MFM Minisode 414

Summary

Podcast Summary: My Favorite Murder Minisode 414

Episode Overview In Minisode 414 of My Favorite Murder (MFM), hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark delve into a series of heartfelt and haunting listener-submitted hometown stories. This episode, released on December 16, 2024, continues the podcast’s tradition of blending true crime with personal narratives, offering listeners a mix of tragedy, resilience, and familial bonds.

1. Bloody Handprint: A Family Tragedy The episode opens with a poignant story from a listener known as Day 7, who recounts a haunting childhood memory involving a bloody handprint in their grandparents' basement.

• Listener’s Account ([02:17 - 05:57]): The listener describes how, as a child, they discovered a faint brownish handprint on a cement basement wall. Upon inquiring, they learned it was left by their great-grandmother after she accidentally fell down the stairs and hit her head. The handprint remains as a macabre reminder of the tragedy.

  Listener ([04:19]): "I was down there one day... leaving the infamous bloody handprint."

• Hosts' Reflection: Karen and Georgia express empathy, discussing how such remnants become morbid yet accepted parts of family lore.

  Karen ([05:07]): "That's just a straight up tragedy."

2. Navigating Podcast Beginnings: Skipping the First 100 Episodes Karen and Georgia transition into discussing a listener’s feedback about skipping the initial episodes of MFM.

• Listener’s Suggestion ([06:00 - 08:00]): A listener shares confusion over episode numbering and recommends new listeners start with rewind episodes instead of the first 100 to better grasp the podcast’s evolution.

  Listener ([07:03]): "Why did you do that? Why? I don't remember that."

• Hosts' Commentary: The hosts humorously acknowledge the overwhelming number of episodes and endorse the rewind series as a more accessible entry point for newcomers.

  Karen ([07:44]): "Sweet ass plugs."

3. The Balloon Priest: An Audacious Mission Gone Awry Another listener submission tells the tragic tale of Father Adelier Antonio de Carli, known as the Balloon Priest, from Brazil.

• Listener’s Narrative ([14:58 - 19:49]): In 2008, Father Adelier attempted to raise funds for a rest area and chapel for truck drivers by attaching thousands of helium balloons to himself and soaring into the sky. Unfortunately, his lack of GPS proficiency led to his drift over the ocean, resulting in his untimely death.

  Listener ([16:33]): "I need to figure out this GPS or no one will know where I am."

• Hosts' Reaction: Karen and Georgia express sorrow over the priest’s tragic end and discuss the unpredictability of such endeavors.

  Karen ([17:12]): "Oh, no."

  Georgia ([19:49]): "This is our public service announcement talking. Don't do it."

4. Sibling Dynamics: Childhood Games and Adult Reflections The episode shifts to a heartfelt sibling story highlighting the complexities of sisterhood.

• Listener’s Story ([19:49 - 32:28]): A listener shares memories of playing "servant and princess" with her older sister Kaylee, receiving a quarter for her efforts. These games fostered a sense of inclusion and love, despite initial tensions. The narrative evolves to reflect on the bond strengthened over the years, even amidst challenges like substance abuse faced by her brother.

  Listener ([20:46]): "I think that's so sweet."

  Karen ([28:05]): "The declaration though, of like, it's me, the child hero. It's me. It's so good."

• Hosts’ Insights: Karen reminisces about her own sibling relationship, acknowledging the enduring bonds despite past hardships.

  Georgia ([22:00]): "It's the funniest. And also they just. They're always going to do that to you over and over."

  Karen ([31:57]): "Do crimes Anonymous. She her."

5. The Child Hero: A Second Grader’s Courage Saves a Life The most moving story of the episode comes from a listener named Bailey, who recounts a childhood act of bravery.

• Listener’s Heroic Act ([24:02 - 33:24]): Bailey narrates how, at seven years old, she discovered her teacher, Ms. Hill, unconscious during a movie in second grade. Her swift action in alerting the principal and initiating CPR was pivotal in saving Ms. Hill’s life. The story culminates with Bailey receiving annual letters from Ms. Hill, expressing gratitude for her heroism.

  Listener ([24:19]): "You're Welcome."

  Karen ([26:44]): "Ms. Hill was in the hospital for the rest of the school year and retired that summer."

  Bailey ([32:53]): "I wanted her to see it. It makes me think of my brother."

• Hosts' Encouragement: Karen and Georgia commend Bailey's bravery and reflect on the impact of such selfless actions.

  Georgia ([32:12]): "And it's the idea that they get to understand that that's what their brother did for them is so beautiful."

