Eli Steinsapir (Age 10) On Seeing What’s There Instead Of What’s Missing

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Children can serve as our greatest teachers if we let them. My guest in this special episode is my ten-year-old son, Eli William Steinsapir. A boy with the sweetest smile and a glint of playful mischievousness in his eye, Eli brings sunshine everywhere he goes. If you met him, you’d never guess what he’s been through. Eli lived the first years of his life in the dark shadow of my battle against breast cancer. Just as our lives were beginning to stabilize, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. After months of sheltering in place and attending Zoom preschool, Eli’s favorite person in the world, his older sister, Molly, went on a bike ride with her best friend one morning and never came home. Molly died in the hospital two weeks later. Four years later, our town of Pacific Palisades burned down, including Eli’s elementary school. Despite these immense losses, Eli views the world with positivity. He sees what’s there instead of what’s missing. Eli has a gentle spirit, always kind and quick to apologize when he makes a mistake. During our conversation, we spoke about his memories of the Palisades fire, the terrible stress of watching our town burn, and what it was like to go back afterwards. Eli also shared some of his dreams of Molly where they visit inside of old memories, and the secret comfort of reading her books at night when the lights are supposed to be out. Our conversation was also lighthearted and funny. Eli offered his strong opinion that we all should have a four-day school and work week and life advice on thoroughly enjoying each Saturday, the best day of the week. Eli is currently writing and illustrating his first book, which he’s calling “A Kid’s Life.” Expect to see it on your bookstore shelves in the future! Connect with Kaye Steinsapir: * Subscribe on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@ksteinsapir] * Instagram: @teammollyofficial [https://www.instagram.com/teammollyofficial/] * Substack: Transforming Pain Into Purpose [https://open.substack.com/pub/kayesteinsapir] * The Molly Steinsapir Foundation [https://mollysteinsapir.com/]

Michael Geller On The Loss Of His Brother, Mom And Hometown

In this episode, I was joined by another member of our extended Pacific Palisades family, Michael Geller. Like any family, we don’t share all the same political views. Mike and I vote differently. But it doesn’t matter. When we sat down, our superficial differences melted away. We became so immersed in conversation about life and loss that we never discussed the LA mayoral race (which we’d been debating online). Mike is an OG Palisades dude. He was born and raised in the town that our family joined in 2011. He grew up surfing, riding motorcycles and idolizing his older brother and best friend, Damon. Our audience will remember Episode 5 with Damon’s wife, Lili Geller. Mike took us back to the night when he was surfing with Damon under a full moon and suddenly couldn’t find him. When he paddled in, Damon was face down on his board, not breathing. Despite doing everything humanly possible to save his big brother, Mike said goodbye to Damon on the beach, where they’d surfed together throughout their lives. It was the first time Mike had been face-to-face with death. Two weeks later, Mike and his wife, Jaimie, held her father’s hands as he died from a rare form of leukemia. Jaimie and Mike have been together since they were teenagers. Her father was an extremely important person in Mike’s life. Mike found himself in an obliterated place because of these profound losses, which was further complicated by the ensuing Covid-19 pandemic. When light finally started to emerge through the darkness, Mike, Jaimie, and their three sons built their dream home. They’d recently moved in when the Palisades fire burned it to the ground. The Gellers also lost their business, Jaimie Geller Jewelry, in the location where Mike’s family had been in business since 1982. Mike takes us inside the fire's immediate aftermath, sharing the surreal story of recovering his business safe — full of melted gold and jewels — just days after the destruction. We talk frankly about the exhausting, ongoing battles with insurance adjusters, the false myth that our community is "just fine" and doesn't need help, and the incredible grassroots support that is allowing Jaimie Geller Jewelry to reopen this July. Last December, Mike’s mother passed away following a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. After a grueling medical trial, she utilized the California End of Life Option Act to choose her final day. Mike once again finds himself in an obliterated place, asking, “How much more can I take?” We’re all carrying more pain than most people realize. The human experience is to suffer. It’s infinitely more bearable when we lock arms and lift each other up during the long journey home. Connect with Michael Geller: * Website: https://www.thecameronboycefoundation.org/www.jaimiegellerjewelry.com [http://www.jaimiegellerjewelry.com] [http://www.jaimiegellerjewelry.com/] Connect with Kaye Steinsapir: * Subscribe on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@ksteinsapir] * Instagram: @teammollyofficial [https://www.instagram.com/teammollyofficial/] * Substack: Transforming Pain Into Purpose [https://open.substack.com/pub/kayesteinsapir] * The Molly Steinsapir Foundation [https://mollysteinsapir.com/]

11. juni 20261 h 23 min

Eli Steinsapir (Age 10) On Seeing What’s There Instead Of What’s Missing

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