Episode Transcript
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The Sisters (00:07):
Welcome to The
P-I-G, where we explore life,
love, loss and legacy throughreal conversations and
meaningful stories, with purpose, intention and gratitude.
We're your hosts.
I'm Kellie.
.
.
and I'm Erin.
We're sisters, best friends,sometimes polar opposites, but
always deeply connected by thelife and love of an incredible
woman, our mother, Marsha.
(00:28):
Today we're cozied up in our PJsand munching on pokey - what
our mom called popcorn - for anepisode that's sure to be real,
raw, and maybe even a littleridiculous a s we hit pause to
reflect on the powerful episodeswe've released recently.
From Katie's grace-filled bonusmom journey to Pop's deeply
emotional legacy as a father anda grandfather.
(00:50):
From Marcus's healing paththrough grief and fatherhood to
Dr Matthew Arau's inspiringmessage of living with gratitude
, enthusiasm and trust.
To my own solo episode where Ishared some of my deepest
reflections as a motherlessdaughter and what it's meant to
grow through 30 years of loss.
But we're also catching you upon summer adventures, why we
(01:13):
both needed a little time offgrid and how taking time to
reconnect with nature helps usreconnect with ourselves.
Because healing doesn't justhappen through words.
It happens in stillness, insunlight in space, and this
episode is your gentle reminderto slow down, take a breath and
(01:36):
maybe even take a step outside.
Erin (01:40):
It is so good to be back
recording with you again.
And I am really looking forwardto reflecting on some of our
(02:02):
recent episodes.
There's been a lot and we couldspend hours and hours recapping
, but I'm really excited to justtake a glance through some
recent conversations that we'vehad and to reflect on those, and
I'm really looking forward tojumping into the importance of
hitting the reset button as youand I have both taken the time
(02:26):
that we needed (it's neverenough time!) to unplug from
work and family life and thebusyness of our day-to-day and
just reconnect with ourselves,with our partners and each other
(02:47):
, and to really embrace whathappens when we do that.
You know, there's so much thathappens - not only in the
stillness - but for you and Iboth, I know we love to be on
the open road with snacks in thecar.
S o, I'm really looking forwardto recapping some of our summer
(03:13):
adventures and to hopefullyinspire our listeners to do the
same - to just disconnect fromtheir worlds a little bit and to
hit that reset button and toreally rejuvenate themselves.
Kellie (03:24):
Yeah, I think taking
time off and taking time away
for the vast majority of people,erin, is so foreign.
It's become such a foreignconcept and it's something that
hopefully we can, through ourconversations, continue to bring
back to the forefront and maybeeven provide and have some
conversation around strategiesand ways that people can do that
(03:47):
in their day-to-day lives,because I think that that's part
of what we lose sight of.
Is that connecting to nature,just getting outside, starting
your day with some sunlight andsome fresh air, and taking time
away from your computer, yourdesk, your screen, your
scrolling, to just reconnectwith nature a little bit and
(04:09):
we'll talk about this a littlebit when we get to the Matthew
episode.
But music really is nature andnature really is music and it's
such a beautiful place forhealing and for inspiration and
for hope and just when life getsemotionally overwhelming, which
is a lot of what we talk abouton this podcast.
(04:31):
But for us, for me, spendingtime in nature is life, love,
loss and legacy all combinedinto one beautiful moment.
So I am really looking forwardto that today too.
I think it's going to be areally fun conversation in PJ's
over Pokey.
Erin (04:47):
Yes, well, do you want to
dive in first and talk a little
bit about your summer adventures?
Kellie (04:54):
Sure, in fact, this will
be kind of fun.
I'm wondering if we justcombine our reflection on the
episodes as part of ourdisconnecting, instead of
splitting it up into twoseparate parts, because Marcus
and I left town for 28 days thissummer.
S o we pulled out of our home,our driveway in Western Colorado
(05:19):
, and hit the road for 28 daysfor five states, 3,500 miles,
and what's really cool about oursummer vacation - and we've
done this every year for 15years - is we purposefully plan
and prepare for this trip eachsummer, year round.
And so we hit the road and wehave our snacks and our goodies
(05:43):
and we have our Pandora andSpotify playlists.
We've got our music, but wealso have our podcasts.
And one of the things that wedid is we went back and listened
to, re-listened to, all of theepisodes that had come out
recently, because obviously youand I have listened to all of
them many times over producingthem, but Marcus hadn't heard a
(06:06):
few of them, and so that wasactually a really fun way for us
to spend some of our time onthe road, and so we had a lot of
conversations about theseparticular episodes and so I'm
going to go ahead and startthere.
I love it.
The first episode that we wantedto recap today was the episode
(06:27):
with Katie.
I think what was so fun for mein that episode, and as we talk
about Katie's episode and Pop'stwo episodes is Pop and Katie
actually came down to visit usin Bend, Oregon, while we were
up there.
We were there.
We took about five days on ourroad trip up.
We went to Ely Nevada.
(06:47):
Our first night Stayed in theKOA cabin, which was great.
Had an incredible cup of coffee.
Of all places in Ely Nevada, wehad an amazing cup of coffee
that morning at a little placecalled.
.
.
what was that place called.
.
.
Beans and Brews.
And I looked it up onlinebecause, you know me, that's
what I do.
and they're based out of SaltLake City and just kind of a new
(07:10):
baby franchise.
But man, they roasted someincredible coffee, which is
always great for us on the road.
And then we went to Susanville,California, where you actually
lived for a little bit of time.
Yeah, had a great time there,exploring a couple of fun little
restaurants.
Went up to Eagle Lake, which Iknow is a place that you have
(07:31):
taken the boys trout fishing.
Yes, that place has changed alot.
Then we boogied up to Ashland,Oregon.
We wanted to check it outbecause when we're on the road
we're always looking for wheremight we want to live someday or
where might we want to be bythe water.
Do we want to keep going backto the same vacation places
every year?
Do we want to do something alittle bit different?
(07:52):
Spent a couple days there,visited a friend we haven't seen
in a long, long time, checkedit out.
Don't want to live there, butit was a cute little place.
They have this big Shakespearefestival that they're known for
internationally and Dr MatthewArau has actually led music
events there.
So that was kind of fun.
That's cool.
Then we boogied over to Bend,Oregon.
We spent 11 days there and Popand Katie came down to visit us,
(08:15):
and so it's fun to bereflecting on their episodes
because of the time that weactually got to spend with them
this summer and theirreflections back to us about the
episodes that they got to be apart of and how much fun that
was for them and how much theyenjoyed it and the feedback that
they've gotten from theirfriends and their community and
(08:39):
other family members who havelistened to the episodes.
