Hi, and welcome back to Tell Me What Happened,
the podcast that features folks from all walks
of life talking about childhood experiences that
they've had. I'm your host, Jay Rehack, and like
you, I've had my share of childhood experiences,
some of them great, some of them... Not so great,
but I'd like to think that whatever happened
to me as a child has impacted who I am today,
and hopefully made me a better person. Tell Me
What Happened is sponsored by Sideline Ink Publishing,
publishers of quality books, including Susan
Salador's classic One Little Act of Kindness,
and I've Got Peace in My Fingers, both available
now at any quality bookstore or even amazon .com.
Tell me what happened is also sponsored by laughsaver
.com. Visit laughsaver .com and record your laughter.
We'll keep it for you now and forever. It's free
and your children and your grandchildren and
your great grandchildren will appreciate it.
So go to laughsaver .com today and record your
laughter. Today I have as my guest, one of my
favorite people in the world and an old friend
of mine, Cathy Kelly. Cathy Kelly is a peace
activist. whose efforts have at times led her
into war zones and prisons. She now coordinates
the Ban Killer Drones campaign. Welcome to Tell
Me What Happened, Kathy. Well, thank you, Jay.
Thank you very much for the invitation. Kathy,
are you ready to tell your story? Sure. All right.
I'm going to get out of the way, Kathy. I'm going
to mute myself. At the end, I'm going to come
back and ask you one question. And that one question
is, How has that childhood experience impacted
who you are today? So take it away, Cathy Kelly.
But Jay, on the southwest side of Chicago, where
I grew up, an area that Saul Bellow once characterized
as rows and rows of bungalows and scrawny little
parks, we were a pretty secure... outfit in my
family. We were all pretty sure that mom, dad,
officer friendly, the parish nuns, the parish
priests all wanted to keep us happy and, you
know, kind of give us pats on the head. And I
was a very pious child. I was in love with these
young nuns that wafted through my life. I thought
they were quite beautiful in their long black
flowing gowns. And I always wanted to gain their
approval or please them. And I was pretty sure
I'd one day be one of them. But it happened that
in first grade, I met Bobby Alberts, Bobby Alberts
with big blue eyes and blonde hair and thin as
a rail. And he was actually just as interesting
as the nuns. Well, in childhood, I continued
to be pretty fascinated by Bobby Alberts. And
at one point, we were in fourth grade, and he
said he'd like to see me outside of the drugstore.
You know, we went to the library, we went to
the drugstore after school, these were places
we could go to. And I was very nervous about
that. In fact, I said, Well, I think my sister
must come with me. And he had a small box and
in it was a ring. And I immediately said, oh
no, I can't take that. No. And I was stammering
and blushing. And my sister was pretty confused
also. And then I don't think Bobby Alberts liked
me very much anymore. That was my feeling. And
I felt very, very, very sad about that because
I always had. in my thoughts, a very, very fond
feeling for Bobby Albertson. There was some competition.
Sometimes he was number one in the class, and
sometimes I was number one in the class. Well,
off we went our separate ways after we graduated.
So that's my childhood story, and I'll be very
happy to tell you how it has impacted my life.
Oh man, Bobby Alberts, he had his chance. He
gave you, he tried to give you a ring, but you
turned them down. You had your escort, you know,
your sister was your protector at that moment.
Well, and in fact, I do remember that at one
point there was this kind of a thud in the middle
of my back and that Bobby Alberts had packed
a pretty strong snowball and threw it at me.
I think that was when I was in seventh grade.
Oh boy, he carried that grudge, man. Well, Kathy,
I know you was a peace activist and a good friend
over the years. And I'm not sure that Bobby Albert's
impacted you as a peace activist, but I am very
interested in hearing how that childhood experience
impacted you as an adult. So I'm going to mute
myself and hear that part of it. Well, I believe
very, very strongly that we are all accountable.
for wrongful things that our governments do.
