"Through Mima’s Eyes: The Power of Family, Friendship & Forever Love"

"Through Mima’s Eyes: The Power of Family, Friendship & Forever Love"

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, lovely people. This is Nicole and this is Samantha.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
With the power of We, we are here to switch
it up and teach you about business relationships and how
to not only survive but make it in Los Angeles.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
In each episode, we will have top influential guests from
the world of real estate. We work hard, we stage hard,
and we get it done the power of we.

Speaker 4 (00:38):
And we're back.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Hi. Hello, how are you?

Speaker 3 (00:42):
This is gonna be an emotional It's gonna be an
emotional one for me.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Okay, okay, why do you think.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
This is crazy?

Speaker 3 (00:50):
So first of all, we've been doing this podcast for
almost five years, can you Yes, it's crazy.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
And this is our last one at this beautiful and
we are so grateful for Tony. He has been amazing,
so cool.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
You know, we do these podcasts to really get out
to you guys about life, about our experiences, and about
what it is to be a family. And it's so
important that, sorry, we get that out because family, in
the end is really what's important, don't you think.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, I mean family gets either everything.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Even when they drive you crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, of course.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
So I thought it would be apropos that our last
guest is someone extremely extremely, extremely special, So I'm going
to talk about her a little bit. She came into
my life when I was twelve years old, and she
was the most incredible human. But she was very detail oriented,

(01:54):
she was very kept my father on track and and
I really didn't know who this girl was. So when
you have a step parents, you don't know who they are.
But she changed my life. So let's talk about her
a little bit. On today's episode, we are honored to
sit down with Harriet K.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Smith.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
She's an entrepreneur way back when, a wife, a mom,
a proud granddaughter, grandmother, educator, and a fearless force on
the forefront of fashion.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
This is very important.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
She wore many hats and each one of them has
shaped a powerful story of her life, her leadership, her love,
and her legacy.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
This podcast is your go to space for real connections
about building both business and family, balancing bold dreams with
everyday life, and showing up powerfully at every stage of womanhood.
Whether you're turning in on your morning drive, taking a
coffee break, or chasing little ones around the house, you're
in the right place.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
So welcome me, min.

Speaker 4 (02:58):
Oh my to be here, and I am so proud
to be here with my daughter and my granddaughter. It's
just fabulous. The only thing that would make it better
is if my grandson were here.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yes, we are definitely a family of force, don't you think?

Speaker 4 (03:16):
Yes, definitely.

Speaker 3 (03:17):
I mean we just came back from a week long
trip in Europe, and let me explain something to you.
This beautiful woman walked twelve thousand steps a day.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
She was doing better than me. Yeah, I was. I
was like chasing behind her. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
So it's really you know, people ask me all the time,
like your mom is. So she's like, she has the
best attitude, she looks beautiful, she doesn't seem her age
like this is always what they asked me.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
What is your secret?

Speaker 4 (03:48):
Please? Jeans? Okay, that's true, but well the jeans help.
My mother lived to be almost one hundred and completely
healthy and.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Ate a lot.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
Yeah, and my sister will be eighty eight and she's
still walking her three miles every day and playing bridge
and going into the city and so on, and lots
of great female genes and luck has a lot to
do with it. And then attitude and friends. Friends are everything.

(04:29):
Since I lost my husband, my social life has revolved
around all of my friends and family, of course, but
friends and doing things and getting out of the house
and going here and going there. And I did a
lot of it when I was married, but now everything

(04:52):
revolves around family and friends, that's for sure.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
I can never get a hold of her. She's always like,
I'm out life, I'm at the getty. I'm here, Nicole,
can you fit her in for lunch? It's it's absolutely crazy.
And I mean, here's another thing. There's so many questions
we have, but one of the main questions someone just
asked me is did she.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
Have a facelift? I was like, I don't think so.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
So now facelifts, Christianner, it's the hottest thing and you
are absolutely beautiful.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
But you know what you used to always tell me,
how would you wash your face.

Speaker 4 (05:28):
With new true gene?

Speaker 1 (05:30):
That's it? And elotion? Crazy? Yeah, the brush, the brush
always brought me the brush.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
But you know it's so important because you know, nowadays
you were an entrepreneur. Back then you were a teacher.
You helped teachers, you know, change their life when they
were in trouble. I mean, explain what you did well.

