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- [00:00]
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- [01:22]
Kevin Allison
Hey folks, this is Risk, the show where people tell true stories they never thought they'd dare to share. I'm Kevin Allison and every Thursday we release these special episodes where we look back at content from our earlier years. This week an episode that premiered in November of 2013 and wow. All three of these stories became known as Risk Classics. A weed smoking granny, a very intense trip to North Korea, and a very inappropriate thing that happened. It's an episode we call Family Secrets.
- [02:27]
Josh Healy / Kitty Haley / Christine Lee
Risk.
- [02:36]
Kevin Allison
Hello kids, this is Risk, the show where people tell true stories they never thought they'd dare to share. I'm Kevin Allison and this is hey Von Lar Alemi behind me. Now my granddad used to say there's no Alemmi like a have on Laura Lemmy. And it's all too apropos that I mention, Granddad, because today's episode is called Family Secrets. On this week that we gather with our families to give thanks, here are three stories about how surprising life can be when you're linked to others by blood. In just a bit, we're going to hear from Christine Lee, an Episcopal priest in New York, an absolutely lovely woman who took one of our workshops in storytelling@thestorystudio.org but before that, we're going to hear from the Bay area based storyteller, Mr. Josh Healy, who told this story at the Mill Valley Library over there in the Bay area and sent us the recording. And so here's Josh Healey now with the story we call Rolling With Grandma.
- [04:09]
Josh Healy / Kitty Haley / Christine Lee
So this is a story about the first time I ever helped an 86 year old with her medication. If there's anything in the world that's more awesome than a little old grandma, it's a little old grandma in law, which is what I have. My wife's Grandma Phyllis. Now, Grandma Phyllis, she stands about five foot one on a good day. She has bleached blond hair, deep tan and wrinkles from her yearly trip to Hawaii. She lives in San Jose by herself and she loves to talk liberal politics. But she is also deeply Southern Baptist and the only one in her family who still goes to church every week. So she's like a combination of Rachel Maddow and Dana Carvey's church lady character from Saturday Night Live. Needless to say, me and her get along great. Now, last year, last year, Grandma Phyllis, unfortunately she had this pinched nerve in her back. She said it hurt so much it felt like rushed Limbaugh was sitting on her spine. She didn't like it. And so she went to the doctor and the doctor said she had two choices to deal with the pain. She could either get the normal prescription painkillers or she could get a prescription for medical marijuana. And I think you see where this is going now. Now, the only conversation I'd ever had with Grandma Phyllis about anything even close to to marijuana was two years ago at Thanksgiving. She had come over with her usual batch of home baked desserts and my wife jokingly asked, she said, grandma, are these special brownies? To which Grandma Phyllis replied, of course these are special, honey. I made them myself. What could be more special than that? Well, she was going to find out because to deal with this back pain, Grandma Phyllis had decided that she didn't want any more painkillers. So she was going to try what she politely called the plant medicine. Now, she wasn't driving much these days, so she needed someone to take her to the clinic. And because everyone else in the family was busy, yes, I was the one who was going to take Grandma to get her weed. So I actually, this may be. I'd never been to a pot club before. I don't have a card, despite the fact that I think every other friend of mine does. It seems like it's so easy to get one here in the Bay Area. You just create or have or create whatever health condition you need to get one. I've got anxiety. I sleep too much. I can't sleep My fingernails are too tight. Whatever it takes. And they have one. But this was different. This was Grandma Phyllis. So I was here to help her out. So the day comes and I go to pick her