Dan Kennedy (9:23)

Christy Hawkins now lives in Colorado, and she's the mother of three and spends her days working in HR for a healthcare company. She spends her afternoons and evenings driving around a car full of kids. After that night, Christy was true to her word. She signed up for both Tinder and Bumble, and she started swiping like crazy. Although nothing serious has come out of that swiping, she says it's definitely entertaining and it's really nice to get swiped back. Our next story is from Autumn. Spencer and Autumn shared this story at a slam in Vermont in 2014. The theme of that night was firsts. Here's Autumn.

Autumn Spencer (10:05)

Hey. I can tell you unequivocally that Valentine's Day is about love. Yes, it is. It is about love. On the labor and delivery floor in the early morning hours of Valentine's Day 2004, where my first baby was born. A little girl in the hours that are quiet and sort of standing still and light that is fuzzy and lines that are blurred and everything is otherworldly and everything is unbelievable. Like this slithery little baby. And she was so lovely when she sucked air into her lungs, drying their watery beginnings, and then heaved it out into the room with this electric howl, fierce and so alive. So fucking alive. She was here. A first baby. A first granddaughter. A true love. A Valentine. All my mother ever wanted to do was love. She wanted to love and love and love and love and support and courage and love. That's what she wanted to do. And she loved Elena with reckless abandon. And Elena loved her Tootsie. Loved everything about her. Never judged her. Loved her without condition. Loved her no matter what. Loved her all the time. And what a gift that must have been for my mother. Because we did not love her like that. My father didn't, my brother didn't. I didn't wanted to. We're good people. We wanted to love her. But we were so angry because she was dying. We were angry at what Alina couldn't see. We were angry because she was dying from smoking and smoking was killing her. Not quietly and subtly and as an afterthought of a life well lived. No, smoking was killing her in loud fits of coughing and hacking and in coughed up wads of mucus from disintegrating lungs and in lost trains of thought, oxygen depleted and memories gone. And we were angry and we judged her. And we saw that as her failure. Not as a life altering addiction, but as her failure. But Elena, the Valentine's baby. Elena, smiling up and up and up at my mother's face through her little baby teeth, smiling up and up. My mother must have felt forgiven and loved. And my mother grew ill, ever more ill. And she moved in with us. And it was always Elena who could find my mom. Alena, who found my mom when she was away in her sadness about my dad having died. Elena who found my mom after the appointment that said COPD and oxygen concentrators and sorry, we can't really do anything for you. And Elena, who showed up the day after my mom had a stroke and had her hand curled in her lap and picked up her hand and dropped it and picked up her hand and dropped it and declared it irrelevant to eating cookies and watching the backyardigans stroke. No matter. Elena loved my mom. And one morning my mom had come to live with us. She wouldn't wake up. I couldn't wake her up. I couldn't prod her awake, I couldn't whisper her awake. I couldn't get her to wake up. And Elena was watching. And I was sad, but I was so pissed because I see, I love Elena too. And I wanted to protect her from this. I wanted to protect her from the ugliness of this disease and dying and falling apart and failing. And eventually I couldn't care for my mom anymore. And so she went to the respite house, which is a hospice care facility. And I said to her, mom, you have to go to the respite house. And she said, honey, that's where people go to die. And Elena said, yeah, tootsie, you're gonna die in the best place. I went there and they have donuts and fish in tanks and a piano. I Think it's going to be awesome. And we had a birthday there for Elena, her eighth Valentine's Day birthday, a couple days before Valentine's Day. And we partied, and we texted each other back and forth to make my mother nuts. And she was there with her grandchildren, and she held everybody's head in her hands, and she whispered things to them that were probably important about the end of life. But they all just asked for candy, and we had a great time, and we partied. And two days later, on Valentine's Day, eight years after Elena was born, the nurse called me, and she said it was time that my mother wouldn't lift her head and that I should come. So I went to her bedside after sending Alina and her father off to Alina's birthday party at school with balloons and cupcakes, because when you're born on Valentine's Day, you have to have the best school birthday party every year for the rest of your life. So off they went. And I went to my mother's bedside, and I saw my mom, and she wasn't diseased, and it wasn't gross. It was just my mama, just quiet and asleep and smelling good. And I pulled back the covers, and I got in bed with her, and I fell asleep. I woke up hours later with my brother, and he had arrived. And I looked at him, and we laughed, because we're always laughing. And I said, she's been waiting for you. And she had been. She'd been waiting for him, and he was there. And her breathing changed. It quickened. And I put up my hand, put my hand on her chest. And I thought to myself, if she's going to go, I want to be there. If she's going to go, I want her to feel me there. If she's going to go, I need to love her like Elena would right now. This is it. And so I put my hand on her chest, and it fell away quickly and sharply. And she puffed one last of air, just like a wisp, and she left. She was gone. And I went home to Elena to tell her on her Valentine's Day birthday what had happened with her tootsie. And she cried, and she said, why? And I said, I don't know. And she cried and said, why on my birthday? And I said, I don't know. And she cried. She said, what did stars say? And I said, damn it, I definitely don't know that. But what I do know is this for sure. Valentine's Day is about love.

