I just learned that John is in Heaven, and I wanted to pay tribute to him. John was my swimming teacher in the summer of 1969 at Franklin pond, and he taught me an invaluable life lesson that I have never forgotten: Do not give up just because something looks hard or scary. I needed to swim from the diving board to shore, with the waterfall on my right, to pass the beginner test. As the instructor, John tread water between the diving board and the shore. I jumped into the water, and as an 8-year-old boy whose dense little body would not float, I immediately began to feel the pull of the waterfall. I cried out and asked John to help me, but he stayed put, calmly saying, “You are fine. You can do this.” My protests escalated as my fears rose, all the while kicking and doggy-paddling as best I could. John continued to respond to my cries for help with, “You are fine. You can do this.” My fear began to mix with anger as I started to feel that this man didn’t care if I went over the falls, but John was right. I stopped asking for his help as I passed him in the water and then swam to shore, passing my test with both a sense of pride for my accomplishment and an appropriate sense of embarrassment for my failure to trust him. If John had rescued me that day, he would have done me a great disservice. I would likely have forever been afraid to swim in deep water, and I would have missed the opportunity to keep trying in the face of fear. Throughout the years thereafter, whenever I saw John, I always thanked him for that life lesson. Today, I want to do so one final time. Thank you, John, for teaching me to face my fears. I look forward to seeing you in Heaven one day, which is a better place since you arrived. With Gratitude, Jeff Bjorck, Ph.D. Licensed psychologist