LiG Memories: The Heathman Years (2019–2025)

Finding Home, Losing It, and Finding Our Way Back Again

2019: The Last Normal Year

The 2019 conference felt like a celebration. The Heathman was buzzing from the moment families walked through the doors. Kids found each other instantly, teens found and claimed their favorite corners of the lobby, and parents settled into the familiar rhythm of presentations, funshops, and late‑night conversations that stretched long past any reasonable bedtime.

It was also the year I announced my retirement.

After a dozen years of coordinating LIFE is Good, I felt ready to step back. I had found someone wonderful to take over. The 2020 conference was going to be her first year at the helm. I imagined myself attending a conference as a regular person for the first time in ages, wandering the halls without a folder full of papers or cellphone in hand, watching the conference continue to grow in new hands.

The Heathman felt like the perfect place to hand things off. We knew its rhythms. We knew its quirks. We knew exactly how the mezzanine filled with laughter at night and how the conference rooms hummed with energy during the day. It felt like home, and I was ready to pass the keys to someone new.

I had no idea that 2019 would be the last “normal” year for a long time.

2020: The Year Everything Stopped

When COVID‑19 began spreading, it became clear very quickly that gathering hundreds of families in a hotel was not going to be possible. Not in May. Not anytime soon. Canceling the 2020 conference was heartbreaking. LIFE is Good has always been about connection, and suddenly connection itself felt dangerous.

I wrote the cancellation letter with a heavy heart, knowing how much people needed community in that moment. I refunded what I could, mourned what we couldn’t have, and tried to make peace with the fact that the world had shifted under our feet.

In the midst of all of this, we lost a beloved community member, Cyndi Connelly, to COVID. Her passing was a deep heartbreak during an already devastating year, and her absence was felt by everyone who knew her. She was woven into the fabric of this community, and losing her made the distance between us feel even heavier.

And then came the unexpected twist: Lisa Russell, who had been preparing to take over, found herself unable to step into the role after all. The pandemic changed everything for everyone, including her.

So after having already said my goodbyes, I stepped back in.

It wasn’t the plan. It wasn’t what any of us expected. But it was what the conference needed. And honestly, it was what I needed too. LIFE is Good has always been woven into my life in a way that’s hard to describe. Letting go was one thing. Letting go in the middle of a global crisis was another.

2021: LIFE is Good Goes Online

With in‑person gatherings still unsafe, we made the decision to bring LIFE is Good online for 2021. But I didn’t want a weekend of passive webinars. I wanted the real LIFE is Good experience, the energy, the spontaneity, the hallway conversations, the funshops, the late‑night laughter, the talent, the teens, the magic.

So we built a full conference inside Whova, a virtual event platform that let us recreate the LIFE is Good ecosystem in a digital space.

And somehow, it worked.



We had live presentations, interactive funshops, real‑time discussions, and a conference “lobby” where people could hang out and chat just like they would at the Heathman. The Talent Show was one of the most creative we’ve ever had. And the teens, of course, hosted their own virtual prom.

It didn’t have the hugs we could get at an in-person event. But it was unmistakably LIFE is Good.

And for many families who had never been able to travel to Vancouver, it was their first chance to join us. That part felt like a gift.

Still, when the weekend ended, I felt the ache of missing our time together. The virtual lobby was lively, but it wasn’t the stone fireplace. The chat threads were warm, but they weren’t the late‑night clusters of people sprawled across couches. The funshops were interactive, but they weren’t the art studio with its familiar hum.

We made it work. We made it meaningful. But we were ready to come home.

2022: The Homecoming

Walking back into the Heathman in 2022 felt like stepping into a place that had been waiting for us. The lobby looked the same, but we were different. Kids who had been toddlers in 2019 were suddenly big. Teens who had grown up at LIFE is Good were now leading funshops, hosting panels, and stepping into adulthood. Families who had discovered unschooling during the pandemic were attending for the first time, wide‑eyed and grateful to finally be in a room full of people who understood them.

The energy that year was a mix of joy, relief, and something quieter, gratitude, maybe. A sense of having made it through something together.

The schedule reflected the moment we were living in. There were more conversations about mental health, resilience, and rebuilding community. More grown unschoolers sharing their stories. More space for connection, rest, and reflection. And of course, all the traditions returned: cosplay day, Ultimate Tag, the Untrepreneurial Fair, the Talent Show, the late‑night teen gatherings, the art studio, the games room, the familiar hum of LIFE is Good in full swing.

It wasn’t just a return. It was a renewal.

2023–2025: Growing Into Ourselves Again

The years that followed were shaped by something deeper than simply “getting back to normal.” The world had changed. Families had changed. Kids had changed. Parents had changed. And LIFE is Good changed with them. These were rebuilding years, not just for the conference, but for the people who came to it.

We were all carrying the weight of what we’d lived through. Some families were still finding their footing after years of isolation. Some kids were rediscovering how to be in groups again. Some teens were navigating the aftershocks of a world that had shifted under their feet during some of the most formative years of their lives. And parents, all of us, were figuring out how to support our children while also tending to our own frayed edges.

The Heathman became the perfect place for that rebuilding. Its familiar lobby, its warm wood and stone, its charming birdsongs piped into the hallways, all of it held us while we figured out how to be together again. The conference grew quieter in some ways and more intentional in others. Conversations deepened. Presentations reflected the moment. Grown unschoolers stepped forward with stories that resonated differently now. Teens reclaimed their space with a fierceness that felt like relief. Kids filled the hallways again, slowly at first, then all at once.

We weren’t picking up where we left off. We were building something new on top of everything we had lived through. And the Heathman held it all.

By 2025, it was clear that the Heathman Lodge wasn’t just where we held the conference. It had become part of our story. It’s the place we return to, year after year, to reconnect, recharge, and remember why we chose this path.

Closing

When I think about the Heathman Years, I think about resilience. I think about the way this community held together even when we couldn’t be in the same room, and the way we found our way back to one another when the world finally opened again. I think about the online conference that kept us connected, the homecoming that brought us back, and the years that followed, full of growth, new voices, and the steady heartbeat of tradition.



These years were not easy, but they were meaningful. They revealed the strength of this community and the depth of its commitment. In May of 2025, we lost Lisa Russell unexpectedly and far too soon. Her passing was yet another quiet heartbreak for everyone who knew and loved her. She never had the chance to lead a LIFE is Good conference, but she remains part of its story, someone who cared deeply about this community and believed in its future. I carry her with me when I think about LIFE is Good, and I know others do too. And now, as this chapter of our shared story comes to a close, we look ahead with open hearts to welcoming the new person who will guide LIFE is Good into its next era as Conference Coordinator, continuing the work of holding space for this extraordinary community.

In the end, being part of this community and remembering each and every year, reminds me, again and again, that LIFE is Good.

Join Us as the Story Continues

LiG is continuing, evolving, and growing.

Come add your voice, your energy, and your ideas to the next chapter of our community.