Christy Hawkins (16:22)

Thank you.

Dan Kennedy (16:29)

Autumn Spencer is a freelance writer Editor and stand up comic. She lives with her family in Burlington, Vermont, where she's a regular host of the Moth Story Slam there. Autumn's daughter Elena will turn 13 this Valentine's Day. And Autumn wrote us to say that she's so much like her Tootsie. Smart, funny, empathetic, loving, thoughtful, independent, quick witted, and even a little mischievous. Happy birthday, Elena. You can view photos of Elena and Tootsie by going to themoth.org okay, time for our final story on this Valentine's Day episode of the Moth podcast. This one was told at a story slam in 2014 where the theme of the night was coincidence. Here's Lucy Hoover live from Detroit.

Christy Hawkins (17:22)

Hi.

Lucy Hoover (17:24)

So this May, I decided I was going to propose to my boyfriend. But so at work one day, I left during my lunch break and I got a ring. I. And proposing is really hard. How many of you guys have proposed in here? Not a lot. It's hard because you have to think about a lot of things. You have to think about, like, is this location right? Is this time right? But if you're a girl proposing to a guy, you have to think about, like, a lot more other things. Like, do I have to get down on one knee? And like, is he gonna be mad that I stole his thunder? And, like, is he gonna think that it counts? But I knew that I wanted to marry my boyfriend. We had been dating for seven years, and I really loved him. But the problem was he didn't seem quite as excited about getting married as I did. He kind of kept saying, like, yeah, yeah, someday, someday. But, like, it kind of seemed like if I waited for his someday, we would be getting married in, like, an assisted living facility. It just didn't seem like it was going to happen. So I bought this ring, and I just couldn't think of a good way to do it. So I kept the ring in my purse, and I kept my purse with me all the time, all summer. And I held it there and I was just. I kept thinking, like, some magical, perfect moment would happen and that it would just be the right time to do it. But it never, ever was. Until about two weeks ago, we were about to go camping in Sleeping Mare Dunes, and I thought, like, all right, that sounds good. And then a few days before that, we were watching an episode of Lost. And, like, of course, this is where all proposal stories start. And I'm sorry if I ruined Lost for you, but there's an episode of Lost where Charlie knows he's going to die, so he writes his five greatest Hits on a piece of paper to give to his girlfriend Claire. And the five greatest hits are the five best things that have happened to him in his life. So I think that's perfect. I'm going to write my boyfriend, Matt. I'm going to write him five notes, and I'm going to give them to him throughout the weekend. And each of the notes is going to be a greatest hit from our relationship. That's cute, right? And at the end of each of the notes, there's going to be a riddle. And if he solves the riddle, then he's going to get a little prize. Like, I got some candy and some cheez Its and I wrapped them all up. And then if he puts all the riddles together in the fifth note, it's going to say, will you marry me? I know, it was pretty good. And so I sit down at a cafe in Ann Arbor to write these notes. And the weirdest thing happens. As I'm writing them outside, Matt walks by, and I just quickly throw everything in my bag because I don't want him to see. And he's carrying this big poster tube. And we have the world's most awkward conversation because I'm trying to keep him as far as possible possible away from me because I don't want him to see what I'm doing. And we sound like we've literally never met before. We're like, hey, what are you doing? Okay, see you later. And he's like, I'm giving a presentation, and