WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.379 It is possible to be thankful every moment, every 00:00:04.379 --> 00:00:08.439 day. It is possible to be thankful every moment, 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:15.740 every day. It takes practice and humility. Hi, 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:19.100 and welcome to Tell Me What Happened, the podcast 00:00:19.100 --> 00:00:21.420 that features real people talking about real 00:00:21.420 --> 00:00:24.219 events from their childhood and how those events 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:28.500 impacted their lives. I'm your host, Jay Rehack. 00:00:28.890 --> 00:00:31.449 And I love listening to stories from people's 00:00:31.449 --> 00:00:33.829 childhood, which also helped me understand who 00:00:33.829 --> 00:00:37.670 those people are. Tell Me What Happened is sponsored 00:00:37.670 --> 00:00:40.950 by Sidelining Publishing, publishers of quality 00:00:40.950 --> 00:00:44.369 books, including Susan Salador's children's book, 00:00:44.490 --> 00:00:47.990 I've Got Peace in My Fingers, available worldwide 00:00:47.990 --> 00:00:51.210 wherever quality books are sold. Tell Me What 00:00:51.210 --> 00:00:55.210 Happened is also sponsored by laughsaver .com. 00:00:55.590 --> 00:00:58.899 Visit laughsaver .com and record your laughter. 00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:03.340 We'll save it for you now and forever. It's free 00:01:03.340 --> 00:01:07.019 and it's easy to use. That's laughsaver .com. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:09.340 So today I'd like to introduce to you a friend 00:01:09.340 --> 00:01:11.579 of mine, a man I've known for about 35 years, 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:14.400 one of the most creative men I've ever met in 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:17.780 my life. He's a production designer out in California, 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:21.959 works on TV and movies, et cetera. But more than 00:01:21.959 --> 00:01:25.099 anything relative to his job is just the fact 00:01:25.099 --> 00:01:27.790 that every time I talk to him, There's just a 00:01:27.790 --> 00:01:31.549 creativity and an energy that I envy. So I'd 00:01:31.549 --> 00:01:34.810 like to welcome to our show, Tell Me What Happened, 00:01:35.090 --> 00:01:38.230 Stuart Blatt. Stuart's out in Pasadena right 00:01:38.230 --> 00:01:41.090 now, and we're doing this via Zoom. So welcome, 00:01:41.230 --> 00:01:46.650 Stuart. Thank you, Jay. Welcome to you. Well, 00:01:46.689 --> 00:01:49.390 Stuart, tell me what happened. Are you ready 00:01:49.390 --> 00:01:52.670 to tell your story? I guess so. I think I was 00:01:52.670 --> 00:01:54.629 ready as I'll ever be. Alright, you know what 00:01:54.629 --> 00:01:56.150 I'm gonna do Stuart. I'm gonna get out of the 00:01:56.150 --> 00:01:58.590 way I'm gonna let you tell your story then afterwards 00:01:58.590 --> 00:02:00.390 I'm gonna ask you one question and that's gonna 00:02:00.390 --> 00:02:03.109 be how is that whatever you're telling me How 00:02:03.109 --> 00:02:06.689 has that impacted your life, but I will not interrupt 00:02:06.689 --> 00:02:10.490 you if I can if I can help it So microphone is 00:02:10.490 --> 00:02:17.289 yours All right well It all started years ago, 00:02:17.289 --> 00:02:20.830 I guess everything started years ago my I'm through 00:02:20.830 --> 00:02:23.930 the Philadelphia area and my grandparents owned 00:02:23.930 --> 00:02:27.110 a farm that was a summer camp where they lived 00:02:27.110 --> 00:02:33.430 in North Wales, Pennsylvania. And it was 137 00:02:33.430 --> 00:02:36.409 acres. And it was my kingdom. I was the first 00:02:36.409 --> 00:02:39.889 grandchild. And I was very close to my grandparents. 00:02:40.650 --> 00:02:45.590 And my mom was raised there. And my mom was not 00:02:45.590 --> 00:02:48.389 so in love with the country having been raised 00:02:48.389 --> 00:02:51.110 there as an only child for a while until her 00:02:51.110 --> 00:02:53.759 siblings were born. But for me, it was always 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:56.060 very captivating, and I loved being there with 00:02:56.060 --> 00:02:58.819 my grandparents and my aunts and uncles, and 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:01.620 I loved exploring, and I loved walking through 00:03:01.620 --> 00:03:03.479 the woods, and I loved spending every bit of 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:06.080 time I could out there. And we also happened 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:07.780 to live on the property when I was very young, 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:11.039 so it was very near and dear to my heart. And 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:16.020 my mom had three siblings. They all were born 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:19.620 and raised there. And my mom's youngest sister, 00:03:19.860 --> 00:03:24.449 Rosie, was everything to me. She was my world. 