The Hug | Heartwarming Stories From Everyday People

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Episode Transcript:

Jonathan Fields: [00:00:02] Hey there. So I know it’s become kind of vogue in the podcast space to wrap up the year with a look back at some of your favorite moments, guests, and conversations. You know, the high profile humans and provocative moments in mega AHA’s. And hey, we’ve even done that in the past here. But as we bring this year to a close, we wanted to reflect on something else human beings, stories, kindness, love and connection. And more than anything, you our community. So over the years, we have been curating stories from our community, stories that allow us to see more of the goodness in each other, how we’re all human, doing the best we can. Stories that remind us that people are good, they can be kind, even to total strangers in ways we never imagined. And today, to close out this long, strange trip of a year, we wanted to share some of these curated stories, specifically from a collection of community stories that we love to call The Hug, because it kind of feels like a big, warm hug listening to them. Each story shares a moment or experience where a little bit of kindness, a little bit of sweetness, and just maybe a little bit of lightness and laughter touched into the storyteller’s life and reminded them how good people can be. I feel like we all need a little bit of that right now, so sit back and enjoy these stories and maybe find a little space to rediscover your own tender heart along the way. End of the day, that’s really what it’s all about. I’m Jonathan Fields and this is Good Life Project.. So our first storyteller is Toronto based storytelling coach, speaker, author, and host of True Stories, told Live Toronto Marsha Shandur. She believes that stories are the universal catalyst for connection and really brings us a story of a one person marathon that is so relevant to all of our experiences of life. Here’s Marcia.

Marsha Shandur: [00:02:02] It’s 5 to 9 on a Sunday morning, and I am standing outside the gates of Greenwich Park in southeast London, trying my hardest to look both sporty and like I really have my life together. I had spent five sweaty months training to run the New York City Marathon very, very slowly, and 36 hours before the race, it got cancelled because of hurricane Sandy, which was absolutely the right thing for them to do. But now I was stuck because I had spent five months training. I wasn’t going to not run a marathon, so I decided that I would run the London Marathon instead. Except it wasn’t happening for another four months, so I just thought I’d run it anyway on my own. So over in one corner by the gates are my family, my mum, my Uncle Andrew and my best friend from school, Sophie. And they are here because when you run a solo marathon, there are certain things that you don’t get. So one of the things is a medal. I was the kid at school that got picked last for every team. So three years before when I’d run the New York Marathon, getting the medal was amazing. It’s this big chunky thing. I’ve got it here. I’m just going to tap it against the table. And so I knew I wasn’t going to get one of those, but I made my peace with that. Another thing is crowds of people cheering you on. But I had sent an email out to everybody that I knew in London saying, here’s the link to sponsor me and if you can come out, that would be amazing. And then the third thing is refreshment stations in a normal marathon every mile they have like water and Gatorade because it’s quite hard to carry that stuff around for 26.2 miles. And so instead, my family said that they would drive up every four miles with some water and also Kleenex because it turns out when I run, so does my nose. So they’re in one corner close to them is this guy, Jim Pattison, who 24 hours before I had never even heard of. But somebody put me in touch with him because he’d run a solo marathon. And as we were chatting, he said, do you have anyone to run the first few miles with you? And I said, I don’t. And he went, oh, I’ll come along with you. So he’s there. And then directly in front of me is a photographer from the local paper. Because of Facebook, I happen to know that a lot of those kids that didn’t pick me for the team still live in our local area. And so that is why I’m trying my hardest to look both sporty and like I really have my life together. So it finally gets to five seconds to nine and everybody counts me down five, four, three, two, one. And Jim and I set off very, very slowly. So we’re jogging along and we’re chatting and suddenly I hear this boo boo boo boo. And I reach into my bra. Because when you do distance running, it’s quite hard to carry stuff with you. So everything goes in my bra. I’ve got my running gels, which are those little things that you use as food when you’re running a marathon? I have my iPod because I figured a lot of it would just be me by myself. It’d be kind of boring. And then I have a map because weirdly, they didn’t close down all of the streets and put up signs just for me. So this map is like lots of bits of paper stuck together that I’ve tried to kind of laminate with scotch tape. So that’s folded up in there. And I also have my phone and I pull it out and it’s a text from someone wishing me well. So I, you know, write back, thank you. And I put it back in. And then we get to mile one and I pull out my phone again, because the people who are coming to cheer me on, I don’t really have a sense of how fast I’m going to run. Like, I know how fast, slow, I know how slow I usually run, but I, you know, I don’t know if there’s going to be roadblocks or if it’s going to be hard to get through bits. So I said to everybody who said they’d come and cheer me on and keep an eye on Twitter, and I’ll tweet once a mile to say how far I’ve got. So I pull out my phone and say, oh, I’m done. And we keep running and we’re chatting and we get to mile two. And I think my Twitter feed is going to look super boring if it’s just like mile one, mile two. So I write like mile two. People are giving us some strange looks because also I’m wearing what I was going to wear for the race, which is my race number, and then a t shirt that says my name in big letters at the front. Because when you run the New York City Marathon, the crowds say your name. They’re like, go, Marcia, new York City is proud of you, Marcia. So I figure I just have my name for this anyway, so we keep running. We get to mile three and I’m like, oh, Tweeting mile three. Jim’s just telling me about the marathons he’s run. And we’re heading up towards mile four and my phone starts going again. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo. And then it’s just like doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo. And it’s just so many messages are coming in. So we finally get to mile four. My family there, I give them a hug. I get some water and I say to Sophie, I’m getting loads of tweets and she says, yeah, bit of news. Um, people have been passing around Twitter that Marcia is live tweeting her solo marathon. They’re calling it the Marcia Thon. Darling, you’ve gone viral. So I say okay. That’s amazing. And Jim and I set off again. So we’re running. And then I see somebody up ahead and I know who this is because they’ve sent me a message. It is a friend that I haven’t seen since we went to summer camp before 20 years earlier. But she’s come out and that’s lovely. And I stop. And if you’re running an usual marathon, then you can just see your friend and like high five them and keep going. But for this, there’s no one else for them to look at. So it seems a bit rude not to hang out for a minute. So I do some stretches and we chat, and then I say goodbye and we set off and I am having an absolute blast. The first marathon I spent like pretty much all of it, just crying and swearing to myself, I would never do this again. I remember getting to the halfway point and all these big signs are like, halfway, you’ve made it! And I just remember thinking, I can’t believe I have to do all of that again. But it is not the same at all. So we keep going. We see my family again, we move on, and then we’re in this place called Rotherhithe in south east London, and it’s like a bit of an industrial wasteland and there is nothing around us, but we see this guy standing up ahead and nobody’s told me they’re coming out to meet us. But as we get closer, it’s very clear he’s staring straight at us. And then we get to him and he says, you, Marsha? And I say, yeah. And he hands me a bottle of Gatorade. And I say, oh, thanks. You know, how did you get here? And he said, oh, I just read about it on Twitter. I figured I’d come and say hello. So we say thank you and keep moving, and we get to mile 12. And then this is when my friend Kerry shows up. So I used to be a radio DJ and Kerry and his partner Becca and their amazing kid, Angharad, used to listen to me all the time. I used to do shout outs, so they’ve all three come. But Kerry is going to run with me and for a while Becca and Angharad are like pretending to run, and we keep going. And then we get to Tower Bridge, which, if you don’t know, London, it’s like the sexy white and blue one that’s in all the movies. And in the distance I can see somebody holding a big piece of card up. And as I get closer, I see that the card says go, Marsha, go. And standing next to it is my friend Scott, who lives in Edinburgh, which is eight hours drive away, which I know for North Americans is like a skip and a hop. But for me that’s like the entire length of the UK pretty much. And I say, oh my gosh. And I give him a hug and I say, I didn’t know you were going to be here. And he goes, oh, I wasn’t just came down for this, got to go home in a few hours. So I send him off with my mum and my uncle, and then we see another lady and she says, oh, are you the running marathon people? And I say, yeah, or did you hear about us on Twitter? And she said, no, BBC. And I said, I’m sorry. And she said, yeah, your photo is the biggest picture on the biggest story on the front page of the website for the whole of the BBC. So I say, okay, come and run. And she runs with us for a bit. And at this point Jim realises that without having really meant to, he’s accidentally run an entire half marathon, so he goes home, at which point Kerry says, you know, that was half way. And I’m like, wait, what? Because I feel like I could do that ten more times. So we keep running and then we’re joined by this other lady, Amelia, who is training to run the London Marathon, and a friend of mine, Richard, who’s this like six foot two criminal psychologist, and another friend, Tom, who ran the New York Marathon with me last time. So we’re all running along and, you know, going six mile, 15, 16, 17. And then we suddenly get to mile 18 and I trip and I stand up, I’m walking again, all right. And I start running again and I fall over again. And I am in absolute agony. I sit down on the side of the road and I realize I just can’t run and I don’t know what to do. And so I get on Twitter to tell people, because I know there’s people further along who are waiting for me and I say, you know, my knee’s gone. I don’t really know what I’m going to do. And then I get a message from a friend who’s a few miles down the road, and she says, I’m really sorry, Marsha. We’ve been waiting in the cold for an hour and we have to go home. And I think, oh, man, I’ve let them down. And I look up at these people who are running with me, and most of them are training for their own marathons, and now they’re not going to be able to run. I think I’ve let them down. And then I start getting messages on Twitter from people saying, oh, you know, I’m sorry to hear that. And I’ve been enjoying following along, but I think I’m going to have to go to work. And I think I’ve let Twitter down. And then I get a text from a friend of mine, and all it says is, oh my gosh, Marsha, you’re winning. And I think I’m the only one running this race. I am winning. And so I stand up and I stick out one elbow and I stick out the other, and I channel my inner senior citizen, neon clad Floridian woman and I begin to speed walk. So I’m speed walking along and the other four are just kind of jogging around me because it kind of looks embarrassing. And we keep going. And so we’re speed walking. Mile 19. Mile 20. Mile 21. Mile 22. At one point, I realized that everybody I’m running with is either like super tall or really ripped. And Kerry just leans down and points at all of us and goes, it’s a bit of a Madonna jogging in Central Park vibe, isn’t it? Like they’re my minders, so we keep going. Mile 24, mile 25. And at mile 25, it’s already dark. I start to run and I can do it. And so we all pick up the pace and we’re running. There are the five of us, and we’re running towards Saint James’s Park. And without saying a word, without even really knowing I’m doing it,  start to sing. Dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee. And again, without saying a word, the four of them join in. Dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee. We’re singing the Rocky theme tune. Doo doo doo doo. And we’re running towards Buckingham Palace. Doo doo doo. We run around the corner. Dee dee dee. We’re almost at the finish line. Doo doo doo. My whole family are standing there. Gary’s whole family are standing there. Dee dee dee dee dee dee. They have a red ribbon they’re holding across the finish line. And I run through and break the ribbon. And they throw confetti at me. And I’m finished. And I sit down by the side of the road and Sophie comes up to me. She says I’ve looked at the totals on the fundraising. Before I announced I was doing the Marsha Thon, I had raised $3,000 for the charity of the author, Lisa Lynch. Sophie says you’ve got to over 6000. And then both of us look up because Angharad carries. Kid is standing holding something and she says, I made this for you. And she hands it to me and it’s a medal. And on the plastic, she’s written the letter M over and over again for Marciathon. And in the middle is a gold number one, because I won the Marciathon.

