Every year starting 6 years ago, we end June the way we started with an exclusive interview with the one and only Meredith Vieira! Well, she’s back…. and we had a heartfelt conversation about her incredible losses this year of her beloved husband Richard, and her last remaining pet. Please listen to this incredibly candid and beautiful conversation with Meredith.
EPISODE NOTES: One on One with Meredith Vieira - Award-Winning Journalist, Talk Show Host, Game Show Host, Incredible Animal Advocate and All Around Amazing Human Being!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rappaport-to-the-rescue-on-pet-life-radio-petliferadio-com--6667849/support.
EPISODE NOTES: One on One with Meredith Vieira - Award-Winning Journalist, Talk Show Host, Game Show Host, Incredible Animal Advocate and All Around Amazing Human Being!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rappaport-to-the-rescue-on-pet-life-radio-petliferadio-com--6667849/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Live.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This is Pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Rapaport to the Rescue with award winning animal advocate, best
selling author, journalist, and pet products creator Jill Rapaport.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Hi, Welcome to Rapaport to the Rescue. I'm Jill Rapaport,
having such a great time. I'm actually in Michigan right now,
where I was born and raised, and I'm so excited
to be here with my mother and my wonderful sister,
and my brother in law and their four legged fur child, Howie.
(00:40):
We are celebrating my mother's ninety seventh birthday. I say
she's ninety seven years young because she is sharp as attack.
I walk in and she said, I don't know if
I like that lipstick. Last time, you were a better color.
I said, how are your eyes better than mine? And
she did that without even having glasses on. She is
the most intelligent, beautiful, wonderful person. I only hope and
(01:04):
dream I can live a life like she has and
get to ninety seven and hopefully more. I always used
to say when my friends would meet her, they would
all agree with me that she was going to be
If you remember this on Willard's birthday list, Do you
remember Willard Scott from the Today Show, and he would
have the one hundred Smuckers birthdays and I always said, Mom,
(01:26):
you're going to be on that list and one hundred
plus plus plus. So we're on our way. Mom, I
love you. You are the best mother in the world.
And on another wonderful note, the last time I did
my podcast, I was talking to you about my latest
little rescue, Nathan Detroit Rapaport. I named him Nathan in
(01:47):
honor of another hot dog company because he's a little
red Doxy. Detroit my hometown and I love guys and
dall so it was the perfect name. Nathan Detroit Rapaport.
If you remember from my last show, I told you
that this little fourteen plus Can you believe this, This
little fourteen year old Doxy was abandoned on the side
(02:07):
of the road in the Hamptons. His paws were bloody,
he's completely deaf, mostly blind, he has a heart murmur
in large prostate, major dental disease, and they left this
little angel to fend for himself. Can you believe this?
But as luck would have it, and I say his
fate would have it, he ended up with me. And
(02:29):
I cannot tell you what this little angel is like.
He sleeps on my shoulder every night, and I feel
like he's getting younger. He's like Dorian Gray. Ever since
he's been home with me for the last couple of weeks,
he's starting to run around. He barks. You know, it's
a funny bark because he's deaf. But he knows when
the food is coming, he knows when it's dinner time.
(02:50):
And when he sleeps, Boy does he sleep. And it's
as if I had him from the minute he came
out of his mother's womb. I couldn't love him more
as if I saw him being born right before my eyes.
And he could be older than fourteen. But you know what,
he's going to have the most blessed and beautiful life
with me now for as many years and I say
(03:12):
years as I know I'm going to have him. And
Nathan Detroit, thank you for giving me the most beautiful
gift in the world by coming into my life. Okay
on those two very sentimental I'm tearing up here notes.
We have the most special guests coming up. I call
her our good luck Charm. We started this show, would
(03:34):
you believe? Five years ago this month with the One
and only Meredith Vieira. I first got to know Meredith
when she was the co host of The Today Show
and I was the entertainery reporter and then became the
animal advocate. And Meredith is truly one in a million.
There is nobody like her. She is as sweet, as beautiful,
(03:58):
as genuine, and as as she is talented. And every
year we are so lucky to get her back on
the show. Every year she marks a new year for
us on Rappaport to the Rescue by joining us, and
we always catch up with her and hear what she's
up to. She's a huge animal lover. We met and
bonded over her dog, Jasper, and she's had several losses
(04:22):
over the years, but this year in particular, Meredith has
gone through a very very difficult time and she is
going to be here coming up to talk about that
and all of the incredible things in her life. She
is truly a very very special human being and I
am so lucky to have her back again. So please
(04:44):
stay tuned when we come back. Meredith Theera.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I want to know who the latest trendsetters are in Hollywood.
Tell about Irish setters, find out who's been spotted with spots, cowing.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
With her, jow with Pucci.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Get this goop on all the latest celebrity pet pattern
right here, pet Life Radio, Let's talk pets.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Let's talk past it, Let's done pets at Life.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Radio, Headline Radio, Petlight Radio dot Com.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Welcome back to Wrap, Report to the rescue. It's that time,
our good luck Charm. We never kick off a new
year without having the one and only Meredith Fierra on
our show. Meredith, can you believe we are starting the
sixth year with you? I cannot.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
If you want to call me your lucky JOm, I'll
take it. I'm so proud of you and Mark and
everything you've done and dyl and it's it's quite an accomplishment.
It's amazing to be on for one season, much less
six exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
That's why you're our good luck charm. And I should
mention about Bill Broloni. He had a very special engagement today,
a big TV appearance, a big show he's working on.
He was so upset, he said, can't we change the date?
Can't we all the time? But he really wanted to
be here. You know how much Bill Berloni loves you
and we range Jasper yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Was Bill hun just like that. I feel like I
saw him on that. Yes, it was Okay, I thought
it was Bill, and I'm going.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Oh my gosh, look at him. Was fun. Yes, because
that's his English bulldog, Kristin Davis's character, that's his dog.
And also he got Sarah Jessica Parker's shoe, her little kitten.
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
So Bill, obviously he's the master of all the animals
on stage and screenally totally, so, Meredith, I said in
the intro over the years, you know, we bonded at
the Today Show and especially over our animals, and we
talk about Jasper and then of course Felipe and all
the animals you've had. But this has been such an
incredibly difficult and very sad year for you. Since we
(06:56):
caught up with you the last time. We always checked
in with you and talked about your family and Richard
and what you were going through and how he was doing.
