Elena Brower

I remember that conversation really well.

He's now 19.

And such a good human.

Oh, I'm just so proud of him and his choices and how he handled his life.

A lot of what happened, I think, in these ensuing years followed from, as you observed, being heard and really respected.

And even when he didn't

Even when he did something that didn't really merit our respect or my respect, I gave it to him anyway.

And that's a teaching from the Tao.

It's something that I've elaborated on in my one course on parenting, respect in the face of disrespect.

And I think he's flourished because of that.

Not without his trials and tribulations, of course, but he knows who he is because he got respect.

He was heard.

I'm grateful that you picked up on that.

Yeah.

So he was two and a half when we got divorced, Anthony and I, and we're still dearest of friends.

And he, Anthony, Jonah's dad, and my current partner of the last 12 years, James, are very close now.

They're like the brothers they never got in this lifetime.

That's beautiful.

It's so cool.

But I think the act of giving him the story of this girl named Elena as though it were, it's not really my thing to do it in a distant person, you know what I mean?