Jonathan Fields: [00:14:05] Our next hug storyteller is coach, facilitator and advocate and longtime friend and GLP family member who radiates love with her smile and laugh. Yvonne Ator with a story of a time that she learned to surrender to the kindness of others. Here’s Yvonne.

Yvonne Ator: [00:14:22] A few years ago, I had come to a crossroads. My life started falling apart, and at the same time I decided that I was going to go train with retired Navy Seal Commander Mark Devine in his unbeatable mind because I wanted to learn how to thrive no matter where I found myself, even if I was in a chaotic situation or a war zone, I felt like I wanted to be able to thrive doing that. And I wanted the same for my clients, because I realized that I was doing the same thing where I was a safe place they were coming to, and then I’ll send them back to their toxic work environments. And I’m not there to to to be the safe space. So how do you find a safe space for yourself wherever you are? How do you create that safe place for yourself to thrive wherever you find yourself? So that’s how I found myself in the unbeatable mind coaching training. And this was a very different coaching training from what I was used to. I, um, I guess for lack of a better description, a black woman. I’m pretty buxom, and I was surrounded by all of these white men who are pretty buff and like, they’re like the Terminators are strong and rooted in a lot of physical training, but we’re all there in unbeatable mind coaching because we believed in Mark Devine’s work fusing eastern philosophy with Western Navy Seal training. So we did a lot of like mental toughness training, emotional resilience trainings, and so basically learning a lot of the skills that the Navy Seals use to survive their Buds training. Buds training is like the most intense, the most rigorous military training in the world. And they use those mental techniques to survive the Buds training. And so we got taught a lot of those skills and mental toughness and emotional resilience. And and while we were getting trained as coaches, we also had to do a lot of physical, a lot of physical training as well. And a lot of physical trainings look like a lot of drills, a lot of burpees, a lot of bear crawls. You’re you are on the beach, you’re doing push ups, you’re you’re rolling in the sand and then going in the wash, and then you’re getting water. You know what? You’re in the surf kind of getting water. Water tortured by the waves. And you’re in the waves, locked with your with your brothers. And so this these are kind of like the physical things we did like to really tap into our own mental reserves and our mental toughness and try to withstand any situation we found ourselves in. So at this point on this day, we’d done a lot of the drills and all of that, and I again, I’m like pretty buxom. I’m not the buffest of people and and a little on the heavier side of things. Um, one of the things we had to do was planks and, you know, unbeatable mind. We use the big four of mental toughness the breathwork, the positivity, visualization and goal setting to help us do planks. But not just normal planks. There are planks that you just hold for an indefinite amount of time. So I think at that point the record was like 45 minutes or so and I was ready. My arms were already shot from all the burpees and everything else we were doing. And now you want us to do what? Do a plank with without, you know, ending. We don’t even know when it’s going to end until they say stop. So. Okay, fine. So I was in this circle where all me and my band of brothers, I call them, we’re all in this circle. And there were a couple of females as well, but I was flanked by all of my brothers, um, who had kind of been my my inspiration throughout our training program. And so we’re all in this circle and they said, okay, three, two, one start, start your planks. And so we’re all doing our planks. And I’m like, okay, I’ve got this, I’ve got this. I’m using my, you know, my big four of mental toughness. And you know I’m breathing I’m doing my breathwork to keep myself calm. I’m I’m saying positive things to myself like, I’ve got this, I’ve got this. And then I’m kind of visualizing myself, you know, getting to the end of it and visualizing seeing my kids at the end of the day and then having goals like, you know, maybe let me just get through these three breaths, you know, so having tiny goals like that to help me get through. So practicing the big four of mental toughness. But, uh, again, I was already tired before I started, so about like, probably like ten, 15 minutes, I guess into it, I my shoulders were done, I was toast and I could feel myself collapsing. And of course, my swim buddy, a swim buddy is a person, your accountability partner throughout the training, and it’s actually a Navy Seals concept person who swims with you throughout the whole experience, throughout your whole year long training. He was my accountability partner. Jim, who now happens to be like the CEO of Unbeatable Mind now. But back then we were both coaching trainees and so he takes a look at me and he glances and sees that I’m shaking. And so he says, Yvonne, I’m going to slide under you. Let me let me support you. Uh, Okay, okay. I nod my head. Okay, whatever. I’m not really listening. And then he talks to the other guy on the other side of me, Jonathan, and it says, Jonathan, get under Yvonne and help prop her up. Okay, fine. So now I have two men. I mean, we’re all sweating, so this is like, very, very intimate. So I’m like, so these two buff guys are under me. And so Jim has his left arm and his left leg under me, lifting up my right arm and my right leg. And then Jonathan is on the other side. I mean like and I’m pretty buxom. So now my boobs are on on both guys as well. So. And now his leg is under my left leg, so they’re both propping me up. But the thing is, I knew they were under me. And, I mean, they were all up in my my business, and I didn’t let go. I was still propping myself up. And Jim was like, Yvonne. Yvonne, let us carry you. Let us carry you. Let go! Let go! Uh huh. Okay. And I’m still propping myself up. So this happened like maybe 4 or 5 times. They were both, like, trying to get me to let go. Yvonne, we’ve got you. Let go! Let go! Uh huh, uh huh. Okay. And I’m still at this point I’m shaking and about to collapse. And they say, Yvonne, just let us carry you. So finally it clicked in my mind and I said, okay. And so I let go, and it was like I was paper because they were both at this point just carrying me. And it was just so. I’ve never felt anything like that before because I was on them. They were they were, they were carrying me. And then when they observed that I had gotten enough strength and caught my breath and, uh, just had enough time to recover and they said, are you okay? Are you? Are you okay to get back on? You know, do the plank. I said, okay, and they let me prop myself back up and they both slid out from under me. And soon after, I mean, they carried me for a good while. They carried me for a really long time. And so after that, soon after that, the plank was over and I was able to prop myself the whole time. And then when they rang the bell, whatever, I collapsed to the floor and I collapsed. Not because I was tired from the plank, but I just started sobbing uncontrollably. I could not stop crying. I. And you have to understand, I’m the strong person. I’m the one that I mean. I’m the one that helpers come to. I’m the one the physicians and the nurses and the people who sacrifice a lot to be of service. I’m the one they come to, the ones who take care of others. They come to me for me to carry them. And now, like people cared enough to first of all to even. Usually I would have to ask for help, which I always struggle with anyway. But not only did they notice what was going on, they offered to help, and then they didn’t let me go until I’d learned to receive the help. And I had to really work on trusting, which took me. It took me a long time. I had to really work on trusting enough to receive the help, and they were strong enough. They were so buff. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I just felt like maybe I would inconvenience them, or maybe that I would be too heavy for them and they would probably collapse and not meet their goal. But they carried me. They carried me the whole time and they were happy to do it. They loved me enough to like notice I was struggling and then they they were just so present with me, and they loved me enough to watch and make sure I was okay before letting me hold myself up again, I realized that was a turning point for me. It was the first time I’d really allowed myself to let go and let others carry me like that. It was just such a powerful moment in my life. Literally everything was falling apart in my life, and I didn’t even know how to ask for help or receive. And to have this like physical metaphor. It was just so powerful, and it’s one of my favorite memories ever. It really changed how I show up in my life, and it also changed how I looked at people. The people who were really strong in my life. I really keep an eye out for them and check in and see how they’re doing and if they need any. If they need me to slide under and lift them up. But there’s there are good people in the world who really care. I could go on and on, but that’s it.

Jonathan Fields: [00:24:16] National Poetry Slam champion, award-winning poet and multi-platinum songwriter IN-Q is taking up the hugs torch with our next story, a love poem and a challenge to create beautiful moments in your life, even when it seems they’re near impossible to come by.

