WEBVTT - Welcoming Heavyweight 0:00:15.356 --> 0:00:15.796 Pushkin. 0:00:18.476 --> 0:00:21.796 Hello, Hello Revisionist History listeners. We're having a very exciting 0:00:21.796 --> 0:00:24.596 week here at Pushkin. You know that I'm Canadian, right, 0:00:24.876 --> 0:00:26.796 We actually fly a big maple leaf flag here at 0:00:26.796 --> 0:00:31.556 Pushkin HQ. Well, this week we added another Canadian. The 0:00:31.596 --> 0:00:35.596 great Jonathan Goldstein, native of Quebec, has brought his acclaimed 0:00:35.716 --> 0:00:38.596 narrative series Heavyweight to the Pushkin Network. 0:00:39.756 --> 0:00:48.076 Oh Canada, our home and native land, true patrid love, 0:00:48.716 --> 0:00:50.876 in all our hearts command. 0:00:52.316 --> 0:00:55.556 Jonathan and the Heavyweight team represent everything we believe in 0:00:55.596 --> 0:00:58.636 here at Pushkin. The power of storytelling, the value of 0:00:58.716 --> 0:01:02.196 intelligence and emotion, the belief that Canadians can and should 0:01:02.196 --> 0:01:07.156 dominate all aspects of American culture. Heavyweight examines personal histories 0:01:07.196 --> 0:01:09.956 and resentments. It tries to heal old wounds, and then 0:01:09.956 --> 0:01:14.276 the process reminds us of our shared humanity. Yes, it's 0:01:14.316 --> 0:01:17.716 that good. We're dropping the first ever episode here in 0:01:17.716 --> 0:01:21.116 the feed about Jonathan's quest to reconcile his father with 0:01:21.236 --> 0:01:25.756 his estranged brother Buzz Enjoy And there is much, much, 0:01:25.916 --> 0:01:27.796 much more to come. And if you want to listen 0:01:27.836 --> 0:01:30.676 to more Heavyweight, which I'm sure you do, check out 0:01:30.716 --> 0:01:34.196 the show notes for the Revisionist History team's favorite episodes. 0:01:41.316 --> 0:01:44.756 Yell from Gimblet Media. This is Jonathan Goldstein. Your old 0:01:44.796 --> 0:01:46.956 pal is that. 0:01:47.076 --> 0:01:48.916 Was called Gimblet Gimblet Media. 0:01:49.156 --> 0:01:49.716 That's correct. 0:01:49.836 --> 0:01:52.036 It sounds like giblets, the inside of a chicken, like 0:01:52.036 --> 0:01:52.956 all the innerds. 0:01:53.116 --> 0:01:54.436 Well, everybody loves giblet. 0:01:54.676 --> 0:01:56.836 You Oh shit, they're my kids. 0:01:56.916 --> 0:01:57.996 Hey guys, I'm up here. 0:01:59.076 --> 0:02:01.076 Do you know what my new podcast is about. 0:02:01.516 --> 0:02:02.916 I know, I don't know anything about it. 0:02:03.036 --> 0:02:06.276 Each week, I travel into people's past to help them 0:02:06.316 --> 0:02:10.276 repair something that's been troubling them. I'm sort of like 0:02:10.316 --> 0:02:20.196 a therapist, like a therapist. So yeah, do you find out? 0:02:20.276 --> 0:02:22.916 Do you find that funny? I supportive? That's the laughter 0:02:22.956 --> 0:02:23.396 of support. 0:02:23.476 --> 0:02:24.076 I think it's great. 0:02:24.636 --> 0:02:27.036 I think it's great. Do you have any questions for 0:02:27.116 --> 0:02:29.476 me about what my show is and what it's going 0:02:29.516 --> 0:02:33.196 to be? Like, what's the name of your show? 0:02:33.276 --> 0:02:34.276 What's the name of your show? 0:02:34.876 --> 0:02:36.756 Yes, we're gonna go now, but Johnson's just about tell 0:02:36.796 --> 0:02:37.836 me the name of his new show. 0:02:38.156 --> 0:02:39.676 As soon as he tells me, I'm going to bang 0:02:39.716 --> 0:02:44.116 down on him in five Remember to do that, Yes. 0:02:44.036 --> 0:02:47.156 To hang up the phone on each other? Okay, ready, Yes, 0:02:47.316 --> 0:02:52.116 the name of the show is Heavyweight Heavyweight, you get 0:02:52.116 --> 0:03:03.956 it too one. Hello. Hello from Gimblet Media. I'm Jonathan 0:03:03.956 --> 0:03:07.996 Goldstein and this is Heavyweight today's episode. 