1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:29,960 Hi and welcome back to Tell Me What Happened, the podcast that features folks from 2 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:37,400 all walks of life telling us one true childhood story and how that event, that experience, 3 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:45,280 has impacted who they are. I'm your host, Jay Rehack, and like you, I've had my share of childhood 4 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:51,280 moments, experiences that have impacted who I am today. Some of them were beautiful, some of 5 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,840 them were pleasant, and some of them were quite painful. But I'd like to think that everything 6 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:02,480 that's ever happened to me has made me a better person. Now I know in my heart that that may not 7 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:11,400 be true, but that's what I'd like to think. Today I have as my guest Jill Hopkins. Jill is the 8 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:18,560 director of Civic Events and News Media for Metro Chicago and G-Man Tavern in Chicago. She's served 9 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:25,720 as the host of several podcasts, including Making Beyoncé for WBEZ and The Opus for the Consequence 10 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:32,640 Podcast Network and was a radio personality for CHERP and Vocalo Radio for over 10 years. And I'm 11 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:38,080 going to add to that and tell you that Jill, back in the day, and I don't know how long it's been, 12 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:43,440 was one of my, one of the magnificent students that I had over at Whitney Young High School. She 13 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:51,000 helped me get through the day with her insights and smiles. So welcome to the show, Jill Hopkins. 14 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:58,040 Hey, it was class of 97, by the way. Oh, wow. Okay. All right. Now I know. I really didn't, I couldn't 15 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:03,440 remember. My wife asked me this morning and I said, I don't know. I know she's been out of school 16 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:09,680 for a while because I listened to Vocalo for a while and that was back a few years now, I suppose. 17 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:14,440 And I know you've been doing, you've been hosting like, don't you like host Moth, 18 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:21,280 Rehours or those types of events? Yeah, I host the Moth Live events. I'm one of a few different hosts 19 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:27,360 that we have here in Chicago. I host the Moth. I occasionally host a Right Club, which is a great 20 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:33,920 kind of storytelling debate club kind of thing that's right up your alley, actually. I think your 21 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:39,360 daughter's actually been on a couple of those. So you've got to come out and hang out. But no, 22 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:45,320 yeah, just if there's a live event, I'll host it. I've got like a fundraise in Gala this week. So 23 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:53,480 I think the superpower that I've developed in my adult life is just lack of fear of public speaking. 24 00:02:53,480 --> 00:03:00,120 It doesn't exist. That's a fabulous skill, Jill. And you had it back in the day. I wouldn't have 25 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:06,280 thought it was 97, but I know you've been doing it for a long time. And I do know that my daughters 26 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:11,240 have been a part of some of those programs. And I don't know if I've got anything worthy to say, 27 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:17,400 but I'd love to get involved one of these days. But thank you very much. That's very kind. Well, 28 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:25,360 Jill, I am looking forward to hearing your story. Are you ready to tell it? I am ready to tell it. 29 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:32,920 Fantastic. Well, listen, before I mute myself, and I will meet myself in a minute, I just want to 30 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:40,880 mention to you that I'm going to listen without interrupting you. And then at the end, I'm going 31 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:46,440 to be asking you absolutely one question. And that one question is, how do you think that the 32 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:52,240 story that you're telling us has impacted who you are today? So take it away. One of my favorite 33 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:58,280 students, Jill Hopkins, think about the cruelest thing that anyone has ever said to you. Like, 34 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:03,800 don't think about the thing itself. I don't want to bring your day down, but think about who said 35 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:10,520 it and how mean it was, how deeply it cut to the bone. It was a child, wasn't it? It was a mean 36 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:18,160 child. I have heard stories about cruel children. Since I was a child, they make movies about the 37 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:24,240 ones who are possessed by demons or haunted by ghosts or have red hair, which seems really cruel 38 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:28,240 in and of itself. There's nothing wrong with being a redhead shout out to the incorrectly 39 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:33,360 maligned redhead community. You didn't deserve this. Now, I don't have children myself for a 40 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:38,920 variety of reasons, but not the least of which is that I've heard about how children are little 41 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:46,240 self-esteem killers. And I'm