IN-Q: [00:24:34] So my name is IN-Q and I’m a poet, but my real name is Adam Schmalholz and as with anyone else who has a real name, I also have a real life. And I decided to ask my girlfriend to marry me recently, and I told her we were meeting friends for dinner in this outdoor space. And so I let her out to this giant field that she had never been in before. And I turned her around and I said, hey, you know, before we meet our friends, can I read you this poem that I wrote about you? And she said, now, like before dinner. And I said, yeah. And she said, well, is it going to make me cry? And I said, yeah, probably. And she said, now like before dinner. And I said, yeah. And I grabbed her hands and I read her this poem. Every love poem I ever wrote was about you. You are every dream I’ve ever had. And now they’ve come true. You are every dream I’ve never had. Somehow they’ve come true. I gaze into your eyes. And know they’ll never be a better view. I see heaven in your face. I see children in your smile. I see our future and our present. Will you stay with me a while? Will you dance without the music? Will you laugh without the jokes? Will you cry without a reason? Will you play with all the notes? I’ve come to love you in a way that is impossible to quote. Forever and a day is not enough. Forever is a joke. Any moment we’re together is forever now or never. Whether I am in your presence or too far away to measure, I respect you in the pain. I accept you in the pleasure. I’ll be your shelter. In the rains. You can shine in any weather. Every love poem I wrote was an invisible letter. Reaching out beyond my time and space. To what I would discover. From a place that was unknown. To a home inside each other. I am floating on a cloud. I am singing in the gutter. Our relationship is sailing and we do not need a rudder. I don’t care where we go from here. If here is with each other. Your soul is like a mirror. You’re a goddess and a lover. You’re a sister and a brother. You’re a father and a mother. You’re a son and you’re a daughter. You’re a stranger and a friend. Even when I end. Our love’s not something I can transcend. You’re more than just a perfect ten. Your beauty lies behind your skin. It’s the way you taste. Reminding me of everywhere I’ve been. It’s the way you smell. Reminding me of everyone I’ve been. Your sweetness overwhelms me. Can we end where we begin? I’ll only come back to write. Our stories intertwined again. You’re the greatest poem I’ve ever read. You make me find my pen. You inspire me. It’ll take me lifetimes to comprehend. You’re my who, what, where and when. You’re my why I even try. I vow to have you. And to hold you. Till the day I say goodbye. I vow, for better or for worse. As long as you are by my side I vow to cherish you in sickness and in health. Until I die. On our first date, you asked me why I hadn’t settled down. I refused to give an answer. But I have your answer now. I was always waiting for you. You’re the reason that you asked. My words have never done you justice. But I search for them at last. I’ve asked myself a thousand questions about who I want to be. I’ve asked myself a thousand questions to reflect on you and me. I’ve asked myself a thousand questions. But your love’s what set them free. There’s only one question left. So I’ll ask it on one knee. And just to keep you in real time. That’s when I got down on one knee. Adriana, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I promise I’ll do right by you. Morning, noon and night by you. I promise I’ll be nice to you even when I fight with you. I promise I will fight for you. I’d even give my life for you. I promise I will write for you. My art is now my life for you. My heart is yours. So on your darkest day I’ll be the light for you. And when you’re out past midnight. I promise I’ll leave a light for you. To guide you home. Into my open arms. If that’s alright with you. They say that love is blind. But you’re the one that made me see. I’ve asked myself a thousand questions that have brought you here to me. I’ve asked myself a thousand questions. But our loves would set them free. There’s only one question left. Will you marry me? And that’s when she said yes. And we kissed. And we hugged. And the guy that I had hired to take pictures. Who was hiding in the bushes jumped out. It was quite a scene. And then I had set up this picnic like 30 yards away. And so we walked over there and had like a vegan feast that was all set up and enjoyed the sunset. And it was a really beautiful moment. And I guess the reason that I wanted to tell you this story is because I think we’re all responsible for creating beautiful moments right now. I mean, there is an enormous amount of pain and suffering in the world, but we will never get this time back. And so I think it’s up to us to change the narrative, either in big ways or in small ways. And we did that. So when we look back on this summer, we have this beautiful memory. And so I leave you with that. Find a way to change the narrative in your life and know that I’m sending you love.

Jonathan Fields: [00:31:07] Next up is Dan Stones, someone who deals in currencies of hugs, laughs, and inclusion for everyone. This husband, dad of three and fanatic for the outdoors shares a tale of a mountain cabin nearly lost, if not for some incredible heroism, with a very special personal touch that will surprise you and move you pretty deeply. Here’s Dan.

