1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,800 Speaker 1: Family Secrets is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 2: You ain't never going to be man enough. Those words 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 2: would haunt me. I would hear their echo in his voice, 4 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 2: in the squish of hunting waiters stepping into a marsh, 5 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,480 Speaker 2: in the metallic clinking of his wrenches while he fixed 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 2: the grain combine. I would hear those words every morning 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,759 Speaker 2: when I walked to the one room schoolhouse and watered 8 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,479 Speaker 2: the ponderous pine. I would hear them when I was 9 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 2: promoted to CEO, came out of the closet, got married 10 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 2: and divorced, and graduated twice from Cornell University with a 11 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 2: master's and doctorate. Knowing my father was not present for 12 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 2: any of it. Long after he came home from Vietnam 13 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 2: and started fighting a different war against cancer, I would 14 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:47,880 Speaker 2: always remember that I ain't never going to be man enough. 15 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 3: That's Trent Pressler. Trent is the CEO of Bedell Cellars, 16 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 3: an esteemed vineyard on the North Fork of Long Island. 17 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 3: He's the author of the debut mel More, Little and Often, 18 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:06,759 Speaker 3: and Trent is also the builder of bespoke artisanal canoes. 19 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 3: His canoes have been called the most beautiful in the world. 20 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 3: This is the story of what one man does in 21 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,320 Speaker 3: order to make meaning of the secrecy and silence surrounding 22 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 3: his life. I'm Danny Shapiro and this is a special 23 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 3: bonus episode of Family Secrets with best selling author wellness 24 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 3: expert Cancer Thriver, who has been living with stage four 25 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 3: cancer for the past two decades. Chris Carr. Chris has 26 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 3: been called one of our great thought leaders by Oprah Winfrey, 27 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 3: and her new book is I'm Not a Morning Person, 28 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 3: braving loss, grief and the big, messy emotions that happen 29 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 3: when life calls apart. Chris and I will be talking 30 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 3: about an episode from season six called Taxi dermid Duck, 31 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 3: which I hope you'll all try check out if you 32 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 3: haven't already. As always, I'm so glad you're here, Chris. 33 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,959 Speaker 3: Thanks so much for coming on Family Secrets. 34 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: Thanks for having me, Danny, It's good to be here. 35 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 3: I'm wondering what stood out for you as you were listening. 36 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 3: Did anything in particular strike. 37 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: You about it? Oh? So many things. I think that 38 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: many of us have parallel experiences, especially with a strange 39 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: parents or parents we might not have been estranged with 40 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: but really did not know in any way, shape or form. 41 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: And you know, one of the big things that shoot 42 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: it out for me, it was the idea that we 43 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: fill the silence when there's silence in our homes, when 44 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,519 Speaker 1: there's silence in our histories, when there's pieces and parts 45 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: that are missing, We clever humans fill that silence, and 46 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: usually we fill it with stories that are not very 47 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:00,639 Speaker 1: beneficial to our mental well being. 48 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 3: I think Annie LaMotte once famously said something like my 49 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 3: head is a neighborhood that I shouldn't spend too much 50 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 3: time in. 51 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: It's so true. Well, you know, I met my biological father. 52 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,240 Speaker 1: I met him when I was eighteen years old, and 53 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: I didn't know anything about him. You know, it was 54 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: something that we had to tiptoe around because I knew 55 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: that my mother had gone through so much pain around 56 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: that abandonment, and I really couldn't experience my own pain 57 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: except for internally, because I didn't want to bring up 58 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: more of her own. And so I remember filling the 59 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: void and filling that silence with all of the reasons 60 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: why he wasn't there. And then, of course I grew 61 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: up with a very wild and interesting grandmother who would 62 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: actually fill the void with stories, and it would be 63 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: like he died in a plane crash, the wedding dresses upstairs, 64 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: you know, like all of these things, and none of 65 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: them were true. So I just realized that later in life, 66 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: when I was a grown up figure it out on 67 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: my own. But again, I think that that's such a 68 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: beautiful point that you tease out in that episode, about 69 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: how we turn inward and sometimes turn on ourselves when 70 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: we don't have all the pieces. 