0:03:08.756 --> 0:03:15.196 But hello, hey Dad, Hi Johnny. 0:03:15.276 --> 0:03:19.076 Hey, how you doing good? You good good good yum 0:03:19.156 --> 0:03:22.316 tiv Shanapova oximea O. 0:03:23.796 --> 0:03:24.516 What's that meaning? 0:03:24.516 --> 0:03:28.476 I'm not sure. Oh, this is my father Buzz. I'm 0:03:28.516 --> 0:03:31.476 calling him at his home in Montreal. And the reason 0:03:31.476 --> 0:03:34.636 we're talking crazy talk is because it's young Kipper the 0:03:34.716 --> 0:03:37.636 Jewish day of Atonement, which seems as good a day 0:03:37.636 --> 0:03:42.716 as any to talk with him about forgiveness. So I 0:03:42.756 --> 0:03:45.396 wanted to I wanted to ask you something and I 0:03:45.436 --> 0:03:50.196 just wanted to gauge your interest. Yeah, how how would 0:03:50.236 --> 0:03:53.916 you feel about paying your brother Sheldon a visit? 0:03:55.156 --> 0:04:00.796 I have no feelings by I'm not really interested. You're not. No. 0:04:02.396 --> 0:04:05.636 My father Buzz is eighty and his brother, Sheldon, his 0:04:05.756 --> 0:04:09.236 only sibling, is eighty five, and for the past forty 0:04:09.716 --> 0:04:14.916 they've pretty much been on the outs. My father lives 0:04:14.916 --> 0:04:18.076 in Montreal and Sheldon lives in Florida, and the last 0:04:18.076 --> 0:04:20.876 time they saw each other over twenty years ago was 0:04:20.876 --> 0:04:23.276 at their mother's funeral when they had a fight over 0:04:23.316 --> 0:04:27.316 the details of the arrangements. Since then, they've hardly spoken. 0:04:29.116 --> 0:04:31.996 It worries me because there's not a lot of time left, 0:04:32.196 --> 0:04:35.076 and I don't want my father to have regrets. When 0:04:35.116 --> 0:04:37.116 the subject of his brother comes up, as it often 0:04:37.156 --> 0:04:40.716 has over the years, my father feels competing things. He 0:04:40.756 --> 0:04:44.156 grows angry or defensive, but other times he'll become sad 0:04:44.196 --> 0:04:47.836 and remorseful. And it's the sorrow and the remorse that 0:04:47.876 --> 0:04:50.876 I like best, because it's these feelings that I believe 0:04:50.956 --> 0:04:54.636 speak to his better self, the self I want to encourage. 0:04:55.156 --> 0:04:57.036 I'm not surprised that you're not jumping at the idea, 0:04:57.036 --> 0:05:00.756 but I'm a little surprised at yours against the idea. 0:05:01.436 --> 0:05:05.836 Yeah, time's passed. He hasn't shown much interest, so I'm 0:05:05.876 --> 0:05:07.396 respecting that and I leave them alone. 0:05:07.876 --> 0:05:11.396 What he did do was he called you on your 0:05:11.396 --> 0:05:15.156 eightieth birthday not so long ago, and you felt good. 0:05:15.036 --> 0:05:17.196 About it to him on his eightieth birthday. 0:05:18.036 --> 0:05:20.756 This kind of tit for tat accounting is what always 0:05:20.796 --> 0:05:23.596 gets in the way. There's been a competition between the 0:05:23.636 --> 0:05:26.316 brothers since I was a kid. I remember how in 0:05:26.396 --> 0:05:29.436 my grandmother's small New York kitchen, Sheldon and Buzz got 0:05:29.476 --> 0:05:32.316 into an argument about who could do the most push ups, 0:05:32.676 --> 0:05:34.996 and the next thing I knew, my father was pulling 0:05:34.996 --> 0:05:37.756 off his shirt and dropping to the kitchen floor in 0:05:37.796 --> 0:05:41.076 his undershirt. My mother, not used to seeing the side 0:05:41.076 --> 0:05:45.036 of him, stood over my father, flapping a dishtowel hysterically 0:05:45.356 --> 0:05:48.796 while begging him to the point of tears to please stop. 0:05:49.636 --> 0:05:52.356 Now you go, my father said, rising from the floor 0:05:52.356 --> 0:05:55.116 when he was done. But Sheldon shook his head with 0:05:55.156 --> 0:05:57.596 a smile. It was like he didn't even think my 0:05:57.636 --> 0:05:58.956 father was worth the effort. 