Dan Stones: [00:31:33] This cabin, we’ve purchased it with my in-laws about four years ago, and so they’re retired school teachers. They saved up their whole life and finally came to us and said, hey, can you help us find a place in the mountains? He said, sure, that sounds great. And so we did. We found that place, fell in love with it as soon as we set foot out on the deck. It’s absolutely majestic. We always say it’s definitely not $1 million cabin, but it’s $1 million view. And we’ve spent quite a bit of time over the last few years, especially this year. We’ve probably spent about half of our time up there, and I lost my job earlier this summer. And so it’s been definitely great to get up there. And we we use it to hike and camp and kayak and canoe and anything and everything we can do to get out and enjoy Colorado. It’s our how do you Colorado. This is how we Colorado. And it all starts at the cabin. And so yeah, just a respite from all of the craziness that we endured this year. So we took a trip up there on October 15th, go spend the weekend and get some hiking in. And we’re driving up and we come through the town of Granby. And we had no idea that there was a fire burning at that point until we came around the corner and saw the billowing smoke rising above the mountains behind the town, and we just kind of looked at each other, and I tried to continue driving safely while we were distracted by this plume of smoke and like, what’s going on? And so my wife is checking the news as we’re driving along and just looking at the smoke. Blacks out the sun. It was very surreal in that moment. Kind of oh, oh my goodness, there’s a fire. And so we arrived at the cabin and our cabin was right in the middle of the thickest part of the smoke at that point. So the fire was still probably about 30 miles away at that point, and you couldn’t go outside. It was not safe to go outside. This isn’t good. And of course, with our house being in the line of the smoke, you know, we knew that the wind was blowing the fire in our direction. Right. So there’s that not so subtle reminder that you’re in the path. And we stayed overnight, but just that one night and we decided, okay, why don’t we grab the things that are absolutely irreplaceable, right. The paintings that grandma painted, the photos that we had there, we didn’t have a whole lot of room in the car because we didn’t pack with evacuation in mind, right? So. So we filled up what little space we had in the minivan and drove back to Arvada, and we talked about how we wanted to handle things. And I said, well, if you look at these other fires and the maps around them, there are areas that are voluntary evacuation. So it goes pre-evacuation voluntary evacuation mandatory. And so I said, here’s what we’ll do. We’ll get the irreplaceable stuff. I will keep a close eye on the evacuation status. And once it gets to voluntary, if it gets to that point, we’ll bring the cars up and we’ll grab, you know, the hand-me-down furniture from grandma and some of the things that were of a little bit more value, both sentimental and financial value. So then we we headed back to Arvada, and we just kept a really close eye on the website that shows where the fire boundary is. At that point, you’re getting an update once a day, twice a day, if you’re lucky to see how it’s spreading and where it’s going. There’s not a whole lot of update, so definitely this feeling of being out of the loop and not knowing what the actual status is up there. It’s a very unsettling feeling to just not know, and to not have access to something that can give you an update in real time. And so we watched for a couple of days and watched for the voluntary evacuation notice. And I woke up Thursday morning, October 22nd, and my wife was standing over, over my right shoulder in the office, and I opened it up to show her where the boundary is, and it refreshed and it popped up and I thought it was an error. I thought it was a mistake. I thought somebody had not drawn the line in the correct place, because it was now within a couple miles of our place and within a couple of miles of Grand Lake, and within a couple of miles of Granby, and like to look at it and see that, oh my goodness. Like towns are in jeopardy. Entire towns may just be wiped off the face of the map. I’ve never really felt that level of desperation before. Right. Nothing you can do, right? If you can’t save a town from a wildfire. It leaves you feeling very helpless. And, um. So it was tough. It was tough, you know? So we went from that morning, went from. Okay, we’re probably okay. It’s still 30 miles away. Yes. The wind is blowing, but it’s not moving fast enough that it would get to us before snow hits. Then to wake up that morning and transition immediately into, oh my gosh, the cabin’s gone. There’s no way if it’s spread 100,000 acres since yesterday and we’re just two miles away from the burn line, there’s there’s no way. And so we started to have those discussions with the kids that we probably lost the cabin. There’s not much likelihood that that it will survive this fire because it looked like it would burn right up to the edge of the lake, which would certainly take us out. So, you know, in that moment, in something to be thankful for, you know, we try to see the silver lining as well. And we remind ourselves there are just things. This is our cabin, right? We still have a home. We still have each other. We’re safe. We’re healthy. And so in that moment of sadness, you know, it was a good reminder to sit down with family and say, hey, what is most important, right? And really focus on that. And it gave us a great chance to do that with the kids and really kind of try and maintain positivity and an upbeat outlook. And that uncertainty was was very difficult to get through because, you know, they drew that line two miles from our house the day before, and we know we’re not going to get an actual update until the next day, right. So in that time period, I guess we kind of wanted to know when it was burning right in that moment. You want to just be able to to grieve and then get past it. But it was just a constant flux of maybe. And we have one of our neighbors who’s up there who discovered he has a family friend in one of the fire departments up there. And so the next morning the text came in and he said, well, I heard from my friend who’s a firefighter, and he said that the fire is right behind our places and blowing towards us. And he said, so it’s it’s not looking good. So then we in that moment swing back from from hope to desperation and grief and all of those emotions that come with the feeling of a loss like that. And so at that point, I posted a little note on Twitter, just kind of an ode to the cabin, hosted a couple of photos of it and the view and, you know, and got some very heartfelt Saris and people reaching out, you know, again the shining light in a sea of darkness, people reaching out and sharing their hearts and saying sorry and grieving with us. And, and it was really nice to see that that humanity come out. And then I guess it was maybe a few hours after that that we got a video from our friend and neighbor, from his friend, the firefighter of our hillside on fire, and the firefighters trying to save it. And it was absolutely overwhelming because you want to know that status and you want to know when things are happening. And that was our first glimpse of like in real time, these folks are standing in the smoke. They’re bringing in hundreds and hundreds of feet of fire hose to try and save our hillside. Um, and you can see flare ups in the video, and one of those flare ups that you can see is it’s right in front of our house. So very, very emotional moment. And then we got word that the structure was still standing. Um, but the ones that were still there were damaged. So there’s still a lot of big question marks at that moment. And then in addition to that, okay, tonight it’s going to get down to seven degrees. And we didn’t drain the plumbing before we left. And so to go straight from from fire to ice overnight. And so the sheriff’s department up there, they did an amazing job of coordinating some volunteer contractors who could go around in that last minute and turn off water to as many homes as they possibly could to save them from freezing and flood. So we got a call from the contractor when he was headed towards our property, and he’s a really nice guy. His name is Mike Dixon. He said, is this, you know, is yours the blue house with a canoe hanging under the deck? I said, yeah it is. Which one told me that the deck was still there? The canoe was still. Was still hanging, which was a good sign. Um, but he walked around and for, I don’t know, it felt like about 20 minutes if you walked around our property. Oh, wow. Wow. Oh, man. Congratulations. You got lucky. And I sat down at that point. It was. It was a little bit much. You know, it was that that first moment where it might actually be okay. And he said, we can’t see everything because of the snow, so I can’t tell you. But he says, I see blue paint on all four sides of your house. So he he went down and turned off the plumbing, drain the pipes, everything like that. Got through that part of the process. And he gets to the door to leave and he said, oh, hey, hey, man, there’s there’s a note here. Do you want me to read it? I said, yeah, please do. Um, and he read the note to me and it just, I don’t know. I can’t recall a time when I’ve felt something so powerful as when he read that note to me. Um, he says, if this note finds you, we must have done something right. Sorry for the loss of your shed. And we had to cut a little of your wood fence to save your house. Things got really hot. We stayed as long as possible, and so it just took my breath away. It took away everything I had left at that point. And it was, I don’t know, it came to symbolize that moment, that first bit of good news in a year that’s just each month has been exponentially worse than the one before. And it symbolized that first break in that escalation, that first turn back towards good back towards positive, back towards, you know, hope, humanity, kindness, all of these things that we’ve been missing this year. Good news we’ve been missing this year. And it was too much to not share with folks at that point. You know, I was just so touched. And so I had my text me a picture of the note, which I immediately put on Twitter. And all this being said, we’re very, very fortunate. And there are a lot of people up there who were not fortunate in this moment. A lot of people that got out at the last minute with their lives and that’s it. And so anyway, it’s just it was good to be able to share some good and to say thank you for something that’s so courageous and to share what happened in those moments, to share that life, to share that humanity from the firefighters and shine that spotlight on that. Because we hear about, you know, the firefighters are risking their lives, but it’s not very often we get to see that and get a glimpse into what’s really there. The human being behind the firefighting mask. Right. And, you know, one of the things that we saw when we went to the cabin on Sunday, the note says, things got really hot. We stayed as long as we could. We looked through the wreckage that used to be our tool shed, which sits about about 15ft from our deck, and some of the tools that we had in there were made of aluminum, and things got so hot that the aluminum turned molten and ran down the hillside and re hardened in kind of that lava flow pattern. Um, and fun fact, uh, aluminum melts at 1220 degrees. Um, so, so, you know, we were probably looking at a fire that was about 1500 degrees burning right there, 15ft from our house. And, um, they stood there between 1500 degree tool shed and our home. And in that 15ft saved it. The burn line is actually within six feet. And to to save it within six feet for 40 miles, it’s incredible. It’s incredible. You know. So but I think the most important aspect of all of this is to say thank you and to say it as loud as I possibly can and and to encourage others to do the same. And thank you to everybody that is out there donating, sharing, giving and putting love out into the world. We need that. We need that, and I’m grateful for that. I’m more grateful for all of those things than I’ve ever been in my life.