And you lost Richard.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
We lost Richard actually on Christmas Eve, December twenty fourth. Yeah,
he had a rough summer, was doing better and then
he went into the hospital in October and he never
came out.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
So the only.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Blessing, if there is a blessing, and all of that
was the kids came home. We thought he was coming
out of the hospital. They kept telling us he's getting better,
and then they'd have to put him back on breathing
just for extra oxygen. And so they all came home
at Thanksgiving, and that's when he took a real turn
and they all left their jobs, you know, they took
a leave of absence and they were with him every
(07:40):
single day he passed away, and that, I mean, how
many people have that opportunity. And he was always aware.
So they had lots of conversations. There was a lot
of laughter coming out of the room. A lot of
sadness too. We played a lot of his favorite music.
You know, it's it's always sad to lose somebody, but
at least we felt we had that time with him.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
It's hard to believe, though, I mean, you've been with Richard.
How old were you, like a CUB reporter right.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
With Yeah, yeah, Well it was at CBS, actually in
the Chicago bureau, so it was right in the beginning
of my experience at CBS News and so I guess
I met him in eighty three and we got married
in eighty six, so you know, it was a long
relationship and he had MS. When I met him, he
had been diagnosed at the age of twenty five at
(08:27):
a time when there was nothing they could do for
somebody with multiple scrosses. So he was basically told, you know,
go home and just smell the flowers. We don't have
anything for you. Nowadays they have a lot more, right,
it's in their toolbox. But uh so, yeah, we'd had
a lot of ups and downs. Anybody who deals with
chronic illness knows how it goes and struggles. But he
you know, we also had a fabulous life. And I'm
(08:49):
not taking anything away from that because everybody has their baggage,
whatever it is. And we always thought he would he
would somehow rally because he always did. But this time
it was his lungs. It was pneumonia, and it got him.
It just got him.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
In the end. Well, I know that you're in this
beautiful home right now, your summer vacation place. What is
it like to have the first summer without Richard.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I got up here a couple of days ago. My
brother came with me, and my brother's wife, who had cancer,
suddenly took a bad turn right after Richard died, and
she died January tenth, So there's been a lot of
heaviness in our family and extended family. So he came
up with me just to sort of have a little
solitude of his own. And I was glad to have
(09:34):
another person actually when I walked in the house, because
I didn't know how I would handle this. The Cape
was really Richard's home, right his parents had bought a
vacation home here when he was in college. I'm a
Rhode Island girl. I like Newport in that area. But
he was smart, Richard. He said, well, let's go visit
the grandparents. And so our kids grew up coming to
(09:55):
the cape and for them that was heaven. So it
made sense, and it is for me truly now heaven.
So I mean, walking in, I'm glad I had my brother.
But on the other hand, it's been comforting. I feel
his presence here. His ashes will be scattered here, so
in that way, because I feel he's at peace here,
I'm at peace here. Oh, and your children, I know
(10:16):
you have the most bonded, wonderful family. And Richard was
such an incredible influence on your three children as you,
of course, but you were so close as a family unit.
Are the kids doing okay, Yes, they are doing okay.
Richard did not want a funeral. He was nope, nope,
I just want my ashes scattered. But we wanted something
(10:37):
to honor him, so we decided on a life celebration
that we had at the end of May, actually at
our home in he As his life space grew more
limited because of mobility issues, our home in Irvington, particularly
the little courtyard area we have, grew of more importance
to him. He loved sitting out there. The minute was
warm enough, he was out there with just taking in
(10:58):
the sun, knowing full well that heat is not good
for people with that mess, but he didn't care. He
just loved just putting his face towards the sun and
closing his eyes. So we had it there with turns out,
he had a lot of friends, so it was a
big gathering, but it was truly beautiful and they all spoke,
and you know, I mean, every mother's going to brag
about their kids, I guess, but I could hear Richard
(11:21):
and their voices. They're all beautiful, beautiful speakers. They're funny,
they're thoughtful, they're all the things that he was. And
I think that because of their dad's illness, it was
instilled in them even more the sense of empathy that
we've talked about, and goodness and kindness. And I saw
it and I thought, well, I whispered to Richard, and
(11:42):
so look said, we've done our job. We've done our job.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah, And you know, I know we've talked about this before,
and I know how you feel right now being in
this place that was so special to the two of you.
You must feel his presence all around you. And I'm
sure you feel, Meredith, because you had almost fifty years together.
He's guiding you and he's still very much with you
and your family.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Totally, totally, And when something goes wrong, I know that's
Richard till I go, you know what, come on, stop it.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
He was a little bit of.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
An imp as well, but uh so I wanted to
share with the audience. When you asked me to come back,
I said, well, I don't have any more animals, and
you were like, well, what do you mean our last pet, Felipe.
You mentioned Felipe, who was seventeen like his sister. I mean,
I guess he was almost eighteen and he was the
(12:31):
one holdout. And on January of this year, it was
January nineteenth. He had been you know, he'd been sort
of he had some wasting, you know, he was old
and getting a little frail. But it wasn't time, and
I knew it wasn't time. But he came up and
he sat with me on the couch and I was
just since Richard's passing and then my sister in law's passing,
(12:53):
I've been doing a lot of just sitting like oach
at night, just kind of thinking or whatever it is
you do. And he came on and I'm not kill
I know you'll believe it, Jill. He came right up
to me and he just he put his paw on
me in a way that I thought he was telling me.
He was telling me that it was going to be okay.
(13:13):
And I firmly believe that that. I just felt this
sense of peace from him. And then a little bit
later he left and went over to his bed, and
in the morning I got up pretty early. I was
at four point thirty and he had passed away, and
I really think he was telling me, I'm not going
to put you through what you've just gone through. I'm
going to just quietly go and you'll be okay. I mean,
(13:35):
I get emotional my think about it now because you
and I and Bill have talked about the intuitive nature
of animals and we saw it when Jasper died and
the cat stood sentry next to him as he was
passing away. Like the guardians. I think they know. I
think they they're so loving and it was a moment.
It was really a moment.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Oh my gosh, Meredith, that story is just unbelievable. The
fact that what you went through, literally in a three
week time period, I know, losing your husband, your sister
in law, then Felipe and wow a lot the person
up above he or she was really testing you right
for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Believable And like I said before, I don't like to
dwell on it in the sense that I know people
are going through worse and tragedy strikes everybody, but it's
kind of how you deal with it, Okay. So this
is something that was sent to me in a note
about Richard's passing, and it's a family friend whose mom
(14:35):
had died recently and she sent me this and I
thought it was so spot on in terms of grieving.