00:03:24.750 --> 00:03:29.509 And I was her play toy. I think she was probably 00:03:29.509 --> 00:03:35.490 12 or so when I was born. And so I was, you know, 00:03:35.770 --> 00:03:38.509 this new puppy that they got to bring home and 00:03:38.509 --> 00:03:41.449 play with. And I have fantastic memories and 00:03:41.449 --> 00:03:45.050 a lot of photographs of she and I together playing 00:03:45.050 --> 00:03:48.110 in the snow, building snowmen or building igloos 00:03:48.110 --> 00:03:52.270 or doing... other adventurous things on the property. 00:03:52.889 --> 00:03:58.189 But my memories of my aunt are what I hold near 00:03:58.189 --> 00:04:03.629 and dear to me because, again, I think because 00:04:03.629 --> 00:04:06.629 I was the first grandchild and I was so new to 00:04:06.629 --> 00:04:12.189 her that she treated me like a plaything and 00:04:12.189 --> 00:04:14.250 a puppy dog. And she would take me everywhere. 00:04:14.250 --> 00:04:17.740 And I have great memories. of going to her high 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:20.759 school with her when I was very young. And I 00:04:20.759 --> 00:04:23.259 really can't even place these as much as I can 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:27.120 remember them viscerally of learning to make 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:29.339 peanut butter cookies with she and her friends. 00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:33.899 And as out of memory as that is, whenever I see 00:04:33.899 --> 00:04:36.920 or eat a peanut butter cookie and see the three 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:39.240 depressions of the fork times in the top of a 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:42.360 peanut butter cookie, a memory floods back of 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:45.579 that day. at North Penn High School in Lansdale, 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:47.459 Pennsylvania, of making peanut butter cookies 00:04:47.459 --> 00:04:52.180 with my aunt and her friends. I also have a memory 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:55.660 of my aunt and her friends taking me to a high 00:04:55.660 --> 00:04:58.180 school football game. But I remember going to 00:04:58.180 --> 00:05:04.000 sit in the end zone on the grassy hill behind 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:09.100 the goalpost, and I remember them bringing a 00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:12.600 bag of confetti with them. I'm not sure if I 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:15.319 ever saw confetti in my life. I don't know if 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:17.819 they just bought this at a party store. If they 00:05:17.819 --> 00:05:21.420 even had party stores back in, you know, 1962. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:24.899 But I remember now, whenever I see confetti, 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:27.579 also telling this story and launching into the 00:05:27.579 --> 00:05:29.980 idea of this memory of, I guess we threw confetti 00:05:29.980 --> 00:05:32.120 in the air at the game. I have no idea what we 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:37.319 did. But it's a very visceral or cellular memory 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:42.199 of my aunt. Philadelphia... At that time, in 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:45.639 the early 60s, I was born in 56. Philadelphia 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:49.399 was a very happening city. And even though we 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:52.019 lived in the suburbs and further out, my grandparents' 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:54.579 farm was in the country, which has now really 00:05:54.579 --> 00:05:56.220 become the suburbs, because everything is encroached 00:05:56.220 --> 00:05:58.639 upon it. And the farm's been gone for years. 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:00.399 The camp's been sold, and now it's a housing 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:04.259 development. But Philadelphia had a very famous 00:06:04.259 --> 00:06:06.459 and still has a very famous folk festival, the 00:06:06.459 --> 00:06:08.480 Philadelphia Folk Festival, which was one of 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.449 the... across the country, along with Newport 00:06:11.449 --> 00:06:13.769 Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, Philadelphia 00:06:13.769 --> 00:06:16.709 Folk Festival, and I believe in Monterey. That 00:06:16.709 --> 00:06:19.750 was a fairly famous one. And I have a very, very 00:06:19.750 --> 00:06:24.050 faint memory of my aunt taking me there, walking 00:06:24.050 --> 00:06:26.470 across the field. I don't remember who we saw. 00:06:26.730 --> 00:06:29.089 I'm sure if I were able to come up with a date 00:06:29.089 --> 00:06:32.790 that I was there, we saw amazing performers. 00:06:32.889 --> 00:06:36.079 It was the height of the folk scene. It was, 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:40.639 you know, probably 1963, 64, 65. And there were, 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:43.480 you know, probably, you know, who knows? It could 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:44.839 have been Dylan. It could have been Phil Oakes. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:46.220 It could have been Joan Baez. It could have been 00:06:46.220 --> 00:06:48.560 any one of the major players in the folk scene. 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:51.819 And I have no idea of who I saw, but I just have 00:06:51.819 --> 00:06:54.500 a vague memory of walking across the field. But 00:06:54.500 --> 00:06:56.560 again, I was able to revisit the Philadelphia 00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:59.300 Folk Festival for the second time, the first 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:01.959 time being a very young child, about six years 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:07.420 ago, and trying to... evoke that memory of being 00:07:07.420 --> 00:07:09.860 there with her. And I wasn't able to. As great 00:07:09.860 --> 00:07:13.180 of memories I have, this is just one of the millions 00:07:13.180 --> 00:07:16.360 of memories I have. And so just suffice to say 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:18.180 that being there and seeing all the cars parked 00:07:18.180 --> 00:07:20.199 in the field and walking across the field and 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:22.980 walking to the tents to see the different performers 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:26.220 stirred up all these amazing emotions in me. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:29.579 And as I got older and my aunt got a little older, 00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:32.899 she became everything that I wanted to be. She 00:07:32.899 --> 00:07:36.149 was a hippie. and she was a folk singer, and 00:07:36.149 --> 00:07:40.149 she was an artist, and it was everything I wanted 00:07:40.149 --> 00:07:44.389 my world to be then. And I got myself a fringe 00:07:44.389 --> 00:07:47.709 buckskin jacket, and I had, like, some kind of 00:07:47.709 --> 00:07:51.449 beaver pelt fringed belt and moccasins. And I 00:07:51.449 --> 00:07:54.410 really thought myself to be this little junior 00:07:54.410 --> 00:07:56.389 hippie. I was, like, in the junior hippie club. 00:07:56.850 --> 00:08:01.509 And I remember going... My aunt had moved into... 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:04.019 The city at this point was going to the Philadelphia 00:08:04.019 --> 00:08:06.920 College of Art and the Tyler School of Art, which 00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:09.439 is also associated with Temple University, part 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:11.300 of one of the campuses of Temple. And I have 00:08:11.300 --> 00:08:14.379 a memory of going with her to her classrooms 00:08:14.379 --> 00:08:18.600 at the Tyler School of Art, which was in some 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:22.779 wild old barn or crazy building where there was 00:08:22.779 --> 00:08:25.779 plaster casts of statues and, you know, anything 00:08:25.779 --> 00:08:28.860 that you can imagine being an art studio, this 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:33.399 was there. And I have a very but faint memory 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:36.360 of going there with her. But I do remember going 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:42.320 to her apartment with her other, I'm gonna call 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:44.139 them hippie folk singer friends, because to me, 00:08:44.139 --> 00:08:45.559 they were all hippies and folk singers. I don't 00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:47.480 know if any of them were folk singers, and I 00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:49.139 don't know if any of them actually were hippies, 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:52.759 but they're all hippies at this point. And I 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:56.100 remember a very clear memory of they had painted 00:08:56.100 --> 00:08:59.720 on their refrigerator. some sort of free -form 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:02.299 Peter Max kind of art. And I remember thinking, 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:05.159 this is the coolest thing in the world. You can 00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:07.320 paint on your refrigerator. And, you know, being 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:09.840 a young child, and even though my parents were 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:11.860 in the arts, my parents happened to be both dancers. 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:15.059 My dad was a dancer on Broadway. We didn't live 00:09:15.059 --> 00:09:18.779 a bohemian existence. We were very suburban. 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:21.519 My parents had a dancing school and then later 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:25.159 became florists and, you know, was fairly... 