Kris Clark
Episode 177

Narrator: Welcome friends to another episode of The Story & Experience Podcast. Join your host, Japhet De Oliveira with his guest today, and discover the moments that shape us, our families and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, welcome friends to another episode of The Story & Experience Podcast. I'm delighted to be at Adventist Health Castle in Hawaii, recording directly from across the table with our guests.

Kris Clark: Kris.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, this is great. They told you their name. It's a good sign. It's a good sign. If you're brand new to the podcast, we have a hundred questions and they progressively become more vulnerable closer to 100. They're about stories and experiences that shaped Kris into the person that she is today, the leader that she's today. So I'm going to begin with the first one. Could you tell us your name?

Kris Clark: Kris.

Japhet De Oliveira: And does anybody ever mispronounce your name? Your entire name? So what's your name? Yeah,

Kris Clark: Kris, but Kristina. And nobody mispronounces it, but I only get called Kristina by my mother.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. Kristina's great. But we'll call you Kris.

Kris Clark: Yes, thank you. Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: Kris, what do you do?

Kris Clark: I'm the patient care executive here at Castle.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, okay. And so what is the patient care executive? I mean, you just take care of all the patients yourself, or?

Kris Clark: No, I have the honor of being able to oversee nursing practice here at Castle.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, hey, that's good. That's good. I take it you've been a nurse for a long time yourself?

Kris Clark: I've been a nurse for, geez, I don't even know, just under 30 years now.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow, that's fantastic. That's fantastic. Hey, that's good, that's good. And you haven't been here long, so what did you do before?

Kris Clark: So I had the honor of working in two different countries, seven different healthcare systems, but one of those healthcare systems was twice, and that was Adventist.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh my, my, and you worked in two different countries?

Kris Clark: Yep, yep. Born and raised in Canada.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's great. That's great. Well, welcome across the border.

Kris Clark: Yeah, thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: And then all the way over to Hawaii as well. Hey, that's great. So climatizing well?

Kris Clark: Yeah. Yeah, I do love it here. And definitely love it here at Castle.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, the people are amazing.

Kris Clark: Yeah, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's fantastic. Good. So now, are you an early riser or late night owl?

Kris Clark: Oh, definitely early riser.

Japhet De Oliveira: And what's early?

Kris Clark: I usually get up around 4:00.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right, all right. And so when you get up at four in the morning, before anybody else in the planet, do you have tea, coffee, water, liquid green smoothie? What's your first drink of the day?

Kris Clark: Oh, hardcore coffee.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, hardcore coffee. Okay. How's your coffee made?

Kris Clark: Well, black coffee, how about that?

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, okay. All right. And then this morning when you woke up, first thought that went through your mind today was...

Kris Clark: So usually just getting ready to prepare for the day. So I drink coffee, do some emails, and then I go to the gym.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right. You have a regular workout that you do every day?

Kris Clark: Every day.

Japhet De Oliveira: Same thing or different things?

Kris Clark: I always do cardio and sometimes some weights. So, every morning.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, good for you. Good for you. Okay. If people were to describe your personality, Kris, would they say you are an introvert or an extrovert and would you agree?

Kris Clark: So, great question. I would say I teeter, so it depends on the situation that I'm in, but I get energy from being around people, but probably smaller groups is what I like to be in.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's good. That's good. That's good. All right. And then you didn't tell us, but where were you born?

Kris Clark: Oh, just outside of Calgary in Canada.

Japhet De Oliveira: They have great boots there. That's what I remember.

Kris Clark: Cowboy boots, is that what you're thinking?

Japhet De Oliveira: No, Calgary. I remember seeing these amazing boots they sold in Calgary when I was there last. I was like, wow. Yeah, but not at all. Doesn't ring a bell for you?

Kris Clark: No.

Japhet De Oliveira: I just saw them, I was like, "This must be a local thing." But I guess not. It may have been an import. So were born in Canada, in Calgary. That's fantastic. And then did you grow up there?