0:06:00.116 --> 0:06:01.796 You know what it is at this point with him, 0:06:01.876 --> 0:06:03.636 I'll tell you what it is. I don't think it's 0:06:03.716 --> 0:06:07.236 even anger. He's past anger, and he's past any feelings 0:06:07.236 --> 0:06:13.916 of Animosity's he just doesn't care. Yeah, you know, that's apathy. 0:06:14.236 --> 0:06:18.476 I mean, sometimes at least hate or love their emotions. 0:06:18.556 --> 0:06:24.156 Apathy is nothing. Yeah, you know what. Johnny as a child, 0:06:24.316 --> 0:06:27.196 even when I was ten, when I was nine and eight, 0:06:27.716 --> 0:06:30.636 I was crazy about him. We had a great you know, 0:06:30.836 --> 0:06:32.396 I loved him. He was the older brother. 0:06:32.596 --> 0:06:35.476 He was hello, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm listening. 0:06:36.956 --> 0:06:37.156 You know. 0:06:38.116 --> 0:06:40.436 I just looked up to him, and he had older friends. 0:06:40.476 --> 0:06:43.156 Sometimes he'd take me along with him and he was good. 0:06:44.596 --> 0:06:48.116 Somebody trying to somebody trying to call here, binging me here. 0:06:49.156 --> 0:06:52.236 Don't you see, Buzz, it's father time? Who is bringing 0:06:52.316 --> 0:06:56.876 you here? And Buzz loses track of time. Air Conditioners 0:06:56.916 --> 0:07:00.556 remain boxed all through July, and expired coupons from the 0:07:00.596 --> 0:07:04.396 mid nineties make plump his wallet, so I worry he'll 0:07:04.396 --> 0:07:07.236 put off reaching out to Sheldon until it's too late. 0:07:11.596 --> 0:07:14.876 The most complicated question, the one I keep coming back to, 0:07:15.516 --> 0:07:18.356 is how did the bad blood begin? And there are 0:07:18.356 --> 0:07:21.636 many versions. An ill fated trip to Montreal where Sheldon 0:07:21.676 --> 0:07:24.236 felt slighted about having to stay in my father's basement, 0:07:24.756 --> 0:07:26.996 an ill fated trip to New York where my father 0:07:27.036 --> 0:07:30.436 felt slighted about having to stay in Sheldon's attic, rude 0:07:30.436 --> 0:07:33.436 words spoken to each other's wives. In one version of 0:07:33.476 --> 0:07:36.356 the story, Sheldon's refusal to bring a table to my 0:07:36.436 --> 0:07:40.116 brists almost resulted in my being circumcised on an ironing board. 0:07:41.276 --> 0:07:43.996 But in the version being told today, my father was 0:07:44.036 --> 0:07:46.556 asked by Sheldon to pay more than his fair share 0:07:46.676 --> 0:07:48.476 for their mother's funeral, and I. 0:07:48.476 --> 0:07:51.996 Said, you always working some kind of an angle, So 0:07:52.356 --> 0:07:55.396 he got furious. He got furious, He started screaming into 0:07:55.396 --> 0:07:58.836 the phone, go to hell, drop dead, bye bye bye. 0:07:59.396 --> 0:08:02.956 Was that was how that ended? But I feel he's 0:08:02.956 --> 0:08:04.996 the kind of guy that the gun he has angles 0:08:05.156 --> 0:08:09.676 like that, you know he has angles. I always felt 0:08:09.716 --> 0:08:10.996 I was on the up and up with him and 0:08:11.036 --> 0:08:11.756 he wasn't with me. 0:08:12.316 --> 0:08:15.436 If you've got a stronger sense that he was interested 0:08:15.476 --> 0:08:19.156 in seeing you, then would you yet? 0:08:19.436 --> 0:08:22.276 Yeah, you would be my I wouldn't stay at house though, 0:08:22.316 --> 0:08:23.236 that's out of the question. 