Camp and Family Center.

And then a portion of it is going to be
devoted to the mental health.

Hello.

And one of the things
that's going to be there, which is very

exciting, is a lot of resources
are going to be placed throughout

so that kids
that are having suicidal ideation

and that

there's going to be resources listed
because we want to take the stigma out of

we want to take the stigma out of this
and provide it.

And and I think the mayor said it
best, Pete, has he said, we're going

to show kids and families how important
their mental health is to us.

We're going to put time, effort, energy,
money, resources into this.

And and we're going to make it a safe
place for them.

So I'm really grateful that doing that.

And then the gentleman that's in charge of
the YMCA, his name is Mark.

Right.

He's wonderful.

So he's he's
very much behind this as well.

And that just shows you when you throw
things out there in the universe.

Yeah.

Interesting things happen to me right now.

Yeah, well, she's going to write
a be a Good friend song.

Can we get like a friends buddy
bench in there somehow?

We'll, you know, one of the things we're
going to be doing is they're even sponsor.

Hey, we're in it
near the Seven Seas where, you know,

for for children that are living in homes
with substance misuse.

Yeah. Absolutely. Awesome.
I'll get a check from.

All right.

Right.

I mean, just, you know, that's great.

Naugatuck is great.
Near and dear to my heart.

My parents are from there.

Great Memorial Day parade and great

fireworks at the,
the high school for 4th of July.

So good stuff over there.

And Naugatuck and Naugatuck and it is
it's a it's a really heart and soul.

The mayor said to me,
because I want to make it

so that we're a destination
instead of a place.

You drive by on route eight, you know,
I mean, you just have to stop in

and see what's going on.

So there's a
there's all of them redoing the downtown.

It's going to be bricks.

It's going to be really nice.

Well congratulations.

That's amazing.

I'm from Waterbury,
but I live in West Hartford now.

But Naugatuck, great place
near, near and dear to your heart.

Oh. So let me just shout out
some sponsors.

We're here at Sally and Bob's on North
Main Street.

Wonderful place.

Helen was so nice to host us.

Wonderful breakfast, lunch.

So if you want to come back and try it,
I would highly suggest it.

I didn't think we had time for,

taste test, because we have so much
important stuff to talk about.

But, next time, you guys,
come on, we'll have food.

And they're on a podcast, too.

Prior podcast.

So Sally and Bob's Brook Golf Lore group,

the fix IV,

float,
41 Luna Pete's, Parkville Management,

people's
Bank and New England Dawn security.

So New England dawn security.

Here's where I'm going with this
with New England dawn security.

What are three keys
that make this a great nonprofit?

Three keys for soulful forest
that make you guys.

What are you guys doing? That's great.
What do you guys do?

That's. That makes it work.

Can, I guess, go ahead.

Teamwork and collaboration.

Passion

and like, love for what you do.

Passion
and love for what you do. Teamwork.

I've never guessed before.
This is the first time.

And like energy

and like motivation, you're like,

you have a goal
and you're like very mission oriented.

And you guys want

you see what you see down the road
and you're working hard to get there.

So stubborn.

I like that one nice way to say it.

Yeah. Coffee maker.

Afraid to make mistakes.

Oh, I've never been the founder
and chief enthusiast for a nonprofit

before, so I'm actually, by trade,
a nuclear medicine technologist.

So I inject people
with other sources of radiation.

And you can see how that just parlays,
right?

Yeah.

It works.

Right. For sure.

So so I'm sort of I'm 65 now.

I'm sort of semi-retired.

So I just work one day a week and then I
then I do this, the rest of the time

and I have I look back and go,
oh, that was the wrong way to go.

Oh that was, you know, we just did. Right.

Because we've been doing this

for a long time
and we're like, oh, everything that we do.

There was a reason
why we ended up doing that

because we learned something that
we needed, you know, later down the road.

And I think one of the things I love about
you most is we trust the journey.

We don't go, you know, like we don't, you
know, lament things that we didn't like.