too fragile to be told about myself in blunt detail every day. When 42 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:52,160 I was in high school, for some reason, they sent a bunch of us drama club kids to grade schools to 43 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:58,840 talk to younger kids about pursuing the arts as they went on in their education. And one kid told 44 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:08,000 me a 16-year-old person at the time that I looked haggard. I thought at the time, I am still 45 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:17,480 technically a child too. I will beat you up by the flagpole, right? But I know now that it's a 46 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:23,000 never-ending flood of unexplained hormonal changes and the ebb and flow of social experiences and 47 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:29,280 expectations that makes the youth this way. I just don't want any part of it as an adult if I can 48 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:34,680 help it. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the kids, but it is not my ministry. The band ministry is 49 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:39,560 closer to my ministry than this. And it would feel weird to combine the two. For instance, 50 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:46,440 let me tell you about two young girls being the absolute worst to each other. I'm using my Sophia 51 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:53,400 from Golden Girls Voice here when I say picture it. The South Side of Chicago, 1988. Two middle 52 00:05:53,400 --> 00:06:00,040 school girls having a confrontation in the girls bathroom in a nearly 100-year-old Catholic school 53 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:08,360 building. And yeah, let's picture that. The girls are wearing like those little pinafore plaid 54 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:15,080 uniforms and the shirts underneath are pink. The boys at the time had to wear like these brown 55 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:21,080 trousers, like poop-colored brown trousers and yellow shirts. It was just an awful sartorial 56 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:26,360 decision being made for children back then. And not only were the shirts the girls were wearing 57 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:34,120 were pink. So was the bathroom. Pepto-bismal pink. Every wall, every door. But the arguments that 58 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:39,240 were had in there were red hot. Here are some things you want to know about this battle royale 59 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:46,680 happening between two roughly 10-year-old girls. Both girls are ethnic and this matters 60 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:52,440 because of hand movements and intensity. And if you know, you know, one girl is black, the other is 61 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:57,240 half Mexican, half Puerto Rican, and that matters because I feel like you know, have to know which 62 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:04,120 hand movements and how much intensity. It was about a 12 on a 1 to 10 scale. This argument may not 63 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:10,360 have started about new kids on the block, but it quickly became about new kids on the block. 64 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:17,080 And the black girl, that's me, she loved Jordan Knight the most and the Latina was a Joey Mac 65 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:24,840 entire girl. This is important when you're 10 years old. There's a hierarchy in your boyband 66 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:32,680 fandoms. Friendships are created and broken because of them. I have a photo album in my house right 67 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:39,800 now that has a list of all of my girlfriends written in eyeliner pencil on the back. And each 68 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:44,440 one has been scratched out and rewritten and scratched out and rewritten over and over again. 69 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:52,760 Now these two warriors in this pep-toe pink bath room had matching best friend forever necklaces, 70 00:07:52,760 --> 00:08:00,040 the kind with two halves of a heart, one that said be fry and the other one that said 71 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:07,240 end. You know the ones you can get them all over the city. And as you know, this is the highest 72 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:15,640 level of friendship one can ever hope to achieve. So as this argument goes on, there's a certain 73 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:23,080 level of niceness still involved because we are small Catholic school children. There were never 74 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:30,600 any swears. There was never any like insulting of family members, mothers off limits. These were 75 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:38,360 wonderful women who welcomed us into their homes. But any sort of G rated insult was fair game to 76 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:43,720 how you did your makeup that you were not supposed to be wearing by the way. How you dressed on the 77 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:50,360 weekends because since we all had to wear the same thing every day, how you dressed on the weekends 78 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:58,200 was pretty much like a social marker. The other famous boys you might have a crush on, you could 79 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:07,720 insult them all day long. Now as this escalated and escalated and escalated, I unfortunately have 80 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:17,240 to say that I had to deliver the death knell to this argument. Pitcher, there's a bathroom stall 81 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:21,880 and I'm standing half in and half out of this bathroom stall and I say to the girl, 82 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:31,560 