Suzanne Rust (8:01)

That was Suzanne Ketchum Adams. Suzanne loves reading, hearing, telling and writing stories. She takes a special pride in coaching others to tell their own stories with passion. Suzanne lives in Massachusetts with her family and is currently at work on a novel. Oh, and way to go Suzanne. Learning how to use your voice is everything. Back when I was a teenager, I didn't have home eck and school, but I did have a mom at home who liked to cook. She showed me how to clean shrimp, prepare artichokes, and my favorite, how to sweat sliced eggplant or make them cry, as she called it. Learning how to cook for yourself is an important skill. You know what else is an important skill? Knowing how to tell your story. If you're a high schooler that loves to stand up for themselves, or if you have one in your life. The Moths education program has a ton of programs and guidance that help young people tell their own story, whether that's up on stage in their college application essay or just with their friends. To find out more, go to themoth.org edu up next, some sibling drama. We'll be right back.

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Narrator (9:35)

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Suzanne Rust (9:55)

Welcome back. Up next, we'll hear about the ways a kid tried to get out of something they couldn't stand. Jeff Rose told this at a New York City story slam where the theme of the night was temptation. Here's Jeff live at the Moth.

Jeff Rose (10:10)

I always hated. I always hated going to church. Even before I could remember, I hated going to church because I've been told that when I was about three and a half or four years old, I stood up on the pew in the middle of the sermon and in a little small but confident voice announced, this is taking too long, I'm leaving. I was just saying what everyone was thinking, honestly. So by the time that I was eight, I knew, I knew how much I hated going to church. And my family always went to church. We never, ever didn't go to church. So this was unavoidable for me. And what I really hated the most about this was that they would demean me. They would dress me up in this little pinstriped suit, this little blue pinstripe suit with a little clip on tie. And if you see little boys in Brooklyn on a Sunday dressed up in suits, they all look like kind of, you know, like they can't wait to take it off. They cannot wait to take the suit off. And, you know, I mean, it's completely a demeaning thing. Adults come by, they say, oh, you look so grown up and handsome. It's so ridiculous. But so when I was 8, for Easter, I was left in the care of my grandma with my two sisters. And my two sisters and me just fought all the time. Then my older sister was four years older and she was 12 and her name was Lara. And she was really over having a little brother. And our relationship was mostly sitting in the back of the car and elbowing each other and yelling. And then my younger sister Margaret sat in the front and she was 4. And my grandma would yell at us for fighting with each other and go, shut up, kid, shut up. And then Margaret up front would go, I'm being good, aren't I, grandma? Which was the one thing that me and Laura were bonding over at the the time. It was unacceptable. So it came on Easter Sunday. I got up, I put on my little suit and sat there and waited because I wanted church to be over so I could get candy. And in the meantime, my parents had sent along two little dresses for my sisters. And my grandma was working on them and working on them and working on their hair. And my grandma said to me, jeff, why don't you go outside and water the garden, but promise me that you will not get your suit wet and muddy. And I don't know why she did this. Maybe I just looked so grown up and handsome that she believed it. But I went out to water the garden and I was a pretty good kid. So, you know, I was trying. I had the hose out away from me and I was playing with it because we didn't have a nozzle. So we just. I was using the thumb and kind of like working it, making it spray more or less so. And kind of like I kind of got into it a little bit and kind of forgot where I was and forgot about the fact I was in a suit and kind of not wanting to be there. And then suddenly, off to the side on the garden path, I heard a little voice and it said, jeff, hurry up, we're going to be late to church. And I looked over while holding the hose and there was my four year old son, Sister Margaret, and she was about three and a half foot tall at the time and she was wearing this little pink outfit that had little frilly, you know, just kind of knock kneed with the little frilly skirt coming out. And then I looked back at my hose and then I looked back at her and she had like little shoes with the little ribbons on them and her hair was all up and curled with the ribbons in it and her face was red. She looked like a little magnolia blossom, basically. And I looked back at the hose again and in that, you know, they say that professional athletes actually have this thing that they go into called the zone. I don't really know, I didn't play sports or anything in high school, but, you know, you envision something that's going to happen and then you do it perfectly. I kind of wish she was here. And the theme was gloating, actually. But so I just, I turned it on her and it was wonderful. I think she was too young to really no guile or hatred. So she just took it flat footed.

Suzanne Rust (14:56)

And.

Jeff Rose (15:00)

She didn't even close her mouth. Her mouth. And I just started at the top and just, you know, used my thumb so it sprayed a little harder and just hosed her all the way down and her whole outfit just lost all its volume. She was like a little dog, you know, that just gets and you know, my grandmother, my grandmother took a yardstick down off of the top of a and she proceeded to break it on me. And my older sister, you know, she remembers that it actually stung me and that I was sad. But the way that I remember is that I was particularly happy to get to show up Margaret and I was also happy because I got to get out of my suit. But mostly I was happy about the fact that we didn't have to go to church.

Suzanne Rust (16:16)

That was Jeff Rose Jeff is a New York City based writer, performer and web consultant. He served as digital producer of Art, Humanity and Action, a short podcast series that encourages everyday people to get involved through real stories about grassroots action. That's it for this episode. From all of us here at the Moth, we hope you stand up for yourself in home EC class or beyond.

Host (16:39)

Suzanne Rust is the Moth's Senior Curatorial Producer and one of the hosts of the Moth Radio Hour. In addition to finding new voices and fresh stories for the Moth stage, Suzanne creates playlists and helps curate special storytelling events. This episode of the Moth Podcast was produced by Sarah Austin, Janess, Sarah Jane Johnson and me, Mark Sullinger. The rest of the Moth leadership team includes Sarah Haberman, Christina Norman, Jennifer Hickson, Kate Tellers, Marina Clouche, Suzanne Rust, Leeann Gulley and Patricia Urenia. The Moth Podcast is presented by Odysee. Special thanks to their Executive producer, Leah Rees Dennis. All Moth stories are true as remembered by their storytellers. For more about our podcast, information on pitching your own story and everything else, go to our website themoth.org.