Here’s a great start to 2018: Karen will be joining us at ClickerExpo in St. Louis to help celebrate the 15th anniversary of ClickerExpo! She wants to hang out, see the many people she has missed, and soak in the ClickerExpo atmosphere.
Karen popped by the office just a few weeks ago. She looks absolutely wonderful, combining the joy from singing with the physical benefits of dance to produce stamina, balance, posture, and an ease of movement that you don’t see often in octogenarians.
We caught up on her life, some house-changing plans in the offing, children, and, more importantly, her grandchildren with whom she enjoys wonderfully close relationships. Some of Karen’s grandkids and my children are of similar ages. When we worked together daily, sharing the joys of parenting (both of us) and grand-parenting (her) was something we would do frequently. It was good sitting with Karen again to have one of those conversations.
Karen’s been active not just physically, but mentally as well. She has been helping guide the work of graduate students’ research in operant conditioning, and she is making great progress on a new memoir. That kind of work—mental tasks that truly challenge—is what the latest research on aging indicates is the key to functioning well above the average as we get on in calendar years. Karen is ahead of her time, as usual.
I am feeling just a bit awed, inspired, and very lucky.
Join us at ClickerExpo in St. Louis and catch up with Karen yourself. If you want to send her a note of welcome, I’ll gather them all and present them. Send your thoughts in an e-mail to karen@clickertraning.com.
Register for ClickerExpo St. Louis, March 16-18, 2018.
Aaron Clayton is President of Karen Pryor Clicker Training and TAGteach International, and a member of the ClickerExpo Faculty.
