Lessons from T&Y
My two little best friends my neighbors, my forever muses, T & Y, just 8 and 10, but with the wisdom of old souls and the purest hearts. Daughters of my dear friend Malka, these girls have shaped my time in Nosara in ways I never expected. The memories we’ve made together will stay with me forever.
I feel like one of the hardest parts of leaving Nosara was leaving these two. I didn’t realize how deeply they’d embedded themselves into my heart until I had to say goodbye.
“I believe the children our our future… teach them well and let them lead the way.. show them all the beauty they possess inside…” Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston. Listen. Immediately. Below.
You learn so much from kids. I don’t have kids so I didn’t know this until they became my neighbors turned family.
When I’m with them, the noise of adult life fades. I’m able to drop back into presence, into play, into wonder, curiosity. They remind me how to imagine freely, create without judgment, and be fully myself, no filter.
Also these girls are the most expressive little performers always putting their whole heart into everything they do. As my neighbors, I get to hear T practicing lines for her school play and Y singing her heart out to “The Greatest Showman” at night.
But my favorite moment? An unexpected, surprise Phantom of the Opera performance during Shabbat dinner complete with a full, soul-stirring rendition of “Music of the Night.” Truly iconic.
Growing up in Costa Rica has shaped them into such sovereign little beings a true reflection of this place and the incredible mother raising them.
What inspires me most is their school and the freedom it fosters. I even drove Y to school one morning and she was completely barefoot! When I asked about it, she shrugged and said, “I really don’t need to wear shoes to school.” And she meant it. That kind of grounded, carefree wisdom? It says everything.
Their school is the Nosara Playhouse. PLAY. HOUSE. While they take core classes, so much of their learning happens through art, creativity, and play. Rehearsing for plays in the middle of the school day, fully immersed in self-expression. The kids are open, vulnerable, and deeply empathetic. Even the soccer and surf boys are out there performing! AND enjoying it. Fighting for the leads. Trying to get a lead with their crushes.
I remember being in elementary school, standing at the crossroads of sports and theater. Wanting so badly to “be cool” I chose soccer, even though deep down, I longed to be on stage. Singing, performing, storytelling really it lit me up, but I enjoyed it at home. Every time school play auditions came around, I’d freeze..too afraid of being judged, of standing out for the “wrong” reasons. And now, with T & Y, I get to live that dream vicariously. Watching them perform so freely, so fearlessly, it’s like my inner child finally gets her moment in the spotlight.
Creative expression, in their world, goes hand in hand with emotional intelligence. The level of emotional intelligence embedded in them is something I wish the whole world could experience. It’s proof that education can be so much more than just memorizing facts, it can be about truly feeling and creating.
One of the most beautiful things I learned is about the Rose Room at school..a space where students go when they have an issue with someone. They sit together, the speaker holding a rose, and talk through it face to face. No avoidance, no resentment, just understanding.
T once told me, “The Rose Room taught me and I don’t have to like them, but I can accept them.” That hit me. How many adults truly understand that? How much of the world’s conflict could be softened with that perspective?
These girls have taught me SO much like how to play and have given me so much love. Leaving Nosara is hard, but leaving them? That’s one of the hardest parts. They’re my little neighbors, and I know I’ll miss the simple joy of sitting on my balcony and hearing their voices calling out: “Kat! Kat! Kat!”
A little burst of sunshine on a cloudy day. I love them with my whole heart.