Speaker 4 (05:55):
I started out in the Bedford Cysts and district of Brooklyn,
straight out of college as a teacher, and I was
there for a few years, spent a summer in Los
Angeles and decided this is for me.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
And what year was.

Speaker 4 (06:11):
That, nineteen sixty eight.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
That's the year I was born.

Speaker 4 (06:15):
Yeah, And I moved out here and within a month,
I had an apartment, I had a job, and I
was set and I was a teacher. Then I became
a special education teacher, then a special ed advisor, so
I worked out of one of the district offices at LAUSD,

(06:37):
and then I kept varying everything. Then I went back
into the classroom, and then I became a consultant, and
then I went back into the classroom, and then I
became an assistant principal, and then I became acting principal.
And I decided this was not the life for me.
It was just all consuming. I needed time to go

(07:00):
home and to work out and to be with my
family and everything. So I went back into the classroom
and I did that for many years, becoming a master teacher,
a mentor teacher, and everything else.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah, And how was it?

Speaker 3 (07:18):
How what would you say was different teaching when you
first started in the sixties, yea and two, you know,
ten years ago or fifteen years ago, when you were
slowing down.

Speaker 4 (07:30):
Well, I did retire almost twenty years ago. Wow, and
teaching got tougher. I started out in New York, and
I think it was more of a commoderate group of people.
It was a little different in Los Angeles, but I

(07:52):
taught in some tough schools, but the kids were always great,
and I made some lifelong friends along the faculty. And
then when I started getting a little bit bored, I said,
this is no good. So I retired and that lasted
a little less than a year, and then I went

(08:14):
back to LAUSD part time, but this time working with teachers,
and that was a whole difference.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
And I don't think that there's a lot of people
that do that anymore. I mean, the tea do they have.

Speaker 4 (08:28):
A lot of I'm not quite sure, because I did
it up until the pandemic and that sort of changed everything.
And at that point everything was going remote and we
were learning not only new techniques for ourselves, but new
techniques to teach the teachers. And I wasn't getting any

(08:49):
satisfaction from sitting in front of the computer. Right of
the job that I loved was getting up, getting dressed,
getting out and being with people and just going into
the next on the computer didn't do it. So I
re retired and I have been busier now when I

(09:10):
was working, and it's great. I had a fabulous career,
and I think back, I touched a lot of lives, children, parents, teachers,
and it was very, very fulfilling, and it was a
great career and it gave me a very good retirement too.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
That's true.

Speaker 3 (09:35):
That's great, that's amazing. Let's get to your personal side, and.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
How many places have you traveled to, because I know
you travel a lot.

Speaker 4 (09:42):
Well. When I was younger, basically the only places I
traveled with friends were around the United States and to
Puerto Rico, because if you've lived in New York, you
went to Puerto Rico all the time, and you know
Florida and California and Massachusetts. But when I met my husband,
we both loved to travel, and we said, let's travel

(10:06):
while we can. And as a teacher, well, first I
was in ap but then a principal and teacher, I
had time off and our first trip, our sort of
honeymoon trip, was to England, London and the countryside, and
then we pretty much took a big trip at least

(10:29):
once a year, and we went to Italy a number
of times, and we went to Israel and Egypt, and
when I retired, we went to China, I remember. And
in between, I don't know, we were in France, we
were in England again, we were on cruises. We just

(10:51):
we even took one of those eight countries in eight
day tours one Christmas. We decided about a week before
for we found this store. I don't remember how many
countries we were in, but the greatest thing that I
remember about that whole tour was that we were the
only Americans. People were all over the world and the

(11:14):
language barrier was not a problem, and we just had
such a fantastic thing.

Speaker 3 (11:19):
So, now that you're in your eighties, what would you
say to our listeners out there?

Speaker 1 (11:26):
What is the best thing about travel?

Speaker 4 (11:29):
It just opens you up. It's something completely new, it's exciting,
it experienced, its new experiences fun. Right, It's so important
to have new experience and new things and meeting the people.

Speaker 3 (11:43):
And meeting People's like my top, Yeah you know what
about you, Nicole?

Speaker 2 (11:47):
No meeting people. I have a question though, So what's
one thing you would tell yourself if you were in
your early twenties right.

Speaker 4 (11:53):
Now, what would I tell myself? I don't know. Don't
be afraid of moving to Los Angeles. It's going to
be great. Yeah, And maybe be a little bit nicer
to my parents. I wasn't always so nice because I

(12:14):
didn't have any patience.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
With them because they were old.