Okay. Well, what
what do we need to learn from that?

So you and I spend a lot of time
at the reflecting of, well,

we don't get on the road.

We took, trust in trail all the way. Yes.

And and that's really
what the song is about.

It's about trusting your path,
you know, trusting

life flowing through you and for you,
and accepting

everything that comes as a gift,
as an opportunity to learn, to grow.

And that's if you can interpret life
and situations that way.

I feel like you can grow and expand and
not get too marked down into, you know,

so many hardships, so

nice.

And I got a question like,
how do you fundraise?

I heard grants
you guys just recently received a grant.

If you want to talk about that.

Fundraiser.

And the gentleman that he said during

these are fundraisers,
he goes because the amount of time,

effort, energy and money
you put into this, you you end up making

things beer with brews.

And it was it was I guess I like,
oh yeah, big cardboard cutouts of Harry

and Prince

Harry and Prince William and their wives,
and you could have your picture taken.

And it was at this brewer and I was
I got it, but I ended up spending

so much money, you know, and then now I'm
stuck with the entire royal family, and,

and they always say we are.

No, no, no, we're not going to do that.

So the way that we are funded
is through donations and grants, and I

this is the one thing I have learned is
how to write a grant, how to put it forth.

And in fact, the William Pettit
founders, the family Foundation. Yep.

Gave us a grant today.

And, that we're just so grateful
to be aligned with them.

And so the hill is going to go out
to, children in, for example, parents

and some of their children,

and some of the other organizations
that I can't think of right now,

because I'm nervous, it's
going to go out for children

that have been affected by my.

Yeah, I've interacted with Doctor Pettit
a few times.

He's a good friend and a good guy.

So future podcast guests too. So

now he's great.

All right. New game.

So you talked events and fundraisers.

And so the game is first last best worst.

What's like the first thing you guys did.

The last the most recent and the best one
and the worst one

can be the first best worst of what?

Like a soulful forest.

Activity event fundraiser.

Oh, boy.

Or a meeting?

Like.

So that's a fun party.

You can play this game
with anything. Mistake.

You can do this with baseball games,
I don't know. Oh,

okay.

Well, the first was Terry and I meeting
at that restaurant and coming up there.

Yeah, okay. It was the first.

Right.

And I had to get over, she gets she gets
really mad when I say this website.

When I first met her,
I feel like she would, like, talk to me.

I was like, she's pretty, she's talented.

I'm like, I don't.

But she didn't.

That was where she said to me,
she was, you're so beautiful.

You're so you need to accept yourself.

But I it's hard.

Like, right now
I'm sitting here with Spanx on.

Like there's a blood clot

circulation in the lower part of my body.

I'm taking some of these
my own advice here.

So that was the first.

First?

I remember the first time
you and I worked on this.

I just, like.
I don't know why the Spanx reminded me.

I don't think it has anything to
do with it, but just her humor, I think.

Right.

You're writing your.

It's a bike,
but it's not an electric bike.

It's a electric extra.

What did you call it?

It's a bike
that you just need a little push.

Yeah. E-bike. Yeah. So yeah.

So she rolls up at this
adorable little coffee shop in Southbury.

Hudson's, on this bike.

And I'm like, that is so fun.

And so cute.

And then she has all this
packed in her basket on the bike.

I'm like, I have to know this lady like,
this is amazing.

So that was a basket on an e-bike.

It was so cute. It was like something
I have a little hallmark movie

I love my I know, do you still ride it
like do.

Yeah. Okay.

But then I eat a lot. So really good.

Good for me.

And my husband said, why do we pay Oprah
Winfrey and Weight Watchers every month?

And I go, I don't know,

I think you need to visit the affirmation
I do, I do.

We need a way to say three nice things
about ourselves.

No, it's not easy. You get a mustache.

It's not. It's not easy.

But you know what?

It is what I do. Yep.

I love this time of my life.

You know what I mean? Yep.

I can see it.

I get a chance to take all the wisdom
and experience

and the things that have hurt me
deeply. And.

