Who Helps Make Your Soul Blossom?

Maryanne & JPMF Co-Founder, Cliff O’Brien at Sept 13th event

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

– Marcel Proust

As much as I love the above quote, I would add this bit:

Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy…and to the people who help us figure out how to make ourselves happy.

For at the end of the day…happiness is an inside job.

And, as you may have personally experienced in life — or currently are experiencing — it is a job that may require an astounding amount of work…some of which, quite frankly, is anything but joyous or fun.

But this much I know: the rocky road to happiness is always worth the effort.

On Sept 13th, 2025, the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund held it’s 25th anniversary event in Calgary. From my perspective, the evening was absolutely lovely. I got to stand up at the front of a ballroom filled with 110 people — the vast majority of whom have played some sort of role in my journey over the past 25 years — and say ‘thank you.’

How cool is that?!

In fact, if it weren’t for some of the people in that room, I would not have survived the treacherous emotional…