Speaker 4 (12:20):
And don't be afraid, you know, I made that decision
to move to LA and don't be afraid to get
out there and meet people and do things. And there
was always a fallback. I had family in New York.
I knew if things didn't work out, I could always
go back home, and I never did, except for visits.

(12:43):
But it's sort of I tell my grandson who's living
in Florida now, and I tell him that experience it.
Love your life, but if things don't work out, or
you want to change, or something goes wrong, you have
so many things to fall back on. You have your
family exactly, and you don't have to worry because they'll

(13:06):
always get you.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
So Brandon, if you're listening, take that advice.

Speaker 3 (13:11):
She heard it many time, so were some of Some
people have written us questions for you, and one of
the questions is, what was it like to raise Samantha.

Speaker 4 (13:22):
Well, when I first met Samantha, she was very quiet
and very nice, and you still, it took a while
to get to know her, and I got involved with
her when she was in elementary school and then high school.

(13:44):
We would drive down to Irvine to all the college
nights and this and that, and I was so excited
when you decided to go to San Diego State. You
were going to have it out of town college experience
that I didn't have. And we were so excited and
visiting you and everything was, you know, it was amazing. Problems,

(14:08):
but you were you were great. There was no problem
until you decided to transfer back to Long Beach Day
and live near us, and then we saw a lot
of you and that's when things mother daughter things came in.

Speaker 3 (14:28):
But so you never had kids, was it like when
when so you basically you know a lot of parents
out there, they marry in and they just get, you know,
a kid.

Speaker 1 (14:41):
How did you feel did you feel like it took
time to love me. I'm not saying to get you know, praise,
but I'm just saying.

Speaker 4 (14:49):
Because you know, people, it takes take time. It takes
It's not Hollywood. You don't have an instant family, right,
And we started out slow. You would come up on Sunday,
and then when you were older, you would spend the weekends.
And then we moved to the beach, so you would
spend a lot of weekends.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
Yeah, I wanted to go to that beach for sure.

Speaker 4 (15:09):
And it did. There were clashes and yelling and screaming,
but there were never any I'm walking out or I
can't handle this. It was always something that could be
fixed exactly. And I think a big part of it
was my husband. Even though he was the best towards

(15:30):
his daughter, he always did listen to my side. Yeah,
so things did they always always it was.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
We had a great time.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
But I think that what happened was once I had
Nickole and Brandon.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
I mean, it was like it was a whole different experience.
I've never seen.

Speaker 3 (15:59):
My dad and and you get so involved with my kids.
I've never been so appreciative in my entire life.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
They were very involved.

Speaker 4 (16:08):
And it worked both ways. We loved every single minute
of it. And nowadays friends will say to me, you're
so lucky that you've have a good relationship with your grandkids.
I said, we work so hard and Samantha works so
hard to involve us and we just wanted to be there.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
That's so important.

Speaker 3 (16:29):
I want all the listeners to hear this because whateverever
kind of relationship you're having, whether it's your friends, whether
it's your mom and you, you have to work on it.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
You have to make calls.

Speaker 3 (16:40):
Why do I I call friends from years ago because
I want to make time. The one thing you always
taught me is that no matter if you get married
you're in a relationship, always keep your friends. And that's
the best advice you've ever given me, because I need
to have my own time.

Speaker 1 (16:59):
And now we passed it down to Nicole as well.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
So great.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
And Brandon really yeah, you know.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
I think the one thing that you guys always though
is supposed to be independent, have your own money, and
keep your friends close. And it's so true because I
just went through a breakup and I'm fine because I
have my friends and my family and I'm financially stable.

Speaker 3 (17:20):
So it's really nice to be financially stable, I have
to say.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
And you, I mean, you were financially stable.

Speaker 3 (17:27):
Then after I got divorced, I was like, no way,
I have to keep my kids in this kind of
environment and listen. I mean, I did get alimony for
a while, but I had to really bust my butt
to be where I am today, and I'm one of
the biggest staging companies. And it's all because I wanted
you guys to do the same thing and be proud.

Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, I have a question me, mom, So what was like?
What do you think the difference is between like when
you were in your twenties and people are in their
twenties today.