Jonathan Fields: [00:45:36] So up next is a really beautiful story from Jana Langford, about a moment of profound kindness that was shown to her parents when she and her family she was just an infant at the time, first arrived in Australia as Vietnamese refugees in 1978, and it was a moment and experience that led to a deep bond of friendship that ended up spanning decades and generations. Here’s Jana.

Jana Langford: [00:46:01] When my parents first arrived in Australia as Vietnamese refugees, I was a newborn baby. I was born two months premature in a refugee camp in Malaysia. Three months later, we flew to Australia because we were accepted by the Whitlam government to come in on refugee status. So we arrived there. And of course, me being a premature baby that was born with literally nothing. And on a plane with underdeveloped lungs. I had trouble breathing, so I was immediately taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital when we arrived in Melbourne in 1978. Now, we were lucky enough to be given a housing commission to live in, but then we couldn’t find work in the city. So my parents moved to Trafalgar, a small country town in Victoria, and we lived in a house, and there my dad worked as a kitchen hand at the local hospital, and he worked there for a year. My mum said the first time she ever saw my father cry was the day he received his first paycheck. Not that he was well, he’s obviously grateful for that, but really it was because only six months prior he was the one handing Out paychecks to his employees. Back in Vietnam. My parents were very, very successful entrepreneurs and were very well off, in fact, and educated. But when they came to Australia, they had to start from scratch. And so after a year of being in Trafalgar, they realised that country life wasn’t quite for them. My mum being a city girl through and through. So they decided to leave and go back to Melbourne and upon leaving they gave notice to their landlord and lovely, lovely family. And on the day they left to say goodbye, they had actually collected all the rent that my parents had paid them for that year, and gave it back to my parents and said to use that to help them establish themselves when they went back to Melbourne, and That in itself was a huge act of kindness because it gave my parents that leg up, that opportunity. So they continued to work hard. And I remember visiting the couple every single year. Every Christmas would make sure we all go back to Trafalgar and pay our respects, and to really show how much we appreciated it. We went every single Christmas without fail until they all eventually passed on. So that was a wonderful lesson for us as children to appreciate the things that we have been given. And I believe that my brother and I, we carry that through until this day. I’m feel blessed and thank every day for all the people that helped us settle into this amazing country.

Jonathan Fields: [00:49:29] Our next storyteller is an old friend of mine, New York based audiobook narrator, producer, author, actor, just straight up awesome human Gabra Zackman bringing us into a moment with her brother that turned a tough time into a moment of grace.

Gabra Zackman: [00:49:47] So here’s a story in the form of a toast. I do have the exact right glass. And by exact right, I mean the glass. I would have been drinking right around that time. I don’t have the right liquor. It should be bourbon, and it should be maker’s Mark. But I do have a drink in that glass. The exact same glass. And this is a story in form of a toast. And it is a toast for my big brother. Ooh, that does warm up the insides. So when I think of my big brother when we were kids, when I think of us young, I have a wonderful memory I always think of. And this is, um, this is the appetizer to the to the meal of the story. What I think of when I remember my brother is I was such a shy girl, which is hard to imagine because I talk for a living, and I’m very gregarious now. But I was painfully, painfully wallflower shy. And I remember that my brother and I were sent to the same summer camp when we were really young. My brother’s four years older than me, and I remember at the time that I was so shy. I remember even all the girls would change out of their bathing suits and into their clothes, and I would go stand in a corner and, you know, take my bathing suit off while my clothes were on. And I was so modest and so shy. It’s so funny that I became this brazen woman of the theater. But at that time, what I remember is that after camp ended and we were waiting for the bus, I remember that all the girls would go play together and all the boys would go play together, and that I would sit by myself. I remember how shy I was and how scared, and that I sat and waited to see my brother walking from a different part of the camp over to the bus. And I remember the feeling when I would sit there as a girl and so scared and so shy, and when I would see my big brother coming around the corner, that my whole soul would light up. I was so happy to see my big brother. So that’s the precursor to this next story. So flash forward about 30 years, because I think I was about 35 or so when after being in a nine year long relationship, it was time for my then boyfriend and I to break up, and I remember the reason why I’ve chosen this particular drink. The perfect glass for the wrong drink is because I can remember while my boyfriend and I were in the process of breaking up, that he would go to sleep in the bedroom, and that I would walk into the kitchen and I would sit on this cooler we had, and I would drink bourbon out of this exact glass, not this exact glass, but a glass just like this. I bought myself a whole set sometime after we broke up, but I would sit with a glass that looked just like this with bourbon in it, and I would talk to my brother. He was one of the people I talked to most often when I was going through this painful, wrenching, heartbreaking time when I was trying to understand what had happened and what had gone wrong and how I was going to move forward in the world. And my brother at the time was just married to my sister in law. They had not yet had their beautiful, remarkable, amazing, now seven year old. And my brother had the time, I believe, to sit on the phone with me for hours as I drank bourbon out of this same glass and wept. But it was a little bit after this when this main part of the story takes place. My boyfriend had by this time moved out and I was left in a home that felt blown apart. There were holes where his stuff used to be, and there was some stuff that was left that I never liked in the first place, and I hadn’t learned at that point how to put together a home. Not the kind of home I have now, which is my sanctuary and a place of great creativity and joy and love and rest. Then I didn’t know how to put together a home, so when he left it, it was like a bomb had gone off. There were empty spaces where books used to be, and places on the wall where there was faded paint or dust underneath, where pictures had been taken off and everything felt filled with holes, particularly in the kitchen, because I was not the chef that I am now. I didn’t have the kind of kitchen that I have now, and so it was missing a lot of things. My kitchen was in particular, and it was around this time that my brother came to visit. He came by himself. His wife was back at home and he came, perhaps on a business trip, or perhaps just to see friends. But he was staying with me for a few days, and it was a wonderful time for us to get to hang out in my newly bombed out apartment together, and have long conversations over bourbon into the small hours of the night. And at one point, my brother noticed that there was a list on the door of the refrigerator. I don’t remember what the title of the list was, or even if there was a list. I just remembered that it was a list of items. And my brother said to me, what is this? What’s this list on your fridge? And I said, oh, I said, well, that’s a list of everything that I wish I had in this kitchen if I could afford it. That’s a list of everything I’d have if I were married And if I had had a registry and actually had nice things for my kitchen, and what I think I was really saying was, that’s a list of everything that I would have if I wasn’t such a complete and utter failure. And if I hadn’t just bombed out my entire life, and if I hadn’t actually lost any opportunity to have the kind of life that I would have hoped to at one point have, and if I wasn’t too old, and if I wasn’t to this, and if I wasn’t to that, and if I hadn’t just X, Y, or Z, then maybe I would have this amount of things in my kitchen. But basically what I said was, I’m going to gradually buy every single one until I have the kind of kitchen that I want. And we spoke no more about it. We proceeded to have some bourbon and talk into the wee hours of the night, and a couple of days later, I remember I was sitting at home reading a book or prepping an audiobook or reading a play. And my brother came in. He had been out all day doing what he usually does, so he probably had lunch with Pete at that wonderful tea house over on the east side. Or he might have had brunch with Eden in Brooklyn if she was living in Brooklyn at the time, and he might have had a walk with Kim Brown if she was living in Sunnyside then like she is now, actually right near me. But at the time I was up in Washington Heights and my brother, after a very long day, burst in the apartment with his cheeks reddened from the outside, cold, and in his hands he carried 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 beautifully wrapped parcels, paper bags with colored paper in them. Wonderful looking gifts. And I remember thinking, oh my goodness, how is he going to get that all in his luggage? And I’m not even sure if I said anything, but I remember that we locked eyes and he had a huge smile on his face, and he lifted up the bags, laden as he was, and said jubilantly, Arthur, I got all your stuff, Arthur. And even right now. Even right now, it makes me emotional to tell the story because it was so sweet. He had purchased everything from my list. I got all your list, he said. And I think at the time when I think back, I do not think that I cried. I think I didn’t say much because I was very overwhelmed, probably because I was too emotional to say anything. But when I think back on it, I think that it was one of the most loving acts from a brother to his sister, when her heart was broken and she felt like such a failure and it felt like life had ended. And frankly, that she would never have a nice kitchen, that he bought everything on my list. And I still have some of that today. So if you want to know the truth, I have a really nice cutting board and I have a really nice salad spinner. And there’s also there’s stuff I wouldn’t have even known. You know, I think there’s like a, a casserole dish you can put in the oven and then take to people’s homes, which I have often because I turned into a homemaker. I turned into someone who cooks all the time. I turned into someone who often uses that casserole dish to bring to people’s houses. I turned into someone who built a house where I love my kitchen, where I love the whole home, and where every piece of it feels like me. So this is a toast. I’m raising this glass one more time. This same glass. But it’s not the same glass. In which oftentimes I will drink bourbon. And I will think of my brother and the kindness of a time when I was so broken down and he built me back up.