She wrote, I had my own notion of grief. I
thought it was a sad time that followed the death
of someone you love, and you had to push through
it to get to the other side. But I'm learning
there is no other side. There is no pushing through,
(14:57):
whether there is absorption. Except grief is not something you complete,
but rather you endure. Grief is not a task to
finish and move on, but an element to yourself, an
alteration of your being, a new way of seeing, a
new definition of self. And I think that's an accurate depiction,
(15:19):
at least from what I've experienced about grief. When people
say to you you'll be fine in a while, or
you know, like you'll get through this, I think this
is more accurate. It's incorporated into your being and that's
not a bad thing. But you know, I just felt
this really explained the journey better than anything I had
heard before.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Stands so true. When our father passed away. You know,
my sister, the wonderful photographer in Miss Solomon, who's sitting
just a few no you feet away here, Hi, Linda.
When our father passed away at only sixty three years old,
I remember the rab I said to us, you'll never
get over it. You just get used to it. Yeah,
and that really.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Is you know, you go on, you never get over it, No,
and I don't think you can. When somebody has touched
your life in that way and that in part of
your life, it's you can't remove it. It's there, and
thank God is there, you know, because with the pain
comes a lot of fond memories and a lot of
joy and moments. And you know, he has a grandson, Cameron,
(16:19):
who will be one on July fourth, and he got
pops as he was called, got to meet that little boy.
And my daughter's having a little girl in November.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Oh congratulations. Ah, how wonderful.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Life does go on. And there's a continuum to families now,
from family to the career front. And we've touched on
this before, Meredith.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I know you were be one of the only people
in the world in this business that knew when it
was time to leave for you, you know, they wanted you,
they wanted to keep you, and you were like, ah,
I want a life and I'm ready to do something different.
That doesn't happen with people in your position. But you
still had maintained an incredible career, but on your terms Yeah,
(17:00):
it was something that I had to do. You know.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
It's part of the reason why I've done so many
different types of jobs. You and I've talked about this.
The more irons you have on the fire, the more
likely you are to keep working because, okay, you don't
want to a journalist. I can do a game show.
I can do a talk show. I can. You know you,
I wear a lot of hats and you love doing
the game show now, I adore it. I adore We
(17:24):
just finished shooting our seventh season.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
That's not hard of it.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
And this season we did what nobody's ever done twenty
five words or less, twenty five words or less. This
season we went live. And the reason we went live
was because to do something that nobody had done in
game show history, and also in order to make our
show stand out, and also because the business is constantly evolving,
so you have to come up with ways to stay relevant.
(17:48):
And I think they knew, well, she knows how to
do live, so let's do it, you know, and I
loved it because it was live. We went live in
New York and Philadelphia and we did very well. So
hopefully the next season we will add more markets to
that and make that the new model for us, that
we will be a live game show.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
It's such a testament to you because game shows come
and go much faster than TV shows. Let's be honest. Yeah,
it's very risky and very few succeed, but they have
Meredith Bierra, so come on.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
You know, I appreciate that. But ultimately, and Alex de
Beek said this, and I've said it many times as well,
if you ever think that you're the star and not
the game, you're soiling mistaken Jeopardy has been on the air.
Alex de Bek was amazing, but he understood, don't get
in the way of the game. And I think that's
very true. If you have a really good game, people
are coming to that show because they love the game,
(18:42):
and your job as the host, if you're good at it,
is to keep it smooth sailing and always elevate the game.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
And I've done that.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
I did that with Millionaire obviously, and I've done that
with this game because I believe in them, and so
if that makes me a good host, I'll take it.
But ultimately, they're not coming for me. They might think
you're a good way into the game, but they either
like the game, or they don't and they happen to
like the game.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Yeah, they love the game. But you're the face of it.
So and what's amazing. You know, you started out such
a hardcore journalist, boots on the ground, reporting than today's
show hosts, and then this other side of you. And
I always knew the zany, wild fun side.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
I'm so happy that I was in news when I was,
and when it had to me a level of integrity
that I don't see now that I don't want to
be unfair because I know there are many many hard
working journalists, for sure, but it feels like we've all
gone into our silos, our news silos. So the people
who are conservative they only watch conservative news. The people
(19:44):
are liberal only watch liberal news. You know, everybody has
their point of view and they want it basically echoed
back to them. And I don't think that's good. I
don't know how you get to the truth just by
regurgerating what you think. But even the liberal people are
being censored. I mean, come on, tell me what's happening.
So you could then be who you are on tebo
(20:06):
news anymore. No, but I think that breeds this alienation
among people instead of sharing our views and really discussing them.
We all go into our bunkers, and some of them
were forced. Like you said right now, the climate in
this country, if you open your mouth, you good luck.
Well look at Harry Moran on ABC exactly. That's a
(20:28):
great example. And when that's happening at a place like ABC,
that that pressure is on. But you know, we've had
this conversation before the minute the being Counters took over
CBS News and I was there when it happened. It
was Larry Tish, Not to put all the blame on
Larry Tish, but it was. It became a business and
the news was a business model. That's when it all
(20:48):
started to change because it was all about profit. It
was the bottom line was the dollar, the almighty dollar.
And that is not the right climate for a news organization. Yes,
and it's heyday, and you stayed away from it. It
was its own thing and it was protected. It was
the fourth estate. And now it's like it's basically an
arm of some corporate greed to me in many ways.
(21:12):
So I can go on and on about.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
But you were starret all three networks, CBS then ABC,
then NBC. And speaking of ABC, have you seen the
Barbara Walters documentary? No?
Speaker 1 (21:26):
What? I don't have who when it went over to
the Disney, I'm just stopping and I said I'm not
getting another one, and somebody said to me, trial watch it,
and then I said, I don't want to do that.
That's not right.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
There were some beautiful shots of you on the view,
but I was wondering because they had a lot of
people speaking about her, and I assume they came to
you because Barbara adored you.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
They came to me and they were very kind, and uh,
it was when Richard was extremely sick, and I just said,
I can't I'm here, I can't do it. And so
it just never worked out. But yet they had like
three dates where there was a possibility of me on
being interviewed. In every case I was at a hospital
(22:07):
and not about to leave. So I have no idea.
