Friends For Life

It all began with an email message from a woman I did not know. Bonnie from Asheville, North Carolina, had found me online. She wanted to teach Seniors in Asheville’s Osher Institute of LifeLong Learning (OLLI) the benefits of plant based eating like I was doing at The University of Delaware Osher Institute of Lifelong Learning in Lewes(OLLI).

She, too, had adopted plant based eating about 7 years earlier with amazing health results and we realized we shared a passion for teaching others about our experience. Each of us was gathering a wealth of information from our studies, seminars and personal encounters. Bonnie was putting together her ideas for teaching courses and I had already been developing programs for my community. We began exchanging information and encouragement over time as both of us continued to learn and deepen our understanding of the impact of food choice.

Then last week Bonnie and her husband Warren attended PLANTSTOCK in Upstate New York as we had done in 2016. They were among the 600 guests on the Esselstyn family farm with the leading lights in the rapidly expanding PLANT-BASED movement. (http://www.capegazette.com/blog-entry/rip-rescue/133781)

On their way home to North Carolina they stopped in Delaware for a visit. It was great to meet my internet friend at last. We compared notes, ate together, shared information, hiked the trails of Cape Henlopen and explored Lewes. On our last evening together a group of friends gathered in our home to meet Bonnie and Warren and share a Plant-Based potluck supper.

In the Fall Bonnie will be teaching a course called TRANSITION TO WHOLE FOODS/PLANT BASED LIVING at Asheville OLLI. In Lewes, I will be leading THE WORLD PEACE DIET STUDY GROUP at our OLLI. Both of us are committed to reaching out to all who wish to embrace a diet that is healthful for individuals, cruelty-free for animals and sustainable for the planet.