And I know that what we do,

what the three of us
do, we're helping kids that need it most.

And that is so enjoyable.

So, so that is the beauty that I feel
comes from me.

And that is more.

It's wonderful statement right there,
I like it, I'm totally on board.

You know, you're helping kids.

That's what
I got started in and out of the classroom.

I saw there was a need. One of my students

lost their dads,
unfortunately, unexpectedly.

And I was like,
we did go fund me, but go Fund Me takes

a portion of every donation and taxes
the recipient at the end.

So I don't know
if you didn't know that. Yeah.

And then then the following year,
another student lost their father.

So I was like, you know what?

I was a new dad.

So I was like, let's start a nonprofit.

And ever since we got a wonderful team
Matt,

Jen, Marty, Ty, Rob, Dante, great team.

Marty's here, retired teacher. Marty.

Matt and Jenna and time. Rob.

They're not here.

So I see you, but Marty's here.

Marty's a good friend.

Loving children.

And so in any given classroom,
you have children with children.

And if that ever happens.

And I.

And I hope that it doesn't not,
you know, it's something that we hope

we never have to send out,
but we're honorable.

We do.

You let me know in that ordeal.

That's a great connection.

We have I mean, we deal with
a lot of families that lose loved ones.

So, we'll be definitely talking in.

This is a connection and collaboration
that will go on for years to come.

So thank you.

Thank you for reaching out.

Thank you for being here.

Oh, we got to show your contact.

The soulful forest.com.

The soulful forest at gmail.com.

[e-mail]. Yep. That's your email.

The soulful forest

at gmail.com.

I can be reached in many ways.

And then you're CC
at Christina connors.com

and you're here at Mainstreet
counseling.com.

Really? Well, our Main Street counselor.

Oh yeah. You're not here for that.

You're here for something else
I won't I won't delete the email.

I'll probably just, you know, Tara,

I grit and grace recovery or look
how many places you can find us. Oh.

Oh QR codes.

I know QR codes.

Yeah, I do,
because I also do, southern snow.

But I'm going to I come back again
and talk about my southern stuff.

Yeah. Please.

Yeah.

That's really
you guys are all welcome back individually

because having three of you
on with so much content,

so much exciting things going on.

But I loved meeting with everyone.

You're going to sign a book for me? Yes.

We're going to connect
with the the healing chickadees.

Yeah.

We're going to talk about gaslighting.

Yes we are.

I'm a big time gaslighter.

No I'm kidding. Totally kidding.

Okay, now you can enter into recovery.

Yes. Okay.

Oh, so

just quickly,
there's a follow up question.

So if we can quickly
just say your favorite restaurant

and who would you eat with?

Anyone in the world, dead or alive?

There's a
there's a new place in Salisbury called.

Okay, I'm I'm big on sauces,

wonderful sauce and Puglia pizza.

Puglia. Yeah.

And I would,

I would have, dinner

with my brother
who passed away when I was,

ten years old.

I'm just like

you said that because we lost my brother
six years ago,

and my dad three years ago,
and I to say the same thing, I would have,

lunch or dinner with my dad or my brother,
and we just, celebrated

my niece's marriage this past weekend,
which is my brother's daughter.

And it was a beautiful wedding.

However, there was, you know,
father of five chairs sitting in the front

row with my brother's picture
and a flower, and it was

it was bittersweet because my mom
was there with us, you know? And,

when you see the picture of my mom
and the bride after the wedding,

it's not going to look very pretty
because they're both like,

you know, it's kind of disastrous.

But, getting back to the point of,
I would have, lunch with my dad

and my brother and, I know they're there
with us, but, I would go back to what

goes on here.

It's like colony pizza.

Ooh, spicy.

Delicious. The oil. The hot oil or. No.

And then.

So it's casual and delicious food. So,

I am a soul food girl.

I'm born and raised in Louisiana,
and all of our family is down south.

And so there are a couple of places here
in Connecticut that have like, real deal

soul food.

And one of them are Miss
Thelma's in Bridgeport.