I mean, is it good the documentary.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
I hope it is. You know, I found it entertaining.
I would have loved to have seen a lot of
different types of people, and I would have loved to
have seen you in it to get different perspectives of
co workers. But your experience with her on the view,
I would have loved to have heard that, because she
was really quite an amazing human being. Had really changed
(22:33):
your life, didn't she? She did, But she was a
very complicated person. There were a lot of sides to Barbara.
There was the journalist side. She was one of the
most dogged journalists I've ever seen, best prepared because she'd
had to crawl her way and scratch her way up.
I mean, you know, she didn't get a lot of
support in her business. They were not on her side.
(22:54):
It was male dominated, and she was always treated as
lesser than. So she had to.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Prove herself over and over and over, and that brought
a toughness to her. It would be a tough cookie anyway.
I mean, you know she dealt with her dad was
an entertainment what do you call it? The yeah, the
Latin quarter, ye Latin order, and so she had that world.
But her sister was challenged, and so things that she
(23:20):
wanted to do in life she couldn't do, Like she
could never learn to drive because her sister didn't drive.
Things like that. I never heard resentment. She named her
daughter after her sister, But I'm sure there was a
part of her that might've even been a combination of
guilt and a little bit of you know, sibling rival.
We you too, lok, I'm always going to be second
to my sister, even though she understood it.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
But from a working standpoint, when she puts you on
the view not only as a panelist but as the moderator,
that says so much about you because you were really
the driver. You know, she was at the other end
of the car, but you were hired to be the
driver of the team.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
She kind of did want a bar fit, but which
it was always a push and full with her because
I say I'm toasting it or I'm not. Either I
am doing it or I'm not doing it. Because she
always had her opinions and she wasn't shy about sharing them.
But I think part of the reason why she put
me in that role is because she knew my journalistic
skills would play well there and she wasn't planning on
(24:19):
being on all the time. That's why Joy was brought
on there when she wasn't there.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Yeah, Joy's in the special.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Oh, I'm sure Joy was in. But there were people
who were peripheral in her career. But they are names
that probably were in the special too.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
I think that she could be tough, bordering on a
little bit mean spirited, you know. And I think part
of that was the time, like her relationship with Diane
Sawyer was.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Oh they really get into that, Oh they did? Oh yeah,
those two really were pitted against each other. And I've
seen it.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
I've seen it through the years, how they pit women
against each other and there was a lot of jealous
see there.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
And yeah that Meredith, you said, you've seen it over
the years, and we've known people that we've worked with
and we've seen it. But you've never gotten in those trenches.
You've avoided that your whole career. How is that possible
because you were always at the top and you never
had those rivalries or you never engaged in that behavior.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I should say, no, it's not my style.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
I just don't.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Life's too short. I always believed in collaboration. I always
felt that there was more power in the unit than
the individual, and so I was all about that. I mean,
I can't say that I've never been jealous of people,
because I don't think that's true. But I've always i've
sort of also, what is that to a different drummer,
I've always marched to.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
The beat of a different drummery.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
My career was not like a lot of other people's.
It was you know, I did a lot of twists
and turns because I was following what was right for
me in my life at any given moment. And so
I wasn't just the brass ring, because there were many
times I got the brass ring, but then I realized
that's not fulfilling me, and so I swerved off. And
(26:09):
there were times where, you know what, people would say
to me, Wow, what a mistake you just made.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
You gave up this.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Lucrative career for what And I mean they can people
can make you feel insecure pretty damn quickly. But I
always knew at the end of the day that it
was right for me. So I couldn't really look at
other people's careers and compare them because mine was very
much my own.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
It shows, I mean everything you've done all fastest of
the business and always with a great attitude, and everybody
always says you are the sweetest, kindest person in the business,
and they say about you, Well, I didn't reach the
level of success and have the shows in the career
that you've had. Meredith but thank you. I think my
shelter animals may agree with you. Well, what else matter?
(26:53):
I get a lot of wagging tails, you get great comments,
but no, it's really amazing what you've done to you.
I think you might ever go back into a talk
show situation because you're so great at that, and that
you don't quite have to deal with the news in
the same way.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
I don't see it right now, would I really if
the last six months or whatever have shown me anything
that life is short and right now my head is
really in My grandmother name is Lulu because my middle
name is Louise, so LULUs. Well, they'll call me whatever
they want to call me, but I'm really in Lulu mode,
(27:28):
and I want to figure out a way to be
there for my children and my children's children in a
way that is helpful for them and that allows me
to be part of that life. Because I'm getting on
seventy one, I'm not going to see my grandchildren get
up into their thirties and forties. I'm realistic. I pray
to God I see them long enough to what do
(27:50):
you mean my mother's ninety seven? Come? I know that's
good and I know so and I try to stay fit.
So but you know what I mean. I mean I
just right now, that's where my head is, to be
totally honest with you, and I've got a lot more.
I have a lot of decisions I have to make.
And they always say when you're in the midst of grief,
when it's fresh, that's not when you make the decisions.
(28:13):
Allow yourself some breathing space. So I am doing that,
but I want to see another job per se. But
you never know who knows.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Well consuming where you're at now, and you do have
some time to really think about life and enjoy your
life and take time to smell the roses. Say what
about getting another animal rescue dog here, or a kitten
or a cat.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
I really want to, but right now I'm sort of
I'm in the middle of like trying to figure out
other stuff. I really feel taking on an animal and
taking animal too your home, that's a big responsibility. I
don't want to take a dog and then put them
in a whatever, like a what do you call a
boarding board facility? Because I want to go here, there, whatever.
(28:55):
I don't want to do that, So it is it
in my future, I hope. So right now I'm just
trying to get grounded again. My son who has a
little baby, he has a dog, Arthur, and my daughter
has two cats.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
So they are grand doggies and grand cat.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, and I love them. I love that. I mean
when I went to visit my son in Washington, Gabe,
because that's the other two live in New York, Lillian
and Ben, but Gabe and Allien, Cam and Arthur live
in DC. I honestly had as much fun walking Arthur
as I did hanging with Cam because such characters. I
think my son's like, really, Mom, I said, yeah, I mean,
(29:34):
they're both adorable, They're both so much fun. And I
don't know, I just I just really enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Meredith, Again, the most magical time being with you. Thank
you so much for giving us your presence, your intelligence,
your wisdom, and I know what you've been through this year,
and you're just amazing to me. You're an inspiration to everyone,
and thank you for being here.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
I feel the same way.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Congrats on such a successful podcast and deservedly so. And
thank you, Yeah, I say it every year for what
you do for your animals and to keep that on
the forefront of people's minds and to remember what matters
in life, and you are a blessing. So so there.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Oh I'm not going to keep going. I got into
that great note. Thank cares you, darl oh, thank you
all for joining us today on this edition of Rapaport
to the Rescue.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on petlight
radio dot com.