Speaker 4 (17:58):
That's a great question, I have to say. I mean,
I would like to be younger now, maybe another twenty
years younger, but I would not go through my twenties
again now with social media and everything. I know, I
always kid around with Nicole and say, well, when I
was your age, if I was waiting for a phone call,

(18:21):
it was at night at home, end of story, not
twenty four to seven and everybody taking pictures and cameras
and phones and this. I mean, I just don't know
how I would handle it, and I'm glad I don't
have to. I'm in awe of you guys doing it,

(18:42):
and it's wonderful. I think it's great. I can use
the computer, I can use my eyes.

Speaker 1 (18:47):
That's another point. You're super good on.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
The condut pool while sitting on Instagram.

Speaker 3 (18:51):
Yeah yeah, yeah, and she's watching everything going where are
you right now? I mean she is more the computer
savvy than I am. It's really great. And let's talk
about her books. She reads like eight million thousand books
a week and in.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
A book club club.

Speaker 1 (19:07):
So it's really important.

Speaker 3 (19:09):
You know, as we get older, in my age or
her age or whoever, you continue to do the things
that you'd love to do. You continue to get out there,
you continue to socialize, you continue to see your friends.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
And work out.

Speaker 3 (19:22):
Work out is huge. Like you just got a new trainer.

Speaker 4 (19:26):
I've been training with him about an hour, I mean
about a year. We work out two mornings a week
and three mornings a week. I walk around, and how
do you feel since the trainer? I feel fabulous. I
feel great.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
I mean you could definitely walk twelve thousand steps. I mean,
Nicole was like driving me crazy in Europe. Her feet
were hurting. I was trying to help her, and mem
and Brandon were running off. I swear to god, I'm
not even joking, and I was like, I'm going to
be like that.

Speaker 4 (19:53):
Well, it's also you know it's not only physical. When
you work out or any exercises, we all know you
feel so much better mentally. And the reading. I was
always a voracious reader, and of course when I was
growing up, there wasn't that much to do. Very few
things on television, and you can play outside and going

(20:14):
to the library was a big thing. So I read
a lot.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
But but you also watch Netflix.

Speaker 4 (20:20):
Yes, I stream a lot, and I also go to
a lot of plays and theater and lectures and out
to lunch. That's that's a big social thing. I do
lots of Like wells, I.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
Will bring Dad back in sure, because he was.

Speaker 4 (20:39):
My rock.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
I really don't think I would be where I am
today without him.

Speaker 3 (20:45):
He was always telling me I could do anything I
wanted to do. If I had a bad day, what
would he say, Tomorrow is another day. And you know
I was in sales. I started when cell phones first
came out. I remember you, I gave you guys the
brick phones and this big But he was always there
for me. And you would be so proud of the

(21:07):
grandmother that you are. To Nicole and Brandon, I mean,
you know people are to ask us all the time,
like are how are they so close there. I mean,
you guys are always with you know, talking on the phone,
giving advice. But the good thing about your personality is
you say what you want, but you don't judge.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
I think that's the best way to partner put it.
What do you think?

Speaker 2 (21:34):
I think me Moa was always there like I have.
You know, I have a lot of other grandparents right
the out there, And when everyone anyone asked me, like,
who's your grandma, it's just Mema. That's just my grandma
because she's been there. You've always tried, You've always been there.

Speaker 1 (21:48):
And can you tell her now, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
I think that's the difference between like grandparents who they
just are a grandparent. We have like a friendship on
top of it, like we can talk about things and
we enjoy spending time together. And I think that's that's
the biggest thing.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
And I think that you learn that because I would.

Speaker 4 (22:06):
I would.

Speaker 3 (22:06):
I don't know, Brandon would be in an ambulance because
he got hurt on his football game, and I would
call from the ambulance me Ma, I'm in the ambulance
and she's like, you don't call me in the ambulance
and scare me like this, But I always told you
and Dad everything and you still do yes, of course
I have to call and you know, oh my god,

(22:27):
I had a high mark in cholesterol.

Speaker 4 (22:29):
I'm gonna die. What am I gonna do?

Speaker 3 (22:31):
And my kids do the same, and I think it's
like so amazing to have like such a family bond.
And trust me, we've been through a lot, as you
guys know, as you listeners know, it has not been easy,
you know, I mean obviously, but there's always a silver lining.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
And if you do the work.

Speaker 3 (22:50):
What happens, it works, you are there, you get there,
you know, and it's just it's been such an amazing.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
Time.

Speaker 3 (23:00):
And I you know, I mean, I have obviously been
closer to you than my own mom. May she rest
in peace. I'm sorry to say that, but it's true.
And you were always there for me, and you know,
when I decided to have kids, unfortunately, my mom decided
to move to Tennessee.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
And I was like, shit, what am I going to
do with these things? And you guys would were there.