71 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, and then that ends up forming so much 72 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,279 Speaker 3: of our lives. There's a piece of wisdom from Carl 73 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 3: Jung that I love and think about a lot, which is, 74 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 3: until we make the unconscious conscious, it will direct our lives, 75 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 3: and we will call it fate. So when your wild 76 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 3: grandmother would tell you these stories as a kid, did 77 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 3: you know that they weren't true, or did you try 78 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 3: to kind of attach yourself to them in some way 79 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 3: and try them on for size, or did you just 80 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 3: kind of know that this wasn't it. 81 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: I think in the beginning I did believe her, but 82 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,359 Speaker 1: then I realized there was a lot of other lies. 83 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: And then when you start to follow the bread crowns, 84 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:53,800 Speaker 1: you're like, just doesn't add up, and I don't have 85 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: to be you know that wise to understand that. So 86 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: for me, it was really about trying to make sense 87 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: of it myself, and that's something that's really hard for 88 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: a child to do without turning it into something that 89 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: is about themselves, like it must be me, there must 90 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: be something wrong with me, flawed with me. And one 91 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:15,359 Speaker 1: of the things that I love about your episode with 92 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: Trent is you know, he had lots of reasons to 93 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:24,160 Speaker 1: self abandon especially with a father that essentially abandoned him, 94 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:26,720 Speaker 1: but he didn't. And I found that to be so 95 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: beautiful and such a testament to his resilience and his 96 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:32,720 Speaker 1: fortitude just as a person. 97 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 3: Absolutely, I mean, it's extraordinary to me that he grew 98 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 3: up in such an isolated way on this ranch in 99 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 3: South Dakota that was thousands of acres and more cows 100 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 3: than people, and you could drive for hours and hours 101 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 3: and still be on the land of this ranch. You know, 102 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 3: with his parents who were complicated people, and with his 103 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,280 Speaker 3: sister who he adored, who became very ill, and who 104 00:05:57,320 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 3: he loved and he was a caretaker for and felt 105 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 3: very responsible for. And all of that is such a 106 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 3: prescription for not being able to escape or know that 107 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 3: there is a path that's different from the path that 108 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 3: he was already on. I mean, he's gay, and he 109 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 3: knows he's gay, and he's in a culture and in 110 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 3: a world that is completely rejecting of homosexuality, and a 111 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,279 Speaker 3: church that believes that he's going to burn and help 112 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 3: for eternity if he's gay. To be able to leave 113 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 3: that world and go east and go to college and 114 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 3: carve out a life for himself just struck me as 115 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 3: such a tremendous act of, as you say, resilience. 116 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,720 Speaker 1: I also loved that, you know, he mentions this word 117 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: and I write about this in my book, and it's 118 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: what I call ruptures. And it was the moment when 119 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: his sister died and he is going to the funeral, 120 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: and you know, he brings a boyfriend, he brings a partner, 121 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: a signific other, and it's really his big reveal. He's 122 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: revealing his secret, and he's doing it in a way 123 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: that's like, this is what I need to survive this storm. 124 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: I need to be who I am and I need 125 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: to be with somebody I love. And I think that 126 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: that's the inciting incident for him, and like for so 127 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: many of us, the ruptures are what set us on 128 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: our path to I think, becoming more ourselves. And you know, 129 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: one of the things that I have explored is that 130 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: ruptures come in all shapes and sizes, and none of 131 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 1: us are immune to them. And they're hard and they're painful. 