up and I take her to the club in downtown San Jose, the other club. And it didn't look like what I expected, like some sort of grimy underground circus type atmosphere. It was actually super clean, modern. There was brown couches lining the walls, Soft indie rock music over the speakers that kind of reminded me of Starbucks. And so we go up to the counter and the clerk's standing there, and he's this nice tall guy and he's got these like Buddy Holly glasses and a ZZ Top beard. And you know, he's just super cool. I know he's. And he's just like, so, can I help you too? It's me and Grandma Phyllis. And I can tell she's a little nervous. So I take the lead and I'm like, yeah, trying to get something for my grandma in law, Phyllis. And the guy doesn't miss a beat. This is obviously nothing new to him. He's like, sure, no problem. Can I see your prescription? So we hand it to him, he takes a look at it, and then he goes into full salesman mode. He's like, well, all right, ma', am, these are our different options. You've got Purple Arugula. We've got Eureka's Envy. We've got Rainbow's Revenge. But this, this is what I would recommend for you right here, man. This is called Grateful but Not Yet Dead. This. Some of you may have had it. It's what I would give my own grandma. So this, this is more than enough endorsement for us. So we buy the prescribed amount, and I drive Grandma Phyllis back home and I take her inside and, you know, I make sure she's okay. And I'm about to put on my coat and get in my car and drive back home when kind of out of nowhere, she stops me and she pulls out a box of rolling papers, looks, hands them to me in my direction and says in her sweet little Southern Baptist voice, josh, do you know how to roll a joint? I said, what? What was that, Grandma Phyllis? She said, well, I mean, you know, I figured that since you were here and, you know, my hands aren't too good these days and, well, do you think you could help me out? Well, now, this was a situation I was not expecting, but I'm supposed to be here for Grandma Phyllis and for her health. So I'm like, sure, why not? So I Start rolling the joint. And I'm nervous because, I mean, I want to make it good, but I don't want to make it too good, you know what I mean? Like. Like, I'm a professional at this with years of experience in the joint rolling industry, so I make it. Y' all still with me? So I make it in a mediocre but still presentable fashion. I light it and I pass it to Grandma Phyllis. And she takes it and she looks at it for a second, and I'm thinking she might have second thoughts, but no. She puts it to her lips and she takes a huge hit. And then another, and then another. And then she dumps the ash in the tray and she casually holds it between her fingers. I say, grandma Phyllis, have you done this before? She says, no, I don't think so, But could you find me a paper clip just for the little piece at the end? Fifteen minutes later, I'll keep going. Fifteen minutes later, we're sitting on the couch sucking on butterscotch candies and watching reruns of Golden Girls. I look over to her and I say, you know, it's 15 minutes later, I'm like, grandma Phyllis, so what do you think? How are you feeling? How's your back? And she says, you, you know what? I don't feel any pain right now. Seems to be working. I'm like, yes, this is great. Medical marijuana actually serving a medical purpose. Grandma Phyllis is feeling better, and I'm feeling great about helping her out. So I'm just about to go put on my coat and leave again, when she stops me and she says, you know, Josh, I'm probably not going to need all of this. It's too much for me. Would you like to take some home? I think about it for a second, maybe two, and smile and say, no, Grandma, my back is just fine. Thank you all very much.
- [14:15]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
You can't fool us, Granny. We know what you're really up to. You see, it starts out innocently enough, just a couple puffs, but then before you know it, we'll find you rummaging through the attic, looking for your son's old lava lamp and blacklight, and playing your Frankie Valli records backwards over and over in search of hidden lyrics. We'll be right back.