Live.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This is Pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Rapaport to the Rescue with award winning animal advocate, best
selling author, journalist, and pet products creator Jill Rapaport.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Hi, Welcome to Rapaport to the Rescue. I'm Jill Rapaport,
having such a great time. I'm actually in Michigan right now,
where I was born and raised, and I'm so excited
to be here with my mother and my wonderful sister,
and my brother in law and their four legged fur child, Howie.
(00:40):
We are celebrating my mother's ninety seventh birthday. I say
she's ninety seven years young because she is sharp as attack.
I walk in and she said, I don't know if
I like that lipstick. Last time, you were a better color.
I said, how are your eyes better than mine? And
she did that without even having glasses on. She is
the most intelligent, beautiful, wonderful person. I only hope and
(01:04):
dream I can live a life like she has and
get to ninety seven and hopefully more. I always used
to say when my friends would meet her, they would
all agree with me that she was going to be
If you remember this on Willard's birthday list, Do you
remember Willard Scott from the Today Show, and he would
have the one hundred Smuckers birthdays and I always said, Mom,
(01:26):
you're going to be on that list and one hundred
plus plus plus. So we're on our way. Mom, I
love you. You are the best mother in the world.
And on another wonderful note, the last time I did
my podcast, I was talking to you about my latest
little rescue, Nathan Detroit Rapaport. I named him Nathan in
(01:47):
honor of another hot dog company because he's a little
red Doxy. Detroit my hometown and I love guys and
dall so it was the perfect name. Nathan Detroit Rapaport.
If you remember from my last show, I told you
that this little fourteen plus Can you believe this, This
little fourteen year old Doxy was abandoned on the side
(02:07):
of the road in the Hamptons. His paws were bloody,
he's completely deaf, mostly blind, he has a heart murmur
in large prostate, major dental disease, and they left this
little angel to fend for himself. Can you believe this?
But as luck would have it, and I say his
fate would have it, he ended up with me. And
(02:29):
I cannot tell you what this little angel is like.
He sleeps on my shoulder every night, and I feel
like he's getting younger. He's like Dorian Gray. Ever since
he's been home with me for the last couple of weeks,
he's starting to run around. He barks. You know, it's
a funny bark because he's deaf. But he knows when
the food is coming, he knows when it's dinner time.
(02:50):
And when he sleeps, Boy does he sleep. And it's
as if I had him from the minute he came
out of his mother's womb. I couldn't love him more
as if I saw him being born right before my eyes.
And he could be older than fourteen. But you know what,
he's going to have the most blessed and beautiful life
with me now for as many years and I say
(03:12):
years as I know I'm going to have him. And
Nathan Detroit, thank you for giving me the most beautiful
gift in the world by coming into my life. Okay
on those two very sentimental I'm tearing up here notes.
We have the most special guests coming up. I call
her our good luck Charm. We started this show, would
(03:34):
you believe? Five years ago this month with the One
and only Meredith Vieira. I first got to know Meredith
when she was the co host of The Today Show
and I was the entertainery reporter and then became the
animal advocate. And Meredith is truly one in a million.
There is nobody like her. She is as sweet, as beautiful,
(03:58):
as genuine, and as as she is talented. And every
year we are so lucky to get her back on
the show. Every year she marks a new year for
us on Rappaport to the Rescue by joining us, and
we always catch up with her and hear what she's
up to. She's a huge animal lover. We met and
bonded over her dog, Jasper, and she's had several losses
(04:22):
over the years, but this year in particular, Meredith has
gone through a very very difficult time and she is
going to be here coming up to talk about that
and all of the incredible things in her life. She
is truly a very very special human being and I
am so lucky to have her back again. So please
(04:44):
stay tuned when we come back. Meredith Theera.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I want to know who the latest trendsetters are in Hollywood.
Tell about Irish setters, find out who's been spotted with spots, cowing.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
With her, jow with Pucci.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Get this goop on all the latest celebrity pet pattern
right here, pet Life Radio, Let's talk pets.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Let's talk past it, Let's done pets at Life.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Radio, Headline Radio, Petlight Radio dot Com.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Welcome back to Wrap, Report to the rescue. It's that time,
our good luck Charm. We never kick off a new
year without having the one and only Meredith Fierra on
our show. Meredith, can you believe we are starting the
sixth year with you? I cannot.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
If you want to call me your lucky JOm, I'll
take it. I'm so proud of you and Mark and
everything you've done and dyl and it's it's quite an accomplishment.
It's amazing to be on for one season, much less
six exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
That's why you're our good luck charm. And I should
mention about Bill Broloni. He had a very special engagement today,
a big TV appearance, a big show he's working on.
He was so upset, he said, can't we change the date?
Can't we all the time? But he really wanted to
be here. You know how much Bill Berloni loves you
and we range Jasper yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Was Bill hun just like that. I feel like I
saw him on that. Yes, it was Okay, I thought
it was Bill, and I'm going.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Oh my gosh, look at him. Was fun. Yes, because
that's his English bulldog, Kristin Davis's character, that's his dog.
And also he got Sarah Jessica Parker's shoe, her little kitten.
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
So Bill, obviously he's the master of all the animals
on stage and screenally totally, so, Meredith, I said in
the intro over the years, you know, we bonded at
the Today Show and especially over our animals, and we
talk about Jasper and then of course Felipe and all
the animals you've had. But this has been such an
incredibly difficult and very sad year for you. Since we
(06:56):
caught up with you the last time. We always checked
in with you and talked about your family and Richard
and what you were going through and how he was doing.
And you lost Richard.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
We lost Richard actually on Christmas Eve, December twenty fourth. Yeah,
he had a rough summer, was doing better and then
he went into the hospital in October and he never
came out.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
So the only.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Blessing, if there is a blessing, and all of that
was the kids came home. We thought he was coming
out of the hospital. They kept telling us he's getting better,
and then they'd have to put him back on breathing
just for extra oxygen. And so they all came home
at Thanksgiving, and that's when he took a real turn
and they all left their jobs, you know, they took
a leave of absence and they were with him every
(07:40):
single day he passed away, and that, I mean, how
many people have that opportunity. And he was always aware.
