Optometry & Visual Performance 230 Volume 13 | Issue 4 | December 2025 I have other family to thank. My grandparents are all here to celebrate this occasion. The Executive Board members of OEPF are the best. They take me out for ice cream when I visit and let me stay up late watching awful movies. I have a feeling that Grammy Line Vreven is talking about me when she speaks in a different language in front of me, but I have no proof! Grampy Eric Hussey tells the most awful jokes, Grampy Brad Habermehl thinks he is funny, but his jokes are as bad as Grampy Eric's. I hope I have his awesome hair when I get to be his age! My newest grandparent is Nana Tamara Petrosyan, and I can already tell you that she is going to make me eat my vegetables when I visit her! Hopefully I can sucker her kids to eat them for me. I have two special cousins to mention. James Kundart is the funcle...or "fun uncle." Unlike my grandfathers, he is super funny and always seems to be working on something! Auntie Rebecca Marinoff is a blast, and I love visiting her in New York City. She always takes me for pizza and bagels! I have two parents, but they act more like brother and sister. They are always making fun of each other, and I am pretty sure they battle it out to see who can be the most sarcastic. I get my sense of humor from both of them. My parents, Pam Schnell and Marc Taub, make a great team. Marc is the big-picture guy, and Pam is detail-oriented. She constantly gets on me about proper grammar and something called the Oxford comma. I am not British, Mom! (Mom is reading this, and she just said, "Too bad, kiddo. When it's right, it's right!") Dad is always putting words, tables, and pictures in my pages and moving them around. He never leaves me alone and does not understand the concept of personal space. I am so happy that you could join me for this wonderful occasion. I am headed to high school in a few years, and then I am off to college...hopefully at Wash U in St. Louis or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill...since my parents swear that those are the best colleges. Happy holidays and a healthy 2026! Introduction As part of the Jewish religion, when a child turns 13, they become a bar mitzvah. This is the transition from childhood to adulthood in the Jewish religion. There is a ceremony at which the child reads from the Torah and makes a speech to the friends and family in the audience. Since Optometry & Visual Performance turned 13 this year, I thought it was time for the journal to speak on its own behalf instead of everyone else putting words in its mouth. I am stealing the concept from the late, great Irwin Suchoff, the founding editor of the Journal of Behavioral Optometry. He edited that journal for over two decades, and his editorials are gold. Hello, my name is Optometry & Visual Performance. My friends and family all call me OVP for short. You can call me anything you want, as long as you don't call me late for dinner! My grandfather, Eric Hussey, said that was a funny joke, and I had to put it in the speech, but based on your faces, I am not so sure about that. I wanted to thank all of my family and friends for coming and being a part of my childhood. You have all watched me grow up to become the Journal I am today. Even though I am now 13 years old, you are reading my 66th edition, so I think I will start collecting social security and get on Medicare soon! I have worked with over 200 authors from over 25 different countries. It has been a privilege to help so many authors find their voices and bring their work to the rest of the world. I promise you that they work hard, especially when my father, Marc Taub, and the rest of his extended family on the Review Board ask for changes or edits. The Review Board is the lifeblood of the Journal. Even though we are not exactly related, I consider them my cousins. I have known some of them for over a decade and get to meet new cousins every year when their time on the Board is done. I want to thank each and every cousin for helping me be the best that I can be. Editorial • Thank You from Optometry & Visual Performance Marc B. Taub, OD, MS, EdD • Southern College of Optometry • Memphis, Tennessee
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