6. Closing Reflections and Community Building Towards the end, Karen and Georgia discuss the importance of community and support systems, encouraging listeners to share their stories and connect with one another.

Karen ([29:35]): "They're coming in saying exactly what needs to be heard. Create genuine community. Find your support system."

Georgia ([29:52]): "Be twice as gay, do twice as many crime."

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• [02:17] "I was down there one day... leaving the infamous bloody handprint."
• [04:19] "That's just a straight up tragedy."
• [16:33] "I need to figure out this GPS or no one will know where I am."
• [24:19] "You're Welcome."
• [32:12] "And it's the idea that they get to understand that that's what their brother did for them is so beautiful."

Conclusion Minisode 414 of My Favorite Murder masterfully intertwines stories of loss, bravery, and family dynamics, offering listeners a blend of emotional depth and the comforting camaraderie Karen and Georgia are known for. By highlighting personal narratives alongside true crime elements, the episode reinforces the podcast’s commitment to building a supportive and engaged community.

Key Takeaways

• Community and Support: The episode emphasizes the importance of sharing personal stories to foster a sense of belonging and mutual support.
• Resilience in Tragedy: Through each story, listeners witness the strength and resilience individuals demonstrate in the face of adversity.
• Bridging Humor and Heartache: Karen and Georgia skillfully balance humor with heartfelt reflections, maintaining the podcast’s signature tone.

For those who haven’t listened to this episode, MFM Minisode 414 offers a compelling mix of true crime intrigue and personal storytelling, encapsulating the essence of what makes My Favorite Murder a beloved podcast in the true crime-comedy genre.

Transcript

[Karen Kilgariff]

This is exactly right.

[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Listener]

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[Georgia Hardstark]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

You know, Georgia, the holidays are the perfect time to tell the people in your life just how much you love and appreciate them.

[Listener]

That's so true, Karen. So when you need a personal gift, Shutterfly can help you create something meaningful.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Shutterfly's custom photo gifts are a great way to capture those big moments from your year. A wedding, a new baby, a new puppy.

[Listener]

They make the customization process easy. Just upload photos from your phone or social media to the Shutterfly app, and an unforgettable gift will be ready in minutes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No more gifting junk. These are premium items like canvas prints, engraved ornaments, and photo books.

[Listener]

Shutterfly can help with stocking stuffers like travel mugs, puzzles, and magnets.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And for the ultimate gifting hack, design any of these gifts once and give them to multiple family members.

[Listener]

So I have to say this quietly because he's in the other room, but for Vince, for the holidays, I'm making him a photo book of us from the first 10 years of our relationship. Oh, there are so many photos in our phone, and we always, like, text them back and forth to each other and, like, smile at them, but there's, like, nowhere to look at them.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, that's right. Put it in his hands.

[Listener]

And I use the Shutterfly app to put it together. It's really easy. Anyone can use it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Very sweet.

[Listener]

I also love the idea of, like, you and your friend, like, your worst photo that you've ever taken together. Turning that into a puzzle. Yes. And then giving it to them. I mean, come on.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's such a good idea. Explore gifts like blankets, mugs, photo books, and [e-mail]. all easy to customize in minutes with your favorite photos.

[Listener]

Enjoy. 40% off your Shutterfly order with code MFM40 and make something meaningful this year.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Get free shipping on qualified orders. C site for more details.

[Listener]

Goodbye.

[Karen Kilgariff]

My favor.

[Listener]

Hello, and welcome to my favorite murder, the Minisode. That's right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Stop arguing because it's real. We told you we said we were gonna do it.

[Listener]

Listen, please listen. Give us the benefit of the doubt.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Now go.

[Listener]

Okay. Now that we've just berated them, they like it. This is called family drama. Bloody handprint. Hi. Day 7 listener here and longtime dreamer of writing a hometown. But I never felt I had the right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Wait, I don't know. Day seven, episode seven?

[Listener]

Or day seven, like seven days after we released the first episode. I don't know.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It sounds like literally I've been listening for seven days and I've dreamed of writing an email forever.

[Listener]

Okay. We were both on the other sides of the okay.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I don't think mine's right though. I just think it's funny.

[Listener]

That would be very funny. Today you asked for family drama and I come from two large Catholic families and started thinking through all the family lore and shenanigans. Could I tell you the story about dangling my little cousin down the second floor laundry chute? Oh. Or about the island my family used to own in Pittsburgh until they squandered away all their money and it was seized by the government?

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Listener]

Nope. It has to be the bloody handprint on my grandparents basement wall.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh shit.