So as I look back on the episodewith Katie, Erin, I think the
biggest thing for me is how muchI actually learned about her
through our conversation that Ididn't quite know at all, or at
least the full details of, as wehave shared life with her over
(09:00):
the last 30 years, and I thinkfor me that's a reminder that
there's always something morefor us to learn from the people
that are in our lives.
Erin (09:09):
Man, I could not agree
with that more and it's so
awesome to hear you say that,because I echo that sentiment.
And one of the things thatreally stuck out to me in that
conversation was how much itreminded me of all of these
conversations that you and Ihave been having throughout this
project with the boxes, withChris and certainly on the
(09:31):
podcast, and how, when we reallystarted talking more and having
these conversations, I realizedthat we were having
conversations we've never hadbefore and sharing thoughts and
insights and feelings that wehad just never had before,
hadn't shared with each otherbefore, and I had a lot of those
(09:53):
moments in that conversationwith Katie where it was for as
many conversations as we've hadover the decades that she's been
in our lives.
We'd never had a conversationquite like that and it was
really touching.
Kellie (10:07):
It really was.
I hope listeners, if theyhaven't heard her episode or any
of the ones we're going to talkabout today, that they'll
actually go back and take thetime to listen.
And I think my hope in thisconversation that you and I are
having now is inspiring peopleto open up the door of
communication and listening tothe people in their lives.
(10:31):
I think we take people forgranted for the most part and we
live in a very busy world.
We have very busy lives.
There are so many distractions,but one of the things I know in
the deepest parts of my souland spirit and getting in nature
always brings me back to thisis that life is really really,
(10:53):
really short and our time onthis earth, as part of this
beautiful planet, is reallyshort lived.
It's really just a breath inthe big picture and I think that
we miss and doing this podcastwith you has reminded me of how
much I'm actually missing by nottaking the time to really slow
(11:16):
down and have the purposeful andmeaningful conversations with
others.
And it doesn't mean that it hasto be serious and it has to be
reflective of specific topics orthere's an agenda at play, but
it's really just about when'sthe last time you asked somebody
in your life a random questionabout their life and then just
(11:41):
actually took the time to listenand learn and absorb all that
information and go, wow, I justlook at what I learned about
this particular human being thatI didn't know before.
Erin (11:53):
Yeah, that's really
beautiful, and I want to
piggyback on that with a thoughtabout how easy it is for all of
us as human beings to makeassumptions about people, about
situations, and I think that ifpeople do go back and listen to
Katie's episode, as yousuggested, and really listen to
(12:15):
that and are very open-mindedabout there was so much beauty
that came out of thatconversation, especially
surrounding, for me, therelationship between a stepmom
and stepdaughters right, whichcould obviously spill over into
any kind of step parenting butspecifically that relationship
(12:37):
with us as girls who'd losttheir mom and then a new mom
stepping into this role inrelationship with Pop, and it
was so beautiful to hear howintentionally she navigated that
role and now, looking back onit, it looked like it was done
(13:00):
so easy and was such grace.
But I think that you know, Iknow for myself that I had
probably so many thoughts in mymind as an 18, 19 year old.
You know Pop and Katie gotmarried right before my 20th
birthday.
So I was 19 when they gotmarried and I'm sure, even
(13:21):
though I can't recall them, I'msure I had assumptions and
thoughts in my head about whatwas about to take place and what
that relationship was going tolook like and what it was going
to entail, both positive andnegative.
And some of those things weretrue and some of them absolutely
weren't.
And it was just reallybeautiful all this time later to
kind of reflect on those earlymoments especially, and
(13:46):
certainly things could have gonea different direction and
looked very different in ourlives than what they did and
what they do today.
So I really hope that it caninspire people, like you said,
to just have an open heart andan open mind and to go into
those episodes and really listenfor any kind of key takeaways
(14:07):
that they can apply to their ownlives.
Kellie (14:10):
You just said something
that just prompted a thought in
my head, and that is you and I,both, in the midst of going on
vacation, celebrated birthdays.
Erin (14:22):
We did that's fun, yeah.
Kellie (14:25):
So you know, the older
sister is 55, magical five, five
.
I'm just really embracing thisyear of 55 in a way that I never
have in my entire life, sothat's a whole nother topic of
conversation.
But you turned 48 just lastweek, yeah, and your boys are
the exact age now that you werethen when Pop and Katie got
(14:51):
married.
And so a couple thoughts.
Number one is the conversationand the questions that you can
have with your boys, based onwhat you just told me.
You were thinking at that timein your life, or not thinking,
or maybe making assumptionsabout, right.
So what a great way for parentsto put themselves back in the
(15:13):
shoes of their children.
And wow, you know, hindsight is20-20.
If I could go back and ask myyounger self some questions,
what would they be?
Why aren't we having thoseconversations?
Ask my younger self somequestions, what would they be?
Why aren't we having thoseconversations?
Yeah, we need to be havingthose conversations, yeah, so,
and maybe we'll have thoseconversations on the podcast
with the kids, which would be alot of fun.
(15:34):
But the other thing that I wasthinking about, as you were
having your birthday this summer, is that both you and I have
outlived our mother.
Erin (15:40):
Yeah, I actually just had
this conversation with Jason
last night.
.
.
Kellie (15:44):
.
.
.
and Marcus and I have had theseconversations and what a
celebration it is for her, ourmom, that both of her daughters
got to outlive her and thatcould be a really difficult
thing for some people even me inmy past life and living, I know
(16:04):
probably for you to reconcilethat reality.
At the same time, I think thatthat really deserves to be
celebrated, that she gave useverything that we needed and
the people Katie, Pop, Jason,Marcus, our own children, our
extended family and friends, ourcommunities but she positioned
(16:26):
us for greatness and forlongevity and we have learned so
much and we continue to learnwith every passing day.
So, anyhow, that just poppedinto my head as you were talking
about being 19, turning 20 whenPop and Katie got married.
Thank you for interjectingthose thoughts.
That's really beautiful and,yes, I definitely think that we
(16:49):
should have more conversationsabout that, and we have talked
many times about inviting ourkids to join us in episodes on
the podcast and I think thatthat would be really special and
we definitely need to get thatscheduled One of the things that
was really fun during our timewith Pop and Katie in Oregon
this summer after the recordingand release of their episodes
(17:11):
was their reflection on it, andI shared that.
Marcus and I actually listenedto all the episodes again going
up, and one of the things thathe and I talked about so much on
the road.
And then he had some reallybeautiful conversations with
both Pop and Katie while we werethere about how much he learned
about them and their livesthrough those episodes, through
(17:35):
the conversations, and how muchhe came to understand the
dynamic of the relationshipswith them, between me, between
you, between all of us together,and really what an inspiring
blended family.
