Blaze It Forward, Family Says: Remembering Blaze Bernstein

LAKE FOREST, CA — There was not a dry eye in the packed Segerstrom Center hall on Feb. 25, when family and friends gathered to celebrate the life of Blaze Bernstein. The tribute and a Communal Call for Kindness. (Watch the full tribute video below.) Mother Jeanne Bernstein was the first to take to the stage, to speak from her heart about her son, who made her a mother.

"Blaze could beat me in a chess game when he was in the third grade," she said. "He was always two steps ahead of me."

Telling the story of his life, Jeanne discussed the high school that challenged his creativity, of the college that he decided to go to as a pre-med student at University of Pennsylvania, where he flourished working for the epicurean magazine. At the tribute, fellow students from Blaze's high school class read his poetry out loud, and sang music in honor of him.

"While he was passionate about writing and cooking, his unique skills at math and chemistry, I knew he would be one of those people who would change the world," she said. "I named him after Blaze Pascal, because I knew he would solve life's greatest problems."

His mother's reflection on his youth was both heart wrenching and heart warming.

"I witnessed your evolution, the witness to your life, from the moment you took your first breath of air, your first taste of chocolate cake, your wide eyes mesmerized," she said to the audience, her mother's love shining in each word, originally shared at his high school graduation.

Jeanne described her son as witty but not cynical, handsome and not vain, scattered in interests but focused in goals.

"Blaze was the renaissance man of our family," she said of her son.

She reached deep into her sadness, and shared her heart with those present about her grief and the unimaginable loss of her son.

"I don't know if I will ever feel differently, but I know I have to continue on," she said. Joined on stage by her husband, the strength of the Bernstein family was evident. "I have important things to do, for you."

To close, his family joined the students to share their hearts one last time.

"We know that we can't roll back the time, and we know all have tried to give us hope," his father, Gideon Bernstein said. "This is about that light that comes from our son that we know can continue on in every single one of you. We thank you. Be good. Blaze it forward."

Photos: courtesy of the family of Blaze Bernstein