Everything I learned, I learned in Kindergarten.

Congratulations on graduating (pre) Kindergarten today Jackson!  There is nothing more rewarding in my life than being an uncle to you, Nicholas and Charlotte.  Your teacher told us when you grow up you want to be a basketball player, I can't wait to come and watch you play in the NBA.

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​You are a tremendous big brother and you did a great job singing at Graduation today, I am so proud of you Jackson Tyler.  "You will always be a child in my eyes, when you need some love, my arms are open wide.  And even when you're growing old, I hope you remember, you will always be a child in my eyes."  ​Congratulations again big guy, I love you!

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​Watching you and the other 29 classmates sing, I couldn't help but see the pure joy in your voices, warmth in your hearts and love coming out of you children.  God willing, you and the other four and five year olds are being raised by caring hard working parents (or other family members) and you are all taught respect and to treat other people the way that you would like to be treated.  

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When everyone lifted your hands in the air and sang together you reminded me to have more fun, be more generous to the people around me and not to be so quick to judge someone because they might believe something differently than I do.

Four year olds don't really know a lot about diversity.  We aren't born with any hate or prejudices, those have to be learned over time somehow.  As Kids we didn't care about the contrast between two different skin colors, different races, religions or ethnic backgrounds; we were just nice to someone at school because they were nice to us.  Nelson Mandella said "People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite" and I was reminded of that 1st hand today.  Thank you Jackson, I am proud of you & I can not wait to see what the next school year brings you!  ​I love you Big Guy.

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

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