Erin (17:51):
Yes, we really created
intentionally from the get-go.
Yeah, we did and then what thathas looked like and how that
has carried over into our ownrelationships and our own
families.
You know of being step parents,then, and everything that that
entails and means.
(18:12):
So there's so many moreconversations and reflections to
be had on all of that for sure.
Kellie (18:20):
Okay, sorry, I'm just
gonna say it right now, because
we did say it might be a littlebit ridiculous this episode.
So we may be here, there andeverywhere, but let's just call
it what it is (18:30):
parenting is
fucking hard.
Erin (18:34):
It's so hard.
.
.
Kellie (18:35):
.
.
.
and step parenting is reallyreally hard.
And being a kid is really hard,and being a step kid is really,
really hard, and you and I havebeen in all of these positions
now every single one of them.
So we actually get to speakfrom a place of experience and
(18:56):
we get to put our learning andour growing wisdom through
maturity into practice.
Yeah, that life isn't easy.
There are curveballs aroundevery corner.
Families look so different.
Every family is such a study ofhuman behavior and, as my
daughter likes to tease mealmost every time she sees me,
(19:19):
my favorite line in the wholeworld is human behavior is so
fascinating, but it really is.
And you start to put all thattogether inside of family
dynamics and it's reallysomething.
And I am just grateful thatkind of pulling full circle, the
episodes with Katie and pop andeverything that we learned
about them, everything that weexplored during those
(19:42):
conversations, the beautifulaspects of you and I, the
relationship that we have withPop as daughters, because he
loves being a girl dad but alsothat we were adopted, we were
chosen and we never felt likestepchildren even though we were
stepchildren.
(20:02):
I know unequivocally he neverfelt like a stepdad even though
he was a stepdad.
And in my own life.
Now, later, as a divorced momwho brought together a blended
family, I just thought that thatwas the way it worked right.
(20:22):
It was going to be veryseamless and it was going to be
very easy and everybody wasgoing to get along.
We had to work harder in oursecond blended family experience
, with Katie and four grownchildren that we all consider
siblings, sisters and brothersand all of that.
It's not like anything.
We were all adults when we cametogether, yeah, but when we
(20:45):
first came together with pop,with mom, it was just seamless.
Erin (20:49):
Yeah, it was super easy.
Kellie (20:50):
We talked about it on
the episode that there was just
nothing.
I mean, Scott and you and Iwere just siblings from the very
get go.
We were just siblings, but weall lived in the same home.
There wasn't back and forth,there wasn't visitations and all
that kind of stuff.
There were some crazy familydynamics, but we got through
them all and in our own lives ithas been different, and I think
(21:13):
that those are going to betopics that we will discuss on
the podcast, especially as wehave experts on who really help
people navigate the difficultiesand complexities of blended
families, because that involvesa lot of life a lot of loss, it
should always involve love.
It doesn't always involve a lotof love and legacy and I think
(21:36):
if we can help bridge that gapand kind of fill in some of
those holes for other peoplethrough our own experience,
that's a really beautiful giftto bring into the world.
Erin (21:45):
Yeah, I completely agree.
I look forward to having all ofthose conversations Because,
yeah, you know, our, our taglineis life, love, loss and legacy,
and you know we have spent alot of time in conversation
specifically surrounding lossthrough death.
We had a beautiful conversationwith Jenny that included loss
(22:10):
of limbs.
But I look forward to divinginto more real life stuff that
we can wrestle through.
And between the two of us wehave lived a lot of life and
between the two of us we havelived a lot of life.
I do hope that we can impactlisteners and inspire somebody
and shed light on certainsituations.
Kellie (22:33):
Yeah, I think that
that's going to be a lot of fun.
I think it's going to addcontinued dynamics and dimension
to the episode, which is reallygreat as well.
(23:07):
So let's take a little diversion.
We've talked a little bit aboutwhere we went with our summer
(23:30):
vacation to Bend with Pop andKatie.
We walked them.
Boy, I'll tell you there's oneI want to give a little shout
out to Bend, Oregon.
So we always go to Coeurd'Alene, Idaho.
Been there every summer 15years.
That's where we spend oursummer vacation.
That's where our kids grew upspending their summer vacation,
and this year we decided wewanted to do something a little
(23:52):
bit different, check out a newplace, and so it takes a little
bit of time to kind of get yourfeet right underneath you with a
new place and what is it like?
And we've only ever driventhrough there, not really spent
a whole lot of time.
Well, it's a beautiful community.
The Deschutes River runsthrough there.
There's tons of wateractivities, great mountain
(24:13):
biking, wonderful places in themountains and the surrounding
area to go explore fabulousrestaurants.
Really cool place.
In fact, we learned while wewere there because they have
more roundabouts than any townI've probably ever been to in my
life.
Even though Grand Junction istrying to become the roundabout
capital of the world, bendactually won the roundabout of
(24:39):
the country or some big award.
I'm going to get in trouble.
I probably should haveresearched this before I said it
, but anyhow, in 2023, they wonsome big national roundabout
award.
Now, first of all, I didn't knowthat was a thing which is kind
of funny but kind of cool.
But their roundabouts areabsolutely beautiful.
Erin (25:03):
I love it.
Kellie (25:03):
They are full of flowers
and so there's the nature
aspect that gets pulled in lotsof beautiful sculptures and
statues.
But they've done a great jobwith that community and one of
the things that we learned whilewe were there is how complex
and interconnected their trailsystem is, so there is almost
(25:24):
not anywhere you can get that.
You can't take a bike or hikingtrail to get there.
Wow, which is really, reallycool.
So we walked Pop and Katie, forthree days and it was a lot of
fun for all of us.
But that's such great time tohave conversation, to connect
(25:45):
together as family and to justshare that time.
So we really really enjoyedthat.
So let's move to a little bitabout your adventure this summer
before we backtrack, to finishout the overview of our episodes
and our 11 days in thewilderness off grid.
Erin (26:07):
Oh my gosh, I cannot wait
to hear more about that.
Yes, we had an incredible trip.
Jason and I went to Montana,which is where he grew up, and I
had been to Montana before, butI'd only ever been to the
Bozeman area and never seen anyother part of the state.
(26:28):
So we flew up.
We flew into Helena, rented acar and from there we were road
warriors, which is what we liketo be.
But we did decide to fly up sothat we could have more time in
Montana, and we spent our firstcouple of nights in a little
town about an hour or so southof Helena called Townsend.
That's where Jason spent hisearly years.
(26:49):
His cousin Zach and his wifeLacey hosted us.
They have a beautiful ranch, sothey hosted us for two nights
and so it was really fun for meto meet them and for Jason and
Zach and Lacey to reconnect.