132 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: It's the divorce, it's the miscarriage, it's you know, you 133 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: lose your job, you lose your former sense of self, 134 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: the diagnosis, whatever it is, and it doesn't take away 135 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: from the pain what I'm about to say. But all 136 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: of these ruptures also have the power to rearrange us, 137 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: realign our values, our priorities, point us more towards what 138 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: really matters, and maybe even awaken dreams that we have 139 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: long since let die because we think this time is 140 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: behind me. And I think that the ruptures make us 141 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: realize that the time that's in front of us, we 142 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: need to spend it living authentically. And I think that 143 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: that's something that I really loved about his story, because 144 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: it was through that loss that he went on this 145 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: journey of being himself. 146 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 3: And one of the things about that journey and that 147 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:35,200 Speaker 3: rupture is that that was a moment for him that 148 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 3: he really, for his own self preservation and for his 149 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:45,439 Speaker 3: own growth, needed to really distance himself and separate himself 150 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 3: from his parents, from his father in particular, because he 151 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 3: can't be he won't be accepted by him, and that 152 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 3: lack of being accepted becomes unbearable. I mean, it had 153 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 3: always been true up until then, but at that point, 154 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 3: that's what makes it a rupture, is that in the 155 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 3: grief about the loss of his sister, and you know, 156 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 3: he describes it so beautifully. You know, the man who 157 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 3: is his partner he's in a relationship with, is relegated 158 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 3: to the back row of the church and trend to 159 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 3: sitting up with family because it's his friend who he's brought. 160 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 3: His partner is not family. And he turns around as 161 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 3: the casket is coming in and he sees this man, 162 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 3: his partner's face in the back row, and something in 163 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 3: him just rips open and it becomes unacceptable. 164 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: You know. 165 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 3: One of the things that you're talking about, and that 166 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 3: we talk a lot about on this podcast is meaning making. 167 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 3: It seems like those are moments when they happen, that 168 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 3: are you know, kind of sink or swim moments. You know, 169 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 3: are we going to succumb to this feeling of despair 170 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 3: and grief which is not to say we're not going 171 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:02,960 Speaker 3: to feel all of our feelings, but are we going 172 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 3: to succumb or is this actually going to be some 173 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 3: kind of turning point from which we make meaning out 174 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 3: of that sorrow, that chaos. 175 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a good question, and I think it's one 176 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:19,320 Speaker 1: that we all struggle with at some point when we 177 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:23,880 Speaker 1: were going through loss. And that moment, that rupture for 178 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:28,280 Speaker 1: me happened with my biological father when his mother died 179 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: and I wasn't allowed to be in contact with any 180 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 1: member of his family, but his mom, my grandmother, would 181 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:39,720 Speaker 1: write me, sneak me these little letters over the years 182 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,839 Speaker 1: and a little piece of jewelry and just a little 183 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:46,439 Speaker 1: trinket or a Christmas ornament. And right around the time 184 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: when I was eighteen, I decided to write her. And 185 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:52,720 Speaker 1: I had sent her little things as well, but I 186 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 1: decided to write her, and all I wanted was a 187 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: picture of my father. I just wanted to see if 188 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: we looked like each other. And before she got the letter, 189 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:07,680 Speaker 1: she died, and so her loss was really the moment 190 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: where I said, I am going to find this person. 