So they had lots of conversations. There was a lot
of laughter coming out of the room. A lot of
sadness too. We played a lot of his favorite music.
You know, it's it's always sad to lose somebody, but
at least we felt we had that time with him.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
It's hard to believe, though, I mean, you've been with Richard.
How old were you, like a CUB reporter right.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
With Yeah, yeah, Well it was at CBS, actually in
the Chicago bureau, so it was right in the beginning
of my experience at CBS News and so I guess
I met him in eighty three and we got married
in eighty six, so you know, it was a long
relationship and he had MS. When I met him, he
had been diagnosed at the age of twenty five at
(08:27):
a time when there was nothing they could do for
somebody with multiple scrosses. So he was basically told, you know,
go home and just smell the flowers. We don't have
anything for you. Nowadays they have a lot more, right,
it's in their toolbox. But uh so, yeah, we'd had
a lot of ups and downs. Anybody who deals with
chronic illness knows how it goes and struggles. But he
you know, we also had a fabulous life. And I'm
(08:49):
not taking anything away from that because everybody has their baggage,
whatever it is. And we always thought he would he
would somehow rally because he always did. But this time
it was his lungs. It was pneumonia, and it got him.
It just got him.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
In the end. Well, I know that you're in this
beautiful home right now, your summer vacation place. What is
it like to have the first summer without Richard.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I got up here a couple of days ago. My
brother came with me, and my brother's wife, who had cancer,
suddenly took a bad turn right after Richard died, and
she died January tenth, So there's been a lot of
heaviness in our family and extended family. So he came
up with me just to sort of have a little
solitude of his own. And I was glad to have
(09:34):
another person actually when I walked in the house, because
I didn't know how I would handle this. The Cape
was really Richard's home, right his parents had bought a
vacation home here when he was in college. I'm a
Rhode Island girl. I like Newport in that area. But
he was smart, Richard. He said, well, let's go visit
the grandparents. And so our kids grew up coming to
(09:55):
the cape and for them that was heaven. So it
made sense, and it is for me truly now heaven.
So I mean, walking in, I'm glad I had my brother.
But on the other hand, it's been comforting. I feel
his presence here. His ashes will be scattered here, so
in that way, because I feel he's at peace here,
I'm at peace here. Oh, and your children, I know
(10:16):
you have the most bonded, wonderful family. And Richard was
such an incredible influence on your three children as you,
of course, but you were so close as a family unit.
Are the kids doing okay, Yes, they are doing okay.
Richard did not want a funeral. He was nope, nope,
I just want my ashes scattered. But we wanted something
(10:37):
to honor him, so we decided on a life celebration
that we had at the end of May, actually at
our home in he As his life space grew more
limited because of mobility issues, our home in Irvington, particularly
the little courtyard area we have, grew of more importance
to him. He loved sitting out there. The minute was
warm enough, he was out there with just taking in
(10:58):
the sun, knowing full well that heat is not good
for people with that mess, but he didn't care. He
just loved just putting his face towards the sun and
closing his eyes. So we had it there with turns out,
he had a lot of friends, so it was a
big gathering, but it was truly beautiful and they all spoke,
and you know, I mean, every mother's going to brag
about their kids, I guess, but I could hear Richard
(11:21):
and their voices. They're all beautiful, beautiful speakers. They're funny,
they're thoughtful, they're all the things that he was. And
I think that because of their dad's illness, it was
instilled in them even more the sense of empathy that
we've talked about, and goodness and kindness. And I saw
it and I thought, well, I whispered to Richard, and
(11:42):
so look said, we've done our job. We've done our job.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah, And you know, I know we've talked about this before,
and I know how you feel right now being in
this place that was so special to the two of you.
You must feel his presence all around you. And I'm
sure you feel, Meredith, because you had almost fifty years together.
He's guiding you and he's still very much with you
and your family.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Totally, totally, And when something goes wrong, I know that's
Richard till I go, you know what, come on, stop it.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
He was a little bit of.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
An imp as well, but uh so I wanted to
share with the audience. When you asked me to come back,
I said, well, I don't have any more animals, and
you were like, well, what do you mean our last pet, Felipe.
You mentioned Felipe, who was seventeen like his sister. I mean,
I guess he was almost eighteen and he was the
(12:31):
one holdout. And on January of this year, it was
January nineteenth. He had been you know, he'd been sort
of he had some wasting, you know, he was old
and getting a little frail. But it wasn't time, and
I knew it wasn't time. But he came up and
he sat with me on the couch and I was
just since Richard's passing and then my sister in law's passing,
(12:53):
I've been doing a lot of just sitting like oach
at night, just kind of thinking or whatever it is
you do. And he came on and I'm not kill
I know you'll believe it, Jill. He came right up
to me and he just he put his paw on
me in a way that I thought he was telling me.
He was telling me that it was going to be okay.
(13:13):
And I firmly believe that that. I just felt this
sense of peace from him. And then a little bit
later he left and went over to his bed, and
in the morning I got up pretty early. I was
at four point thirty and he had passed away, and
I really think he was telling me, I'm not going
to put you through what you've just gone through. I'm
going to just quietly go and you'll be okay. I mean,
(13:35):
I get emotional my think about it now because you
and I and Bill have talked about the intuitive nature
of animals and we saw it when Jasper died and
the cat stood sentry next to him as he was
passing away. Like the guardians. I think they know. I
think they they're so loving and it was a moment.
It was really a moment.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Oh my gosh, Meredith, that story is just unbelievable. The
fact that what you went through, literally in a three
week time period, I know, losing your husband, your sister
in law, then Felipe and wow a lot the person
up above he or she was really testing you right
for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Believable And like I said before, I don't like to
dwell on it in the sense that I know people
are going through worse and tragedy strikes everybody, but it's
kind of how you deal with it, Okay. So this
is something that was sent to me in a note
about Richard's passing, and it's a family friend whose mom
(14:35):
had died recently and she sent me this and I
thought it was so spot on in terms of grieving.