We had a lot of fun.
They played tourists with usfor a day, and so we got to just
(27:11):
walk all around town and seesome cool shops and pop into
some fun bars and have a goodburger, like we just had so much
fun.
We also got to enjoy a reallyfun evening at.
Some friends of theirs werehaving a little small town
Montana 4th of July gatheringand they had met a musician in
(27:35):
Vegas and brought him up to dothis kind of little private
concert.
There was probably 40 or 50 ofus there, and so we just had
great food, great drinks,incredible music and it was just
a really really fun experience.
Absolutely gorgeous setting.
I think I sent you pictures ofthat sunset that night.
(27:58):
That was just.
I mean, they call it big skycountry for a reason.
It was just stunning andbeautiful.
So that was great.
And then on the 4th of July, wehit the road to drive west to
the Flathead Lake area, which iswhere Jason kind of spent
middle school, high school andbeyond, and so got to meet up
(28:19):
with a really dear old friend ofhis and have lunch in Missoula
when we were driving through.
So that was really cool.
And then we were in Jason's oldstomping grounds so Big Fork,
whitefish, kalispell and wedrove through Glacier National
Park, which was on my bucketlist, a site that I'd always
(28:41):
wanted to see.
I'd never been to Glacier andmost people enter the west side
of Glacier National Park anddrive up and then turn around
actually, and go down the sameway, and now they do a timed
entry at the west side ofGlacier.
You have to buy passes and it'sall timed entry.
Well, that doesn't exist if yougo in on the east side, and so
(29:04):
we went out of our way and drovea little further so that we
could enter the east side and wedrove the entire going to the
sun road.
We drove all the way over thenand exited on the west side of
Glacier and it was stunning.
It was so beautiful.
Jason humored me and stoppedevery time I was like stop, I
(29:27):
want to hike to that waterfallor I want to take a picture here
and we saw bighorn sheep anddeer.
We saw like just some funwildlife.
I did not see a moose and I didnot see a bear on this trip,
but we saw some fun wildlife andwe just had perfect weather and
it was gorgeous and I felt likeevery other turn.
(29:48):
I was like, are we in theUnited States?
It just felt otherworldly.
It was so stunning andbeautiful and, much like you and
Marcus, we just have suchbeautiful conversation.
We just love to be in the car,we love the conversation and
typically we're talking, but ifnot we've got great tunes
(30:09):
playing and snacks and we justlove being on the road.
So we had a really incredibletrip.
It was awesome to meet some ofJason's family and friends and
you know we talked a lot aboutour podcast on that trip as well
, and just what we're doing andthe conversations that we're
having and and it was beautiful,a beautiful time of reflection.
(30:33):
Jason's always so encouragingand really talking about what's
next and what's coming up, andthat was really exciting too.
So it was a much needed timeaway from again just the hustle
and bustle of everyday life andwe just I didn't even open my
(30:53):
computer, I did zero work and,yeah, exactly, I love it and
just really was present in themoment on that vacation and I'm
so grateful.
It was wonderful.
Kellie (31:07):
Well, it sounds amazing.
Glacier National Park is one ofour very, very, very favorite
places in all the world.
I think if there's one big lossthat I hold in my soul and my
spirit since COVID, we lost somuch during COVID, right, but so
many great things also came outof that period of time.
(31:28):
But one of the losses that cameout of that period of time is
the freedom that we had to visitnational parks unencumbered.
You know, like Zion NationalPark is in our backyard and we
would spend time there almostannually and we could just drive
down, get a place to stay, eatat the little cafe, hike all of
(31:49):
the hikes without any issuewhatsoever.
And now we can't go becausethere's just not the freedom to
be able to do that.
It's just like what you had todo with the East versus the West
entrance.
Now, none of that negates thebeauty and the breathtaking
experience of being there, evenwith all the yeah.
(32:12):
But I think part of what welove is life is so full of
people all the time, 24-7, 365,that it's those breaks from
everyday reality, from thehustle and bustle from all of
the people, even in our owngrowing communities and Austin
especially as the capital ofTexas.
(32:34):
Yeah, it's nice to get away, soI'm so glad that you had in.
The pictures are amazing.
We should post some pictures ofeach of our trips on the
website.
So we have that.
Erin (32:45):
Oh yeah, we will.
That'll be great.
Kellie (32:47):
All right, where do we
go from here?
Sister, you want to keep goingon our episode reflections?
Erin (32:58):
Yes, let's do that.
I would like to, because we didspend kind of more time, you
know, reflecting on Katie'sepisode and some of that.
Is there anything in particularthat you want to discuss in
regards to Pop's episode?
Kellie (33:10):
Boy, you know, here's
the bottom line with Pop.
You know he's been in our livesnow for almost 45 years.
You know the vast majority ofmy life and literally almost all
of your life, he's been such astrong presence.
He's such a dynamic man.
When we literally talk about aperson who is, or has the
(33:36):
potential to be, an expert inliterally everything on the face
of the planet which,self-proclaimed he said in the
episodes if I'm interested, I'mgoing all in All, in Everything
I possibly can about it untilI'm not interested in learning
anymore about it.
And then he moves on to thenext thing, and that may be 5, 8
(33:58):
, 10, 45 different things he hasgoing on at one time.
So in his own right, he's anamazing human being.
Again, there were parts of hisearly child upbringing and his
experiences in the military andthrough medicine that were new
or re-familiar through theconversation that we had, but I
(34:20):
think what really struck me inthe episode was his raw
vulnerability and honestconversation, and we talked
about this when we were togetherthis summer about the loss of
Laurie.
And you know, when you'renearly 45 years past the losing
of your firstborn daughter atthe very tender age of 16, she
(34:44):
was just a couple of weeksbefore her 17th birthday when
she was in that car accident andwhat that does to shift your
reality, not just as a parentbut as a human being, and, in
his case, shifted his role as afather not just to Lori but to
Scott, and went from being ahusband to being single and
(35:07):
trying to maintain some sense ofreality.
In the midst of all of that,and when he was talking about
the difficulties of not beingable to be the dad that he
wanted to be to Scott and nownot being able to be a dad at
all to Laurie, and theimpediment of his work as a
(35:30):
physician, where he couldn'ttake time off, you couldn't
leave the operating room, youcouldn't exit yourself from the
reality of the situation Because, yes, you just had this loss,
but now you're trying to savesomebody's life.
Yeah, and just how to?
How to manage all of that?
I just my level ofunderstanding and awareness and
(35:51):
respect for how he navigatedthrough all of that and then,
within very short order, met momand opened up his arms
completely and fully - big bearhug to you and I - and the rest
is history.
That was a special part of thatconversation for me.