We're not each of us guilty, but we all are accountable.
And we have a legislative and an executive and
a judicial branch, and we ought to work to connect
with those branches of government and try to
change things that are wrong, right the wrongs,
and try to do what's right. And so, I believe
very, very strongly that war is always wrong.
And particularly in recent years, I've been deeply
troubled by the ways in which usage of what are
called unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, can
make it easier to go to war. You don't have to
have boots on the ground. You really practically
don't have to involve the US public much at all
because it's happening very, very far away and
there aren't body bags. You know, it's often
people don't really care very much. And I will
say I haven't been a stranger to going to prison
when I felt very strongly about an issue. Jay,
you and I would have known each other quite well
back in the day when some of us went out and
planted corn on top of nuclear missile silo sites.
And I did a year in prison for that action. And
it was the most educational year of my life since
when I was five years old and learned how to
read. So anyway, I did go to prison again because
of the School of the Americas, and your listeners
could Google that. It's a terrible place that
has coached people to be involved in assassinations
and tortures and massacres and disappearances.
And I did three months in prison for crossing
the line at that particular military base. That
was maybe 2005, I think. Well, By 2015, I had
been not only in Iraq and Gaza where wars were
going on, but also in Afghanistan and the drones
were being used over Afghan villages and against
civilians again and again. And it just wasn't
getting coverage. It wasn't something that the
drone operators themselves seemed to be. allowed
to think about, you know, what if they wanted
to quit that work? What if they needed a manual
to help them distinguish between competence and
non -competence? And so all these what -ifs were
kind of placed in a letter and I had a loaf of
bread and I went to Whiteman Air Force Base to
cross the line and deliver my loaf of bread and
my letter and I was arrested and I was sentenced
ultimately to three months in prison. So I was
in the Lexington Federal Prison. And Bobby Alberts,
had a friend who was from Vermont and was a peace
activist, or knew of peace activism anyway. And
he said, hey, isn't that person you once knew,
Cathy Kelly, did you know she's in prison again?
And Bob Alberts hadn't seen me for many, many,
many years, but he was kind of surprised by that.
And he wrote to me. He wrote to me in the prison
and he said, could I come and visit you? And
I said, oh. Yes, you know, and now you can actually
communicate by email from prison. So I emailed
them and said, sure. Well, the prison did not
make it easy. They told him he had to get a passport
renewed, that he had to go through a background
check. But well, it happened that the gospel
choir inside the prison had needed a soprano.
And so I used to go to the rehearsals just because
I like to listen. And the gospel choir director
said, hey, Senor Lalas, let me hear you. And
I did. And so all of a sudden I'm in the prison's
gospel choir. And I, because of that, was kind
of standing near a window and could look outside.
And I thought to myself, that's Bobby Alberts.
And it was indeed Bobby Alberts had come to see
me in the Lexington prison, not once, but twice.
And After that, when I was released, he agreed
at one point to go with one of our peace delegations.
We went to many places, really, Jay. We had gone
to Iraq. Gosh, I guess I went there 27 times
to break the economic sanctions. And we've gotten
to know many people who were displaced by wars
and who had suffered a great deal. And in one
case, somebody and our friend Walid and his son
AUS had made it to Finland after a grueling,
horrific journey as refugees. And so we wanted
to go and see if we could help him navigate through
the UNHCR and other processes, hoping to get
refuge status and maybe eventually even get his
family to Finland. And we knew that we needed
somebody to handle the logistics. It certainly
couldn't be me. So Bob Alberts went along and
I guess it was in the course of that trip I realized
there's something there between the two of us
that stems right back to the day that he offered
me that ring and I said, oh, I can't take that.