She wrote, I had my own notion of grief. I
thought it was a sad time that followed the death
of someone you love, and you had to push through
it to get to the other side. But I'm learning
there is no other side. There is no pushing through,
(14:57):
whether there is absorption. Except grief is not something you complete,
but rather you endure. Grief is not a task to
finish and move on, but an element to yourself, an
alteration of your being, a new way of seeing, a
new definition of self. And I think that's an accurate depiction,
(15:19):
at least from what I've experienced about grief. When people
say to you you'll be fine in a while, or
you know, like you'll get through this, I think this
is more accurate. It's incorporated into your being and that's
not a bad thing. But you know, I just felt
this really explained the journey better than anything I had
heard before.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Stands so true. When our father passed away. You know,
my sister, the wonderful photographer in Miss Solomon, who's sitting
just a few no you feet away here, Hi, Linda.
When our father passed away at only sixty three years old,
I remember the rab I said to us, you'll never
get over it. You just get used to it. Yeah,
and that really.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Is you know, you go on, you never get over it, No,
and I don't think you can. When somebody has touched
your life in that way and that in part of
your life, it's you can't remove it. It's there, and
thank God is there, you know, because with the pain
comes a lot of fond memories and a lot of
joy and moments. And you know, he has a grandson, Cameron,
(16:19):
who will be one on July fourth, and he got
pops as he was called, got to meet that little boy.
And my daughter's having a little girl in November.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Oh congratulations. Ah, how wonderful.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Life does go on. And there's a continuum to families now,
from family to the career front. And we've touched on
this before, Meredith.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I know you were be one of the only people
in the world in this business that knew when it
was time to leave for you, you know, they wanted you,
they wanted to keep you, and you were like, ah,
I want a life and I'm ready to do something different.
That doesn't happen with people in your position. But you
still had maintained an incredible career, but on your terms Yeah,
(17:00):
it was something that I had to do. You know.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
It's part of the reason why I've done so many
different types of jobs. You and I've talked about this.
The more irons you have on the fire, the more
likely you are to keep working because, okay, you don't
want to a journalist. I can do a game show.
I can do a talk show. I can. You know you,
I wear a lot of hats and you love doing
the game show now, I adore it. I adore We
(17:24):
just finished shooting our seventh season.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
That's not hard of it.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
And this season we did what nobody's ever done twenty
five words or less, twenty five words or less. This
season we went live. And the reason we went live
was because to do something that nobody had done in
game show history, and also in order to make our
show stand out, and also because the business is constantly evolving,
so you have to come up with ways to stay relevant.
(17:48):
And I think they knew, well, she knows how to
do live, so let's do it, you know, and I
loved it because it was live. We went live in
New York and Philadelphia and we did very well. So
hopefully the next season we will add more markets to
that and make that the new model for us, that
we will be a live game show.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
It's such a testament to you because game shows come
and go much faster than TV shows. Let's be honest. Yeah,
it's very risky and very few succeed, but they have
Meredith Bierra, so come on.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
You know, I appreciate that. But ultimately, and Alex de
Beek said this, and I've said it many times as well,
if you ever think that you're the star and not
the game, you're soiling mistaken Jeopardy has been on the air.
Alex de Bek was amazing, but he understood, don't get
in the way of the game. And I think that's
very true. If you have a really good game, people
are coming to that show because they love the game,
(18:42):
and your job as the host, if you're good at it,
is to keep it smooth sailing and always elevate the game.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
And I've done that.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
I did that with Millionaire obviously, and I've done that
with this game because I believe in them, and so
if that makes me a good host, I'll take it.
But ultimately, they're not coming for me. They might think
you're a good way into the game, but they either
like the game, or they don't and they happen to
like the game.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Yeah, they love the game. But you're the face of it.
So and what's amazing. You know, you started out such
a hardcore journalist, boots on the ground, reporting than today's
show hosts, and then this other side of you. And
I always knew the zany, wild fun side.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
I'm so happy that I was in news when I was,
and when it had to me a level of integrity
that I don't see now that I don't want to
be unfair because I know there are many many hard
working journalists, for sure, but it feels like we've all
gone into our silos, our news silos. So the people
who are conservative they only watch conservative news. The people
(19:44):
are liberal only watch liberal news. You know, everybody has
their point of view and they want it basically echoed
back to them. And I don't think that's good. I
don't know how you get to the truth just by
regurgerating what you think. But even the liberal people are
being censored. I mean, come on, tell me what's happening.
So you could then be who you are on tebo
(20:06):
news anymore. No, but I think that breeds this alienation
among people instead of sharing our views and really discussing them.
We all go into our bunkers, and some of them
were forced. Like you said right now, the climate in
this country, if you open your mouth, you good luck.
Well look at Harry Moran on ABC exactly. That's a
(20:28):
great example. And when that's happening at a place like ABC,
that that pressure is on. But you know, we've had
this conversation before the minute the being Counters took over
CBS News and I was there when it happened. It
was Larry Tish, Not to put all the blame on
Larry Tish, but it was. It became a business and
the news was a business model. That's when it all
(20:48):
started to change because it was all about profit. It
was the bottom line was the dollar, the almighty dollar.
And that is not the right climate for a news organization. Yes,
and it's heyday, and you stayed away from it. It
was its own thing and it was protected. It was
the fourth estate. And now it's like it's basically an
arm of some corporate greed to me in many ways.
(21:12):
So I can go on and on about.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
But you were starret all three networks, CBS then ABC,
then NBC. And speaking of ABC, have you seen the
Barbara Walters documentary? No?
Speaker 1 (21:26):
What? I don't have who when it went over to
the Disney, I'm just stopping and I said I'm not
getting another one, and somebody said to me, trial watch it,
and then I said, I don't want to do that.
That's not right.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
There were some beautiful shots of you on the view,
but I was wondering because they had a lot of
people speaking about her, and I assume they came to
you because Barbara adored you.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
They came to me and they were very kind, and uh,
it was when Richard was extremely sick, and I just said,
I can't I'm here, I can't do it. And so
it just never worked out. But yet they had like
three dates where there was a possibility of me on
being interviewed. In every case I was at a hospital
(22:07):
and not about to leave. So I have no idea.
I mean, is it good the documentary.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
I hope it is. You know, I found it entertaining.
I would have loved to have seen a lot of
different types of people, and I would have loved to
have seen you in it to get different perspectives of
co workers. But your experience with her on the view,
I would have loved to have heard that, because she
was really quite an amazing human being. Had really changed
(22:33):
your life, didn't she? She did, But she was a
very complicated person. There were a lot of sides to Barbara.