191 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,440 Speaker 1: I'm going to find him. I'm going to ask him 192 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: if he'll meet me. And if he won't meet me, 193 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: then he has to have the guts to tell me why. 194 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,559 Speaker 1: And if it wasn't for her passing, I'm not so sure, 195 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 1: especially at that time in my life, eighteen, filled with 196 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: all the hormones and all of the angst, I'm not 197 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,400 Speaker 1: so sure that I would have done it. But to 198 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 1: your point about making meaning, you know, the things that 199 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: the secrets that we hide I think hold, or the 200 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: secrets that are you know, a part of our lives, 201 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:45,840 Speaker 1: have the power to lead us to that meaning, to 202 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: lead us to a better understanding of ourselves and truly 203 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 1: who we want to be. 204 00:11:51,800 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 3: We'll be right back. I was struck reading your book 205 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 3: at the idea that I just think is a universal 206 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 3: truth for all of us, that there are lives contain 207 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:15,480 Speaker 3: multiple ruptures, right, they contain multiple before and after moments, 208 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:19,160 Speaker 3: And you're describing one of them in your world, and 209 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 3: you're in your life and in the case of seeking 210 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 3: out and meeting your biological father, can you imagine a 211 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 3: parallel world in which you hadn't done that, and that 212 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 3: just would have continued to remain this question mark that 213 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 3: sort of walked alongside you, you know, in your life. 214 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:36,040 Speaker 1: Moving forward now, I've never thought about that. That's a 215 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:40,840 Speaker 1: great question, Danny. Probably not, because I really long to 216 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: at least have some understanding of the other half of 217 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 1: my DNA. You know, I just I wanted to know 218 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: certain things. I mean, of course I wanted to know why, 219 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:54,960 Speaker 1: but more so, I think I wanted to know what 220 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: does he like, what's his humor like, what's his personality like, 221 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,320 Speaker 1: what's he into? Is he tall, he's short, you know, 222 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:05,319 Speaker 1: is he skinny? What does he look like? And that 223 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: was something that I just really wrestled with for so long. 224 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 1: Of course, underneath it, I wrestled with the abandonment, but 225 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: on top of it was just, you know, how do 226 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 1: I look so different from everybody else in my family? 227 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:19,559 Speaker 1: And not everybody wants to know, but I did want 228 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,079 Speaker 1: to know. And I remember when I met him, he said, 229 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,199 Speaker 1: you know, we'd never seen each other, and I hadn't 230 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 1: even seen a picture of him. And I just got 231 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: out of the car and he got out of the house, 232 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 1: and we walked towards each other, and I put out 233 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:34,319 Speaker 1: my hand and he put out his hand, and I said, 234 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: hi am Kristen, and he said hi, I am Crispin. 235 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: And we were mirror images of each other, and it 236 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 1: was like, wow, this it was so bright. I could 237 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: barely look at him. I spent most of the time 238 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 1: looking at the ground. 239 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:54,439 Speaker 3: Yeah, I really, I really understand that you never thought 240 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 3: of him and have never thought of him as your dad. 241 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,160 Speaker 3: He was your biological father, he was the person that 242 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 3: you come from, but the man who raised you and 243 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 3: who married your mother and who became your dad. So 244 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:15,080 Speaker 3: much of your book is about the loss of him, 245 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:17,960 Speaker 3: And you know, I think one of the reasons why 246 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 3: I chose Trent's episode to talk about with you is that, 247 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 3: in many ways, your book is about the shape of grief, 248 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 3: and grief has something that none of us can escape. 249 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:31,720 Speaker 3: It's part of the human condition. I mean, the subtitle 250 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 3: of your book is Braving Loss, Grief and the big 251 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 3: messy emotions that happen when life falls apart, which is 252 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 3: just kind of everything. I mean, life just feels like 253 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 3: it's full of big, messy emotions and we're constantly, in 254 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 3: one way or another, trying to tamp them down or 255 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 3: find nice, tidy containers for them, and then a profound 256 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 3: loss comes along, and grief just does not allow for 257 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 3: any of those tidy containers for our big, messy selves. 