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:27.639 mainstream in a non -mainstream world. They didn't 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:30.500 work in an office. They didn't work for a factory 00:09:30.500 --> 00:09:34.679 or a corporation. But even still, my lifestyle 00:09:34.679 --> 00:09:38.899 was fairly to very mainstream, albeit I got to 00:09:38.899 --> 00:09:41.700 live in a world of arts, luckily. And my parents 00:09:41.700 --> 00:09:44.779 were very supportive of that. You know, but my 00:09:44.779 --> 00:09:48.600 aunt was different. And my aunt, you know, had 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:52.840 this amazing energy. And she was, again, I was 00:09:52.840 --> 00:09:55.809 around her. pretty much all year long because 00:09:55.809 --> 00:09:58.190 my grandparents, as I said, owned a summer camp, 00:09:58.990 --> 00:10:01.690 and my aunt was one of the counselors there when 00:10:01.690 --> 00:10:05.250 I was a very young camper. And so her energy 00:10:05.250 --> 00:10:07.669 and her enthusiasm was always around me, and 00:10:07.669 --> 00:10:10.149 she always had her guitar, and she was always 00:10:10.149 --> 00:10:12.370 singing folk songs, and folk music was a big 00:10:12.370 --> 00:10:15.070 part of my life because, hey, that was the era. 00:10:15.129 --> 00:10:19.389 So if you had any life with any kind of music, 00:10:19.669 --> 00:10:23.440 and it was the 60s, folk music was there. My 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.240 life was either folk music or Broadway show tunes. 00:10:26.700 --> 00:10:29.360 So those are the two things that really honestly 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:32.299 that have shaped my life in the most complete 00:10:32.299 --> 00:10:35.240 form of who I am, why I am, what I am and how 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:38.740 I am is show business, show tunes and folk music. 00:10:39.419 --> 00:10:43.159 So, and my aunt, when she still lived with my 00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:46.740 grandparents in their big farmhouse, had a room 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:52.980 that was the most fascinating place for me to 00:10:52.980 --> 00:10:55.480 spend time and discover it. It was really like 00:10:55.480 --> 00:10:59.759 Alice down the rabbit hole because I'd walk into 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:02.539 her room and it was full of her paintings and 00:11:02.539 --> 00:11:05.519 it was full of posters and it was full of books 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:08.539 on poetry and not that I was that, I don't want 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:11.940 to be so bold or even exaggerate the fact that 00:11:11.940 --> 00:11:15.679 I was inspired by poetry because of that. But 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:19.759 there was one specific thing and also her music 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:21.970 and I would spend time in there with her and 00:11:21.970 --> 00:11:24.809 without her just sort of poking around looking 00:11:24.809 --> 00:11:29.029 in drawers and looking behind whatever album 00:11:29.029 --> 00:11:33.549 was on the front of the stack so everything about 00:11:33.549 --> 00:11:38.210 my aunt was adventurous and larger than life 00:11:38.210 --> 00:11:41.750 and exciting and a glimpse into a world that 00:11:41.750 --> 00:11:47.210 i guess i assumed i was going to be in and so 00:11:47.210 --> 00:11:49.169 many great memories you know her taking us on 00:11:49.169 --> 00:11:52.129 the train to go to Florida to visit my grandparents 00:11:52.129 --> 00:11:55.129 and her taking me to see a Beatles movie at a 00:11:55.129 --> 00:11:58.610 movie theater. But I don't have a lot of fully 00:11:58.610 --> 00:12:02.950 fledged memories except for almost like snapshots 00:12:02.950 --> 00:12:05.610 or a slideshow of memories because they were 00:12:05.610 --> 00:12:10.090 so long ago. And when I was 12 in September of 00:12:10.090 --> 00:12:16.889 1968, my aunt and I believe four or five other 00:12:16.889 --> 00:12:24.059 friends were up in New England or maybe specifically 00:12:24.059 --> 00:12:26.080 Woodstock, New York or somewhere around there, 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:29.820 I'm not exactly sure where, and they were all 00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:33.879 killed in a horrific car accident. And I think 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:37.600 being so young when it happened, even though 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:43.980 we were so close and she was my everything, I 00:12:43.980 --> 00:12:48.639 don't think I was able to really place it in 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:52.129 a context. I don't know if I knew anybody who 00:12:52.129 --> 00:12:56.509 had died. I certainly wasn't close to anyone 00:12:56.509 --> 00:13:01.289 who had died. And I know because she was the 00:13:01.289 --> 00:13:06.509 youngest and she was this crazy energy and much 00:13:06.509 --> 00:13:09.370 loved by everyone in the family, and of course 00:13:09.370 --> 00:13:12.429 everyone at the summer camp with friends and 00:13:12.429 --> 00:13:15.929 relatives from afar, it rocked the world. And 00:13:15.929 --> 00:13:19.490 I know it really... sort of was a knife in my 00:13:19.490 --> 00:13:22.230 family's heart for a long time. And I don't really 00:13:22.230 --> 00:13:26.389 think my grandparents ever recovered, even though 00:13:26.389 --> 00:13:31.149 this was 1968 and my grandparents lived until, 00:13:31.149 --> 00:13:36.190 I think, the 80s. But I believe there was always 00:13:36.190 --> 00:13:42.190 a veil over everything after that. I know my 00:13:42.190 --> 00:13:46.769 mother, who's 86 years old, is still very, very... 