0:08:23.836 --> 0:08:27.316 Okay, quick sidebar. Anytime I've ever raised the prospect of 0:08:27.396 --> 0:08:31.076 visiting Sheldon, no matter how hypothetical the scenario, my father 0:08:31.156 --> 0:08:34.076 always makes a point of insisting, how no matter what, 0:08:34.436 --> 0:08:37.836 he would not stay in Sheldon's house, even if he 0:08:37.916 --> 0:08:41.516 was invited to which I should point out he never is. 0:08:42.116 --> 0:08:45.596 I wouldn't stay it his house. How come you I 0:08:45.636 --> 0:08:48.436 wouldn't stay there? I mean, not my thing? 0:08:48.756 --> 0:08:51.356 How come you always bring that up? I mean, normally, 0:08:51.396 --> 0:08:53.876 when someone goes to visit someone that they haven't seen 0:08:53.916 --> 0:08:56.676 in decades, don't stay at a hotel, you know. 0:08:57.196 --> 0:09:00.396 I would stay at a motel or somewhere near ATel. 0:09:00.596 --> 0:09:00.796 Yeah. 0:09:00.836 --> 0:09:03.196 No, we'd get a place, you know, with an ice machine, 0:09:03.276 --> 0:09:05.516 and uh, you know why you want. 0:09:05.356 --> 0:09:07.396 To you're interested in making a trip. 0:09:09.836 --> 0:09:13.996 I mean, I'm interested. Do you think that there's anything 0:09:14.036 --> 0:09:18.876 to be gained in in seeing him? 0:09:19.036 --> 0:09:19.316 Hmm? 0:09:21.596 --> 0:09:25.676 I guess there's something then, you know, you share your 0:09:25.676 --> 0:09:29.156 common experience and talk about the old days, and there 0:09:29.156 --> 0:09:33.076 are things that only he and I can remember, you know, yeah, 0:09:34.036 --> 0:09:37.116 you know you What you could do is you could 0:09:37.156 --> 0:09:40.196 call him and see what what what? What his attitude is? 0:09:40.436 --> 0:09:43.556 You know, it depends on you, know how how how 0:09:43.596 --> 0:09:46.476 how you feel, what kind of receptions you get. 0:09:46.836 --> 0:09:49.476 Yeah, I mean I would. I would be happy to 0:09:49.516 --> 0:09:49.756 do that. 0:09:50.796 --> 0:09:54.716 I like your initial suggestion that you call him, feel 0:09:54.756 --> 0:09:55.716 him out, and see what he's like. 0:09:56.356 --> 0:10:00.356 Okay, I didn't suggest that, but you you suggested that. 0:10:00.836 --> 0:10:03.156 Yeah. I like that just because you'll give me an 0:10:03.196 --> 0:10:05.076 honest you'll give me an honest reaction. 0:10:05.556 --> 0:10:09.156 I'm happy to do it. But I mean, what what 0:10:09.156 --> 0:10:12.316 what are you looking for from? What do you want 0:10:12.316 --> 0:10:13.116 to hear from him? 0:10:13.396 --> 0:10:15.676 I missed my brother. I would like to see him. Okay, 0:10:16.556 --> 0:10:21.476 that's all. Okay, you understand, and you come back on 0:10:21.556 --> 0:10:23.196 me with an honest evaluation. 0:10:33.396 --> 0:10:38.956 Hello, Sheldon, yes speaking Hi. That was quite a shock 0:10:40.196 --> 0:10:45.716 getting a phone call, you said, Johnath. Yeah, my hearing 0:10:45.876 --> 0:10:49.196 is not that great, okay, And when I heard the 0:10:49.236 --> 0:10:52.436 first message, I'm saying, who the heck is that? I 0:10:52.476 --> 0:10:54.316 don't know anybody by that name. 0:10:55.436 --> 0:10:58.436 Sheldon now lives outside of Fort Lauderdale, but my few 0:10:58.476 --> 0:11:00.596 memories of him are from when he lived in upstate 0:11:00.676 --> 0:11:03.636 New York. I remember he lived in a trailer. I 0:11:03.676 --> 0:11:06.076 remember that he worked at a local prison, that he 0:11:06.116 --> 0:11:08.876 smoked cigars, that he looked a little like my father, 0:11:09.156 --> 0:11:12.036 but was hunched, like the world was weighing down on him. 0:11:12.436 --> 0:11:14.556 And he always wore this expression on his face that 0:11:14.636 --> 0:11:19.316 seemed to say, you gotta be kidding me. You're keeping okay, 0:11:19.356 --> 0:11:20.476 you're keeping occupied. 