258 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 3: And you know, and I was thinking about in Trent's episode, 259 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 3: I mean, just the incredible symbolism of his inheritance is 260 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 3: that his father leaves him his toolbox along with a 261 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 3: taxidermy duck that there's a story about that. I hope 262 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 3: people will go back and listen to the episode and 263 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 3: here why this taxi duck was Trent's inheritance. But his 264 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 3: father gives him this toolbox, and Trent drives all the 265 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 3: way from South Dakota back to the east end of 266 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 3: Long Island where he lives with his dog, Caper and 267 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 3: this toolbox, and he's in this kind of wild, complicated 268 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 3: grief because it was a complicated relationship and a really 269 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:55,200 Speaker 3: difficult one. And when he gets back, it's not like 270 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 3: a stunt. It's not like something he decides to do 271 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,240 Speaker 3: or something that he read about in a book somewhere. 272 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 3: He just thinks, what am I going to do with 273 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 3: this toolbox? And he thinks, I'm going to build a boat? 274 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 3: And he clears out all of his furniture, every last 275 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 3: stick of furniture in the home that he's living in, 276 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:19,360 Speaker 3: so that he can build a canoe using his father's 277 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 3: toolbox and he'd never built anything before. I mean, he's 278 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 3: a CEO of a vineyard. This wasn't this wasn't part 279 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 3: of his skill set. And yet this becomes like the 280 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 3: shape of his grief. And you write in your book 281 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 3: about anticipating grief, which is its own thing that I'm 282 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 3: very interested in because I think I do that. I 283 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 3: pre grieve things as if you can actually pre grieve them, 284 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 3: and then somehow spare yourself grief later. All you're doing 285 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 3: is pre grieving and adding more grief to the grief sandwich. 286 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 3: But you know, in the case of Trent's loss of 287 00:16:56,360 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 3: his father, he hadn't really anticipated it. He hadn't been 288 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 3: in touch with his family. I hadn't been in touch 289 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:04,919 Speaker 3: with his father, and it's almost like he doesn't know 290 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,439 Speaker 3: how to grieve or where to put it. So it 291 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 3: takes on this physical manifestation of this project. 292 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:13,879 Speaker 1: You know, I called my book I'm not a morning 293 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: person because I didn't want to be. It was the 294 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: one emotion I didn't want to go near. It was 295 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,160 Speaker 1: so big I thought if I touched it, I would drown. 296 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: And that's how I started the process. And then, you know, 297 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,600 Speaker 1: through a lot of my own healing, and therapy and 298 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 1: certainly an enormous amount of research. As I was writing 299 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 1: the book, I realized that we live in a grief phobic, messy, 300 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: emotions averse society. So a few of us know how 301 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: to handle storms of that magnitude, and so we oftentimes 302 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 1: bury the pain in different ways. You know. It's like 303 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: emotional physics. But what doesn't come out one way will 304 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 1: come out another way. And hopefully we can find ways 305 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:02,119 Speaker 1: so that the emotion can come out healthy way. And 306 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 1: I think with all of these big feelings, many of 307 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,400 Speaker 1: us want to amputate them, you know, because they are 308 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:12,200 Speaker 1: so painful. But we can't amputate any of our emotions 309 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,439 Speaker 1: and hope to be whole. And I think that's the 310 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,399 Speaker 1: whole part of the human experience of saying, all of 311 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: these parts are of me, are welcome in each of 312 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: my emotions, server purpose, and ultimately at the core of them, 313 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: it's just information, and it's information that leads me back 314 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,679 Speaker 1: to myself and a deeper layer of my own healing. 315 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,439 Speaker 1: And for him, what I thought was so wonderful was, 316 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: you know, like I said about emotional physics, what doesn't 317 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:41,479 Speaker 1: come out one way will come out another way. If 318 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: you come out through drinking, shopping, gambling, you name it, 319 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: all of the things that you can think to put 320 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,119 Speaker 1: on the wound to temporarily numb it. But it also 321 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:54,960 Speaker 1: can come out in a really healthy way through the 322 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:00,120 Speaker 1: creative process. And that building of the canoe for me 323 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: is like, I know what it was for me writing 324 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: the book. I imagine you would probably agree with me there 325 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: that the creative process just the act of getting the hammer, 326 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: getting the nails, getting the woods, you know, having the meltdowns, 327 