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:50.740 and is easily brought to tears if we talk about 00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:58.620 it. But my grandparents left my aunt's room exactly 00:13:58.620 --> 00:14:04.000 like it was for years. But whenever I would go 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.720 to their house, which was often, I'd go into 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:11.340 the room, which was frozen in time, and still 00:14:11.340 --> 00:14:13.879 do the same exploring. You know, the exploring 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:17.460 was... probably searching for more of my aunt 00:14:17.460 --> 00:14:24.000 at this point and trying to bring back or revive 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:30.179 more memories and keep them alive in me. And 00:14:30.179 --> 00:14:34.559 from that room, three or four very clear memories 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:42.220 I have was, or still have, is a memory of a small 00:14:42.220 --> 00:14:46.080 book of poetry. by Laurence Ferlinghetti, who 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:50.620 was very famous in the beat poetry era and opened 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:52.860 the City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, which 00:14:52.860 --> 00:14:56.480 is the home of all the, you know, Ginsburg and, 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:58.259 you know, Cassidy and Jack Kerouac and everybody, 00:14:58.259 --> 00:15:00.720 everybody who was anybody in that world with 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:05.559 the fringe jacket and moccasins. And my aunt's 00:15:05.559 --> 00:15:08.259 albums that were always stacked on the floor 00:15:08.259 --> 00:15:10.879 and not stacked on top of each other, but stacked 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:12.759 one in front of the other so they were stacked 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:15.279 so you could leaf through easily. And three of 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:20.179 those albums are incredible visual memories for 00:15:20.179 --> 00:15:23.200 me. One is Anita Simone album. I don't think 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:25.799 I had any idea who Anita Simone was. One was 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:28.820 a Fred Neal album. No idea who Fred Neal was. 00:15:29.659 --> 00:15:32.700 One was a band called Moby Grape. Had no idea 00:15:32.700 --> 00:15:35.200 who Moby Grape was. And I think they may have 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:39.399 been a Leonard Cohen album. Now, I now, and I'm 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:44.009 64 years old, but for years, I've had my aunt's 00:15:44.009 --> 00:15:46.409 entire record collection, and they all live in 00:15:46.409 --> 00:15:48.830 boxes in the garage. And everyone, so while I'm 00:15:48.830 --> 00:15:50.629 out there, I'll take them out and I'll look at 00:15:50.629 --> 00:15:54.710 these albums, and it'll be an immediate flashback 00:15:54.710 --> 00:15:57.269 to that room, and of course, looking at those 00:15:57.269 --> 00:16:01.509 albums. And about five years ago, weird coincidences 00:16:01.509 --> 00:16:03.730 have happened. I worked at a restaurant back 00:16:03.730 --> 00:16:08.289 in 1983, and somehow, in Silver Lake, California, 00:16:08.690 --> 00:16:11.049 and somehow the owner got Nina Simone to come 00:16:11.049 --> 00:16:13.799 perform for a week. I didn't have the nerve to 00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:16.899 say anything to her about it. But it was, again, 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:22.299 I always felt so connected. I did a TV show in 00:16:22.299 --> 00:16:26.519 San Francisco about six or seven years ago, and 00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:29.240 we shot at the City Lights Bookstore. And I know 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:32.820 that Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who's a much elderly 00:16:32.820 --> 00:16:35.480 man, still came in there. I believe maybe he 00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:39.500 still owned it. And I very badly wanted to go 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:43.139 in and tell him the story. of my aunt, but couldn't 00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:46.360 bring myself to do it. I don't think I was overcome 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:48.360 with emotion. I think I was just scared out of 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:51.820 my mind as to what he'd say to me. I don't know. 