as I'm ripping the best friend necklace from my neck, the clasp and all, this is what you're doing 83 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:42,680 to my heart. I said this to her. I let the necklace go into the toilet and reached up with my little 84 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:50,280 foot in a burgundy penny loafer and flushed the toilet behind me as the best friend necklace swirls 85 00:09:50,280 --> 00:10:00,440 down into the Southside tour. Now there was immediate regret. I loved my friend. I thought 86 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:07,480 she was great. She was like one of the newer kids in our class, no pun intended, but she was like 87 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:12,760 really nice. She had good taste in music. Her mom always let us hang out at her house and listen to 88 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:21,560 freestyle music, but also I came to the realization that her mom was the one that had bought new kids 89 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:29,400 on the block tickets for us to see them the next month at the Rosemont horizon. And this one incident 90 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:37,080 started a domino effect where for the rest of the school year, we girls were so awful to each other 91 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:43,480 that for the entire summer between fifth and sixth grade, every week, we had to report to the school 92 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:51,720 library for group therapy so we could understand how to be respectful young Catholic women. 93 00:10:51,720 --> 00:11:00,040 And you know, it worked. We had to still go to school with each other for the next three years. 94 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:06,120 And we all decided about halfway through that summer that instead of turning on each other, 95 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:14,040 what if we just hated the boys instead? And I like to think that that was the best possible 96 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:19,320 resolution to that sort of thing. And I did finally get to see the new kids on the block 97 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:30,040 about six years ago. I rented a limo, bought three cases of Zima and piled about 12 of my best 98 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:40,040 girlfriends, all of us in our 30s, late 30s, late 30s. And we went out to Rosemont, put jolly ranchers 99 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:46,840 in those Zimas and had one hell of a time. And I still talked to that girl I fought with in that 100 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:53,320 porta potty or that pep-toe pink bathroom or friends on Instagram. Her children are grown for the 101 00:11:53,320 --> 00:12:00,440 most part. And I think there's a non-zero chance that she, I and our husbands might go on a 102 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:07,320 Puerto Rican vacation together. So happy endings all around. And I'm still a Jordan girl for the 103 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:17,240 Jordan girl for the record. Mean girls. I mean, you know, the, the, the fifth, sixth grade or just 104 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:24,200 that time period, sometimes I have two, two beautiful daughters and one of them's in her, 105 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:30,680 well, they're both in the 30s. And they tell me horror stories afterwards. I missed it. I didn't 106 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:37,000 see it at the time because I was the dad, but I didn't see it. But I, I, you know, to this day, 107 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:43,640 those, you know, painful transition period times, I'm so glad to hear that your friends, you know, 108 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:49,800 that you weren't, you know, permanently damaged. I suppose you did miss the new kids on the block 109 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:56,040 first concert as a consequence, as payment or punishment for, for, for, you know, 110 00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:02,520 thrashing it down the toilet. Yeah, certainly did not get to go on like cool family adventure trips 111 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:10,600 for the next few months. And those therapy sessions were crazy. Like you, now you got to show up to 112 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:16,600 school every week all summer. Eventually we talked the lady into like taking us to the mall or whatever. 113 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:22,440 That's good. I'm glad they did that because you know, you do need that. So, 114 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:30,040 so Jill, how do you think that event that flushing down the best friend necklace, you know, sort of, 115 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:39,240 that's, that's, that's really quite a dramatic, dramatic, you know, finale or whatever, you know, 116 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:44,040 or seeming finale to the relationship, like you're dead to me or whatever. I know how I mean, 117 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:52,200 I mean, right with you, you know, I mean, it's, it's hilarious in retrospect, but I guess at the 118 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:59,720 time I'm sure very painful. Oh yeah, you know, just big fat, real tears or like, you know, it's, 119 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:05,400 you don't have boyfriends, I guess. Well, I didn't, we didn't. This is as close as you get to like a 120 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:14,680 breakup. Friendship breakups are really hard. And you have them as you get older. Somebody once said 121 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:21,880 to me that friendships are for a reason, a season or a lifetime. And you don't always know that as 122 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:26,200 you're growing up. You kind of, it kind of becomes obvious as you get older, as people come and go 123 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:30,600 throughout your life. But when you're in fifth grade or something, everything seems so permanent. 