- [15:04]
Josh Healy / Kitty Haley / Christine Lee
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- [15:35]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
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- [15:40]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
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- [15:43]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
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- [15:50]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
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- [15:55]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
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- [16:01]
Kevin Allison
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- [16:48]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
I could feel the sweat forming in the palms of my hands and a pit growing in my stomach as I sat in the backseat of an old Mercedes Benz which was being driven by North Korean officials. I could see a large figure looming in the distance and and I knew where they were taking us, and I didn't like it one bit. I had just arrived in Pyongyang, North Korea, with my father and our good friend Paul Kim. The airport officials had checked our passports and the visas that we had secured in Beijing, and then they immediately confiscated our passports. I remember it felt a little like being locked in the trunk of a car and the only way that you could get out was if someone let you out. It was 1997, which was just a few years into a terrible famine that North Korea had experienced where some estimates say that over 3 million people had already died of starvation. And we were there to deliver food and medicine for my dad's humanitarian organization, which was set up for the sole purpose of bringing aid to North Korea. That and essentially to bribe the government into letting my dad see his family. My dad was separated from his family when he was only 12 years old during the Korean War, and his parents had sent him and his older siblings to the south while they and his younger siblings stayed behind since the younger ones were too small to travel. And it was during that trip that the border between north and South Korea was closed, and he didn't know what happened to his family. He didn't know if they were dead or alive. And he basically grew up like an orphan on the streets of South Korea. And then in 1986, after he had immigrated to the States, my sisters and I were all born here. The North Korean government somehow managed to locate him, and they informed him that his mother and younger siblings were still alive and that his father had died during the war and they were inviting him to come to North Korea and to see his family. Now, by this time, my dad was a very well known pastor in the Korean community, and it's very likely that they wanted to use him for propaganda. And despite the fact that the North Korean government had a reputation for kidnapping people and my mother's tears and protests and concerns for his safety, he was determined to go. And after 35 years, he was reunited with his family and able to see his mother before she died. And he had made several trips since then, each time bringing this desperately needed money and medicine to his family. Earlier that year, I remember my dad sitting me down on the edge of my bed and saying, christine, I'm getting older and I'm not going to be around forever to take care of my family. The second generation, you girls and your cousins, you've never met our family. In North Korea, it can be dangerous. And each time I go, there's always a risk. Your sisters are married and have children, but you, you're single. And I knew exactly what he was saying. He was saying, if you get kidnapped by North Koreans, no one's gonna miss you. But, you know, I didn't care about the risk. This was my father's homeland. I grew up hearing stories about North Korea. Not the crazy place that's depicted in the news, but the North Korea of my father's childhood. And here was a whole side of my family that I had never met before, and a once in a lifetime opportunity to actually meet them. I mean, at this point, nothing could keep me away. We were driven to this large plaza at the base of a bronze statue of Kim Il Sung, which was well over 60ft tall, and, and his arm was stretched out in this gesture of benevolence over the city of Pyongyang. And as we were led into the plaza, Paul, our friend, leans over to me and whispers, just watch your dad and just do whatever he does. I remember there was a man in a suit standing at the front of the plaza with a microphone, and dramatic music was playing in the background. There were North Korean soldiers with rifles surrounding the plaza around us. And the government officials handed us flowers, and they lined us up with other people who were there. But they put the three of us front and center in front of this statue. I watched my dad and just followed his lead as he walked up to the base of the statue and placed the flowers at the foot of Kim Il Sung. And as we walked back to our place, he said to Paul and I, when they tell you to bow, don't bow, but just bow your head and pray for North Korea. We stood facing this image of this dictator who caused so much suffering and death among his people. And at that moment, the man speaking gave instruction for everyone to bow. And everyone lined up, bowed deeply, except for my dad, Paul and I. And we just stood straight, bowing only our heads as we prayed for North Korea. I remember seeing angry whispers and displeased looks from the government officials, but no one said a word to us as they led us back into our cars, driving through the streets of Pyongyang. It was unnaturally quiet. There were very few cars out as we drove to the hotel. And we were passing what felt like concrete building after concrete building after concrete building. And the few people who were actually out walking were almost always walking alone. And as we pulled up in front of our hotel, my dad leans over and whispers to me, look over at that tree. Behind