All right, here we are. This is Jay Brown Yoga Talks podcast. My name is Jay Brown. Welcome to you, whoever you are. Whether you're a new listener or a returning friend,

I sure appreciate that you are listening. And let me start off by mentioning to those of you

who were here last week, who listened to me talk in the outro about my mother-in-law, Ida, and how she was near the end of her life.

Well, 16 hours after that episode posted, Ida passed.

And in many regards, it was an answered prayer.

Because the last three or four weeks have been really hard.

She really declined in her quality of life was near zero.

So we were all sort of praying that it wouldn't stretch on for much longer.

And in a way that she passed when she did was a bit of a blessing.

And while it's a devastating loss, I have to say it's been incredibly beautiful to see the way my wife and her immediate close-knit family have rallied around each other in support.

Frankly, in my family, I did not witness that.

I had a number of times where I came up against death and people were horrible.

They were not unconditional and supportive and loving, quite the opposite. So to see a family come together

and be there for each other in the way that my wife and her family was is really beautiful.

And I want to say that out loud and acknowledge it, how incredible it is to see people being there for one another.

And I also just want to express my gratitude to all of you listening who sent me notes,

set a prayer, or even just had a kind thought in my way because I think it matters. It means a lot. So thank you.

And as I was saying a few weeks back when I was talking about this, there's nothing in life

that will reset your perspective more than experiencing the death of someone close to you.

It brings up all of the deepest questions and causes people to re-evaluate their

conceptions of self and life.

In a way, I value that.

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