0:11:20.996 --> 0:11:26.076 Yeah, I read a lot. I going to gym. I 0:11:26.116 --> 0:11:30.036 go shopping, you know, here and there, little things here 0:11:30.076 --> 0:11:30.676 and there. 0:11:31.196 --> 0:11:33.356 And so you still go. How often you go to. 0:11:33.316 --> 0:11:35.396 The gym three times a week? 0:11:36.556 --> 0:11:36.836 Wow? 0:11:36.876 --> 0:11:38.236 And what kind of stuff do you do there? 0:11:39.676 --> 0:11:45.996 Well? I do him about twenty minutes of aerobics, uh huh, 0:11:46.036 --> 0:11:49.876 and then I do a little weight training. I try 0:11:49.956 --> 0:11:52.156 to flirt a little with the women there. 0:11:52.516 --> 0:11:58.116 Oh yeah. My father also goes to the gym. That's 0:11:58.156 --> 0:12:03.556 a part of his routine. Also, he was happy to 0:12:03.596 --> 0:12:05.436 hear from you on his eightieth birthday. 0:12:07.076 --> 0:12:07.476 Yeah. 0:12:07.516 --> 0:12:11.356 Well he didn't call me on my eighty. 0:12:11.236 --> 0:12:17.156 Fifth though, tit meet tat Yeah, like, so you know, 0:12:17.596 --> 0:12:21.116 maybe we could uh go out for dinner. I don't 0:12:21.116 --> 0:12:22.196 know that kind of thing. 0:12:22.996 --> 0:12:28.836 Uh huh uh. Well, what what kind of time frame 0:12:28.916 --> 0:12:30.436 are we talking about here? 0:12:40.316 --> 0:12:44.516 I don't know. Our lives have been much different. I 0:12:44.516 --> 0:12:51.836 don't know how much we have to have in common anymore. Yeah, 0:12:52.396 --> 0:12:55.276 we don't have. We don't have much in common anymore 0:12:55.316 --> 0:13:01.076 except the fact that we're elderly and retired. Other than that, 0:13:01.276 --> 0:13:02.996 I don't know what we have in common. 0:13:04.036 --> 0:13:05.396 You have your past in common? 0:13:07.356 --> 0:13:12.476 Yes, uh, I'll tell you honestly. I'm not a very 0:13:12.636 --> 0:13:20.196 sentimental person, and I being a pragmatist, I take things 0:13:20.236 --> 0:13:24.636 the way they are. I try not to dwell upon 0:13:24.796 --> 0:13:31.236 the past, and I try not to take people the 0:13:31.316 --> 0:13:33.836 way I remember them, but as they are. 0:13:36.316 --> 0:13:37.996 Do you think that makes things easier? 0:13:40.556 --> 0:13:41.876 Makes things easier for me? 0:13:42.756 --> 0:13:50.036 Yeah? Do other people around you? Sometimes? Doesn't make it 0:13:50.076 --> 0:13:52.636 harder for other people around you ever. 0:13:54.676 --> 0:14:00.276 To be honest with you, I've been in the last 0:14:00.316 --> 0:14:05.396 few years. I've been a loner. You would basically almost 0:14:05.436 --> 0:14:11.276 call me a recluse. I don't social eyes with many people, 0:14:12.636 --> 0:14:19.276 and I really don't give a damn what anybody thinks. Yeah, 0:14:19.876 --> 0:14:27.476 and contrary to popular believe, I like being alone by myself. 0:14:28.476 --> 0:14:31.036 I get along with myself very well. 0:14:31.516 --> 0:14:32.796 Yeah. 0:14:32.836 --> 0:14:37.116 Look, I don't want to be rude. Yeah yeah, but 0:14:37.236 --> 0:14:38.956 I want to go have my lunch. 0:14:39.076 --> 0:14:41.996 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fine. That's fine, Sheldon. I 0:14:41.996 --> 0:14:45.956 appreciate your talking to me, and you would be amenable 0:14:46.076 --> 0:14:48.756 to spending some time. 0:14:50.676 --> 0:14:54.516 Why not? We are brothers. I mean, we're not closer 0:14:54.596 --> 0:14:58.436 or anything, but you know we're not going to have 0:14:58.476 --> 0:15:01.236 a chance to see each other much in the future. 