Erin (36:16):
Yeah, that was really
incredible for me as well, and I
continue to just learn abouthim and I love that so much that
I'm always learning new tidbitsand things that I didn't know
before, and so that was reallyincredible for me too.
One of the things that was mostprofound about that conversation
and I think that you know, theability to be very cognizant and
(36:37):
aware of this just comes withage more than anything, life and
just all of the things is Ihave a whole new appreciation
and a different perspective onthe immense amount of loss that
(36:58):
Pop has faced in his life, andthat type of loss could really
harden somebody.
They'd be blameless for that.
You could absolutely understandhow somebody could experience
all of that and just eventuallykind of be closed off to the
world and to all of that.
(37:19):
And pop just seems to have thisbottomless love tank I mean you
would just never know unlessyou knew right Like he's just so
warm and friendly and invitingand compassionate and makes
(37:39):
every person that he's talkingto feel like they are absolutely
the most important part of hisday and he just gives of himself
abundantly to the people thathe loves especially.
I just really have a lot ofrespect and admiration and that
seems to grow by the day.
Actually, when I realized thathis love knows no bounds.
(38:03):
It just seems limitless.
And to be on the receiving endof that type of love from
another human being is reallyremarkable.
Kellie (38:15):
It is, it's really the
epitome of unconditional love.
I think that men especiallywould really benefit from
listening to his episodes, notjust his journey through life,
but also his commitment tobecoming the keeper of the boxes
at our mom's request and doingit out of a labor of
(38:39):
unconditional love.
I mean, Marcus and I talked alot about that, specifically on
our drives and all of ustogether when we were in Oregon
this summer, and his reiterationof the fact that that wasn't a
big ask.
Of course I was going to dothat.
I mean, that is your final wishand we get to do it together.
And I think that really camethrough beautifully in those
(39:01):
episodes as well.
Is that and I've never heardhim say this before?
But when he said I felt likeevery single time I gave you
girls one of those boxes, yourmom was handing it to me and I
was handing it to you.
That was such a beautifulremembrance for him of the
(39:23):
passing off of that box from her, almost in the moment the
rattles were from the two ofthem together no-transcript.
(39:58):
But he does have that reservoirof love that beats through his
chest and it's palpable all thetime.
And you know, as you and I andScott are aging, the reality is
that we're facing the realitythat our parents are aging.
Scott's mom, Julie, has died.
(40:19):
Our mom, Marsha, has died Atsome point.
Unless we all go first, we'regoing to eventually have to say
goodbye to the two of them, andI'm finding, erin, that these
conversations are giving mespace to prepare for that and,
at the same time, prepare forthe reality that all of our
(40:43):
children are someday going tohave to say goodbye to us.
And, as we mentioned earlier,we both outlived our mom, which
is great, because our childrenare now nearing or beyond the
age we were when we lost aparent, and so that in and of
itself is really cool.
And that comes back to that howare we living our life to be a
(41:05):
legacy while we're still here,which means that we spend the
time we have the conversationswe engage in the questions, we
learn from our children while westill have the ability to do
that, and so that time with Popand Katie was very special this
summer, especially on the heelsof those conversations.
(41:28):
I just wanted to reiteratethrough all of that that I agree
with you about that reservoirof unconditional love and that
is really showing up for me inthe way that he is embracing the
giving back that he's doingright now as a bus driver and I
(41:48):
have so much respect andadmiration for both Pop and
Katie and how they are givingback to their community that
they are staying very active.
Katie is a lover of nature.
She's got these unbelievablegardens and flower beds and
arches and arbors.
She's incredible their big deckwith all their hummingbird
(42:13):
feeders and you know all thatthey are both pouring into in
their lives now, individuallyand together.
But Pop's love for and thestories that he shares with not
just the children, that he is apart of their lives and so he
gets to give that bottomlessreservoir of energy like he has
(42:34):
somewhere to kind of displacethat on a daily basis.
But the story is two of theparents that thank him, that
appreciate him, that know thattheir children are safe and well
cared for, well disciplinedmaybe because we know he's good
at that too.
I'm sure he has a no whiningsign on his bus and if he
(42:58):
doesn't, he needs to rememberthat was always in his office no
whining.
That's funny, but anyhow, yeah,we could talk all day long, we
could talk for four more, fivemore episodes.
Just about a recap of Pop'sepisode.
Erin (43:13):
It's so true.
And you know, the other thingtalking about his reservoir of
unconditional love is that hetalked, you know, really openly
in his episode that he didn'tknow if he could love again
after mom passed and that Katiereally helped him believe that
(43:33):
having love again was possibleand how instrumental she was in
delivering the boxes to us andthe very special role that she
felt like she played in being apart of something that was so
special and so sacred and shevery intentionally did
(43:53):
everything that she could toensure that it stayed that way
and kept him on track with thetimeline of giving those boxes
and all of that.
But I equally love that theboxes, you know, were always
delivered by Pop.
But I also think it's veryspecial that Katie played the
(44:15):
role that she did in ensuringthat each of those boxes was
delivered according to mom'swishes, which I think is a
really great testament to whoshe is as a human being and also
their love that has continuedto develop through the years and
the really special place thatthey find themselves in in their
(44:37):
80s, at this stage of theirlife, very physically active,
very go-getting, I mean, theyare in the top echelon of people
who are living at their age.
They are living well, they are,which is really beautiful to
see.
Kellie (44:52):
Yeah, that is really
beautiful.
Erin (45:35):
So I would love to pivot
this back.
I think what might be a reallybeautiful way for you to
incorporate not only your 11days completely off grid in the
wilderness, but I would alsolove to weave that into the
(45:59):
episode that we also want toreflect on, which is Marcus's.
And I don't know you and I havenot had this conversation, so I
don't know, because I do knowthat Marcus spent so many years
of his life in the PacificNorthwest and in Oregon and we
talk about that in episode 12.
(46:21):
And so I would love for you tojust share really openly about
that experience of being inOregon and if there was any kind
of weaving of that story intoyour own summer adventure story.
Kellie (46:36):
Gosh, that's a really
great question.
Yeah, we're doing this on thefly, no plan whatsoever, raw,
real and a little ridiculous.
It's a really great question,Erin, and in fact, I really
appreciate the question.
I will preface this by sayingyou know, we've done the Pacific
(46:56):
Northwest tour, road trip tourevery year for 15 years and so
sometimes we go from Colorado upthrough Utah, Wyoming, Montana,
drop down into Idaho and thenhome, Nevada, California, Utah
all the way back.
Sometimes we go up the middleof Idaho.
Sometimes, you know, it'salways a different route and we
(47:17):
do everything that we can tostay off the interstate and be
on two lane highways.
It takes us a little bit longer, but we see so many things and
have so many experiences,especially in and out of little
towns, which we know.