Kris Clark: I did, yep.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. So when you were a child, what did you imagine you would grow up to be?

Kris Clark: A nurse. Always wanted to be a nurse.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Where did that come from?

Kris Clark: Every since I was tiny. I don't know. Honestly, I have pictures of myself when I was young, young, young. And my mom would make the nurse hats out of paper and I had them stuck on my head and-

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Kris Clark: Yeah, I was always going to be an emergency room nurse. That was my plan.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow. Okay, that's fantastic. Then it happened.

Kris Clark: It happened.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, okay. That's good. That's good. All right, here's a leadership question for you. Are you a backseat driver?

Kris Clark: I don't think so. There's always times, I suppose that you flex your style of leadership to meet the needs of whoever you're leading or working with, but I always try to set the vision and then just help to remove barriers so people can do their best work. But I try not to micromanage or backseat drive.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. That's good. That's good. Brilliant. All right, the floor is open, Kris. Which number would you like to go? Where would you like to go first?

Kris Clark: Oh, well let's try number 15.

Japhet De Oliveira: 15, all right. What's the one thing you always misplace?

Kris Clark: Oh.

Japhet De Oliveira: Watch, she's like, "I don't misplace anything."

Kris Clark: My husband would disagree if I said that. Probably my keys, to be honest.

Japhet De Oliveira: Your keys.

Kris Clark: That's probably one of the things that I misplace. Yeah. I'm not in a great habit of putting them in the same spots though. When I'm running out the door first thing in the morning, looking to try to figure out where my keys are.

Japhet De Oliveira: I heard it then, how you said out.

Kris Clark: Did you?

Japhet De Oliveira: I did, I did, I did, I did. I was just waiting for one word and here came out, so there you go. All right. It was all good. Okay. Where do you want to go next?

Kris Clark: Let's stick with the fives. Let's go 25.

Japhet De Oliveira: 25. All right, here we go. Oh, share the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.

Kris Clark: So I mentioned that I'm an early riser, so I love sunrises. So Haleakala, I would say Haleakala is one of the most beautiful places I've seen sunrises, and I love them in the morning because it's the dawn of a new day, and I feel like it gives you the whole day and whatever you do with it is your choice. So that's one of the probably prettiest things I've seen.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do you feel like you reset your day every time that way?

Kris Clark: Yeah, I try to. I, again, think it's a blessing, and so I try to make sure that I'm intentional with the day. So I set intentions each morning.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, hey, that's good. That's good. So what was the intention today?

Kris Clark: Well, I had a really great weekend this weekend. My nieces were here the entire time.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh.

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great.

Kris Clark: Yeah, they came from Canada and surprisingly, they were supposed to leave on Saturday, but they had some flight issues and they didn't get to leave until Sunday. And through that experience, they had some bad experiences with service with the airlines. And I took away from that the understanding of what it's like on the other side and how horrible it can be when you can't get a hold of somebody and how frustrating that can be. And in my mind, I kept equating it to the patients that come through our organization and how it might be their most vulnerable day, their most terrifying time, and how it really is important that we are really making sure that we do everything that we can to be that person for them, that they have someone that they can reach out to that's connecting with them. So I set the intention today that I wanted to make rounds on the units and to be able to spend time with some of the patients.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great. That's great. Now I'm going to let you into the secret. This morning I was walking through Adventist Health Castle, and I saw you doing the new leader orientation, but obviously I didn't stick my head in to listen, but I did see you doing that. So what did you tell them? Tell us something. You told all the new leaders that were joining the hospital today.

Kris Clark: Oh. So we always get a chance to tell them our story. So I talked about the fact that I had worked at Adventist before, and I came here in Castle 2017 when we got the Baldrige Award. And what I found at that point in time was the most amazing culture that I had seen before in an organization, because it's the mission of Adventist, but it's also the culture of Hawaii and the two come together in again, what I feel is one of the most amazing experiences. So I fell in love with Castle at the time in 2017. It's when I was able to have the opportunity to come in as the PCE, then I definitely jumped on it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's great. Oh, that's great. I'm glad we got to hear that as well. Good, all right. That was 25A apparently. So where do you want to go next?