124 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:39,240 You've only been alive for like 10 years. I agree. And you know, I, the author, Victor Hugo said, 125 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:46,680 God save me from my friends. I know who my enemies are. And I live by that where the most painful 126 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:55,000 exchanges I've ever had in my life were exchanges with my friends who said some really deep cutting 127 00:14:55,000 --> 00:15:02,600 things against me. And I still remember, I'm, I'm, I'm 67. So I'm a little, I'm over it and to the 128 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:09,400 extent, but when I, I see some old friends, we actually apologize for the stuff we said, 129 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:14,200 you know, 50 years ago, and they're like, man, don't, and I just say, don't worry about it. 130 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:18,600 But it's true that I haven't forgotten it. And, and these guys have not forgotten the 131 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:25,400 stupid things I said too. So how do you think that fight? I know you've already told us that 132 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:32,200 you're still friends with these, with these, this young woman, but how do you think that experience, 133 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:38,760 that singular experience of, you know, the breakup, the fifth grade breakup with, with your friend, 134 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,800 how do you think that's impacted who you are today as a person? 135 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:48,920 I mean, I've, I think once you get into high school, once you're out of like middle school and 136 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:53,160 junior high and your brain has a little more time to cook in that easy bake oven up there, 137 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:58,920 and you, you realize how much of an impact your words can have on somebody else, 138 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:05,000 even if you don't think that highly of yourself, it doesn't mean that others don't hold your words 139 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:12,760 in high regard. So I've, I've tried to be, I haven't always succeeded, but I've definitely 140 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:19,640 been very thoughtful about the words that come out of my mouth, especially as I'm, 141 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:27,800 as a, as a communicator by trade, but also just as somebody who, who values the people that I've 142 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:33,320 met, I've, I've like curated a really important group of people to me. And I would really 143 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:41,400 really like to maintain this streak. So when I'm speaking to my friends, especially, I, I try to 144 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:48,200 make sure that the experiences I have with them in the past and the things I know about them 145 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:57,160 make me deal with everyone with a bit of grace and sensitivity and to lead with kindness, I suppose. 146 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:05,000 I, I, and I'm trying to think like even in like romantic relationship breakups, there's probably 147 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:10,680 two men in this world who disagree with what I'm about to say right now, but I don't think I've been 148 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:18,920 needlessly cruel in breaking up with anybody because, you know, unless I've also never been like 149 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:24,520 been treated poorly enough in relationships that like it would make me want to be needlessly cruel 150 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:30,360 to somebody. So I guess I'm very lucky in that, but like yours, you can have arguments with people 151 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:40,680 and not be a terrible person within that time. Your feelings don't have to cause you to be cruel. 152 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:48,200 And I think we should remember that, especially online when we're dealing with strangers who are, 153 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:54,600 maybe they're idiots or whatever, but like, we don't have to be a day-ruiner for somebody else 154 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,400 because I think you're just turning into a day-ruiner for yourself. And the, the new kids on the block 155 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:07,880 tickets, those go away. Oh God, well, that's so, that's so wise. I can't tell you because, 156 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:16,120 and I wish that I were better at it myself. I remember listening to the musical group 157 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:20,120 traffic and they said, open your mouth, shoot someone dead at a line. And I always thought, 158 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:28,600 yeah, I do have to watch out because unfortunately for me, when I was young, that my mouth was my 159 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:34,840 weapon. I, you know, I would say really mean things. And I would always say it was my justifiable 160 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:39,800 rage in the sense that somebody said something to me. So then I was like, oh, you want to play that? 161 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:47,320 I'll, I'll one up you in meanness, I guess, in verbal meanness. And then I would ask, were you a scrapper back in the day? 162 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:55,880 I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was really, I have my own Catholic school experiences, 163 00:18:55,880 --> 00:19:02,360 but back in the day, I just, I was, I was