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 1: being with his dad's tools and trying to build something 328 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: that he had never done before, with the tools that 329 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 1: still embody the energy of a man that he really 330 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,479 Speaker 1: truly didn't know, but perhaps was getting to know in 331 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: a deeper, more meaningful way in some way, shape or form. 332 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: I mean, that's what the creative process can do for us, 333 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:41,680 Speaker 1: and I feel like it's a very very smart thing 334 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: to turn to when we're grieving and we don't even 335 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,120 Speaker 1: know how to touch that feeling. It's like you can 336 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: faw into the feeling through the creative process. Yeah. 337 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 3: I love that, And you know, it brings to mind 338 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 3: one of my favorite lines in Trent's book and in 339 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,880 Speaker 3: his story, which is that a woodworker says to him 340 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 3: as he's struggling to build this kind of monster of 341 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 3: a canoe. You know, he smashes it. He has this 342 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 3: relationship with it. It's like a you know, it's like 343 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 3: a it's like a golum or something. It's like something 344 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,560 Speaker 3: that he's like, just like it ogre in his in 345 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:21,160 Speaker 3: his it's taken over his life. And this woodworker says 346 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 3: to him, don't find the grain, follow it. And that 347 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:27,480 Speaker 3: strikes me as so much what the what the creative 348 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,879 Speaker 3: process is and what the morning process is. You know, 349 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,920 Speaker 3: it's not something that can be forster that's going to 350 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 3: kind of adhere to a certain kind of schedule, which 351 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,879 Speaker 3: I think can sometimes make people feel really angry with themselves. 352 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:43,679 Speaker 3: I mean, it breaks my heart to look at like 353 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,640 Speaker 3: my journals from the year that my dad died when 354 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:51,119 Speaker 3: I was twenty three, and you know, I have lines 355 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 3: in there like, you know, it's been six months. I 356 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,439 Speaker 3: should be over it by now, And I just think, oh, honey, 357 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:01,080 Speaker 3: you're this young woman who's lost your beloved father. It's 358 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 3: not going to work that way. Give yourself up some rope, 359 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:05,680 Speaker 3: give yourself a break. But so often we don't, and 360 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 3: it goes back to what you were saying about our 361 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 3: being in a sort of grief phobic society. And there's 362 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:14,639 Speaker 3: a part of your book that I was so happy 363 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 3: that you included and that I would love for you 364 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 3: to talk a little bit about, which is the things 365 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 3: that people say. The things that people say. I mean, 366 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,920 Speaker 3: I found this several years ago when my husband Michael 367 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:30,160 Speaker 3: was ill with cancer, and the things that people would 368 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 3: say were just that, they said the damnedest things, and 369 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 3: they said them with perfectly decent intentions, but they would 370 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:43,879 Speaker 3: sometimes be so sort of really not what I needed 371 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 3: to hear. And you have a section of your book 372 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 3: where you talk about that, and also with yourself as 373 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,400 Speaker 3: someone who has been living with cancer for two decades. 374 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, I call this awkward times awkward people. And you know, 375 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,760 Speaker 1: I'll start by saying that we all mess up. And 376 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: if we go back to the idea that we don't 377 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: know what we're doing with the tough stuff, then of course, 378 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: when we don't know what we're doing, what do we do? 379 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:14,639 Speaker 1: We become anxious, And when we're anxious, we put words 380 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,960 Speaker 1: together that probably should never go together. And so I 381 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:21,639 Speaker 1: try to come from this place that we're all good intentions. 382 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,639 Speaker 1: We just make mistakes, and so it's the stuff like 383 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: you'll have another baby, you're young, it's only a dog. 384 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,720 Speaker 1: Why are you so sad? Aren't you over it by now? 385 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 1: It's been a month, six months, a year, ten years, whatever. 386 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 1: To your point, there is no over, there's through, there's forward. 