And now I've changed my mind and I live with
Bob Alberts. We're quite happy. We actually right
now are both full -time caregivers for his older
brother who has pancreatic cancer. So we're a
bit tethered to the home. And I'm very happy
that on Christmas Eve, we'll put out the luminaria,
the candles inside the plastic bags. And I think
in my childhood piety, I really did love the
idea that the light shines in the darkness and
the darkness shall not overcome it. And this
has been a light. that shines really with a great
deal of beauty and grace in my life. So I'm so
happy and fortunate and pleased. And I still
want to put an end to every war. That was fantastic.
That's great. That's a great Christmas story.
I mean, in the sense that it's a love story.
I mean, Cathy, I know you're a lover of all humanity.
I mean, genuinely. I mean, that's not hyperbolic.
That's true. Everybody matters. I'm so glad that
it's circled back to Bobby in the sense that
I feel bad for the kid when you're telling me
this story because he gives you the ring and
you can't take it. But I mean, it's a little
early to be getting a ring in fourth grade, I'm
saying. But I'm so happy that, you know, in the
full circle of time that he was able to reconnect
with you. It's a beautiful, beautiful Christmas
and love story. So thank you for that. really
does connect beautifully. I do appreciate all
of the piecework that you do. I think you know
that. Susan and I, my wife and I, we both appreciate
it very much. But I'm also of a mind, always
have been of a mind, that it's important that
the world, that you work to make the world a
better place, but also that you have the opportunity
to be loved on an intimate level with somebody.
So I'm so happy that Bobby came back into your
life. I guess that's what I'm trying to say.
Well, thank you. It is a true happiness. I do
feel that there's a kind of an artificial shortage
of love in our world. And it's curious to me
that sometimes we create that shortage of love
in our world. And I don't think any individual
particularly wants to do that. There's a real
call, a real pull, I think, in our world right
now to say, you know, we need to shift gears.
And the catastrophe that could befall the planet
if we don't find ourselves to be resilient and
very, very committed to recognizing that we're
all part of one another is quite huge. So it's
good to sense a partnership. going forward, and
I know that many, many people in our lives, Jay,
have manifested that kind of partnership, and
I like to see that. It's great when you see it
amongst families and amongst friends, and it's
almost hard to imagine a greater blessing. Amen
to that. Again, I think what you do, what you
have done, is and calculably beautiful and powerful
and courageous. And yeah, I mean, I've always
thought over the years, I just, you know, you
people who like you will have the courage to
face jail and other things. It's like, I just,
I want you to also feel fortunate enough to be
with somebody too, because you give so much to
the community. But now I'm going off track here,
so I'm going to stop. And just say thank you.
Thank you, Jay, for inviting me. And it's a great
idea for a podcast. Well, I've heard so many
great stories, but yours is the perfect Christmas
story because you speak of peace, which is what
the holiday season should be about. Our holiday
season should be about everybody, but also of
love. And that's a perfect story. So thank you
so much, Kathy. All right. Thank you, Jay. All
right. Well, I'd like to thank Cathy Kelly, my
good friend, for being on the show. I'd also
like to thank my sponsors, Sideline Ink Publishing,
publishers of quality books, as well as laughsaver
.com. Visit laughsaver .com and record your laughter.
We'll keep it for you now and forever. It's free
and your children and your grandchildren and
your great grandchildren will appreciate it.
That's laughsaver .com. Now I'm going to end
this show as I almost always do. with Susan Salador's
classic, One Little Act of Kindness. So until
next time, this is Jay Rehack asking you all
to stay safe out there and try not to hurt anybody.
Three little acts of kindness can make a beautiful
sound. Many acts of kindness help the world go
round. One little loving word can go a long,
long way. Two little loving words can brighten
anyone's day. Three little loving words Can make
a beautiful sound Many loving words Help the
world go round One little seed sown Can go a
long, long way Two little seeds sown Can brighten
an evening One little child's laughter can go
a long, long way Two little children's laughter
can brighten anyone's day Can make a beautiful
sound Many children laughing Help the world go
round And many see its own Help the world go
round Many loving words Help the world go round
And many acts of kindness Help the world Go run!