Before I Die, I Want To…

Photo Credit: Ian Sane via Compfight cc

In her New Orleans neighborhood, artist and TED Fellow Candy Chang turnedanabandoned house into a giant chalkboard asking a fill-in-the-blank question: “Before I die I want to ___.” Her neighbors’ answers — surprising, poignant, funny — became an unexpected mirror for the community. (What’s your answer?) She is the author of Before I Die.

In 2009, I lost someone I loved very much. Her name was Joan, and she was a mother to me. And her death was sudden...