387 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,200 Speaker 1: It's just like love never doesn't die, love doesn't go away, 388 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: grief doesn't go away. But we live in this very 389 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:50,920 Speaker 1: black and white society where there's winners and there's losers, 390 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,160 Speaker 1: and it's so hard for us to live in the gray. 391 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 1: It goes against our grain because we want that hot, 392 00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 1: happy Hollywood ending. We want that bow on top of 393 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,280 Speaker 1: the story. But that's not realistic, and I think it 394 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: does our humanity of grave injustice. How can we learn 395 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 1: to hold all of it? How can we learn to 396 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 1: hold the both? And you're successful and unsuccessful. For me, 397 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:19,840 Speaker 1: I have dozens of tumors in my body. I've been 398 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:23,640 Speaker 1: living with stage four cancer for twenty years, and I'm healthy. 399 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: And I feel like part of this process of coming 400 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: back to ourselves and meaning coming home to ourselves and 401 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:37,160 Speaker 1: allowing the parts of ourselves like grief, to exist as well, 402 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:40,480 Speaker 1: is how we start to live in that gray and 403 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: live really full. Magnificent lives in that place. So it's 404 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: been a very interesting journey for me to go on 405 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:54,080 Speaker 1: first and foremost, but then to navigate that idea that 406 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:56,040 Speaker 1: we're going to do it wrong, We're going to get 407 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:58,720 Speaker 1: it wrong, we're going to say it wrong. But can 408 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: we show up differently time? Right? You can't say anything, 409 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:05,119 Speaker 1: and it's not your job to fix it. And I 410 00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:07,480 Speaker 1: think that we put a lot of pressure on ourselves 411 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,600 Speaker 1: to fix things for other people. I think the best 412 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,679 Speaker 1: thing that we can do is just listen and be 413 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: fully present and just keep showing up, even saying I 414 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:18,159 Speaker 1: don't know what to say, but I'm here and I 415 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 1: love you so true. 416 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 3: And we all live in the gray, whether or not 417 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:29,520 Speaker 3: we are admitting to ourselves that we do, We're all 418 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 3: always in that gray area. Trens in his memoir is 419 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:39,080 Speaker 3: titled little and Often, which refers to the way that 420 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:43,080 Speaker 3: ultimately he learned how to build a canoe and actually 421 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:47,679 Speaker 3: becomes a master builder of the most beautiful canoes in 422 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:53,240 Speaker 3: the world. Little and Often also seems like the way 423 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:58,440 Speaker 3: that healing happens. It doesn't happen in a great sweep 424 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:03,720 Speaker 3: of drama, you know, violins playing and everything being illuminated. 425 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:09,200 Speaker 3: Healing happens bit by bit, and it's also never done. 426 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,479 Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think that's the part that gets people 427 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: frustrated because it does take that patience. And there's a 428 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: difference between healing and curing, and curing takes place in 429 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: the body and it may or may not happen, but 430 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 1: healing takes place in the heart. And that's possible for 431 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 1: all of us, even up into the moment of our death, 432 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:38,560 Speaker 1: you know, and just being willing to say I'm up 433 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:41,480 Speaker 1: for this journey and I'm going to give myself the 434 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:46,320 Speaker 1: space to actually truly walk it. Like you said, I mean, 435 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,960 Speaker 1: it's in the little moments. And I remember this one 436 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:55,920 Speaker 1: thing that my dad's surgeon said, and he was going 437 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 1: through a very rough time at this point, and you know, 438 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: we said we'll take it week day at a time, 439 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,760 Speaker 1: and he corrected us, he said, you know what, just 440 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:06,359 Speaker 1: take it one step at a time. Don't even try 441 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 1: to go for one full day at a time. And 442 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: I thought, Wow, wouldn't it be great if we all 443 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:15,360 Speaker 1: just lowered the bar so that we could just take 444 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: one little bite and chew it thoroughly and say that's 445 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: enough for today. 446 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 3: That's just beautiful and wise, just as you are. 447 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:24,920 Speaker 1: Chris. 448 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,080 Speaker 3: I want to thank you so much for joining me 449 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,119 Speaker 3: today to talk about real important things. 450 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,199 Speaker 1: Thanks for having me. I always love hearttending with you. 451 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 452 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,639 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.