Joan Danielson Bell

If you measure a life by the impact left behind on others, Joan Danielson Bell’s was without limit or compare; somehow both expansive and so very personal. For those who spent time with her, we can all share a smile and stories of how it was nearly impossible to enter a public space without being stopped by a younger person who approached with such reverie and deep emotion in thanking her for changing their life via her work. She immediately knew every name, every story, every detail of what they’d overcome… no matter the years or decades that had passed since they’d last seen each other. To change a life is to change the world, and Joan dedicated hers to doing so, for such a great many. Funny enough, the same goes if you worked at her favorite place to shop, or to get coffee, or any of life’s daily activities… somehow, she knew everything about you too and approached each interaction with the genuine joy of an old friend. She always saw the good in each of us and offered herself compassionately as the solution to any of our weakness or struggle. Also, to spend time with Joan was to learn far more about me (her son) than you probably ever thought possible or wanted. She would appreciate me jokingly writing that I’m sorry… because she knows what an immeasurable, luminous, life-solidifying gift she and her relentless love, admiration, perspective, teachings, care and deep intellect have been as the central pillar in my life; it will always stand firmly. To write of pillars, we must praise her beloved husband Robert who has been her angel, always, but particularly in these last number of years. The selfless dedication to your love of Joan is a beautiful gift that is not possible to be topped or ever erased. The last thing she said to me was how she was and is proud of “her multidimensional son”… I would write that I hope I can live up to that description, but there is no hope… there is certainty, and it is solely because you made me this way.