Kris Clark: Let's go 30.

Japhet De Oliveira: 30, all right. Tell us about something that you're really looking forward to.

Kris Clark: So this year we are looking to take a trip to Africa. And so one of my passions is-

Japhet De Oliveira: Is where in Africa? Sorry, I've got to ask.

Kris Clark: So South Africa, we're looking to go to Cape Town.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh.

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Kris Clark: I love to travel. We just got back from Japan. We were skiing in Japan two weeks ago. So I just love to go to different places and different cultures. So Africa's always been on my radar. So it looks like this year we're going to be to go.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great. That's great. Oh, you'll have a splendid time. That's fantastic. Good, good. All right, that was 30. So where next?

Kris Clark: Let's do 35.

Japhet De Oliveira: 35, all right. Oh, share a special interest or unique talent that you have.

Kris Clark: I would say I'm a really good listener, so I feel like it's really important to try to be present and spend time with people. So I try really hard to make sure that I am taking all the distractions out of my mind and spending time and really listening to what people have to say. So I don't know if that's a unique talent, but it's important to me to be able to do that and do that well.

Japhet De Oliveira: Now I've heard people say that they're a good listener. And so tell me, tell us how do you become a good listener? Because it's an art.

Kris Clark: It's an absolute art.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Kris Clark: I think one of the hardest things too, is just not to let your mind wander and think of other things, but really to focus on what the person's saying and not to jump in with solutions, but really just to let them come to their own solutions or come to whatever they're wanting to share with you, rather than jumping in and having answers and trying to share your story when they're wanting to share things with you.

Japhet De Oliveira: So let's say someone's speaking to you and then you're listening really intently, and then they finish their thought and you don't have a thought straight away because you're listening, How do you deal with that silence at that point? By the way, this is bonus question. 30A, B, C. Yeah.

Kris Clark: Well, they always say that sometimes you just have to embrace the silence. And so sometimes just sitting there, then things just either come to you or the other person. But it feels awkward at times. But sometimes I think that's when the best conversations happen. It's when you try to rush in and fill the silence that, I don't know, it feels more forced.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. It's good. Love that. Good. Everybody listening, now you're going to be listening.

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, where next?

Kris Clark: How about you pick one.

Japhet De Oliveira: I would love to, but in nearly 200 episodes, I haven't done that yet. I know.

Kris Clark: Can you try this time?

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, very good. I like that one. That was very good. You must be a good leader. Again, tempted. But I resist. I prayed and it seems I overcome the temptation.

Kris Clark: All right.

Japhet De Oliveira: So yeah, you get to journey.

Kris Clark: Okay, 55.

Japhet De Oliveira: 55. Oh, I wouldn't pick that one. No, I'm kidding. Share about something that frightens you.

Kris Clark: That's a good question. I shouldn't have picked 55, I should have let you pick.

Kris Clark: So I don't love small spaces and I don't love being underwater. So I would say those would be two things that frightened me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. That's good. That's good. That's good. Fair enough. That's small spaces underwater. All right. No bathtubs.

Kris Clark: No. Submarines are out.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yes. Yeah, I understand. All right, 55. Where next?

Kris Clark: Let's do 62.

Japhet De Oliveira: 62. What does sense of community mean to you?

Kris Clark: Maybe a set of shared values. A feeling of belonging, caring for each other, having each other's backs. A feeling of knowing someone well inside and out.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah. That's good, that's good. How do you create community?

Kris Clark: Probably being vulnerable, spending time with people, truly listening to what they have to say and sharing things that maybe would be uncomfortable sharing.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. I love that too. All right, all right. If we were scoring your answers, they're going exceptionally well. So that was 62. Where's next?

Kris Clark: Let's try 75.

Japhet De Oliveira: 75, all right. Oh, do you remember the very first thing that you purchased with your own money? What was it and why?

