Five years ago today, on July 4th 2011, my French grandfather, Joseph, on my mother’s side transitioned.

Why do I mention him?

Because he is strongly alive in my heart and soul, as being the person who encouraged me the most in being my most natural and artistic self.

Of all of my extended family, he was the one I was most connected to because we shared kindred spirits.

He was incredibly creative, an amazing artist, loved nature and gardening, connected with animals and children, and was a big child at heart always playfully innocent even though he had seen the horrors of World War II while being in the army at that time.

We shared so many laughs and connective experiences in the short times we did have together, as he lived in France and would come visit with my grandmother every couple of years for the summer, as well as lived with us for a year once.

In those times he was with us we spent hours at the kitchen table drawing together and he always encouraged me with my art. We spoke only in French, as he did not know English.

He was the first person to ever pay me for a piece of art that I created for him and my grandmother, which was unexpected, but he wanted me to know the value of my creative expression.

He lives on and in me and I even have his simple gold wedding band he always wore, which my mom let me have when I asked because it is meaningful to me. His finger and mine are an absolutely and synchronously perfect fit, since he was a small man.

Today I honor him and feel his presence strongly, keeping my promise to live my life as the creative being that I am and to do only the work that is naturally within my heart and soul to express and share with others.

He reminds me of the creative power within me, to be the artist of life I was meant to be, to create my life as a work of art (as is my personal motto), and that independence and freedom comes through natural self expression and self value and honor.

He was always happy and there was nothing that deterred his strong faith and always seeing the silver lining in all things, along with always seeing what was of most value in life. He didn’t need much to be content and his smile twinkled in his eyes, as well as emanated from his heart.

That’s not to say he didn’t have his own challenges and wasn’t a strong and disciplinary father, but his softness was the underlying energy that was felt as his truth.

He was an honorable man and a very humble and simple man with a heart of gold.

I love you Pepe.

You are forever with me and I promise to continue in the vein of your creative spirit and hope to live as honorably and humbly as you.

I have no photos of you, as they are all in old albums that my mom and dad have, but you are etched in my memory and part of my soul always.

Here’s to your freedom and expansion…and to the freedom and expansion within all of our capabilities to experience in body through our embrace of full spirited expression.