just, I don't know, I tried to be a nice guy, but I don't 164 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:07,400 know, people would aggravate me and then we'd get into situations and then I'd have go, all right, 165 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:12,600 and I always used to say to people, I was a jerk, but I, people want to fight me or something. I'd 166 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:17,880 say, I know I might get hurt, but I wouldn't want to be the other guy. That was my line to everybody, 167 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:22,600 you know, and I'd go, and then, or I would also say, I would rub my head and I'd say, please, 168 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:28,680 please, I'm begging you, don't make me hurt you. I'm begging you as a courtesy to me, please, 169 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:34,440 don't make me hurt you. And you know, he's like, this guy is vigilante, man. Anyway, I grew out of it. 170 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:43,480 I'm still, I'm, I'm still working on it, you know, through the various therapies and everything else, 171 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:47,640 but I'm trying to be a better man all the time. I mean, I'm trying, you know, I'm not, I'm not 172 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:53,560 saying I'm there, but I'm trying. And I realized as you've articulated and you got, I probably got 173 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:59,320 the message before I did it, words, words count, be careful what you say. And I mean, in your business, 174 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:04,520 it's just us to end it, but in your business, you know, you listen to stories, you host programs. 175 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:11,800 If you're not a gracious host, you could really hurt somebody's, you know, self-esteem. Jill says, 176 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:16,600 I'm no good or whatever, the host of the thing says, you know, it wasn't very good and like, 177 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:22,760 devastating, you know, you could, you could turn an audience on somebody if you wanted to, you know, 178 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:28,520 just by making a, an offhanded joke that you don't, you know, you're not trying to be hurtful, but it 179 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:33,400 may come across as dismissive to the person. I tried to be a better man, a better, a good teacher 180 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:37,880 in that regard too, try not to say something to somebody that they said, mystery accent, 181 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:42,440 I'm not a good writer. I never said that. I never told anybody that. I can't even picture that coming 182 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:48,360 out of your mouth, honestly. That's good. I mean, I enjoyed your class very much. One of the only 183 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:55,800 ones that I went to on a regular basis. I appreciate it very much. You've been a superstar, 184 00:20:55,800 --> 00:21:02,440 a subsequent, you were kind enough to interview me on vocal a many years ago, which I really 185 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:09,480 appreciated and I have heard you and you're, you're gracious and I'm kind of glad that they, 186 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:14,600 they had that therapy session for you back in sixth grade. I don't know, you know, I'm glad the 187 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:19,000 teachers were aware of that it's important because, because a lot of kids miss that and then they 188 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:26,360 wind up being mean to each other throughout their pubescence or even beyond. I'll tell you what, 189 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:35,400 so like the summer, that same summer, they, we got a new order of nuns in. So I always say we went 190 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:42,520 from uniform to plain clothes and they were all radically younger. They were all kind of radicals 191 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:49,000 in and of themselves, very, very feminist. They all played guitar, you know. Yeah, I know the guy. 192 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:55,240 I know the people. And like, I think that if we had, had not had that kind of changing of the 193 00:21:55,240 --> 00:22:00,680 guard that we wouldn't have gotten that therapy out of it. I think they wanted to come in and like 194 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:07,960 with this clean slate, but I can't imagine that those thousand year old Eastern European hard, 195 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:15,720 hard, they were hard women. Yes. No, I had to say, it's funny. I mean, I was, I'm significantly 196 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:21,480 older than you, but we transitioned from old nuns who would literally, literally beat the 197 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:27,080 children, you know, if they were, you know, to young nuns who we, we still had habits, but we 198 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,480 could see some of their hair and it was like this big breakthrough for us. It was like, old, 199 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:36,680 miss, you know, sister so and so has hair. That's incredible. We, you know, as they, because they 200 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:41,720 were all covered up, but yeah, I mean, and I was grateful for the younger nuns who came in and, and 201 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:48,440 ran our, you know, six, seven, the eighth grade and were gracious and I, I shout out to them and 202 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:55,800 shout out to your, your teachers as well. Well, it seems like he came out happy on the other side, 203 00:22:55,800 --> 00:23:00,520 so I'm happy about that. And I'm glad your friends all right as far as you know. 204 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:07,000 