There was the journalist side. She was one of the
most dogged journalists I've ever seen, best prepared because she'd
had to crawl her way and scratch her way up.
I mean, you know, she didn't get a lot of
support in her business. They were not on her side.
(22:54):
It was male dominated, and she was always treated as
lesser than. So she had to.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Prove herself over and over and over, and that brought
a toughness to her. It would be a tough cookie anyway.
I mean, you know she dealt with her dad was
an entertainment what do you call it? The yeah, the
Latin quarter, ye Latin order, and so she had that world.
But her sister was challenged, and so things that she
(23:20):
wanted to do in life she couldn't do, Like she
could never learn to drive because her sister didn't drive.
Things like that. I never heard resentment. She named her
daughter after her sister, But I'm sure there was a
part of her that might've even been a combination of
guilt and a little bit of you know, sibling rival.
We you too, lok, I'm always going to be second
to my sister, even though she understood it.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
But from a working standpoint, when she puts you on
the view not only as a panelist but as the moderator,
that says so much about you because you were really
the driver. You know, she was at the other end
of the car, but you were hired to be the
driver of the team.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
She kind of did want a bar fit, but which
it was always a push and full with her because
I say I'm toasting it or I'm not. Either I
am doing it or I'm not doing it. Because she
always had her opinions and she wasn't shy about sharing them.
But I think part of the reason why she put
me in that role is because she knew my journalistic
skills would play well there and she wasn't planning on
(24:19):
being on all the time. That's why Joy was brought
on there when she wasn't there.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Yeah, Joy's in the special.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Oh, I'm sure Joy was in. But there were people
who were peripheral in her career. But they are names
that probably were in the special too.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
I think that she could be tough, bordering on a
little bit mean spirited, you know. And I think part
of that was the time, like her relationship with Diane
Sawyer was.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Oh they really get into that, Oh they did? Oh yeah,
those two really were pitted against each other. And I've
seen it.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
I've seen it through the years, how they pit women
against each other and there was a lot of jealous
see there.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
And yeah that Meredith, you said, you've seen it over
the years, and we've known people that we've worked with
and we've seen it. But you've never gotten in those trenches.
You've avoided that your whole career. How is that possible
because you were always at the top and you never
had those rivalries or you never engaged in that behavior.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I should say, no, it's not my style.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
I just don't.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Life's too short. I always believed in collaboration. I always
felt that there was more power in the unit than
the individual, and so I was all about that. I mean,
I can't say that I've never been jealous of people,
because I don't think that's true. But I've always i've
sort of also, what is that to a different drummer,
I've always marched to.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
The beat of a different drummery.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
My career was not like a lot of other people's.
It was you know, I did a lot of twists
and turns because I was following what was right for
me in my life at any given moment. And so
I wasn't just the brass ring, because there were many
times I got the brass ring, but then I realized
that's not fulfilling me, and so I swerved off. And
(26:09):
there were times where, you know what, people would say
to me, Wow, what a mistake you just made.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
You gave up this.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Lucrative career for what And I mean they can people
can make you feel insecure pretty damn quickly. But I
always knew at the end of the day that it
was right for me. So I couldn't really look at
other people's careers and compare them because mine was very
much my own.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
It shows, I mean everything you've done all fastest of
the business and always with a great attitude, and everybody
always says you are the sweetest, kindest person in the business,
and they say about you, Well, I didn't reach the
level of success and have the shows in the career
that you've had. Meredith but thank you. I think my
shelter animals may agree with you. Well, what else matter?
(26:53):
I get a lot of wagging tails, you get great comments,
but no, it's really amazing what you've done to you.
I think you might ever go back into a talk
show situation because you're so great at that, and that
you don't quite have to deal with the news in
the same way.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
I don't see it right now, would I really if
the last six months or whatever have shown me anything
that life is short and right now my head is
really in My grandmother name is Lulu because my middle
name is Louise, so LULUs. Well, they'll call me whatever
they want to call me, but I'm really in Lulu mode,
(27:28):
and I want to figure out a way to be
there for my children and my children's children in a
way that is helpful for them and that allows me
to be part of that life. Because I'm getting on
seventy one, I'm not going to see my grandchildren get
up into their thirties and forties. I'm realistic. I pray
to God I see them long enough to what do
(27:50):
you mean my mother's ninety seven? Come? I know that's
good and I know so and I try to stay fit.
So but you know what I mean. I mean I
just right now, that's where my head is, to be
totally honest with you, and I've got a lot more.
I have a lot of decisions I have to make.
And they always say when you're in the midst of grief,
when it's fresh, that's not when you make the decisions.
(28:13):
Allow yourself some breathing space. So I am doing that,
but I want to see another job per se. But
you never know who knows.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Well consuming where you're at now, and you do have
some time to really think about life and enjoy your
life and take time to smell the roses. Say what
about getting another animal rescue dog here, or a kitten
or a cat.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
I really want to, but right now I'm sort of
I'm in the middle of like trying to figure out
other stuff. I really feel taking on an animal and
taking animal too your home, that's a big responsibility. I
don't want to take a dog and then put them
in a whatever, like a what do you call a
boarding board facility? Because I want to go here, there, whatever.
(28:55):
I don't want to do that, So it is it
in my future, I hope. So right now I'm just
trying to get grounded again. My son who has a
little baby, he has a dog, Arthur, and my daughter
has two cats.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
So they are grand doggies and grand cat.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, and I love them. I love that. I mean
when I went to visit my son in Washington, Gabe,
because that's the other two live in New York, Lillian
and Ben, but Gabe and Allien, Cam and Arthur live
in DC. I honestly had as much fun walking Arthur
as I did hanging with Cam because such characters. I
think my son's like, really, Mom, I said, yeah, I mean,
(29:34):
they're both adorable, They're both so much fun. And I
don't know, I just I just really enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Meredith, Again, the most magical time being with you. Thank
you so much for giving us your presence, your intelligence,
your wisdom, and I know what you've been through this year,
and you're just amazing to me. You're an inspiration to everyone,
and thank you for being here.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
I feel the same way.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Congrats on such a successful podcast and deservedly so. And
thank you, Yeah, I say it every year for what
you do for your animals and to keep that on
the forefront of people's minds and to remember what matters
in life, and you are a blessing. So so there.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Oh I'm not going to keep going. I got into
that great note. Thank cares you, darl oh, thank you
all for joining us today on this edition of Rapaport
to the Rescue.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on petlight
radio dot com.
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