it. You'll see a woman in a yellow sweater. That's my sister. I'm not sure if the officials even knew that she was there, or what they would have done if they had known that she was there, because North Koreans live in this constant fear of punishment and imprisonment and even death for what seems to be the most minor infractions. And out of the corner of my eye, I could see this woman in the yellow sweater watching us get out of our car and yet unable to approach us. We had requested to be taken to a number of different places, out to the countryside, so we could see the places that had been hit worst by the famine. An orphanage. We, of course, wanted to see my dad's family. But instead we got the Kim Il Sung tour. You know, Kim Il Sung's birthplace, Kim Il Sung's university, Kim Il Sung's tomb, which was his old administration building. And we walked into this huge cavernous room that was completely dark, except for this single creepy red light that was shining on his embalmed body in a glass case. And no one looks good in red light, especially if you're dead. It was just a creepy environment. And morning, afternoon, and night they would just talk incessantly about Kim Il Sung, their glorious father and his son, Kim Jong Il, and how much they loved the people and provided for them, you know, all of their achievements, their teachings or philosophies. And just on and on and on they would drone about Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. And after, after a while I just began to tune them out. And I was feeling the minutes slipping away and running out when we would have to get back on that plane and away from our North Korean family. Well, the day finally came to meet them. And I remember stepping out into the lobby of our hotel when I saw my aunt with the yellow sweater come rushing towards me along with my other aunts and my uncle and all of my cousins with their arms stretched out, you know, crying, hugging me, nearly tearing me apart. And we were all just laughing and crying like it was the first time and the last time that we would ever see each other. And I was able to see up close that my aunt had this moon shaped face and a wide smell smile and these eyes that were sad and merry at the same time. And she would not let me go. I met my cousin Hokchul, who was this tall, good looking young man with chiseled features and a mop of black hair. And between my terrible Korean and his terrible English, somehow we were able to communicate with each other. And he would ask me million questions about the U.S. you know, what it was like. He asked me questions about God and whether I believed in God or not, or whether I believed God answered prayer. And when I said that I did, he just laughed hysterically and would say, that's nonsense. But then he would stop and say, well, I don't know, they only teach us one thing. And then there was my sweet cousin Kyung Ah, who was just a few years older than I was and she was pregnant with her first child. Everyone said that we looked like we were twin sisters. She didn't speak any English at all, but I remember how she would shyly hold my hand as we walked along. We went to my aunt's apartment for lunch, sitting down at these long low tables on the ground. And they brought out two bowls of Naengmyeon, which are cold buckwheat noodles that North Korea is famous for. My dad would always say when we were growing up how much he missed the Naengmyeon that he used to eat in North Korea. After a few moments we noticed that no other bowls of Naengmyeon were being brought out, just the two that were placed in front of my father and me. And that's when we realized that they had saved up all that they had for just these two bowls. There wasn't enough to go around. And I noticed Kyanga with a roll of bread in her hand, which was likely given to her because she was pregnant. And we pleaded with them to share with us. We could each have a bite to eat, we told them, but they refused. And we begged them. You know, how could we possibly eat these noodles in front of them when they had nothing to eat? But they wouldn't budge. And I realized then that for them, this might be the only chance that they could ever give something to us. They didn't know if they would ever see us again. And we didn't know if we would ever be allowed to come back again. These two bowls of noodles represented all those years that we had missed together as a family. All of the memories that we were never able to have. These times of laughing together and sharing dinner together and having holidays together, of births and marriages, missed their joy in seeing me for the first time. Their gratitude to my father for helping them to survive. And I realized then that there is a dignity in being able to give to someone that you love. And that there's also a grace in being able to receive something from someone who loves you. And so my dad and I ate those noodles and we slurped up and every last bit of broth, and we told them how delicious it was and how we had never had such amazing naengmyeon in our lives. And then we went back to our hotel room and we just cried like babies. The next morning, they came to our hotel to say goodbye right before we were about to leave for the airport. And I gave them everything I had. You know, my clothes, my jewelry, my toiletries. As if I could somehow import some kind of hope and meaning into these objects and into their lives. I didn't know if this was going to be the last time that I would ever see them. Now, whenever I read about North Korea in the news, the first thing that I think of is not their bizarre, crazy threats they make to incinerate the US Or South Korea with nuclear weapons, or the rows and rows of soldiers marching in formation, or that 60 foot statue looming over the city of Pyongyang. Instead, I see a woman in a yellow sweater sweater standing against a backdrop of gray. I see Hakchol's earnest face and his hunger to know what was out there beyond the prison that he lived in. I see Kyung Ah holding that roll of Bread and those two precious and costly bowls of noodles offered in love.