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:54.700 I really don't know why. But I think all these 00:16:54.700 --> 00:16:58.259 events are my aunt still letting me know that 00:16:58.259 --> 00:17:02.139 she's present in my life. And I have dreams about 00:17:02.139 --> 00:17:06.200 her every so often. And usually the dreams, it's 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:13.039 me running into her as, well, now she'd be It's 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:15.319 not me running into her as a 76 -year -old. It's 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:19.019 me running into her as an older than the last 00:17:19.019 --> 00:17:20.940 time I saw her, but maybe not that much older. 00:17:21.299 --> 00:17:24.299 And I think I'm always asking her, where is she? 00:17:24.579 --> 00:17:28.240 And she says, oh, you know, I'll be back. I think 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:30.799 her answer is, I'll be back, or I'm around, that 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:34.960 kind of thing. And when our daughter Addie was 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:37.660 born, her middle name is Rose, named after my 00:17:37.660 --> 00:17:43.029 Aunt Rosie. And she oddly... looked very similar 00:17:43.029 --> 00:17:47.250 to Aunt Rosie. And we have photographs of the 00:17:47.250 --> 00:17:50.670 two of them. If you put them side by side, they're 00:17:50.670 --> 00:17:52.970 not, certainly not photographs together, but 00:17:52.970 --> 00:17:56.990 there's an eerie similarity that everyone remarks 00:17:56.990 --> 00:18:04.190 upon. So it's, when I embarked in the life in 00:18:04.190 --> 00:18:07.470 the arts, first pursuing acting, and then now 00:18:07.470 --> 00:18:10.230 as a career as a production designer, I think 00:18:10.230 --> 00:18:15.289 I'm always wondering what she thinks of it, assuming 00:18:15.289 --> 00:18:18.609 that she's watching, because what else would 00:18:18.609 --> 00:18:20.470 she have better to do than to watch everything 00:18:20.470 --> 00:18:24.210 I do in life, and trusting that she's there, 00:18:25.309 --> 00:18:28.650 whatever there means, wherever there is. I was 00:18:28.650 --> 00:18:33.690 fortunate a few years ago to be in Philadelphia 00:18:33.690 --> 00:18:38.170 with my parents and actually got a chance We 00:18:38.170 --> 00:18:40.430 happened to be at the cemetery where she was 00:18:40.430 --> 00:18:43.430 buried for another funeral, but I walked over 00:18:43.430 --> 00:18:48.589 to where her tomb grave marker was and was able 00:18:48.589 --> 00:18:50.869 to stand there for a few minutes and talk to 00:18:50.869 --> 00:18:54.650 her, not about really anything specifically. 00:18:54.690 --> 00:18:57.349 I think really just to say hi and to check in, 00:18:57.609 --> 00:19:07.059 but she is an ever present, constant force. And 00:19:07.059 --> 00:19:15.180 I don't mean daily or weekly, in so much that 00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:16.920 there's never a day that goes by, there's never 00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:18.599 a moment that goes by that I'm not thinking about 00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:23.140 her. But in some respects, there probably isn't, 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:26.380 because in everything I do, whether it's my creations 00:19:26.380 --> 00:19:28.559 at work, my art at work, whether it's my gardening, 00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:30.779 which is really not so much her, but her father, 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:33.039 my grandfather, who I was very close with, my 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:36.990 vegetable gardening, but... Her energy is something 00:19:36.990 --> 00:19:41.009 that I think I carry and was buoyed. I mean, 00:19:41.450 --> 00:19:46.309 my love of folk music, my love of the arts, my 00:19:46.309 --> 00:19:51.630 love of a good buckskin fringe jacket and moccasins. 00:19:52.230 --> 00:19:55.450 It's something that I imagine I'll carry forever. 00:19:56.890 --> 00:20:06.650 And yeah, that's pretty much my story. I love 00:20:06.650 --> 00:20:09.690 it, man. That's very powerful. It's a beautiful 00:20:09.690 --> 00:20:11.910 story. And I'm telling you, I actually, I've 00:20:11.910 --> 00:20:14.450 known you for 35 years, and you've got this, 00:20:14.450 --> 00:20:16.450 you know, this ball of energy, you know, this 00:20:16.450 --> 00:20:20.069 ball of creation. You're constantly drawing something 00:20:20.069 --> 00:20:22.930 or making something or making stuff happen all 00:20:22.930 --> 00:20:26.230 the time. And it sort of makes sense that, I 00:20:26.230 --> 00:20:28.509 mean, short of answering my question, but how 00:20:28.509 --> 00:20:30.750 she's impacted your life, but it just feels like 00:20:30.750 --> 00:20:33.769 you're, I'll let you speak to it, but just the 00:20:33.769 --> 00:20:38.400 idea that... Your creativity is an you know, 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:43.039 it's it's it comes from you but it may have some 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:46.559 relationship to You know what your aunt may have 