0:15:04.316 --> 0:15:08.476 Yeah, is that anything that you think about? 0:15:11.916 --> 0:15:12.756 Not much more? 0:15:16.236 --> 0:15:18.556 And so I call my father back and let him 0:15:18.556 --> 0:15:22.316 know that Sheldon is amenable. And because I know that 0:15:22.356 --> 0:15:24.756 from my father, the days tend to pile up like 0:15:24.876 --> 0:15:27.756 unboxed air conditioners. I have my mother get on the 0:15:27.756 --> 0:15:30.076 phone to help nail down a firm travel. 0:15:29.756 --> 0:15:33.316 Date and Dad. He wants to go, if. 0:15:33.236 --> 0:15:35.036 Dad wants to go, if he wants. 0:15:34.796 --> 0:15:37.276 To go next weekend. 0:15:38.276 --> 0:15:39.556 We don't have to go on the weekend. We can 0:15:39.556 --> 0:15:40.476 go during the week. 0:15:41.836 --> 0:15:49.156 Yeah. Comes, as you know, you caught me off. God, 0:15:51.916 --> 0:15:54.116 how about it. I'll call you Wednesday or Thursday. 0:15:54.196 --> 0:15:57.596 How's that today's Monday? Or yeah, or even if you 0:15:57.636 --> 0:15:59.196 feel like calling tomorrow, you can call me. 0:16:00.076 --> 0:16:07.996 Yeah, okay, I'll probably I'll call you at the latest Thursday. 0:16:08.036 --> 0:16:09.436 To get the Thursday. 0:16:09.716 --> 0:16:12.796 At the latest, that's three. 0:16:12.636 --> 0:16:17.316 Days from today. Yeah, okay, all right, you do what 0:16:17.356 --> 0:16:17.956 you want to do. 0:16:17.996 --> 0:16:20.596 You call me, but I'll call you Thursday. 0:16:20.916 --> 0:16:26.916 Coming up after the break Thursday, and so on Thursday, 0:16:27.276 --> 0:16:30.436 possibly with a little nudging from my mother, Buzz agrees. 0:16:30.956 --> 0:16:33.556 And then my father and I are off to Florida 0:16:34.076 --> 0:16:35.556 to visit my uncle Sheldon. 0:16:36.516 --> 0:16:40.236 And then you have an address, Yeah, I do, okay. 0:16:40.676 --> 0:16:43.116 My dad and I meet up at the Fort Lauderdale Airport. 0:16:43.596 --> 0:16:45.956 I flew from New York and my dad from Montreal. 0:16:46.516 --> 0:16:49.196 My father's all dressed up, wearing a faux Swaede sports 0:16:49.276 --> 0:16:51.996 jacket that I've never seen him in. We grab our 0:16:52.036 --> 0:16:54.556 airport rental and prepare for the two hour drive to 0:16:54.596 --> 0:16:58.236 Sheldon in the ninety degree heat. It's immediately made clear 0:16:58.316 --> 0:17:01.516 that faux swayed might not have been the best fashioned choice. 0:17:01.636 --> 0:17:02.956 It's like we're on a safari. 0:17:06.316 --> 0:17:08.996 On the road to Sheldon's. My father will experience a 0:17:09.156 --> 0:17:12.996 spectrum of feelings as we first set out, there's excitement. 0:17:13.356 --> 0:17:15.396 You know, my brother was funny in a lot of ways. 0:17:15.636 --> 0:17:16.196 I could laugh. 0:17:16.236 --> 0:17:18.756 We're gonna have laughed with him, you know what I mean. 0:17:18.796 --> 0:17:20.116 He's a very funny man. 0:17:20.756 --> 0:17:23.036 A half an hour in and there's bitterness. 0:17:23.316 --> 0:17:26.636 We invited him to your Moments and he returned a 0:17:26.756 --> 0:17:30.476 very cold card. Sorry, we will not be attending. 0:17:31.676 --> 0:17:34.396 You know, it's so mean, you know. 0:17:34.316 --> 0:17:35.516 What I mean? Even the writing. 0:17:37.516 --> 0:17:39.556 An hour in and how is Buzz feeling. 0:17:39.996 --> 0:17:40.796 I'm relaxed. 0:17:40.876 --> 0:17:43.276 I'm kind of old to get anxious, you know. 0:17:43.276 --> 0:17:43.716 What I mean. 0:17:44.156 --> 0:17:46.116 Half an hour to Sheldon's a. 0:17:46.036 --> 0:17:47.156 Little bit apprehensive. 