Kris Clark: Man, that's thinking way back. Oh, I think I know, actually. So I started working when I was maybe I was probably 14 babysitting, and I think the first thing that I bought was a tape, the actual tape that you put in a tape cassette.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Kris Clark: I think it was Madonna. Yeah, Like A Virgin.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes. I was going to say I remember the cassettes. Yeah, yeah, those are big deals.

Kris Clark: Yes, it was back then.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. When we'd own tape mixes, yeah.

Kris Clark: Yeah. Yeah, we did.

Japhet De Oliveira: Good. All right, where next?

Kris Clark: Let's try, let's go 80.

Japhet De Oliveira: 80, all right. How would you like to change in the future?

Kris Clark: For myself, change myself?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, sure.

Kris Clark: So I would say over the past year I've been on a journey to get to know myself better. So I've been doing more journaling and reflecting to understand who I am and why I do certain things. So out of that, I think just continuing to spend time learning more about myself and how I can continue to grow and be a better person.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's really good. That's really good. Do you journal every day?

Kris Clark: I've been trying to, it's a definite learned habit, because it's not something that comes readily easily to me, but it's something that I am learning to enjoy and to be able to spend time again, just sort of with myself and understanding how I can, again, grow.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, like the poets of old.

Kris Clark: Yeah, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: They wrote. Hey, that's good. Well done, well done. All right, where next?

Kris Clark: Let's do 64.

Japhet De Oliveira: 64, all right. When you look back on your life, can you tell us about a moment that was like, "What was I thinking?"

Kris Clark: Okay. So this one I can say about my leadership in particular, and I had hired somebody who had worked for me in the past and absolutely love her and she's still a part of my world today. But I assumed someone that was an amazing individual contributor would just be able step in to be a natural leader, and that that would be an easy transition. I sort of underestimated how big that transition was. So I look back and I do ask myself, "What was I thinking?" We got through that transition together, but it was a pretty big one.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, it's a different world.

Kris Clark: It's a different world. It really is.

Japhet De Oliveira: And they're still amazing people, yeah.

Kris Clark: Absolutely.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, I think that's good. All right, where next?

Kris Clark: Let's do 50

Japhet De Oliveira: 50, okay. Oh, share about who's influenced you professionally?

Kris Clark: So one of the people that has influenced me, it was actually a CNO, and she, I'm sure does not know this to the day, but she was the CNO for Washington Hospital Center when I lived in D.C.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, okay.

Kris Clark: And she terrified me, and that's not the good part, that's really not. But she had the most amazing way of walking the walk and talking the talk, and really was all about nursing and nursing practice. So I still remember we were converting from paper documentation to going to Cerner, and so it was a 950 bed hospital, it was very large. And when we were going through that process, she would come in and she was actually working nights alongside the nurses and spending time with them while we went through the transition. And then she would work all day in her normal job, but she would come and work on night shift just to be with them as we were going through this major transition.

Because again, she was one of those people that really role modeled that she would be present and around when we had major changes and wanted to be with the nursing staff. So I just always thought she was such an amazing person for, again, being with and being present with people that were going through things. She was always, she did, she just walked the walk and talked the talk, and I really loved that about her.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. Now you're going to have to reach out to her. I mean, and let her know. That'd be fantastic for her.

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Kris Clark: That she influenced me all these years and she has no idea.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that'd be great. I mean, that's a beautiful gift for her.

Kris Clark: Yeah. I guess as a leader, you never know who you impact, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Isn't it interesting?

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's good. All right, what's next?

Kris Clark: Let's go 32.

Japhet De Oliveira: 32, okay. If you were featured on the local news right here, what would the new story likely be?

Kris Clark: So in my ideal world, it would not be about me at all. So I would be in the background, but it would be featuring my team and some of the amazing work that they're doing, because they really are doing such great work.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's great. That's great. All right. So they'll feature you talking about your team.

Kris Clark: There you go. We'll take that.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Where next?

Kris Clark: 76.

