This is Part One of what I learned last weekend at The Virtua Women's Health Symposium in Philadelphia.  There will be three posts in all, each packed with valuable information.  I hope you enjoy them.

There’s a Yiddish word, “beshert”, which means something is “preordained” or “inevitable.” Most people use it to mean something was “meant to be.”

I used this descriptive word last weekend.

Recently, I reached out to my friend Judy from aboomerslifeafter50.com after she mentioned an upcoming health and wellness symposium she was planning on attending. There would be two keynote speakers, wellness demos, a few breakout sessions and a chance to network with like-minded women.

The event was taking place in Philadelphia, which is only a two-hour drive for me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend more time and money on another conference.

I tucked the idea away to think about later.

Two days later Judy called. She won two VIP tickets to the symposium, which included a one-on-one with one of the keynote speakers, Goldie Hawn.

I gasped, praying she would ask me to go.  I met Judy only once, so I had my doubts. As I was busy praying, I heard her continue on by asking, “Would you like to go with me?”

I think I cut her off by shouting, “YES!”

It was beshert.

The Ninth Annual Women’s Health Symposium was an all-day event that took place at the Philadelphia Convention Center, with two keynote speakers.  One was Ms. Hawn, the author was author John Gray (“Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus”.)

Goldie was scheduled to speak at the end of the day, and I (very) anxiously waited to hear her.

I was enamored with Goldie Hawn from the first time I heard her sweet giggle on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.  She always intrigued me as a child because I recognized that behind her extraordinary acting abilities (take a look at her performances in “Butterflies Are Free” and “Cactus Flower”) lay a serious intellect beneath the bubbled-head characters she portrayed.

I also thought she seemed authentic.

I was finally going to have the chance to find out whether I was correct. The moment she took the stage in Philadelphia, I knew I was.

After Goldie took the stage, she instantly touched our hearts with her broad smile and graceful movements. She took her seat beside the interviewer, and I couldn’t help but notice how her dancer-like body moved with perfect precision. Then I remembered reading that her first true love was dance; she began taking ballet and tap at the tender age of 3.

Questions from the audience and the interviewer began as expected.  Who was her favorite leading man beside Kurt Russell? All of them, but the beauty of Warren Beatty and Mel Gibson couldn't go unnoticed. What was her key to happiness? She was born with a happy disposition, but the love and closeness she has with her family, (which includes three children, one stepchild and five grandchildren) creates a happiness that is unparalleled. What was her favorite movie of all the ones she'd made? All of them, but she particularly enjoyed making “Sugarland Express” because it was Stephen Spielberg’s first movie.

Then we learned about her most recent project, The Hawn Foundation, which helps transform children’s lives with their MINDUP program.  MINDUP provides children with a way of acquiring important social and emotional skills through mindful awareness training, while teaching them about the intricacies of how their brains work.  Using it has shown to improve academic skills, reduce stress, increase focus, teach self-control and help them gain optimism.

MINDUP provides a way to enhance children's lives in and out of the classroom.

Goldie illustrated the power of what The Hawn Foundation can do by telling us the story of one little boy, Juan, who wasn’t being friendly to other children on the playground.  She pulled him aside and asked whether he knew what he was doing wrong.  He paused, thought carefully, then blurted out the part of his brain he was using incorrectly; promising to correct his bad behavior based on the knowledge gained from MINDUP.

Juan was 9 years old.

I gained a new respect for Goldie, because she was using her power and influence along with her passion and savvy to help improve the lives of young children through The Hawn Foundation.

She’s a class act.

After it was over, I got my 30 seconds of fame as I introduced myself to Goldie, told her who I was and what I write about as we had our picture taken.  She gently slipped her arm around me, and we giggled together.

Giggling

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