Oh so fun.

And the vibe is amazing.

I would love a free meal
if you're listening to me right now.

No I stand down at the I, I'm like oh
my god this is like the best stuff ever.

And everyone else is, you know,
I'm not very quiet about it.

I just get excited about it.

That's collard greens ever.

So I would be there and I would
I have to bring two people.

I can't just.

Oh, no.

Yeah, I would bring the my grandpa.

My paternal grandpa, passed
quite a few years ago,

and he was my ride or die like he was my
my person, my forever person.

And I miss him
every single day I talk to him.

So I would bring him
and I would actually love, would love

to see him with my mother in law,
who passed in 2020.

But I would love to see the two of them
sit and eat at this place,

at this establishment.

I think it would be a very interesting
conversation, very different personalities

bring very different life
experiences to the table.

And I would just sit back and eat my
fried chicken and listen, it'd be great.

Thank you, George Clooney,
I would eat at Sally and Bob's, cause.

Yeah,

with my wife and my twin girls.

Neil and Brigid.

Oh, we're here every Sunday
anyway, so. But,

this is the place. Yep.

This is our spot right here. Okay.

So good stuff.

Now wrapping up.

But before we do,
do you have any future events coming out?

Anything that we should look for?

How can we help you?
Where can we join you?

You can join us.

If you go to Soulful Trail blazers.org,
soulful trail Blazers is really

the kind of the clearinghouse for things
coming up with the Naugatuck Arc.

And you're going to be able to,

if you can contribute to the celebration
of sobriety Rock garden by creating rocks,

I mean, there's going to be
all kinds of opportunities.

So so that's what's coming up.

Is that Mark beautiful?

And where do you see yourself

in five years for the program?

I, I don't know, I'm, I'm, I'm,

gosh, maybe another grandchild.

And, continuing
to, to send this album to make it grow.

Yeah.

I see, at least to Silver Forest
nature parks.

Yeah. Up and running.

Different towns and, a place

that's thriving with programing to support

children and families with mental health
and all those kinds of things,

because it takes a village,
and I believe that towns can come together

and really take care of the community,
and that's what we need.

So, yeah,

my, my five year plan is to build a trauma
treatment center in Florida.

And actually I want like 50, 60 acres
of uncharted land, uncharted territory.

And I have the community garden.

I want it to be a third space.

And I would love to have a local force
there.

Yeah.

So I'm I'm actively working on it.

It's kind of a secret
because I don't have any funding for it,

but it's not a secret anymore.

But,
it is something I'm actively working on

and something
I have been for quite some time.

So it will be a space where I can go.

Yeah. So, like, I want to plant a mini.

I'm on there for me just to kind of be in
and for a community space and, for

people in the community and for clinicians
across the country to send people.

And I just step back and if they need to
use the space, they use the space.

And if I want to be there, I can be there.
So be cool.

So how cool would that be?

We might have to have a swamp
or something in there though, right?

Like Florida alligators or alligators.

I'll call a gator garden.
Yeah, there you go.

Oh, if that could be camp cats.

Just throw them to the alligators,
right? Yep.

There we go.

And you're big into gratitude.

So I wanted to share some thank you notes
that we have received over the time.

So I highly encourage
all my listeners, multiple podcasts

write the handwritten note, the
thank you, the check in.

So we've just had a donation
from Bill and Betsy.

Thank you so much for your donation.

Oh. Maddie.

At her birthday, I gave her some merch.

Cystic
fibrosis wrote us a nice. Thank you.

Joan Dismas,

great friend, made a wonderful donation.

And then some families that we have helped
have wrote us a donation.

Just no words can describe
how truly thoughtful and generous

your organization is.

We help with unexpected expenses.

I've always loved your organization
and what it represented.

Never did I think it
we be the recipient of it.

We thank you.

We love you all.

We love Jeff too for mentioning us.

We've always supported you.
Be a good friend.

Thank you so much.
All is appreciated. Love you so much.

And you know that's for someone
that unexpectedly passed.