- [31:18]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
Sam. It's bigger than love Brighter than all
- [31:51]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
the stars combined it's dwarfing the sun
- [31:57]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
burning within my heart and mind I live with my memories the bustling fervor
- [32:06]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
of New York where I'm 15 miles
- [32:12]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
we quarreled and broke the bathroom door
- [32:15]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
Cuz you were just drinking Drinking till
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Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
you could hardly see how much I love you that I couldn't bring myself
- [32:29]
Josh Healy / Kitty Haley / Christine Lee
to leave it's bigger than love Brighter than all.
- [32:46]
Kevin Allison
This is Risk. This is Benjamin Gibbard with Amy Mann behind me now. And we just heard a story from Christine Lee. Now our third and final story was recorded at the recent Risk live show. In comes from the brilliant Kitty Haley. Kitty has had a long and crazy remarkable career as a private investigator. But this story comes from a little bit closer to home we call it. It's all happening at the Z.
- [33:29]
Josh Healy / Kitty Haley / Christine Lee
The stars combined.
- [33:47]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
I met John on South street at a coffee shop. And it was. It was love at first sight. Who wouldn't fall in love with a guy who looked like a tall Willie Nelson? He had on a motorcycle helmet. There was a BMW K1100 at the curb. And he was reading the New York Times. I mean, that was pretty cool. It was wonderful. And it was strange because I had already had two failed marriages. The first one because, well, I guess I was just too young. And the second one, well, he kind of liked women, unfortunately, lots of them. And he was still married to me, so that didn't last. And I had made up my mind by then that this was it. I was never going to fall in love again. I was done. I would never marry again. I might never have sex again. I was sure that it was all over for me. And then I met John. We went on one date. One date. And I gave him the key to my house and I gave him the key to my heart. And we were inseparable from that moment on. It was wonderful. I had two and a half of the best years of my entire life. I never thought that at my advanced age, because I was older, I was the cougar, not a pedophile. He was only a little bit young. He was under 50. I was over. And all of a sudden life was special again. I did things I never thought I would do again. I mean, sex was like, wow, eat your heart out, Miley Cyrus. I mean, seriously, it gets better when you get older. Just take my word for it, okay? And I was really a happy person. And he gave me two and a Half wonderful, wonderful years. And then something happened and it was weird and strange and I never thought anything like this could occur. But on his 50th birthday, things started to change. He started to forget things. At first it was little. He forgot, where's John's water ice? Well, that's only three blocks away. And then he couldn't dial the telephone. He couldn't remember how to dial the telephone and he couldn't remember how to buckle his belt. And he was an architect and he couldn't remember why the line started here and ended here. And it was difficult for me to wrap my head around. And for him. We had him diagnosed and he had a very strange form of dementia. If you're aware of Alzheimer's, you know that Alzheimer's is this thing back here, it deals with memory of the past. My John had frontal temporal dementia. Frontal temporal, okay. He was forgetting the present. He was like a videotape of life that was rolling backwards in time, but it wasn't rolling slowly, it was rolling rapidly. Within the first six months, he lost 10, 20 years of his life. And he started forgetting how to do things, how to do everything. His palate changed. He went from the man who loved gourmet food. He liked pate, he liked pad Thai. He liked anything that was wonderful and luscious and exotic. And now he liked peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, hot dogs and ice cream. And I couldn't believe that everything was rolling backwards. And it seemed to accelerate. What had happened was there were literally holes in his brain that were being caused by like a plaque that caused the synapses to. To separate so he couldn't get those thoughts together. The electrical charges weren't there, and eventually he even forgot how to speak. And instead of being my love and my husband, he became my little boy. And I became mommy. Now, I loved being mommy. Okay, being mommy was the best part of my life up until the time that I met John. So I loved being, loved being a mother. And he was the best little boy in the whole world, except he was 6 foot 3. And it was a little difficult to deal with a 6 foot 3 inch tall little boy who was frustrated and couldn't always speak and couldn't say what he wanted all the time. But he was my John and he had given me so much in that short period of time that I knew I had to give back to him and I had to take care of him. And that was easy because we had a wonderful time. We drew pictures together. He colored them in and Painted them. We just loved life. Except one morning in October, I realized that if I had to watch Finding Nemo one more time, I was going to shoot myself.