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:50.319 I shouldn't say nurtured you or somehow but I'm 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:52.119 gonna get out of the way I don't want to speak 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:55.119 for you how you know how it's impacted you Well, 00:20:55.140 --> 00:20:59.579 I you know, I think I mean in retrospect to the 00:20:59.579 --> 00:21:03.359 idea of how She's impacted me because she left 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:08.119 me when I was so young that I really hadn't formed 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:11.579 myself into anything at 12 -year -old, at 12 00:21:11.579 --> 00:21:16.220 years of age, except for everything. Everything 00:21:16.220 --> 00:21:20.420 I do, I think, is, you know, I have all of her 00:21:20.420 --> 00:21:22.599 old portfolio from art school that I look at 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:24.640 once in a while. And I have her old sketchbooks 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:26.339 and her old, you know, and I don't know what 00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:28.980 I'll ever do with them. I will literally, I'm 00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:30.160 sure, never do anything with them. I don't have 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:31.839 that kind of wall space to put all the artwork 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:35.109 up. And... But I love the idea of going into 00:21:35.109 --> 00:21:36.450 the garage and opening them up and looking at 00:21:36.450 --> 00:21:38.690 them or sitting in the guest room and opening 00:21:38.690 --> 00:21:40.369 up the portfolio and leafing through them all 00:21:40.369 --> 00:21:44.369 and thinking about them and sort of just daydreaming 00:21:44.369 --> 00:21:47.470 about it. Crazily, because I'm a very emotional 00:21:47.470 --> 00:21:51.109 person, I remember recently, almost a year ago, 00:21:51.349 --> 00:21:53.950 I happened to be in Serbia working on a television 00:21:53.950 --> 00:21:56.890 show. And I was at dinner with two guys I work 00:21:56.890 --> 00:22:01.109 with. Neither of them I'm that close with. And 00:22:01.109 --> 00:22:04.599 neither of them are people that open up emotionally 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:08.680 to me and somehow we got in a conversation and 00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:11.380 this story of my aunt came up and brought me 00:22:11.380 --> 00:22:14.759 to hysterical tears where I couldn't compose 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:17.279 myself in front of two people who were staring 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:20.579 at me like they couldn't get away from me fast 00:22:20.579 --> 00:22:23.480 enough even though we're fairly close in work 00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:25.599 relationships I think they must have thought 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:29.220 I was out of my mind and crazy but you know this 00:22:29.220 --> 00:22:33.359 is this is a testament to my and my relationship 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:35.779 with my aunt, or my relationship with my memory 00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:38.519 of my aunt, because again, my relationship ended, 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:42.000 the physical relationship ended when I was 12. 00:22:42.339 --> 00:22:44.440 And interestingly enough, in the past couple 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:50.019 years, we've, my wife and I, have had a couple 00:22:50.019 --> 00:22:53.599 spirit circles at our home, where we've invited 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:56.759 a medium over and other friends have come, and 00:22:56.759 --> 00:23:00.839 this medium will do what mediums do, you know? 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:03.099 talk through the spirits that are in the room 00:23:03.099 --> 00:23:05.000 when they come to visit or whatever. And I'm 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:11.619 always hoping for some big revelation. And my 00:23:11.619 --> 00:23:13.619 wife says, you know, you're going to get what 00:23:13.619 --> 00:23:15.680 you're going to get. And you need to be open 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:17.700 to whatever it is you're getting at that moment 00:23:17.700 --> 00:23:20.700 and stop looking for more, thinking there's going 00:23:20.700 --> 00:23:24.339 to be more, or expecting it to be more. Just 00:23:24.339 --> 00:23:29.259 sit back and take in what is coming at that time. 00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:33.880 But, uh... One of the weird things, and I'm not 00:23:33.880 --> 00:23:36.519 sure if, again, life imitating art, art imitating 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:38.079 life, chicken on the road, or whatever you want 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:42.279 to call it, is somehow at a very early age, and 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:44.200 I need to even check the dates on this to see 