Jonathan Fields: [01:00:53] So I hope you enjoyed that. Next up is former DJ, music aficionado, purveyor of chill. We know him in the community as the dude from the Midwest and an amazing dad. Rick Charlie sharing a moment of surrender and amazement when his daughter was younger.

Rick Charlie: [01:01:11] Do you remember when you were a teenager and a new song came out that you could not stop listening to? The kind of song that just blew your mind that it even existed, or you could not help but move to it. You would play it over and over again, never tiring of the music or the words. You played it so much your parents were seriously considering psycho therapy for you. Well, for me, that song was roll with the Changes by REO Speedwagon. Do you remember it? It starts hard, with a pounding piano chord and crashing drums, soon followed by a screaming electric guitar, and the intro crescendos to a pause before Kevin Cronin belts out a cappella. As soon as you are able, man still brings me chills every time. And yes, I did in fact, listen to it about 20 times before sitting down to tell you this story. So for my daughter, June, that song was Viva la Vida by Coldplay. It too has a powerful intro with booming cellos and a hard beating bass drum. I understood how this song filled her heart with the essence of life. Well, I did. At least for the first 50 times I heard it. She chose this song to sing in her middle school talent show. It’s exceptionally appropriate considering where she exactly was a year earlier. You see, 365 days prior, June was laying in an ICU, hooked up to life support, desperately waiting for a new liver to arrive. Hers had died a slow, agonizing death due to a genetic disorder she had been born with. She laid there with a golden brown mustard hue in her eyes and on her skin, and a myriad of machines pumping her full of a fake life in hopes that a healthy liver would come available to her in time and, well, time that was not on her side. Viva la vida! Translated means live life. The story of the song is of a king who loses his kingdom. It is only then that he realizes he forgot to actually live life. One year later, after relearning how to walk, how to talk, and how to sing, she would stand all alone on a stage in front of hundreds of kids and adults who, while they knew who this kid was but they really didn’t know the person. You see, she wasn’t popular. She didn’t have a ton of friends at this school. I was sitting in the gym, also alone, surrounded by all these strangers with a giant pit in my stomach. I’m not sure who was more nervous, her or me. Her turn came up and the curtain opened. And there this tiny 13 year old girl, all five foot three of her, standing on a ginormous stage, just her in a simple black dress and a microphone while the music began. And after the cello intro, she hit her first notes. Her voice was meek and not at all the powerful force that had bellowed through my home day after day. She was terrified. She got through the first stanza and stood there waiting for the next mark as the music continued. And that is where it happened. She froze. She either lost where the words began again, or she simply forgot the words altogether, I don’t know. But there she stood, staring blankly out into a sea of strange faces. Man, it seemed like forever that she stood there. And then the tears started rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t know what to do, and she wasn’t alone. The audience was just as frozen. Finally, someone on stage realized this number was crashing hard and they closed the curtain. Quickly. The emcees rushed on stage to clean up the mess and introduce the next act. As a parent, what do you do? I mean right? Do I madly rush back there and scoop her up and just hug all of the fear and embarrassment out of her? Or do I let her be and see how she handles it? And I didn’t know. And I froze and stayed in my seat and waited. Maybe this is just one of those times that they have to go through it on their own, you know? I just didn’t know. And she didn’t come out to see me or look for me. So I just sat through each of the remaining numbers, selfishly hoping for the end. I twisted and turned in my seat. I was uncomfortable, like those middle school old wooden folding chairs could ever give you any comfort anyway. The last act was about to be introduced and this purgatory could finally end. The Knicks kept on saying the word June, like the month, was odd and probably wouldn’t be noticed by anyone else. Except that’s my daughter’s name, and it was kind of painful to hear after we had gone through. Why were they torturing me this way? That was what was going through my head. Well, then we all found out what was going on in their own cheeky way. They were reintroducing June. She was going to come out and try again. Oh my freaking God. You’ve got to be kidding me. I was in a full on panic attack at this point, and I can only imagine what was going on inside her. But there she was again, all alone on that huge stage in her simple black dress, holding a microphone. The audience cheered loudly and the music began and everything was just as it was before. I was rooting under my breath. You can do this. I know you can do this. And then we hit the same place as the first time, and it went exactly as before. She got lost and froze. I totally just buried my head in my hands, Feeling the embarrassment she had to be feeling. And that is when it happened. The four MCs rushed out on the stage, but this time they had the sheet music for the song in hand. They surrounded her and began singing with her. The audience started cheering. You can do it, June, you’ve got this! It was just like giving underdog his super energy pill. She woke up and started belting out the song again. Then the entire cast of all the kids who had performed in the talent show appeared on stage all around her, singing along to the song. I sat there ready to bawl my eyes out here. An entire community embraced this minuscule teen and lifted her up on their shoulders and carried her to the finish line. Would have been a very forgettable moment. Became an historic event at her most vulnerable, this group of strangers decided to rise up on their own out of their discomfort and cheer her on. After the show, people who she didn’t even know waited in a long line to congratulate her not necessarily for her performance, but because she had the guts to get up there a second time and stay there and finish with all the medical torture that this girl had gone through. That is the bravest thing she ever did. And all these other humans, mostly complete strangers, to be sure, stood with her, holding her up when she needed it most. And the big thing is, they didn’t have to.