- [39:42]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
Okay?
- [39:43]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
I couldn't do it. And I thought, what would I do with my kids? Let's see. He must be. He's about seven now, maybe six. Johnny, let's go to the zoo. And by then, he had almost lost his ability to talk, but he remembered a little bit, and he kept walking around the house going, zoo, zoo, zoo. And so I knew I made him happy. And by then, he really was my little boy. And, I mean, he was in diapers. It was difficult, but I knew I had found something that we could both do. So it was a Wednesday morning. It was in October. It was the middle of the week, and the kids were back at school. This would be a perfect day to go to the zoo. I was really ready for this. This was really important, because I was going to make him happy. And I didn't have to watch that damn movie anymore. So I'm a happy lady now. All right? Life is good. And I say, johnny, let's make sandwiches together. So we make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And he spreads the jelly all over the place, and he puts the peanut butter on it. And I hold his hand and I say, how do you want to cut them today? Do you want triangles? He goes, no. No. Do you want squares? No. Okay, fingers. You want four fingers? Yes, fingers. So I held his hand, and we cut fingers, and we wrapped each little finger soldier in plastic wrap, and we put it in a paper bag. I had drawn a picture of a fish on the paper bag. He liked fish. And he colored it in. And I wrote John on it. And he was really happy. He had his lunch bag. And we get to the car, and, you know, I did what moms do. I helped my little boy man put his seatbelt on. And then I talked to him, and I said things like, john, when we go to the zoo, don't walk away from me. Hold my hand. Don't run and stay with me. And if we get separated, you just stand still because you're so big, I'll find you, okay? Don't go anywhere. Just be there. And he was, okay. Okay, zoo. And we get close to the zoo, and I'm fine. This is great. Except that as we pull close to the zoo, I realize there are 900 yellow school buses in front of the gate. And there are children pouring out of the school buses. And my John doesn't take sensory input too well, so screaming Yelling children is not what he needed to hear at that particular moment. And I was afraid and I said, john, it'll be okay. It'll be fine. But it was too late. We couldn't turn around and leave. He had already seen the zoo and he was out of the car, running across the parking lot. So I put it into the brake on, I locked the door, I ran after him, I grabbed his hand and my little man, big man, dragged me through the gate, through the turnstile. I really was surprised when they didn't charge me for a child, but they charged me for two adults and we went inside. Now we get, I get in the zoo and I look around and it's too late for me to look around. He's already moving and his 6 foot 3 inch legs are pulling me. And we go to the first animal, and the first animal is a rhinoceros. And there are all these little school children looking at the rhinoceros and pointing and going, ooh, look, he's got five legs. Oh yeah, he did have five legs, sort of. And I'm holding John's hand and of course he's way above the other children and he sees what they're looking at and he kind of, he kind of reaches down and he's looking for his other leg. And I realized that's kind of nice. He remembers he's got one because he had forgotten for a while there. And then I thought, oh no, no, this big man is fondling himself in front of a group of children. This is not good. Okay, John, let's go see the next animal. And so I start dragging him and we go, and, and there's a zebra and there's a group of children around the zebra. And oh my God, the zebra has five legs. And the children are looking at the zebra going, oh, look at that, he's peeing through his leg. Oh my God. And the little boys are giggling and the little girls are giggling and they're whispering bring to each other. And I'm holding John's hand and I realize that he's thinking about this whole fifth leg thing. And his hand goes down to himself again and he's feeling his manhood and the children are yelling and I'm getting a little worried, especially when I feel an electrical charge going through my body coming from his. He's starting to shake a little bit. He's starting to be upset by the kids. And I can feel this electricity going from his