Japhet De Oliveira: 76. All right, here we go. Well, tell us about where you feel the safest and why.

Kris Clark: Probably with my family, because they know you from way back when and they know everything about you. So there's really nothing that you can say or do that does surprises them.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that is actually really good. Family is very important.

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: And cultivating it is really important as well.

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Well that's good. All right, where next after that?

Kris Clark: Let's do 87.

Japhet De Oliveira: 87. When you're under incredible stress, what helps to ground you?

Kris Clark: So I mentioned that I get up every morning and I work out. So that's a thing that's important for me is to be able to clear my mind. So I'm a big runner, so I will go running and just be able to spend time thinking. So that's one thing. And then people are important to me, so they also help ground me. So my husband is the first person that will be able to sort of help me clear my mind and make me laugh, and just get me back to what's important in life and forget about the things that are stressing me that probably mean something now, but don't mean something in the big picture.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good, that's good. How long have you guys been married?

Kris Clark: 13 years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Fantastic.

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's great. That's great. Hey, good, good. All right, where next?

Kris Clark: Let's do 72.

Japhet De Oliveira: 72, all right. Tell us about what you want to do when you retire and why are you waiting?

Kris Clark: So again, being from Canada, I love the outdoors and I love skiing. So in my mind, I have two things that I want to do. Eventually, I want to work at a and in Colorado they actually have this role where you volunteer and you get to give cookies out on the hill. So wherever I end up, I want to be working at the ski hill and just give out cookies to people, because I think that would make people happy. So that would be one thing. And then something to do with nursing still, I think eventually. So volunteering my time. I am currently part of the American Nurses Association. I am on the advocacy committee here in Hawaii. And I think just being able to continue to give back in that some aspect to do with nursing still and continue to grow and develop the profession.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. Well, next time you go skiing, you just bring a box and just randomly hand the out and see how it goes.

Kris Clark: I can practice for retirement.

Japhet De Oliveira: Practicing. Let me know how that goes for you.

Kris Clark: Like the weird lady with the cookies over there.

Japhet De Oliveira: "What's that woman doing over there?" "Oh, those cookies." Yeah. All right, where next?

Kris Clark: Let's go. 17.

Japhet De Oliveira: 17. All right. Share. What day in the calendar is the most special for you and why?

Kris Clark: Oh, let's see. Saturday, I would say. So I typically, of course, work Monday to Friday, and then I often work Sundays as well. So Saturday's my one day to be able to spend with my husband. So we'll plan something, whether it's going golfing or hiking or whatever it might, but we take that day and that's our day to do something special.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's really good.

Kris Clark: Saturday's my favorite day.

Japhet De Oliveira: Beautiful, beautiful. Happy for you. That's great. All right, where next?

Kris Clark: Let's go 88.

Japhet De Oliveira: 88, all right. Tell us about how your life has been different than what you imagined.

Kris Clark: So when I was growing up, I actually worked at Hostess Frito-Lay in high school, picking burnt chips out on a factory line.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Kris Clark: Yep. I worked while I was going to high school in the evenings and I put myself through college for nursing.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Kris Clark: But you think a lot when you're on a factory line picking out burnt chips. So I pretty much had my whole life planned and I assumed that I would stay in Canada in the area that I was growing up, and that I would probably get married, have children, and stay there forever close to my family, which did not happen. I lived in several different areas. I now live in Hawaii, which I never would've anticipated. So pretty much everything about my life is not what I expected or planned.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, you know, the factory line doesn't always say the truth, so it's okay. But thank you for saving all those chips.

Kris Clark: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, where next?

Kris Clark: Let's go 68.

Japhet De Oliveira: 68, all right. If you could learn one new professional skill, what would that be?

Kris Clark: So I'm pretty fascinated with AI right now, so I think that's an area that I would continue to grow in and just see where that takes us. I think that's probably a good chunk of the future. So just continuing to dive into technology.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. Are you excited about AI?

Kris Clark: I think I'm excited about the opportunity that it brings.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, okay.