He's living her life. She's got like, she and her husband are loving up on each other, their 205 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:13,400 children look happy and well adjusted, which is all you can hope for, I guess. And like, 206 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:21,640 they all go on like these family vacations and like, well, that you invited her into the limo 207 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:28,600 for the, for the new kids. I did. He lives on the far, far, far south side and, you know, just, 208 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:34,120 it didn't work out just, you know, schedule wise, but it would have been, it would have been a great 209 00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:39,000 little like loop closing there, but we had so much fun. One of the, one of our friends got like 210 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:48,120 serenaded to like in the front. Nice. Well done. I know I've never been so jealous, but I handled it 211 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:55,720 in a much better way than I did. You did not throw away your BF necklace that time. 212 00:23:55,720 --> 00:24:03,240 I was, I never would. This was so cool. Well, thank you, Jill, for coming on the show. I know 213 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:09,320 you're a busy woman and you got a lot going on and I just feel kind of honored to circle back 214 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:15,800 and see you and hear from you. I appreciate your time. We're going to do this in real life again 215 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:22,200 here soon. You've got to come visit me at G-Man. Are you a baseball guy? You want to go to a game? 216 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:28,120 No, I, you know what? I don't go to games. I get frustrated by the whole process. I wanted, 217 00:24:28,120 --> 00:24:32,360 I wanted to be third baseman for the white socks when I was growing up and then I had, 218 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:36,360 I had to get a job because my folks didn't have any money or whatever. So I always blame them 219 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:40,840 for me not getting the training to be what I consider would have been a good, I would have 220 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:46,680 been a good third baseman. But so anyway, baseball games frustrating, but that said, if you, you, 221 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:53,720 you, you, your story time, you know, when, when do they occur? Right Club is at G-Man Tavern, 222 00:24:53,720 --> 00:25:00,520 the third Tuesday of every month and the Moth Radio Hour, those live events, they vary because 223 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:05,000 they're at different locations throughout the city. But if you go to the Moth in Chicago Facebook 224 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:12,680 page, there's all sorts of information for tickets and locations and it's just a cute time over there. 225 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:17,400 We have fun. Now I've been to a couple of them. I just haven't been one to one with you hosting. I 226 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:21,960 don't think. Oh man, well let me host you. You know, that's, oh, I don't know if I'm worthy of you. 227 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:30,600 In the front row, tall guys just. Right. Blocking everyone else's view of people. Down in the front. 228 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:38,040 I go, no, I know her. I can, I can stand up. Yes, Chris. No, I love to be on, you know, 229 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:44,040 I love to hear it. I'm sort of coming out of my COVID experience now in the sense that for a while, 230 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:50,760 honestly, we didn't, my wife and I, my beautiful wife's been with her for 38 years as of last 231 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:57,000 Saturday. We are married for 38. We had known each other for 41, but we only are not just starting 232 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:03,320 to go out literally and have dinner or something. We don't, we, we, for years since the COVID, we 233 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:08,840 order in, but we don't really live. We don't, you know, go to a communal experience almost, 234 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:13,000 you know, like a, like a moth or like a G-man thing. So we're going to do that. 235 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:20,920 This organization called the Clean Air Club that gives or provides those like, I don't know, 236 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,800 this big, those little air purifiers. Yeah. Yeah. Although this big for our 237 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:31,560 right to the room. So we do as much as we can, you know, we have masks there for people who 238 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:37,240 maybe left theirs at home. We encourage that sort of thing. We're all just giving it the old college 239 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:43,480 try. All right. To be continued, I'm in. I definitely want to come in and hear you and I'm 240 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:49,640 happy to tell the story or whatever, but even just participate anyway, I can. But I really 241 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:55,960 appreciate you coming on this show. Thank you. And I'm trying to get my mouth to say J and it 242 00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:03,000 just wants to say mystery. That's all right. I'm thrilled that, like I said, we, we reconnected. 243 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:10,680 I'd like to thank our listeners for listening in. And so until next time, this is J React asking 244 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:21,480 you all to please stay safe out there and try not to hurt anybody. 245 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:38,280 Tell me what happened to you.