Speaker 3 (23:21):
You were there, you would come in the middle of
the night, I'd call my dad. I'm like, I don't
know what to do. She doesn't stop crying. He would
come at ten o'clock at night to help me. So,
you know, it's just been such an amazing and it's
so nice to see a.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
Woman that's so classy.

Speaker 3 (23:38):
Yeah, and a mentor to me that you know, has
taught not only me and my kids, but so many
of my friends, so many of the people that follow us.
You're such an inspiration to you know, women, and we're
just so proud of you.

Speaker 1 (23:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (23:53):
Well, now I'm going to cry. That's so lovely to hear.
And I just I just feel so wonderful and as
I said at the beginning, being here with my daughter
and my granddaughter, and it just feels so life affirming
and so wonderful. And my journey's not over. I mean,

(24:16):
my mother lasted two one hundred. I'll probably surpass that.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
You have to, I don't. I don't have time for
you to be sick and nothing. I don't have any
energy for that.

Speaker 4 (24:25):
So you've got to stay, you know, I've just got to,
you know, keep going. And the thing is, I'm not
just going. I'm enjoying my life. And I'm that lucky.

Speaker 1 (24:35):
The best sentence you said on this whole entire.

Speaker 4 (24:38):
Oh, I am. I'm enjoying my life. I love where
I live, I love my family. I'm very lucky. All
of my friends are retired, so we get to go
places and do things. And I'm lucky that I have
a number of friends who are healthy and happy and
running around doing things. And I have to keep up

(25:01):
with everything because of my daughter and grand Can you
do up looking messy or sloppy? So we know that, and.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
She's never done that in her entire love. Let's just
get that straight, right, I never even show up.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
In sweats anymore. Is gonna be dressed better than that?

Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yeah, Mema is dressed in the nine every single time.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
I didn't show up in your allow you have your
alow sweats.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
Oh yeah, let's get I know.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
I know one time I pulled up to meet Mema
sushi and she's in alo track suit, her Apple watch on,
and I'm like, okay, who is.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
Her blue hair? Her really hot round?

Speaker 4 (25:37):
Oh yeah?

Speaker 3 (25:37):
When the Mema is always styling, she's styling. We just
she just got a new pair of product glasses. She's
always shopping.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
She's very honest about that. She's like, no, we don't
like that.

Speaker 4 (25:49):
Okay, I definitely have my taste, but I just tell
you and then I say, if you're sure you can
walk in those yes? Yeah, that's one thing that happened
as I got older, the heels got lower.

Speaker 2 (26:05):
Yeah, they're getting lower for me, all right?

Speaker 4 (26:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (26:07):
So, what is there anything you want to say about
your grandkids, Brandon and Nicole that you haven't already told.

Speaker 4 (26:13):
Them other than the best grandkids in the whole wide world.
How much I loved them, And not only how much
I loved them, but how very very proud I am
of both of them. They are just amazing people. And
when we went to Europe, the four of us a

(26:36):
few weeks ago, I came back telling my friends, you know,
the best part besides Milan and Paris was being with
my family, I said. And the kids were so considerate
and so lovely and so warm and so loving that
it just the trip. And Samantha kept saying, you know,

(26:58):
are you okay? Can you do this? And of course
I say, sure, of course I can. But it was
just nice to know that everybody was looking out for me,
and because you know, I'm sort of spending my life
looking out for you.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
Yeah, and how about so they go up and rest
We're at the trip and they go up and rest,
and you know, Mema walks fast because she's from New York.
But so we Brandon and I drop off Mema and
Nicole and then he's like, okay, let's go find the sweater.
So we start walking and he's walking like one hundred

(27:34):
miles an hour. I go, Brandon, I walk fast, but
this is insane. I think he was so like, let's go,
let's go.

Speaker 4 (27:41):
Let's go.

Speaker 3 (27:41):
He did not want me to be slow at all.
He wanted me to get that workout in.

Speaker 1 (27:46):
For sure.

Speaker 3 (27:47):
It was fun though, it was like, seriously, the best trip.
But I mean, you know, the bummer part about the
kids is they only got to see Papa until they
were like five, six seven.

Speaker 4 (28:00):
They were older. He's gone and I forget they were
ten eleven.