[Listener]

When I was growing up, my grandparents lived in a split level home, read, lots of stairs and the lowest level was a cement basement. I was down there one day, probably trying to find their grumpy cat mo, when I noticed something on one of the cement walls. I looked a little closer and thought it faintly looked like a brownish colored handprint, obviously faded with time. Later that day in the car, I asked my dad, hey, is there a handprint on the basement wall at grandma's house? Oh yeah, that's from when your great grandmother died. What? Yep, here's the story. My dad and his family of eight moved from Pittsburgh to Ohio when he was a kid and his grandmother moved with them. It was a tight fit with everyone in the house. And my great grandmother wasn't great with stairs or fully understanding where she was in the new house. She slept in the lower level. One night she must have woken up and needed to go upstairs to the kitchen, but got confused and went to the cement basement stairs instead. She fell and hit her head. At some point she touched her bloody head and then touched the wall, leaving the infamous bloody handprint. It is exact. Yes, it is exactly what you think and think it's gonna be.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Jesus Christ.

[Listener]

I know. She did not die there on the floor, but she was not found until the morning and was taken to the hospital where she died later.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's just a straight up tragedy.

[Listener]

Why am I doing this story? Is a question I'm asking myself right now.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Let's see if they have a point. Let's see if we're gonna get somewhere.

[Listener]

I mean, the handprint remains to this day, I think is the point that all are fucking morbid and weird and we just go along with it like everything's fine.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Right. What would have been the problem with going down and rinsing that handprint off?

[Listener]

Rinsing. Painting over it. Thanks for all you do and share. This podcast has dramatically impacted the way I see the world and myself. And though my husband is not a listener, he doesn't need to be because I literally retell him every single episode.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Aww.

[Listener]

Stay sexy and dig deep for those family stories because everyone's got em.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. That's true.

[Listener]

Beth.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Beth. Good point.

[Listener]

I think that's the point is like, everyone has a bloody handprint from their great grandmother in the basement wall.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yep. That for some reason no one is taken care of.

[Listener]

Yeah. And that you have to ask about before they'll tell you about it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They'll let you as a child, wander down into a darkened basement and discover it yourself.

[Listener]

Right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And not be like, we want to keep that there as a remembrance or anything.

[Listener]

It's just like, hey, go find it. It's a rite of passage.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay.

[Listener]

You know, I'm gonna stick. I am sticking with it. I am. What is it sticking by my.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You're standing by it?

[Listener]

I'm standing by it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Nice. Stand by your email.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean, I like it.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's a very good point.

[Listener]

It is.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's a little Brene Brown of like that idea that we're all supposed to be ashamed. Cause we're not perfect.

[Listener]

Right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

When in fact we all have. We all have all these things.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. Okay. The subject line of this email is, you fucking debunked my hometown legend. Question mark, exclamation point. And it says, hi there, K and G. This is usually the part when someone says, longtime listener, first time writer. However, I'm breaking the mold. I started listening to MFM in February 2024 and have been breezing through multiple episodes a day. Shout out to my friend Maria for getting me hooked and to Karen for recommending I Skip the first 100 episod.

[Listener]

Why did you do that? Why? I don't remember that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Because it was back when we were fucking just blabbing, saying all kinds of horrifying shit that now were just like.

[Listener]

There'S so many episodes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

There's so many episodes in the beginning, it was just two gals recording a.

[Listener]

Hang, having no idea what was happening, that there was a fucking tidal wave. But now we're doing rewind episodes. So you can listen to those. Instead of going back to the first 100, you can listen to the rewind episodes.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Sweet ass plugs.

[Listener]

There you go.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Thank you. This was pre rewind episodes.

[Listener]

Sure.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And I was just giving people advice to skip stuff.

[Listener]

She wasn't wrong.

[Karen Kilgariff]

All right, then this person writes, I'll get there eventually. Now you don't have to. We'll have to rewind episode.

[Listener]

That's right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay. In episode 843, Karen covers the Hammond, Indiana circus train crash.

[Listener]

At 43.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, not even close. In episode 463, I don't.

[Listener]

There's no way I am that off.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That it was like, what's my brain telling my mouth that I said 8:43.

[Listener]

This is our podcast and nothing has changed from the first 100.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Go for it to now it's also the 100.