Eventually we want to be in asmaller community, a community
where number one, there's water.
(47:39):
.
.
Erin (47:39):
yes, that's a must!
Kellie (47:41):
.
.
.
lakes, rivers, streams, oceansand lots of nature, but where,
as you give to, you receive from.
You know, you and I were bothborn and raised in Western
Colorado.
I am still here and this placeis so different than when you
and I grew up here.
It's been discovered.
Everybody's building everywhere.
(48:02):
It's harder and harder toafford things.
At the same time, it's bringingin culture and it's bringing in
culinary experiences and it'sbringing in all of these great
things.
But we do know at some point intime, whether we stay partially
here or leave here, that we wantto be in smaller communities.
So as we travel through thePacific Northwest, we're always
(48:23):
on the lookout.
So we get off on our two laneroads At the same time.
We kind of plan our trips insuch a way that we're exploring
new, uncharted territories butalso revisiting places that have
been either meaningful andimportant to us or especially to
Marcus, and that was part ofour intention this year and I
(48:45):
would say, in big part hisintention and I don't know,
because I didn't ask him, ifthat was a spin off from some of
the conversations that we'vebeen having over the last eight,
nine months of putting thispodcast and these stories
together, or if that's justsomething that he was really
enthusiastic and excited to do.
(49:06):
Either way, we do have a lot ofreflection during our road time
about where he grew up, theexperiences he had with his mom
and his dad and his sister.
Unfortunately, the relationshipwith his mom and his sister is
estranged r ight now.
His dad is gone.
And so his family circlecenters around me Savannah, Reis
(49:32):
, Lily, and our granddaughterReighn.
And so I think that allowsMarcus to really have this
opportunity to remember all ofthe greatness of the time with
his grandparents.
We'll be looking at a map andhe'll say, "Our grandparents
took us from here over to here.
This is what they must havebeen thinking.
(49:53):
You know, they went fastesttrip to the coast, or whatever
it might be, because we spent somuch time in Oregon this summer
, I think that it did bring homesome more memories, and as we
listened to this episode againwhile we were traveling, there
were a lot of stories beautifulstories, even beyond what
(50:16):
listeners are going to hear inthat episode about the years
that he got to spend with hisdad.
Yeah, both the really beautifulexperiences and the really
difficult experiences, thehealth and the illness, the
fishing, and the times where hisdad couldn't get out and do
(50:36):
anything.
Yeah, and everything in between.
And so what I was going topreface earlier and I'm now
coming full circle is Katie,after she listened to the
episode, which was after theyhad visited us in Oregon, sent
Marcus a message and said Ilearned so much and it was also
(50:57):
really telling to me how muchbeing in Oregon, being in that
specific part of the country,nourishes your heart, and so
that was to me really cool, andso that was to me really cool,
(51:33):
and I'm also really proud of myhusband.
I'm really proud of the way thathe shared his story with you,
and you and I hadn't talkedabout that either.
You know, we didn't know reallyexactly where that whole
conversation was going to go,and the topic of suicide is
difficult.
So many people know people whohave either taken their life for
whatever reason, or they knowsomebody who knows somebody who
has had to navigate that journey, and that's a different one.
(51:53):
It's a difficult one, andMarcus approached it in the
moment with a level of consciousawareness of what it was, how
it was and why it was that Ifind very inspiring.
Not easy.
It's still not easy to thisday, but I do find it inspiring
(52:15):
and I do think, as he said, if Ishare the story, maybe it will
help somebody else navigate thisjourney with more simplicity,
ease and grace, because nobodyran a four minute mile until
somebody broke the barrier andran it, and so I think to open
up about that in the way that hedid was very vulnerable and it
(52:39):
was also very authentic.
Erin (52:41):
It was, it was a really
beautiful conversation around a
very fragile topic and evencircling back to what we had
talked about earlier in this thedanger of making assumptions,
and I think that suicide is oneof those circles in which those
(53:03):
of us who are left behind,regardless of the level of
closeness, but I just think thatyou know, for anybody left in
the wake of somebody making thatdecision to take their own life
, it's maybe even easier toassume the why behind it or what
was going on or in.
There's so many questions andMarcus provided this shift in
(53:28):
perspective that I think is veryunique and really beautiful to
acknowledge his dad and so muchof the pain that he was living
in physical, emotional, all ofit.
And while we might not trulyquote unquote understand why
somebody makes that decision,but to honor it as their choice
(53:52):
and then to navigate throughthat grief with maybe a little
bit different perspective and Iwould venture to say that maybe
suicide more than any other typeof death to have a conversation
about the ability and thechoice to find joy through that
and to, like Marcus said sobeautifully in one of our first
(54:15):
episodes right To choose to turnthat grief into gratitude,
gratitude for so many differentthings.
It's just really beautiful.
So it's a very, very moving,powerful, vulnerable, raw, real
conversation and one that Iintend to re-listen to.
Yeah, I know, it's Jason's.
(54:36):
Actually, Jason has expressedseveral times that, while he
loves all the conversationswe've had and all of our
episodes and he gains insightand little nuggets of wisdom
from each and every one thatepisode is Jason's favorite and
really touched his heart in areally profound way.
Kellie (54:55):
Wow, that's so beautiful
to hear.
I have to tell you, Erin, and Ihave told Marcus several times
over.
.
.
I'm proud of all of ourepisodes but it is my favorite
episode too.
And there's so much in thatepisode that goes beyond the
topic of suicide.
(55:23):
That was just a really smalltopic in how he lost his dad.
The whole episode was "n myfather's footsteps, the father I
lost, the father I've become,and so there's so much in there
about his dad's growing up, hisjourney from Brooklyn out West,
and what was not included in theepisode is his dad hitchhiked
(55:45):
across the United States,
Erin (55:48):
WHAT?
!
Kellie (55:49):
I know.
We were talking about it on ourroad trip.
Can you believe it?
Like, think back to being.
.
.
what?
He had to be.
.
.
he was born in the forties sohe had to be had to be in the
50s, early 60s, right?
Yeah, early 60s.
He left Brooklyn, New York,with a suitcase.
You can picture the suitcase inone hand.
(56:12):
That is all he had.
His shoes, his clothes and hehitchhiked across the United
States back when you could dothat, it was a different time.
Los Angeles, that's wild.
Like.
Think about that, right?
So think about the tenacity andtenaciousness of that man.
He hitchhiked across the UnitedStates from Brooklyn to LA.
(56:35):
That man was a warrior.
Yep, like it takes a warrior tobe able to do that 100%.
That heartbeat of a warrior iswhat beats inside of Marcus's
chest and I think that sometimes, when you are a warrior, that
can be misunderstood.