body into mine. And I know this is my time to move. We have to get out of there. And so I drag him across the path. And I remember there are giant turtles. And so, so we head towards the giant turtles and I'm going, come on, John, we're going to go see the turtles. You love turtles. Turtles are big. And there's this group of kids, they must be five or six or maybe seven, and a young teacher, she can't be more than 25 years old, and they're looking at the turtles. And as we get close, I hear these little voices going, oh, he's going to hurt him. He's going to hurt him. Don't let him climb on top of him, Mrs. Thompson, he's going to hurt him. The big one is too big. He's going to crush the little one. And by then my John is really getting it. And he's starting to put things together and those synapses are starting to connect. And I'm holding his hand and I feel Mount Vesuvius about to erupt. And he starts to shake and my body shakes. And at the top of his 53 year old lungs he yells, no. And everybody jumps back. And the teacher looks at us like, what's going on? And he finishes his sentence, no, he's not hurting him. They're fucking. Misses Thompson was upset. She looked at me like, why can't you control that man? The children by then were going, did you hear what he said? And I was about ready to bust a gut. I grabbed his hand and I said, johnny, let's run. And we did. I grabbed his hand and we ran all the way to the other end of the zoo, all the way to the other end, away from these people who were pointing at us now. And I caught my breath and I was laughing and gasping for breath. And Johnny was so proud of himself because he had put together a thought and he had put together a word and he might have even put together a memory because we sat on a bench together in this peaceful contentment. We unwrapped each little finger of peanut butter and jelly sandwich, each little soldier and we nibbled our sandwiches and we sat there watching the lions who were doing what else they were fucking. Sam.
- [49:24]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
When we're out in the moonlight
- [49:30]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
Looking
- [49:30]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
up at the stars above Feel so good when I'm near you holding hands and making love O baby, baby yes, so baby. Just so baby. In our lives Feel so good walking side by side
- [50:21]
Josh Healy / Kitty Haley / Christine Lee
Want to be with
- [50:23]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
you all my life oh baby,
- [50:30]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
you're
- [50:30]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
so baby baby, you're so baby,
- [50:40]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
you're
- [50:41]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
so baby,
- [50:44]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
baby
- [50:48]
Kevin Allison
and that is all for this week. This is the brilliant Ariel Pink behind me. Now. Shout out to Risk music intern Matt Baroness for calling my attention to this track. And before that we heard, of course, chorus from Kitty Haley, who you can find out more about@kittyhailey.com hey, have you ever considered purchasing as a gift for one of your loved ones a one on one storytelling sketchin sketchion? No, we don't do sketchins here. Sessions A one on one storytelling session with me over Skype. What a great gift. It's so fun and creative and cathartic and you'll get tips and techniques that you can use for the rest of your life. Go get it@thestorystudio.org and if you've been telling your friends to check out Risk, good for you. You might also want to tell them to check us out on Facebook and Twitter. In both places we're riskshow and on Twitter I'm hekevinalison. That is all for now. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. And folks, today's the day. Take a risk.
- [52:21]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
Sam, He's not hurting him. They're sketching. Close your eyes. Exhale. Feel your body relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh my gosh, they're so fast.
- [53:22]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
And breathe.
- [53:23]
IXL Advertiser
Oh, sorry.
- [53:24]
Narrator / Advertiser / Kitty Haley
I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-contacts.
- [53:36]
Christine Lee / Kitty Haley / Advertiser
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