[Listener]

It's actually not that different from what it was in the beginning.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You're just in the fourth 100. Okay. In episode 453, Karen covers the Hammond, Indiana circus train crash and mentions Showman's Rest at Woodlawn Cemetery, where the victims of the crash were buried. Woodlawn Cemetery is in my small hometown of Forest Park, Illinois. I've been considering writing in this hometown ever since I started listening, but the story I grew up hearing is a bit different. The town legend originally stated that the crash happened in Forest park and that the only victims were four circus elephants in Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park. There are four large hills at each corner of the cemetery. The legend had it that the hills were actually the graves of those elephants. Oh, you're saying legend? I'm saying, was it your uncle who was just kind of like bored and telling you a story?

[Listener]

Legendary uncle.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So the most legendary uncle of Forest Park, Illinois, My new screenplay. The story seemed so far fetched that even hearing it as a first grader, it never really made sense. I was thrilled to hear the real facts of the story in the latest spooky Halloween episode and felt an immense sense of pride knowing that there was at least some truth to our small town's legend. Forest park is a blue collar village just outside of Chicago that is only two square miles and is the home of three cemeteries.

[Listener]

Wow.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Part of the legend is that Forest park held the world's record for the highest ratio of dead people to alive people. But I'll leave that to you two.

[Listener]

Experts to debunk Daly City.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Daly City or Colma. Right. Which is the real tall Funerals. I mean, all cemeteries. What if we got really competitive with Illinois where we're like, I think that belongs to Colma. Okay, thank you both so much for being real as shit all the time. We can't help it.

[Listener]

Yep, it's a crutch for you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You've inspired me to start therapy and become sober all in nine months of listening.

[Listener]

Oh my God. It's taken me nine years and I'm fucking only done one of those things.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Also, this is bullshit. Like, this sounds like someone. It's like write in this email to make them feel better.

[Listener]

It's really changed my life. Double thumbs up.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yep. You are both very special to me and I can't wait to see where the next year of listening takes me. And then parentheses it says more than likely to the first 100 episodes. Stay Sexy and check your hometown facts. And dead to alive ratio's Raely. Raelyn.

[Listener]

She her Raelyn. I feel touched.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I'm truly touched.

[Listener]

I feel that was touching. I feel touched.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's funny because we keep on making jokes right where we shouldn't. When people are being touching with us.

[Listener]

It'S cause we can't handle vulnerability.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It doesn't feel great.

[Listener]

Humor. Cover it all up with humor.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You know, I've been rethinking Santa. He breaks into your house, he steals your cookies, and he vanishes until next year.

[Listener]

That's why I prefer deliveries from Home Chef.

[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Listener]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

Home Chef has step by step recipes that are designed to make cooking a breeze. Whether you're a total beginner or a confident cook looking to save time.

[Listener]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

So no more feeling overwhelmed, no more racing against the clock. Just delicious meals that come together effortlessly every time.

[Listener]

And HomeChip has over 30 options a week and serves a variety of dietary needs, so you don't have to worry about what to make ahead of time.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Plus, they roll out 18 fresh options every week, like black pepper steak strips or buttermilk chicken schnitzel.

[Listener]

Not only is it convenient, but it's economical too. Home Chef customers save an average of $86 per month on groceries.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I have to say, looking at these menus like the idea of working until 7:30 whenever I work to rolling out and then going to my K and opening the kitchen and there's some salsa chicken enchiladas sitting there waiting for me to warm up that are restaurant quality and taste like. Restaurant quality is the reason that I love Home Chef.

[Listener]

How about some shrimp carbonara fettuccine for you? I'd be down with that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Come on. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering our listeners 18 free meals, plus free dessert for life and of course, free shipping.

[Listener]

On your first box, go to homechef.com.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Mfm that's homechef.com mfm for 18 free meals plus free dessert for life. You heard me. Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Goodbye. If you're spending all winter hunkered down at home, it might be time to upgrade your space.

[Listener]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Listener]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

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[Listener]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

When it comes to quality, Article's designers hit the sweet spot between style, durability and price. They're all about thoughtful craftsmanship that not only looks great, but it stands the test of time.

[Listener]

So we have a little back house that we let guests stay in. Friends stay in when they want to, and recently a good friend of mine wanted to stay back there and none of my friends had stayed back there, only Vincent. So I kind of hadn't done anything to it because I don't care. But I wanted to impress her. Where did I go? Freaking article. So like for example, there was just a, like a plain mattress on wheels back there, you know, that I didn't care about. Then I saw this calabri bed. It's gorgeous. It's like simple, but it adds so much style I threw it up there. It looks amazing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, it really does.

[Listener]

It looks adorable back there. She was so impressed. And now all of Vince's will be like, oh, you did something with the place.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You're so fancy. Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.