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:47.619 if I've just made up the story in my mind, is 00:23:47.619 --> 00:23:52.740 my aunt had introduced me, maybe even just a 00:23:52.740 --> 00:23:54.759 photograph or maybe she had the album cover, 00:23:54.859 --> 00:23:58.299 I don't know, to the music from Big Pink album 00:23:58.299 --> 00:24:02.599 from the band, who is Probably my favorite band 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:04.720 of all time. And I don't know if they're my favorite 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:06.700 band of all time because of that connection with 00:24:06.700 --> 00:24:10.099 my aunt, which I'm quite sure didn't not contribute 00:24:10.099 --> 00:24:13.400 to that, or if I've made up this and romanticized 00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:16.980 this story about them because of her, but also, 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:19.960 bizarrely either enough, one of my other favorite 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:21.980 bands, who happened to be from Philadelphia, 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:25.079 is Hall & Oates. And just recently, I've heard 00:24:25.079 --> 00:24:27.779 stories from another cousin of my aunt, Rosie, 00:24:28.420 --> 00:24:31.579 playing guitar. with John Oates when they were 00:24:31.579 --> 00:24:34.819 both of high school age, whether they were in 00:24:34.819 --> 00:24:37.180 high school together or not, I'm not sure, but 00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:39.220 maybe the small Philadelphia folks scene or even 00:24:39.220 --> 00:24:41.920 the smaller folks scene out in the suburbs in 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:46.299 Lansdale, Pennsylvania. So somehow, again, through 00:24:46.299 --> 00:24:49.500 everything, you know, my aunt circles around 00:24:49.500 --> 00:24:54.099 me and her energy, her spirit, her light, her 00:24:54.099 --> 00:24:57.069 whatever. And it's something I hold very near 00:24:57.069 --> 00:24:59.150 and dear to me, that there are so many facets 00:24:59.150 --> 00:25:04.670 of my life that she has either created or she 00:25:04.670 --> 00:25:10.509 has nurtured or prolonged. But it's pretty awesome. 00:25:11.309 --> 00:25:13.049 Well done. Well, thank you very much, Stuart. 00:25:13.069 --> 00:25:16.950 That was fantastic. I mourn for your loss. I 00:25:16.950 --> 00:25:19.369 mean, it makes me sad that you lost there. But 00:25:19.369 --> 00:25:21.730 it actually, again, I've known you for a long 00:25:21.730 --> 00:25:25.799 time. And it's sort of... informs me about who 00:25:25.799 --> 00:25:28.079 you are in the sense that all that creativity 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:32.680 all that sort of You sort of take a joy and just 00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:34.680 about all the different arts You're not just 00:25:34.680 --> 00:25:36.740 kind of a limited guy in that way. You're not 00:25:36.740 --> 00:25:39.500 the music. It's the dance It's the you know all 00:25:39.500 --> 00:25:42.559 the different things and so who you are really 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:45.839 comes through and I think that I Don't I don't 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:47.599 know what the deep and I don't I'm not smart 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:50.720 enough to know the deeper connections, but Nor 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.839 am I. She does live within you, I'm sure. So 00:25:54.839 --> 00:25:57.559 thank you for being my guest. I really do appreciate 00:25:57.559 --> 00:26:02.660 it. Thank you for including my story in your 00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:06.559 book. So that's our show. I'd like to thank our 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:10.559 guest Stuart Blatt for that great story. I'd 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:13.059 also like to remind our audience that Sideline 00:26:13.059 --> 00:26:15.019 Ink Publishing will be publishing a collection 00:26:15.019 --> 00:26:18.079 of stories from the Tell Me What Happened podcast. 00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:22.019 and we'd love to hear or read your story. For 00:26:22.019 --> 00:26:24.359 more information on how to submit your story, 00:26:24.940 --> 00:26:32.680 please contact me at jaycrehak .com. I look forward 00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:35.279 to hearing from you. Now we're going to end the 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:37.799 show with Susan Salador's inspirational song, 00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:41.359 Every Moment, Every Day, which is available on 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:44.019 Spotify and iTunes and just about everywhere 00:26:44.019 --> 00:26:47.490 you listen to music. So until next time, This 00:26:47.490 --> 00:26:50.750 is Jay Rehack asking you to stay safe out there 00:26:50.750 --> 00:27:22.359 and try not to hurt anybody. It is possible to 00:27:22.359 --> 00:27:45.099 be thankful It is possible to be thankful every 00:27:45.099 --> 00:27:47.440 moment, every day.