To The Followers of The Emily Dahl Foundation,

It is not uncommon for people to ask you; “When is your birthday?”.

The date of this writing is May 16, 2020, and it is my 54th birthday.

This brings me to what I consider to be a most interesting question: “Before this day which is called my birthday , where was I?”.

And I would pose this question to you: “Before you were born, where were you?”

A few weeks ago I was with a very close friend sitting outside on his property in Kelowna. We were just sitting in his backyard looking at the clouds and I had a remarkable realization that we are kind of like a cloud. My friend and I just sat there quietly and considered it together, it was so nice.

Now I think of my daughter Emily and I think of others when I look at a cloud. I even called my friend the next day and thanked him for that lovely few moments sitting with him in his backyard. He felt the same thing as me.

If you ask a cloud, “How old are you?” you may listen very deeply and you may hear an answer. You can almost imagine the cloud beginning as water on the lakes surface or beginning as the sun that turns water into vapour. The wind is there as well. The cloud just like me , you and Emily does not come from nothing. There has been a change in the form for sure , but you simply cannot have a birth of something from nothing.

Sooner or later, the cloud will change into rain or something. The cloud is not lost. Emily is not lost. It is simply transformed into something new.

If you look deeply into the cloud you can see this transformation. You can see the rain, the sun and the wind. If you can see that you can see it will transform into the grass that you sit on to enjoy your remarkable life.

Everyone has been asking me what I am going to do on my birthday.

I am going to look at the clouds and imagine that cloud turning into rain , which waters the sun soaked grass , which feeds the cows that will allow me to enjoy my DQ Ice Cream Cake later!

Sherman Dahl
Emily Dahl Foundation
May 16, 2020