[Listener]

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[Karen Kilgariff]

That's a R T I c l e.com murder to get $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. Goodbye.

[Listener]

Okay, this one's called the Balloon Priest. Yep, you read that right. He would be friends with Lawn Chair Larry. That's the whole subject thing. Hi, Karen, Georgia, An MFM team. I have a hometown that will match Karen's story for Lawn Chair Larry. And it comes all the way from Brazil. The Balloon Priest. A tale equal parts inspiring, bizarre, and undeniably tragic. The year was 2008, and on April 20, Father Adelier Antonio de Carli, or as he became known, the Balloon Priest, took flight from a city in the south of Brazil attached to 1000 helium balloons. Father Adelier's mission wasn't just about grabbing attention. He had a purpose in mind. His goal was to raise funds for a rest area and chapel for truck drivers where they could take a break from the road, recharge, and find spiritual comfort.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Sorry, that's so specific.

[Listener]

I know it's like, maybe it's a cultural thing.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I don't know. It could be. And also I know that truck drivers are exhausted all the time and actually probably really need that. But it's like usually orphans, children in a far away Children.

[Listener]

Children are hungry.

[Karen Kilgariff]

But how about. Let's think about the truck drivers.

[Listener]

They're also hungry and tired and they need spiritual comfort. But to accomplish this, he decided to break the record for cluster ballooning and make it all the way to the state where his brother lived. It was both audacious and outrageous. People couldn't look away. Adelier even went through jungle survival courses, parachute training, and packed a GPS parachute and five days worth of food and water on.

[Karen Kilgariff]

What are they about to tell us?

[Listener]

I don't know. Packed on his back, I guess. So the only problem, he didn't know how to use the GPS. After taking off and reaching a dizzying 19,000ft, and it says way higher than planned, he was heard frantically saying, quote, I need to figure out this GPS or no one will know where I am. End quote. It was a detail only our priest could overlook, but to his credit, he tried valiantly to reach the Coast Guard before his phone battery died. Unfortunately, by the time he called in his position, he was far off course, swept out over the ocean.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, no.

[Listener]

Despite efforts by the Navy, Air Force, and even a plane Rented by his family, hope faded. Months later, in July 2008, the lower half of a body was found floating off the coast of rio de Janeiro, 522 miles away from where he took flight. DNA tests confirmed it was Father Adelier, closing this chapter in his remarkable journey.

[Karen Kilgariff]

God, that's sad.

[Listener]

And then it says, jump to 2013. A pop country duo drops a dancing track that skyrockets to the top of the Brazilian charts and has everybody dancing to it in nightclubs and social events. I am going to leave you with some of the lyrics from that song. The sun is blazing, it's past noon I'm not leaving no one's moving me Soon I found my car in the pool outside and my phone's in the microwave fried DJ's crazier than the balloon riding priest. SSDGM SAM she her. So now he's like a pop culture legend.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Listener]

Like, my life's so crazy, it's crazier than the balloon.

[Karen Kilgariff]

The balloon riding priest. God, I'm just staggered at. It was 2008.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So it's like this idea. There were people nearby and there was computers nearby and things that could have.

[Listener]

Helped this, like a GPS fucking.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Look, just learn it. That was like me getting that fucking car and then getting into it and being like, I don't know how to drive this car.

[Listener]

Yeah, but a GPS isn't gonna steer you. You know what I mean? Correct. Like, I don't think learning the GPS would have helped at all. I think maybe something staying around might've been a better decision. Walking. How about a long walk to raise money? How about.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, exactly. Let's keep it on the ground. And also, I think with Lawn Chair Larry's story, it's just like, do we all need to be told often that you can't control balloons and they just go off?

[Listener]

How many decades apart do we need to learn this lesson? It shouldn't be that close.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I don't know, like 2008. Seems like we're due. Hey, hey, everybody. If you have some sort of plan to get a bunch of balloons.

[Listener]

Well, there's balloon boy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Balloon boy was fake, though.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Remember that? Yeah. That was tragic, actually, because that was weird. Stage parents putting their child at the center or something.

[Listener]

It was.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I feel like the way America reacted to balloon boy, it was all like, oh, no, look away, look away.

[Listener]

Yeah, like, oh, no, this isn't good.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, it's very sad. Oh, anyway, that. Yeah, you interrupted my great announcement. Hey, if you were thinking of raising money or just going On a trip with balloons. Don't do it. You won't be able to control them.