Speaker 1 (28:05):
So what would you say? I mean, it's important. I
mean I say things. I know you say things, but
it's so important that they know.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
I mean, how did you and pop A met?

Speaker 4 (28:14):
Well? That was interesting. We went med on a Jewish
singles weekend, which sounds really strange.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
Not really, it's like the dating back then. Well they
didn't bring that back.

Speaker 4 (28:30):
A friend of mine was a part of the group
that had been in La for about two years ago,
and he told me about it, and I applied with
some of my friends. And it was a weekend where
you were stuck in a hotel and then they had
different groups and you broke up into big groups and

(28:51):
little groups, and I don't know Herban I always seemed
to be looking at each other. It was nice sound
each other, and he was one of the facilitators. So
he would call every morning to wake me up and
we'd kid around. But there was something there. But as
I found out later, he was dating someone at the time.

(29:14):
And I met someone on that weekend and it wasn't
for about I don't know, six or eight months later,
we were at a party of that group and we
started really talking and we started dating then. And his
sister and her husband also met at Singles character and

(29:37):
that was a big family they did.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
To bring that back for you guys, I mean, honestly,
it's like it's so much easier when it's and how
to meet in person.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
And how did you know Papa was the one who
were going to spend your life.

Speaker 4 (29:49):
I didn't at the time, but we started going out
and he's so different from me. He was so different
from the men that I had been dating. But we
I know people say this, but I mean it. We
laughed and laughed and laughed. We made each other laugh,
and we complimented each other's you know, his sort of

(30:10):
often the world kind of thing and down to earth teacher,
you know this. But the more time we spend together,
And we came from very similar background he was also
born in Brooklyn, and the backgrounds were similar. Our parents
came from similar backgrounds, so a lot of the cultural

(30:33):
things were the same. And I liked his friends and
he liked my friends, and I don't know, we just
eventually we were exclusive and then eventually we moved in together.
But we lived together for four years before we got married.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
Wow, well that's I mean a lot of people don't
do that.

Speaker 3 (30:56):
But I think really one of the things that you
used to always say to him is the backgrounds. I
can see that because you know, when you have different backgrounds,
it is a challenge you have to understand their side.
You I have, you know, vice versa. And you know,
the one thing I can remember the most is Dad

(31:17):
was like that. He was like I would be so
stressed and he would calm me down, and he was fun.

Speaker 4 (31:23):
He was fun.

Speaker 3 (31:24):
Everyone loved my dad. Everyone loved my dad, and you
were so perfect. You're like the perfect person. I would
always say, why is she so perfect? Even like when
you do diets, it pisses me off. She'll to lose
weight because she decides she's gonna lose weight and I'm like, no,
I only lost two pounds because I'm cheating on my

(31:45):
diet or she's not, you know what I'm saying. So,
but it's just so amazing to see where you've come
since I met you, really and you know how you've
shaped this family and helped this so much.

Speaker 4 (32:00):
Really well, that works both ways. I mean, you guys
have given me so much. I mean, I mean all
of my friends are envious. I mean that I have
such a relationship with you and Nicole and Brandon. And
when I said, oh, I'm going to Europe with my
daughter and my grandkids, people looked at me like really,

(32:23):
I said, oh, yeah, it's going to be great. And
it was, yeah, it's fun, you know it was.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
It was until you made us go to that what
was that?

Speaker 2 (32:31):
The opera?

Speaker 1 (32:31):
The opera and Colin Brandon fell asleep. I'm like praying,
please let me it wasn't it was the scholar.

Speaker 4 (32:40):
Yeah it was, and I thought, I love everybody should.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
And you were. It was beautiful. It was beautiful just
to note there. As a stager and a designer, I was.
I was in it all. It was not and I
love to get dressed up. So that was super fun.

Speaker 3 (32:55):
But I was like, oh my god, I cannot hear
them scream.

Speaker 4 (32:59):
It wasn't just an operate.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
It was the skull.

Speaker 4 (33:03):
It's gone. I mean, how could you pass that up?

Speaker 2 (33:07):
It's very very cool.

Speaker 4 (33:09):
Yeah, so yeah, that was fun. That was we did.
And but what Brandon and Nicole were most impressed, Look
how dressed up everybody is. Oh, I know, it's Los Angeles.

Speaker 3 (33:22):
I mean that's what I like about travel. Like we
were in Milan and everyone's dressed up. Everyone's dressed up
going to work Like in.