Jonathan Fields: [01:09:37] Our next storyteller is Buddhist meditation teacher, New York Times bestselling author and founder of the world’s largest online meditation community, The Open Heart Project. Susan Piver, and she is sharing a story about how a whole town took care of her in a time of dire need.

Susan Piver: [01:09:56] A long time ago, I ended up living in Austin, Texas. Kind of by coincidence. My car broke down there and I didn’t have enough money to get it fixed, so I ended up living there. I got a job. The best job at the best bar in the world called Antone’s, Austin’s home of the blues. And back then, this was the late 80s to the mid 90s. It was the most amazing music scene imaginable. For me, I heard the best music one can hear. The house band was incredible and every blues great of the day would come to play at Antone’s. So the very first weekend I worked, John Lee hooker played all weekend, and I heard Albert King and Albert Collins and Buddy Guy and James Cotton and Junior Wells and Eddie Taylor and Jimmy Rogers and all the greats, all the greats. It was quite incredible. And I didn’t know anyone and I was from the East coast, meaning I was. I kept to myself, but I liked the people I worked with and I loved where I was. And after I was there for about six months, I was driving home from work one night and I was in a terrible wreck. I was hit by a drunk driver and I ended up in the hospital for several months. No one expected me to live the whole nine yards. And there I was in this fairly new city, pretty much by myself. I didn’t really know hardly anyone, although I had a boyfriend who I loved a lot. And after I came out of intensive care, I started hearing about all the things that the people I worked with had done for me and beyond the people I worked with, the people who were connected to Antone’s and the blues scene in general. In Austin, so many people gave blood for me. People made cards for me. People took photographs of themselves doing fun things and sent them to me. People came to visit me. The local blues radio show talked about me and how I had been in this accident, and I needed blood. And if anyone could spare any to go donate for Susan Pifer. And suddenly I realized I was in this family. I was in this community and withdrawn and East Coasty as I was. They opened their arms to me. I honestly feel that I lived in part because of that love. And I was in the hospital for a few months, and I, of course missed hearing music very, very much. And one day I was lying in my bed, tossing and turning. I don’t know what I was doing as one does in the hospital, half asleep, half awake, and I thought I could hear a harmonica. I’m like, oh wow, that sounds just like James Cotton. Oh, this is doing my soul good. And it got louder and louder. And I was lying there thinking, wow, this is an amazing dream. This is I hope I can stay in this dream for a long time. And just then the door to my room swung open a little bit. And in walked James Cotton, who had come down the hallway playing harmonica for me and sat by me with my boyfriend and played for 20 minutes. Half an hour just played. We didn’t exchange a word. He just played. We smiled at each other and he laughed. And I don’t think I’ve ever felt so cared for in my life.

Jonathan Fields: [01:13:54] Hey, so our final storyteller in today’s second episode of The Hug is Vancouver based actor, audiobook narrator, audiobook coach, and old friend and chosen family member Erin Moon. Aaron and I first met nearly two decades ago. I want to say, when she wandered into my yoga studio in Hell’s Kitchen in New York. She is, quite literally kindness embodied, and she’s bringing the hug home with a short story that involved, well, um, me, which makes me a little bit uncomfortable, to be honest with you, but the team here kind of felt like it was the right story to bring this all home. It also involves a bunch of our friends at a really tender time. Excited to share it with you. So here’s Erin.

Erin Moon: [01:14:39] So I have this friend who has been friend and mentor for many years in my life, and we fell out of touch with one another. And when we got back in touch with each other, because we kept springing up in each other’s lives in random places all over New York City, and we reconnected online in a podcast called The Good Life Project. And I had shared in that podcast the particularly the last few years of my life, which were about the last four years of my life, which had been filled with a lot of incredible pain and incredible learning, that I was still learning and am still learning around my husband getting sick with cancer and fighting it and losing that battle and my kind of process through that. And after that, and we’d been married ten years and through really informative years, as I reflect back, um, you know, from age 25 to 35. So just really, really informative, big times in growth. And it was time for that podcast to come out. And I moved out of New York City, where I had lived for 13 years, and I’d been living in Vancouver, Canada for like maybe a month, and it was time for the podcast to come out and makes me want to cry, thinking about how kind this is. That morning I got a really beautiful text from him, and I also got a whole bunch of check in emails and phone calls and texts from a core group of women that we were both friends with and that he knew were a big part of my life. Because he had called all of them to let them know that that day was going to be a hard day, maybe for me to listen to myself tell my story. And it was one of the kindest and most thoughtful acts of friendship. And I’ve I’ve had a lot, a lot from my friends and family because of this huge thing that has happened and the thoughtfulness of getting somebody to prep my friends to make sure that I had enough of a community around me to buoy me up on what might have been a very lonely day. Yeah. It’s beautiful. It’s one of those cry beauty ones. But but that’s that’s one of my good stories.

Jonathan Fields: [01:17:43] Okay, so I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a little more connected to my heart right now and reminded really how much goodness is all around us when we stop long enough to see it and to share it. And if these stories have warmed, you have even touched you just a little bit. Maybe you know somebody else who might need to hear them right now, too. If there were ever stories or people or moments that we would love to have you share with friends and family, it’s these we all need stories that really just remind us of the good side of human beings more than ever. Sending lots of love and see you in the year to come. I’m Jonathan Fields signing off for Good Life Project.