[Listener]

This is our public service announcement talking. Don't do it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Fucking the end. Listen, okay, we'll work on that public service announcement. We'll do another one next year. That's more effective. Okay. This is funny. Sibling story. Hey, ladies. Love what you do. I'm the youngest of three daughters, and growing up, I always wanted to do whatever my sisters were doing. It was hard for them because I was so much younger and they really wanted nothing to do with me. My oldest sister, Kaylee came up with a game for us to play, for us to play together. That was a good compromise for everyone, called servant and princess from the title. You can probably guess how it went. Kaylee would be the princess and I would be the servant doing whatever she asked me to do. In return, I would get a quarter as a reward for all my work. I loved this game, and I would ask her to play it with me as often as she would allow. If her friends came over, even better for me because I got to play with the big kids and would have more princesses to serve.

[Listener]

I think that's so sweet.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I look back and laugh at how funny and brilliant she was for coming up with this game where she got catered to all day.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And I felt included and loved the time I got to spend with her. Now that we're all grown up, we're very close, and I feel lucky to have her as a sister, even though we didn't really get along for the first 18 years of my life. Which I. Isn't that every sister story?

[Listener]

Yeah. You're best friends, and then you fucking hate each other more than you've ever hated anyone. And then you're best friends the next day.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah. Then it just says, thanks for all that you do, Tori.

[Listener]

That's cute. Did you see that? When, like, there's, like, a TikTok video of, like, the older sister. She's probably, like, 10, telling her little sister exactly how to ask her for what she wants.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Listener]

And it's, you know, and at the end, no, you may not.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And that little sister.

[Listener]

I'm so triggered by that as a little sister.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I mean. And my big sister sent it to me, like, this is my favorite. And I the second. Cause I knew, you know, it's coming.

[Listener]

Say, please, may I? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Please, may I not? No, you may not.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No, you may not.

[Listener]

Fuck that girl.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And she makes her do it a couple times and keeps adjusting it.

[Listener]

Do it Perfectly okay, little sisters. It's so fucking hard.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's the funniest. And also they just. They're always going to do that to you over and over. And then it's like, oh, the youngest ones are always so wild. It's like we are being mentally tortured on a daily basis.

[Listener]

All we want is attention. And you've taught us that any kind of attention, whether it's good or bad, is positive.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Right?

[Listener]

Because that's all we get.

[Karen Kilgariff]

It's all we get. And it has to be earned.

[Listener]

So we're starting a podcast.

[Karen Kilgariff]

So here's this fucking podcast. And we will never again.

[Listener]

It's your fault, Laura and Leah. It's your fucking fault. Okay, let's face it, we take way too many photos every year. But how often do we get a chance to show them off?

[Karen Kilgariff]

With Aura Frames, it's ridiculously easy to share your favorite pictures with the ones you love.

[Listener]

They allow users to curate and share their photos and memories with love loved ones, making it a personal and meaningful gift.

[Karen Kilgariff]

These frames were ranked as the number one digital picture frame by Wirecutter. And here's why. They're incredibly easy to set up, update and enjoy.

[Listener]

Aura Frames features a high resolution display showcasing photos in vivid detail.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Users can also update their frames from anywhere using the Aura app, making it convenient to add new memories.

[Listener]

Plus, you can preload them with photos and a gift message, making it personal right out of the box.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I gotta say, I went home for Thanksgiving, visited my dad, and that aura frame is sitting on the counter facing him in the living room. So he's watching football in his La Z Boy recliner, but he can look right over here. And it's like, my niece when she was five years old, my niece when she was two years old, my niece when she was just born. A picture from the 70s, my niece, you know, at the prom, it's the cutest.

[Listener]

Then your niece with a sunset. That's so sweet. I love that. Save on the perfect gift by visiting Oraframes.com to get $35 off or as best selling carver matte frames by using promo code MFM at checkout.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's a U R A frames.com promo code MFM.

[Listener]

This deal is exclusive to our listeners, so get yours now in time for the holidays.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Terms and conditions apply.

[Listener]

Goodbye. This is called an absolute child hero.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yes.

[Listener]

Hi, it's me, the child hero. It's me. For the past 24 years, I've had a thin white box in the bottom of my jewelry box. Inside is a bronze Medal attached to a red, white and blue ribbon fastened to a pin.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You're Welco.

[Listener]

George Washington's bust is under the words Good Citizenship award.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Wow.

[Listener]

In 2000, I was given this medal, interviewed by a local news station, and got my name in the paper. This is the story of how I helped to save my teacher's life.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Holy shit. I love this.

