Have you ever met a person able to literally light up any room she enters? Livi was like that. Her laughter came from her entire body and filled others completely. The world was so bright with her in it. Which is why everything felt so dark when we lost her in a car accident in March of 2018. Olivia Rose would not graduate with the other seniors in her class. Senior day would happen with her memory instead of her being there with us physically. Our world would never be the same.

Livi changed my life. I was so fortunate to spend my afternoons with her as one of her softball coaches. However, she was not the type of person that you could just know in one setting because she crawled into your heart and was with you always. The spirit in her little body was spunky and left me shaking my head often. Her heart and passion were bigger than any I had ever seen. As I experienced grief with our community and intimately with the twenty teenage girls on our softball team who loved Livi so very much, I questioned my own life. Was I doing everything that I could do live a life with joy, laughter, and passion?

Livi left an amazing ripple in this world. She changed lives by lighting up rooms and making others feel seen and loved everywhere she went. She was unapologetically herself. And it was beautiful. Was I leaving a ripple I could be proud of? Was I living like Livi?

The answer for me at the end of that school year was: No. I knew I needed to move to my next goal which was teaching at the university level and stepping away from my third grade classroom. It was not an easy decision to make but I knew that it was time.

Each semester I start with an introduction of how I came to be at the university and Livi’s story is part of that. These are the things that Livi taught us that we want to continue to share with others:

1. Put others first
2. Be a giver
3. CWYCC (control what you can control)
4. Live each day to its fullest
5. Be yourself
6. Whatever you do, do it with all your heart

#LiveforLivi

I hope that you implement these into your own life. As you work to invite mindfulness into your daily routine, which of these come naturally to you? Which do you need to practice with more intention?