And what I loved, what you saidin the episode that was so
beautiful, is sometimes we're awarrior because we need to be
and sometimes we're a warriorbecause we have to be and
(56:57):
sometimes we are because we wantto be.
And I also thought that youknow the connections that the
two of you share.
That was really fun for me,especially about volunteering
for special needs kids.
Yeah, but his conversationsabout being a dad and now being
a papa and being a stepdad, abonus dad to Reis and Lily, and
(57:18):
how much that means to him, andthe things that he looks at now
in hindsight that he would dodifferently, both good and bad.
But that's part of all of ourjourney in life.
I will tell you this, kind ofcircling back to kind of wrap up
his episode and continue withour off-grid time in the
wilderness and leaving alltechnology behind for 11 days
(57:41):
computers, cell phones, textmessages, podcasts, radios, like
nothing.
We had zero technology, exceptthe day we went into restock and
go and we couldn't get backinto the woods fast enough,
right, but while we were on theroad we were talking about his
dad hitchhiking.
And then on our road trip favesplaylist of music is his dad's
(58:08):
favorite song in the wholeentire world by Bill Withers,
Ain't No Sunshine.
And every time that song comeson his spirit just absolutely
fills the space.
And when Marcus talked aboutgoing back to work two days
after his dad's passing andhaving to make that decision to
take him off life support andlet him go and needing to be
(58:31):
with his people, his clients,that was the song that came on
in his truck and where he knewin his heart my dad's telling me
to keep on keeping on right,like going.
And when we get into the woods.
This is part of the reason whywe love it so much, Erin.
It's not just the disconnectionfrom technology.
Nature reintroduces you to whoyou really are.
(58:52):
We come from nature and we arenature and I believe that we
tend to forget that as humanbeings and when we go into the
woods and all of our littlecritter friends are there and
I've got some really fun stories.
There are certain experiencesin nature, and with animals
especially, that are glimpsesand messages from both his
(59:18):
father and our mother the baldeagle, the hawks, the ospreys,
the fish, the little mink family, the mink family that we got to
see this year.
What a story.
That was just such anincredible experience.
But when we sit by the river andwe camp about, our tent is 12,
(59:40):
15 feet away from the river, soit's running all night long.
It's constant and the ions andthe energy and the humidity
that's just coming off of thatriver all the time.
But when we sit there in themorning and we have our coffee,
we sit there in the evening andwe have our rainier beer those
are the conversations we'rehaving is our relationship with
(01:00:02):
each other, our children, ourgrandchild, our family you, Pop,
Katie, all of our family andour parents, who are gone but
still a really, really, reallyactive, beautiful part of our
life, and so part ofdisconnecting for so long is not
just to heal our bodies and ourminds and come back refreshed
(01:00:25):
and rejuvenated and all that andwe hear it, you know some
people say, "oh, you're reallylucky, or oh, good on you that
you get to go do that.
It takes a lot of work, a lotof planning and a lot of
purposefulness to be able topull off a vacation like that
every summer.
(01:00:46):
But it's also something that wecommitted to in the very
earliest days of ourrelationship and said this is a
priority for both of us and weabsolutely cannot imagine our
lives without that time away.
And so I know that people can'talways if they can't create
that in their life or they'renot already doing it.
(01:01:06):
What I do want to encouragepeople to do is how could we
take more three-day or four-daytrips, sporadically or
throughout the year?
How can we weave more time innature, more barefoot time on
the grass or time by the wateror going on a walk and taking
(01:01:27):
out your earbuds and actuallyjust listening to the birds
which kind of pulls us intoMatthew's episode and nature?
I mean we are music and natureis human beings and nature is
music.
I mean it's just musiceverywhere.
Anyhow, that's just a littlekind of highlight of our time
away in the woods and we justwere planning 15 days next year.
Erin (01:01:50):
Yeah, you are.
I love that.
It warms my heart so much thatyou guys do make this a priority
, that you very intentionallyset aside that time, and I'm so
grateful that you had such agreat experience and so many
incredible moments and, asyou're talking about, yes, all
(01:02:12):
your little woodland creaturefriends and the river and the
river, I have reflected onMatthew's episode so much.
It was so powerful.
He's such a brilliant humanbeing and so many of the ties in
(01:02:34):
just life and, yes, our bodiesand music and what it teaches us
.
He know he said somethingreally cool in that episode
where he said I'm not trying toteach music, I'm trying to teach
life through music.
And I feel like there's even alesson that nature has for us in
(01:02:55):
that if we would just, yes,take out our AirPods and just
disconnect and stop scrollingand get away from screens and
just be in nature and listen, tosee the sights and listen to
the sounds is really profound.
So I think that we have a lotto learn from time in nature.
Kellie (01:03:16):
Well, there's so many
harmonies and melodies.
You know, the birds all talk.
To each change in all of that,water has its own rhythm and
(01:03:44):
melody.
So, yes, we get.
Yes, we get to do thiswonderful summer vacation every
year.
We get to go even longer nextyear and I really want to
encourage listeners to startthinking about your have tos as
get tos.
That was one of the greattakeaways from that episode and
(01:04:04):
one of the principles thatMatthew is bringing to the
forefront.
That I think is so beautiful.
Take your have to do list andturn it in.
Your get to do list and yourbody, energetically, will shift
from a negative emotion orfeeling around having to do
(01:04:26):
something to I'm actually alive,I have hands, I have a car to
drive, I've got hot water toclean dishes right.
Instead of I have to do dishes,I get to clean dishes.
Yeah, if we just approach dishcleaning because I know people
in my adult world and in mychildren world that let the
(01:04:48):
dishes pile up in the sink Idon't get it Like.
I just cannot go to bed withdishes in the sink and I cannot
start my day without dishes putaway.
And I approach that as a get tolike.
I get to wash the dishes and Iget to put the dishes away when
we get out of the bed in themorning.
(01:05:08):
It's not, I have to make thebed, I get to make the bed.
Yeah, it's not I have to dothese chores, it's, I get to do
these chores.
It is such a simple gratitudepractice and when you practice
it with enthusiasm and youharness the treasure in it, it's
such an easy, simple principleand I think that the way that it
(01:05:29):
came to him through the 9-11experience and how he has
embedded that into his passionfor being a leader and teaching
leadership and doing it throughmusic and being able to combine
all of that into an upbeatmovement is really beautiful and
I just I can't thank Matthewenough for the time that he
(01:05:52):
spent with us, the work thathe's doing in the world and also
the inspiration that he gave uson our trip to approach
everything and even coming backto from your trip, right,
because there's that re-entryperiod, approaching everything
with more of a get to attitude.
It totally changes how we showup in the world.