[Listener]

I remember watching a movie about penguins. All desks were pushed to the sides in my second grade classroom and all the kids were sitting huddled together under the TV in the dark. Picture it. Ms. Hill was at her desk behind us. I got up from the floor and asked her if I could go to the bathroom. She said there was another student out, but when they returned, I could go. About two minutes later, I got up to ask again. This time When I approached Ms. Hill's desk, she was not there. As I got closer, I saw her sprawled out on the floor. Ms. Hill was wearing glasses and the reflection of the movie was playing on them. I could not see if she was conscious. I slowly and quietly got closer to her until I could see her eyes were closed. My heart was beating so fast and my chest felt on fire. I decided I needed to tell the most in charge adult in the school, the principal, Mr. Johnson.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Listener]

I remember running down the hallway to get there. I made it breathlessly to the front office. The secretary asked, what do you need? I responded, Ms. Hill is sleeping on the floor and she won't wake up. Up. She stood up, opened Mr. Johnson's office door behind her and repeated what I said like a superhero. He popped up and started running. When he got there, he turned on all the lights, scared the out of my second grade class and immediately started performing cpr. The paramedics were called and all kids were ushered into another room. For the rest of the day, I went home and did my homework as usual, not sharing the events of the day with anyone.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And those fucking the principal and the secretary, they were just like, thanks so much, buddy.

[Listener]

It wasn't until Mr. Johnson called my mom that night and told her what I did that I realized it was important. I remember my mom with her ear to the phone, tears streaming down her face, just staring at me. It turns out Ms. Hill suffered cardiac arrest at the age of 50.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh no.

[Listener]

Due to the quick action of Mr. Johnson and the paramedics, she made a full recovery. If she had gone without CPR for two minutes more, she would have had permanent brain damage.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh my God.

[Listener]

For this kid's little bladder. For Bailey's little bladder.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And also Just for hauling ass like understanding. Don't stand there in freeze mode.

[Listener]

Yeah, this is. Something's off.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah.

[Listener]

Ms. Hill was in the hospital for the rest of the school year and retired that summer. She never taught, nor did I ever see her again. I would, however, get called down to the attendance office every year on the anniversary of the event. Ms. Hill sent me letters from when I was 8 to 18 thanking me for saving her life. The last letter I received was when I was a senior in High School.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Ms. Hill.

[Listener]

Ms. Hill writes her letters. She keeps up with her letters.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's lovely.

[Listener]

The best part of the story. I did some light stalking while composing this email. Ms. Hill is still alive. A beautiful woman in her mid-70s. Her social media is filled with pictures of her children and six grandchildren.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Come on.

[Listener]

Well, that's how I peaked at seven years old. Thank you both for creating the podcast that created this community at the same time. This little girl helped to save a life. Finding a dead body was on her bucket list. And CSI was her favorite show.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, girl.

[Listener]

I knew I wasn't the only weirdo.

[Karen Kilgariff]

No.

[Listener]

Stay sexy and look for the helpers, even the tiny ones. Bailey, she her.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Bailey, first of all, gorgeous intro of that email.

[Listener]

Like the structure of that story just.

[Karen Kilgariff]

To like, clearly you were way ahead of the other second graders. Right?

[Listener]

Like I'm opening with this thing I have. Let me tell you why I have it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

The declaration though, of like, it's me, the child hero. It's me. It's so good. But also, you didn't peak at seven years old, Bailey. You just do the kind of work that goes unappreciated all the time, which is you are a logical, level headed thinker that probably is like, oh, if you leave the dinner plans for your group of friends to that person, they'll go where they wanna go. Which doesn't have the right seating.

[Listener]

Right.

[Karen Kilgariff]

You take over and you're like, here we go, this is where we're going. It's all gonna work.

[Listener]

Maybe that was the first fucking instance of your badassery. And for the rest of your life now even on this trajectory, you're just doing it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yeah, you're the day to day level headed. Don't panic, second grader that's grown into, I'm assuming, a beautiful young woman.

[Listener]

Eye of the tiger.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Bailey, right? Congratulations. I wish I had a little ribbon.

[Listener]

Look at what she won.

[Karen Kilgariff]

A little ribbon, madam.

[Listener]

A little ribbon with George Washington's bus on it. Did I say busts?

[Karen Kilgariff]

No bus. George Washington bussin on it. Bus okay, I'm last.

[Listener]

I got a look just now from Karen that means someone's gonna cry.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Okay, someone. Kid Pastimes Playing in the Sand. Estranged Brother edition. Hello from the Hellscape. That is the end of 2024.