so I don't think much of it. And then the next day, we go on this trip, and the note system is really good because it's like a foolproof plan. It's like, once I start, I'm in. I can't turn back. So I give him the first note. He solves the clue. He gets like a bag of peanut M and Ms. He's real psyched about it. And then throughout the weekend, I keep giving him these notes. He keeps solving the clues. He's really into it. And the last day that we're camping, we have to hike out to our camp spot. So we put on our backpacks and we're in the car, and we have to hike about a mile out to this beach. And we're putting on our backpacks, and I noticed that Matt has that weird tube that he had been carrying the day that I saw him. And I'm like, that's kind of weird. And I'm like, is there going to be a timeshare presentation on the beach? And he's like, yeah, maybe. Okay. And so I don't think a lot of it. Well, I kind of do, but I'm just kind of like, I'm not going to ask a lot of questions. So we hike out there, and Matt says, let's have dinner on the beach. And I'm like, oh, sure. This is perfect. I'm going to give him the last note. I'm going to take the ring. So I stuff the ring in my pocket, and we hike out to the beach. And I'm kind of, like, hunching over so he doesn't see that there's, like, a bulge in my pocket. And we get to the beach, and I shove the ring underneath the blanket, and he says, okay, close your eyes. I'm like, okay. And when I open my eyes, he's laid out this whole picnic in front of us. And there's like, Brie and champagne and salmon. And I'm a little concerned because we have been camping for two days, so I'm not sure where this stuff came from, but I don't question it too much. And then he pulls out the poster, and it's a poster of pictures of us. And he pulls out two Sharpies, and he says, okay, it's weird that you wanted me to do those, to read those memories, because I want us to write down our best memories on this poster. So we write down all of our best memories, and then all of a sudden, before I can give him the fifth note, he pulls out an engagement ring and he proposes to me. And before I say yes, I'm like, okay, well, you should probably read the last note. And so I give him the note, and he solves the puzzle, and it says, will you marry me? And I pull out my engagement ring that I've been hiding underneath the blanket. And the rings are from the exact same jewelry store. They're in the same box. And we both say, yes. Neither of the rings fit. But not everything can be perfect. Thank you.

Dan Kennedy (23:29)

That was Lucy. Lucy Hoover. Lucy works at the Academic Database J store. By day, she's a writer, podcaster, and aspiring comedian. By night, she has an MFA in Creative writing from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington and also volunteers with 826 Michigan, where she helps develop creative writing skills with students from Detroit and Ann Arbor. That is good work. Lucy and Matt were married in October 2016. Congratulations to both of you. They were kind enough to send over some photos of their rings and also of the wedding and of Lucy telling that story on stage. So to check out those photos, just Visit our site themoth.org that's all for this week. Come back next week for another new episode of the Moth Podcast. And from all of us here at the Moth, we hope you have a story worthy week.

Sponsor (24:22)

Dan Kennedy is the author of the books Loser Goes First, Rock on An American Spirit. He's also a regular host and performer.

Dan Kennedy (24:30)

With the Moth Podcast production by Timothy Lou Lee. Moth events are recorded by Argo Studios in New York City, supervised by Paul Rue West. The Moth Podcast is presented by prx, the Public Radio Exchange helping make public radio more public@prx.org.

F (24:50)

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