(01:06:14):
I think it changes how we showup for ourselves and how we show
up for the people around us,right, the people that we love.
And when we have that shift inperspective of get to, you know
music, as I shared in the soloepisode that I did has been such
an integral part of my lifesince I was a little, little
(01:06:34):
girl.
As I recorded that episode, Ithink the thing that struck out
me the most was the moments thatmom would just sit and listen
to my fingers on the keys, yeah,and the joy that she got out of
that.
(01:06:55):
And sewing and needle pointingand anything crafting
watercolors, pastels, oils,cooking, like you name it, arts
and crafts and gosh, going backto Pop, being a master of all
things.
Mom was a jack of all trades.
I mean, she just covered it all.
(01:07:17):
But music really was somethingthat I feel like started my life
and experience with her andended my life and experience
with her.
I have no doubt that even whenI was gestating for nine months,
she was probably listening tomusic, singing music, dancing to
(01:07:38):
music.
You know 100%.
I mean, I know she was, andwith you too, because we always
had cool music playing in thehouse and you know, while you
were gestating I was poundingaway at the piano, you poor soul
, trying to learn all my songsfor all my recitals with Mrs
Heetland.
I love it, but the very lastthing mom and I did together was
(01:08:00):
lie in bed and listen to"Christopher's Dream by David
Lanz over and over and overagain, and nobody can ever take
that experience away.
Music filled in the space thatwords, there were no words.
That last day that I spent withher, there just were no words.
Number one it was hard for herto talk with all that cancer in
(01:08:20):
her lungs and fluid on her lungs.
And number two, she was scaredand sad and at the same time, I
think, hopeful were for what thenext phase of her spiritual
journey was going to be.
And we talked about that inMatthew's episode.
That music fills a space thatwords cannot feel sometimes, and
I experienced that firsthand,and so that that was really
(01:08:43):
profound and powerful for me.
It was such a beautiful solorecording that you did and an
amazing time of reflection, andI think the tie in, you know, on
the heels of the episode withMatthew and really being so in
(01:09:04):
tune with that musicality ofyour own life was really special
that you shared it with me andwith all of our listeners also
think that it's so beautiful howthen she had such an amazing
career in radio and howobviously important that was and
(01:09:29):
how important music was to herin her life.
Erin (01:09:33):
And I also want to
acknowledge you in how
intentional you are with themusic selections in our podcast,
because you do all of theproduction right and you and I'm
like I don't know, just usethat same clip that you used
(01:09:55):
last time and you're like, no, Ican't do that, I'm like
nobody's gonna notice.
But you would notice, you knowit, and the fact that it's just
important enough to you and thatI know it actually brings you
so much joy to listen to themusic and then to find the
(01:10:18):
perfect bridge in betweensegments or, you know, just
beginning and end.
You have such a gift for it andI personally am so thankful for
it.
But I do also want ourlisteners to know how
intentional you are with it andhow important it is, and I never
(01:10:40):
question it.
I never have to listen ahead oftime and tell you what I like
or what I don't like, because Iknow that you're going to do
such a beautiful job and it'sgoing to be perfect each and
every time, and so I'm reallythankful for the way that you
pour your heart into how musicis woven into this heart project
(01:11:02):
.
Kellie (01:11:02):
Wow, Erin.
Well, I am going to accept andopen that beautiful gift of a
compliment, with its pretty bowon top, which is a story that I
haven't yet fully shared on thispodcast, and we will do that at
some point.
You've brought it up a coupletimes, and that compliment is a
true gift, and so I'm willing toaccept that.
Thank you.
(01:11:23):
That means a lot to me becauseit is purposeful and meaningful.
As soon as you said that, Ithought to Marcus's episode, and
when he was talking about hisdad going onto the Navajo
Reservation and having theability to do it with no gun, no
knife, no protection whatsoever, because he knew he could
handle it and he did it not onlybecause he had to, but because
(01:11:46):
he wanted to, for the safety andprotection of those children,
because that was his job andsocial work.
That music had to be spot on,yeah, and so that's, I think,
just a beautiful example, and soI appreciate that very, very
much, and I think music remindsme of nature too.
In fact, there was a one inMatthew's episode where we were
(01:12:07):
talking about birds and I triedto pull music in that had
tweeting little birds, you know,in it, and so thank you for
that.
I appreciate that.
Erin (01:12:16):
You're welcome, I love you
and I just want to make sure
that you know that I see it.
Kellie (01:12:22):
Well, thank you.
I think the last thing I'll sayabout that episode and the book
"Motherless Daughters by HopeEdelman, which is a great book
for any woman who's ever lost amom, a grandma, knows people who
have.
We're all going to be there.
Every single one of us is goingto be there.
She wrote a book that sheneeded, that she couldn't find.
(01:12:44):
And circling back to Katie'sepisode because I acknowledge
Katie in my solo episode andthank you for the space to be
able to record that.
It was just on my heart.
Yeah, is once you are adaughter, you are always a
daughter is once you are adaughter, you are always a
daughter.
And so, just as Pop wasn't surehe could allow love into his
(01:13:04):
life again, I think you and Iwere also young women you were a
kiddo still when mom died theydidn't know if we could allow
mother love back into our lifeagain, and through Katie, we did
, and it's been a beautifulstory to share.
It's a beautiful story thatcontinues to unfold, and so I
would just end our episoderecaps on that: "Once you are a
(01:13:28):
daughter, you are always adaughter, and I would say, in
regard to nature.
Nature does so many things.
As a health and wellness coach,as a wellness practitioner, as
a genetic health practitioner -all the years that I've spent in
fitness, nutrition, wellness.
.
.
you too - the one thing we knowis that being in nature does so
many good things for us.
(01:13:48):
It reconnects us to ourselves,to each other, to the earth from
which we came and willeventually go back to.
It lowers cortisol, anxiety,depression.
It improves our mood, ourenergy, our focus.
It supports grief and healing,and I think if we want to really
understand what life, love,loss and legacy is all about,
(01:14:10):
then all we need to really do isspend a little bit more time in
nature and turn off the screens, turn off the television, take
out the earbuds and turn off thescreens, turn off the
television, take out the earbuds, even if it's just 10, 15
minutes a day.
Try it, experiment with it andsee what it does to positively
impact and change your life forthe better.
Erin (01:14:32):
I love it.
Thank you so much for sharingall of that.
I couldn't have said it bettermyself, and with that, I hope
that our listeners go out andenjoy nature.
The Sisters (01:15:09):
Hearing the stories
of others helps us create a
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We hope today's conversationoffered you insight,
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(01:15:54):
goes on, resilience matters andlove never leaves.
Thanks for being on thisjourney with us.
Until next time.
Hogs and kisses everyone.