0:17:49.956 --> 0:17:56.476 Yeah, ten minutes to Sheldon's and Buzz is feeling all right, Yeah, 0:17:56.636 --> 0:17:57.516 he's feeling a little. 0:17:57.676 --> 0:17:58.276 Uh. 0:17:58.676 --> 0:18:01.716 It's gonna be strange. Yeah, it's gonna be very strange. 0:18:02.876 --> 0:18:05.076 I mean, the man is a stranger to me now, 0:18:05.076 --> 0:18:06.116 and yet he's my brother. 0:18:06.396 --> 0:18:06.956 You understand. 0:18:06.996 --> 0:18:08.316 It's a very strange feeling. 0:18:09.356 --> 0:18:10.476 Yeah. 0:18:11.796 --> 0:18:16.636 I wonder if he's getting nervous, maybe because he's waiting 0:18:16.636 --> 0:18:16.996 for us. 0:18:17.076 --> 0:18:31.276 Right, Yeah, yell sat, Oh it's hot, it's really hot. 0:18:31.356 --> 0:18:34.276 Yeah. Sheldon lives in the corner house on a quiet 0:18:34.316 --> 0:18:36.716 suburban street ring the bell. 0:18:37.196 --> 0:18:41.036 I guess is this his door? 0:18:42.316 --> 0:18:44.276 I'll double check, maybe because there is. 0:18:53.356 --> 0:18:59.796 Yeah, thank you, I smell the good smell of cigar. 0:19:02.556 --> 0:19:04.316 There I become a monk me. 0:19:04.436 --> 0:19:08.876 And after all the years and the worry and the dread, 0:19:09.276 --> 0:19:12.076 things seemed to be going swimmingly. We sit down at 0:19:12.116 --> 0:19:15.156 Sheldon's kitchen table and my father gets right into it. 0:19:15.676 --> 0:19:18.196 Now, there's things I want to know. You said that 0:19:18.596 --> 0:19:19.236 Rainy died. 0:19:20.556 --> 0:19:23.756 The dead are a good place to begin as a subject. There, 0:19:23.796 --> 0:19:26.756 easily agreed upon and not likely to spark a fight. 0:19:27.276 --> 0:19:31.356 The uncle died. The uncle died. He was the youngest brother. Oh, 0:19:31.436 --> 0:19:32.676 he died long ago. 0:19:32.836 --> 0:19:33.316 He died. 0:19:33.996 --> 0:19:38.636 Oh you know who died? Offfman, real prick. Yeah, I 0:19:38.636 --> 0:19:46.156 didn't know him that well, we didn't know. Yeah, nish shocking. Yeah, 0:19:46.276 --> 0:19:51.356 he was fat. He was fat, red head, red head right, yeah, nish. 0:19:52.796 --> 0:19:52.996 Yeah. 0:19:53.196 --> 0:19:54.356 Remember Johnny. 0:19:54.396 --> 0:19:55.436 Johnny was a sex man. 0:19:55.516 --> 0:19:58.676 Ye, john He would fuck a dog on the street, 0:19:58.676 --> 0:20:01.156 if you sort of dog. He tried to the dog. 0:20:07.276 --> 0:20:11.236 Can I get your guys a cold? I'd like a beer, 0:20:11.316 --> 0:20:11.916 olive beer. 0:20:12.516 --> 0:20:15.276 Even though they're in their eighties, Sheldon and Buzz still 0:20:15.276 --> 0:20:19.356 possessed voices and temperaments suited to shouting out Brooklyn tenement windows, 0:20:19.796 --> 0:20:23.876 while my voice olive beer is best suited to asking 0:20:23.916 --> 0:20:26.916 a waitress if there will be a sharing charge the 0:20:27.116 --> 0:20:29.836 fight forgot about that. 0:20:29.956 --> 0:20:30.276 Sorry. 0:20:30.596 --> 0:20:34.156 Case in point this is Sheldon accidentally swiping a portable 0:20:34.196 --> 0:20:37.396 microphone receiver off the kitchen table and me trying to 0:20:37.436 --> 0:20:39.196 smooth things over like this. 0:20:39.996 --> 0:20:40.636 It's annoying. 0:20:40.676 --> 0:20:43.076 No, he just put it in the in your pocket. 0:20:42.716 --> 0:20:44.556 There, just stake it off. 0:20:46.996 --> 0:20:49.836 Over the next couple of days, my testes will flee 0:20:49.876 --> 0:20:54.476 like frightened cockroaches upward, ascending to heights not seen since 0:20:54.516 --> 0:20:59.396 the bar Mitzvah that Sheldon was not attending. And while 0:20:59.396 --> 0:21:03.036 we're on the subject of testes, here's Sheldon reminiscing about 0:21:03.036 --> 0:21:05.396 the time he was examined for a rupture by their 0:21:05.436 --> 0:21:06.236 family doctor. 