And then another one.

But I can't read the handwriting right
now, so.

But it's a beautiful card.

They have that nice all caps font.

Let's analyze that. Yeah.

As a third grade teacher, you definitely
turn into a handwriting analyst. But,

the beautiful

thing
about what you do is I personally feel.

And it's sad when tragedy strikes.

It's not in some way up top

that's going to come to support, you know,
to really ultimately take care of you.

It's really communities.

And I think that why should we wait
until the tragedy comes?

Why don't we create

a space for preventative care
and just really get to know each other?

So when something does hit,
we have each other's backs already.

And I think that that's key.

It makes people feel a little bit
less vulnerable knowing that heaven forbid

something happens that we know
that we have our community of support.

And I think that's so beautiful
what you're doing.

I think, it takes a village.

And once again, when tragedy hits, it's.

We have each other.
Yeah. And I get to meet.

I mean, there's both sides of it.

We're helping people,
but then you get to meet wonderful

people that are also helping.

You mentioned Mister Rogers.
That was my idol. That's.

Who would I have dinner with?

That's who raised me. That's who.

You know, Mister Rogers,
I dress up him for Halloween.

I have all of his books.

I have his pop or pop up
little doll thing. So.

Bobblehead? Yeah.

So he's a great guy. He's all right.

So now I'm trying to apply
to be a presenter in the summer.

I'm going to go to Pennsylvania,
hopefully present or go to the conference.

A mister Rogers
themed or based conference.

So I think he's all right.

Yeah, he's a good guy, you know?
He's an amazing human being. Yeah.

There's a conference.

Oh, yeah.

I'll send you the link or,
yeah, I'll check that out.

And and then I have the future, friends

of any upcoming
event is our sixth annual toy drive.

I don't know if you guys are around.
Please swing by.

Luna pizza is right around the corner.

Until December
6th, we're collecting at maximum beverage.

There's three of them.

We're collecting at the Farmington one,

the Tolland one in the West Hartford
one, the ballet, and at Hartford

on December
5th, Mount Southington on November 29th.

Jazzercise.

We have brewing physical MT Bank and Luna
Pizza is we'll be collecting.

But this is our sixth annual toy drive
we're giving to kids that need support.

So please join us.

We have a caricature drawing.

We'll have pizza specials.

Just a wonderful event.

Please check us out.

Friends of Phoenix.

Com like and follow
the Feeny Talks with Friends podcast.

Like and follow everything
that the social forest is doing.

No. It was a wonderful.

Any closing remarks?

This has been a lot of fun.

Thank you so much. Yeah.
Thank you for having us.

Thank you. And once again,
thank you for the work you're doing.

Can you sing
a Be a Good Friend song to take us out?

Be a good friend?

Yeah.

That was it
right there. There you go. Right.

Oh, one more town.

Don't quit my day job.
Is that what you're saying?

The friends of the Valley.

I didn't warm up.

I didn't get to that song.

You got a friend?

Oh, come on, hit that, hit that.

When I look at this, do that
one friend in me, I don't know, I just.

Yeah, you might have bigger and stronger
and stronger to.

Yeah, but no one can love you.

The way I do.

Yeah. It's true.

No no no, no. Maybe.

All right.

Hit us with the chorus.

Let me stop embarrassing myself.

Hit us with the chorus of
you got a friend in me.

Yeah,

that's all I know.

Is you got a friend in me.

You got a friend in me. Let.

You got a friend in me.

You like something like you, I would say
I would just sing all the time, right?

All the time.

Yeah, yeah.
I always wanted to be a singer.

I've also wanted to be taller.
That didn't work out.

Hey, there's a song for that too.

I wish I was a little bit taller,
I wish I was a baller.

I was a shot call,
I wish I had a girl I would call her

I wish I had a friend,
one friend in the back.

I don't know what my family's
gonna make fun of me for.

Not knowing the wish.

I was a little bit taller.

So I'm three. Will say be a good friend.

All right. One, two, three.

Be a good friend.