Kris Clark: Yeah. I think we have to lean into it here and it's going to stay.

Japhet De Oliveira: So you have seen Terminator, right? It is going to change the world. I mean, it is changing the world.

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah. What would be one potential area that you think AI would do something amazing for in nursing?

Kris Clark: I think there's so many, but even just something as simple as helping with documentation and being able to take some of that workload off of nursing. So in my ideal world, if there was a way that it would be able to just translate what nurses are thinking right into the computer so that they don't actually have to do all the typing, just to be able to take some of the workload off and optimize some of the things that they're doing.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's true, that's true. Those little implants that are coming. All right, where next?

Kris Clark: 70.

Japhet De Oliveira: 70. All right, here we go. Tell us about one thing that you are determined to accomplish.

Kris Clark: I don't know. That's a great question, because I always come up with plans every year of things I wanted to accomplish for my professional goals and then activity goals, things to do with my families and friends. But I don't know if there's one thing that I say that I have to above and beyond everything else accomplish. Yeah, every year I have different goals.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, that's good. That's good. It means you're growing and changing and thinking.

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Kris Clark: I don't have a good one for that.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, no worries. No, that's good though. So we have time for two more. Where do you want to go for your last two?

Kris Clark: Let's go 92.

Japhet De Oliveira: 92. All right, 92 it is. Oh, how would you like to be remembered, Kris?

Kris Clark: Hopefully it's as somebody that cared and that made a difference in someone's life.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do you think that's true right now?

Kris Clark: I hope so. That would be what I aspire to do. I really do try to make time and energy and spend time with people just letting them know that I do care. So I'm hopeful that that's what they would remember me as.

Japhet De Oliveira: And where do you think that desire comes from?

Kris Clark: Like I said, I always wanted to be a nurse ever since I was little, and part of that was because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. So I think it's just always been baked in me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Baked in you. Yeah. I like that. I like that. Yeah, that's very really beautiful. That's beautiful. Good. All right, so Kris, last number.

Kris Clark: 96.

Japhet De Oliveira: 96, all right. If you wouldn't mind, could you share with us the last time that you cried?

Kris Clark: So I mentioned that my two nieces were here this past weekend. So being able to spend time with them, again, family's very important to me. So they're not little nieces. They're 21 and 23 now. So when their plane was delayed and they ended up staying an additional day with me, my sister was sending me all these pictures of them and me when they were little. So again, they're just incredibly important to me and always have been throughout their lives and my life. So that was just something that was meaningful to me. So that made me cry.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do they know how much you love them?

Kris Clark: Yes. Absolutely, absolutely.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic, isn't it?

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's good to be part of somebody else's life.

Kris Clark: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah. That's actually really good. So if they were to describe you as their aunt, what would they say about you?

Kris Clark: So I know they would say I'm the cool aunt, because I've always lived in really great places.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. I wouldn't meet the un-cool aunt. You're the cool aunt. Fair enough.

Kris Clark: But probably above and beyond that, again, I've always been there for them. I was there when they were born, literally in the room, and then always every year, every birthday, always just there for them. So I think they know that I've been there, always had their back and I just-

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic.

Kris Clark: Care for them above and down.

Japhet De Oliveira: So you do that with family, you do that with work, you do that with your life. It's a consistent theme.

Kris Clark: Yes,

Japhet De Oliveira: I hear it. I hear it. That's good, Kris. Kris, thank you so much for sharing. I want to encourage people to do the same thing, just to be able to sit down with a friend, ask them good questions. We learned so much about each other. I believe we are better for it and we're changed by each other's stories, so it's actually good to hear these things. So thank you so much. God bless you and everybody that's listening as well.

Kris Clark: Thank you so much for the opportunity.

Japhet De Oliveira: Absolutely.

Narrator: Thank you for joining us for The Story & Experience Podcast. We invite you to read, watch, and submit your story and experience at adventisthealth.org/story. The Story & Experience Podcast was brought to you by Adventist Health through the Office of Culture.