0:21:06.756 --> 0:21:10.676 Me and Wilie Rosen were joining the yep, say you 0:21:10.716 --> 0:21:12.516 how to be tested for a rupture? 0:21:13.396 --> 0:21:13.596 Hey? 0:21:13.636 --> 0:21:16.916 I remember he put his hand under my balls. I 0:21:17.116 --> 0:21:20.036 started left and so hot I pissed right. 0:21:19.876 --> 0:21:20.516 In his hand. 0:21:26.436 --> 0:21:28.556 Over the years, I've seen my father in the role 0:21:28.596 --> 0:21:31.916 of husband, uncle, and grandfather, but I've never really seen 0:21:31.956 --> 0:21:34.436 him in the role of younger brother. How odd to 0:21:34.476 --> 0:21:37.676 see it now at eighty. He sits beside Sheldon with 0:21:37.676 --> 0:21:41.116 this expression I've never seen on his face. It's wide eyed, 0:21:41.356 --> 0:21:48.796 sweet and deferential. But as the day wears on, Sheldon 0:21:48.836 --> 0:21:52.196 and Buzz begin to squabble over their memories, fighting over 0:21:52.236 --> 0:21:53.316 every little detail. 0:21:53.716 --> 0:21:56.716 Remember to Hallabaloo he had with the die haad dye, 0:21:56.956 --> 0:21:57.836 that heavy set. 0:21:57.716 --> 0:22:01.916 Girl a manicurist. She was a head dying manicurist. No, 0:22:02.276 --> 0:22:04.076 she was a head dying. Here's what happened. She went 0:22:04.116 --> 0:22:04.716 over to earth. 0:22:04.716 --> 0:22:06.876 They even argue over the death of their grandmother. 0:22:07.396 --> 0:22:08.476 I have found her body. 0:22:09.356 --> 0:22:11.716 I opened the door. No, I My mother was across 0:22:11.716 --> 0:22:15.236 the street at Greenborough. I remember walk and I knew she 0:22:15.356 --> 0:22:15.756 was dead. 0:22:16.596 --> 0:22:18.116 I never saw a dead body of my life, but 0:22:18.116 --> 0:22:18.996 I knew she was dead. 0:22:20.916 --> 0:22:24.076 Sure, so wait till you found her, or you found her. 0:22:24.156 --> 0:22:25.796 I remember looking in on a room to see how 0:22:25.876 --> 0:22:27.476 she do. I said it was awfully crop. 0:22:27.316 --> 0:22:30.476 Quite I found them, but let him No, I'm not 0:22:31.996 --> 0:22:32.676 some credit. 0:22:36.916 --> 0:22:40.396 The whole afternoon is like this. Every subject, even their 0:22:40.436 --> 0:22:44.476 dead grandmother, somehow becomes fodder for another pissing match. They're 0:22:44.516 --> 0:22:47.156 burning up all this time with small talk when what 0:22:47.196 --> 0:22:50.836 they need is some big talk. In particular, they need 0:22:50.876 --> 0:22:52.756 to address a story that I know who It's a 0:22:52.756 --> 0:22:55.716 great deal of meaning for my father. It took place 0:22:55.756 --> 0:22:58.476 in nineteen thirty nine, on the day their mother left them. 0:22:58.956 --> 0:23:01.876 I've only ever heard the story from my father, never 0:23:01.916 --> 0:23:05.196 from Sheldon. I wanted to ask what you remember, what 0:23:05.276 --> 0:23:06.236 your perspective? 0:23:06.916 --> 0:23:11.236 Well, I remember that time was one Pop was smacking 0:23:11.316 --> 0:23:13.956 Iran and she ran out in the hole in her. 0:23:13.916 --> 0:23:15.436 Slip fighting in the hole. 0:23:16.876 --> 0:23:20.716 He was smack smacking around. She ran out. Yeah, So 0:23:20.756 --> 0:23:24.636 what happened the next morning? In the next morning, Yeah, 0:23:24.996 --> 0:23:27.436 they look in the closet, her clothes were gone. She left. 0:23:28.436 --> 0:23:33.316 Oh what happened after this? And my father's telling is 0:23:33.356 --> 0:23:36.076