Speaker 1 (33:30):
LA It's not like that.

Speaker 2 (33:32):
Everything's beautiful there, right, so nice to see here. I
feel like everyone just wears sweats.

Speaker 3 (33:36):
And like, well, it's because they do have leggings and
it's like, but you'd be surprised. When I went to
North Carolina, I was shocked. At twelve o'clock, I was
having lunch outside the center, and all these people came
out of the buildings. They were coming out for lunch
because they all work in the buildings. I was like, wow,
that's really cool.

Speaker 4 (33:55):
People are working in La with the traffic, you think,
no work.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
Yeah, literally, yeah, it's crazy.

Speaker 4 (34:03):
But LA is a fabulous place to live. But it
is fabulous to travel and see the world and to
go with people you love, because then you see it
from through their eyes too. That's show not just your own.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
That's a great point. That's actually a really good point.

Speaker 2 (34:19):
So what was it like growing up in Brooklyn?

Speaker 4 (34:22):
It was great. You know. Somebody once gave me a
book about the Brooklyn years and they said it was
it started after World War Two and it went until
the Dodge has left in the late fifties. You know,
it called like a quiet time. It was a fabulous

(34:42):
time to grow up. I was living in I guess
you could call it a sort of middle class neighborhood.
We walked to school, of course, nobody's parents drove you.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
And I remember Papa did stickball.

Speaker 4 (34:56):
Yeah, we did stickball in the street and we had
lots of friends. And we came home from school and
we played street outside on the street. We were outside playing,
and during the summer, we were outside all night. And
I don't know. In fact, I still have some friends
from my elementary school that live out in la and
we get together every month. And you imagine, Yeah, I've

(35:21):
known each other since we were six, you know. I mean,
it's really something. And Brooklyn was a quiet time then,
and it was a safe time, and I was independent.
My mother was very independent. She went back to work
when I was in the third grade, and I was
able to wander the city. I was riding the subway

(35:42):
with my friends when I was ten years old, wowing
all over Brooklyn and Manhattan, and my parents didn't worry
about it. Yeah, and I had my older sister, but
she was busy doing her thing and all of such.
It was usual to get on the subwow. In fact,
years later, when I was teaching in New York, we

(36:03):
took field trips every week. The kids would bring money
to get on the bus or the subway, and we
would go to every museum in park in New York.
Because it was just a subway right away, and it
was It made me very very independent.

Speaker 3 (36:19):
Yeah, that's that's interesting. I was wondering why you were
always so independent.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
It was a different on my own.

Speaker 4 (36:27):
I mean, I was being watched, but I had a
lot and it was not just me, it was you know,
all the kids growing up.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
Yeah, but you could never do that in Los Angeles Now,
well it's a whole time.

Speaker 4 (36:40):
You can't just walk to the corner and hop on
a bus.

Speaker 3 (36:43):
That's true, you know, it is a much simpler time,
easier time. Just think you could make that guy wait
until five to call him back, but now you have
to text him right back or he gets upset.

Speaker 4 (36:59):
No, it was. It was a much simpler time. It
was safer time, not just in Brooklyn, but I think
the whole United States, and then of course Brooklyn sort
of as the book had, you know, the Dodge is left.
I've never forgiven them. My grandson keeps saying it's time
to let go, but I have never forgiven them for

(37:21):
leaving Brooklyn.

Speaker 3 (37:25):
Well, this has been amazing me, mo. I mean, it's
just an incredible experience we've had with you, and honestly,
I appreciate everything you've done for all of us.

Speaker 4 (37:37):
Well, I can't tell you, guys how much I appreciate
hearing that. But as I said before, it works both ways,
you know.

Speaker 3 (37:47):
Yeah, and it's really important that everyone knows, like, you know,
after my dad died, it was you know, a lot
of step moms would disappear, and you took that on
one hundred and eighty thousand percent. And you know, my
kids really are so grateful you and my family and
I just and we're so happy.

Speaker 2 (38:08):
We love you so much.

Speaker 4 (38:09):
Yes, I love you so much. Okay, you can stop crying.

Speaker 1 (38:25):
And that's it.

Speaker 4 (38:26):
Guys.

Speaker 1 (38:27):
You have heard it on the Power of We.

Speaker 3 (38:29):
Check us out at the power of We Official on Instagram,
and we will soon have a new podcast studio.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
We'll let you know when that comes out.

Speaker 3 (38:42):
But everyone, have an amazing week.