[Listener]

Hi.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Hi. No one's going to save us but ourselves. Create genuine community. Find your support system. I'm reading an email right now, just so you know. I'm reading from the first paragraph of this email.

[Listener]

They're opening up fucking hard and strong.

[Karen Kilgariff]

They're coming in saying exactly what needs to be heard. Create genuine community. Find your support system. Give what you can. And as the ever fabulous divine said, be twice as gay, do twice as many crime.

[Listener]

Fuck, yes. I love it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

What an opening. You asked us for stories of what we did growing up to pass the time. My older brother is two and a half years older than me. He would have a toy gun and I'd have my water baby. And then in parentheses, it says, a plastic baby filled with water.

[Listener]

What the fuck? Oh. Cause it was like heavy.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Could squirt a baby. Like a.

[Listener]

No, I think it was like a.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Well, he had a water gun.

[Listener]

Oh, a water gun.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Sorry. My assumption was that she would use that baby to squirt water. But I think now that I reread it, you're right. It's just a toy gun. It's not a water gun. Toy gun.

[Listener]

Oh, my God.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Let's keep going and I'll help you out.

[Listener]

Okay.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And sometimes the Terminator would hang out with the Barbies in Rainbow Valley. And then that says the stairs when a crystal in the window cascaded rainbows all over the carpet. But my favorite thing we did was play in the sand patio out back. My dad was supposed to make my mom a flagstone patio, and he finally hired someone to do it only 40 some years after he promised. Consequently, we had a huge sandpit we would dig a complex riverbed. We stacked wooden logs for the spout of the water hose as our water fell. Once the stream was ready, my brother would run to the side of the house to turn on the water. He'd run back as fast as he could so we could watch our creation come to life. Once we even brought crawdads we caught at a real stream to put in ours, only for them to burrow deep in the sand and never be found.

[Listener]

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. My toes hurt thinking about that.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Yep. Good luck in your sand pit, children. My only sibling. My brother and I drifted apart as drugs took over his life. As a teenager, now addicted and living on the streets. I haven't spoken to him in a long time. Writing in. I'm struck by what an amazing person he was. Most brothers would send the little sister to turn on the water. He wanted me to see it.

[Listener]

Oh, no. Oh, no.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Thank you for reminiscing. Playing stream with me as I can't do it with him.

[Listener]

Aw, be gay.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Do crimes Anonymous. She her.

[Listener]

Anonymous.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Come on.

[Listener]

That's a sweet one.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Here's the thing. Cause seriously, the beginning. That email is so smart and good and strong.

[Listener]

Yeah.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And it's like. And this is. I think those kinds of memories and things are truly like the glue. I feel like those kinds of reminding, even when there's loss, there's beauty. That's why you miss him.

[Listener]

And they're still good memories. Even though, like, they're tainted by this thing. It sucks by loss. You can still share them with people and feel them and feel good about them instead of just feeling sad. That's really sweet.

[Karen Kilgariff]

And it's the idea, like, it's a great email anyway. But the idea that they get to understand that that's what their brother did for them is so beautiful.

[Listener]

I wanted her to see it. It makes me think of my brother. Cause he would never have done that. Asher.

[Karen Kilgariff]

My sister would've been like, get out of the sand pit.

[Listener]

This is our sand pit. Aw, what a sweetheart.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I know.

[Listener]

All right, well, thank you guys for listening to the hometowns. Please send yours in whatever it is. At favorite Murder at Gmail.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Try to make us cry. That'll be the new request.

[Listener]

Dare you make us cry.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Make us. Well, you know what it is. Make Georgia cry. It's easy to make cry. Yeah, make Georgia cry.

[Listener]

Yeah, do it. I dare you.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Good luck. Nothing. Nothing. Sad about animals.

[Listener]

No, no, no.

[Karen Kilgariff]

I feel like we have to make rules now.

[Listener]

No.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Everyone knows that we mean poignant crying.

[Listener]

Poignant crying. Not like, oh, my God, don't call me names.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Oh, my God. Please don't bully Georgia through email.

[Listener]

I will cry. That's easy, though.

[Karen Kilgariff]

That's the way to get her.

[Listener]

Don't. Don't do it.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Don't, don't. Don't do that.

[Listener]

Also, stay sexy and don't get murdered. Goodbye, Elvis. Do you want a cookie?

[Karen Kilgariff]

This has been an exactly right production.

[Listener]

Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.

[Listener]

This episode was mixed by Liana Squalaci.

[Karen Kilgariff]

Email your hometowns to my favorite murdermail.com.

[Listener]

And follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at my favorite murder goodbye.