I literally grew up really happy. I grew up in Akron, Ohio, the single mom, two

bedroom apartment with four brothers and a sister, but the only time I wasn't

happy is I caught my mom crying because the car broke down or the dishwasher

broke down. My mom invested everything into her children, six kids, all of them

Ivy League, summa cum laude, really kind people and had proved it today was, you

know, 16 grandkids or whatever she has. But moreover, she worked two jobs, never

complained, packed her dinner in a paper bag. She's, I choke up, I can barely

talk about it, but she showed unconditional love. And so for me, my whole life was

to prove to her that I could help her because nobody did. Like my mom's a kind of

mom. You come down with the wrong attitude, go back upstairs. I'm not allowing it.

She would tell me you're living below the line, blame shame, justification, don't

count other people's money. Like all these little things that I didn't listen to,

I just wasn't my mother who was in that business of empowering children. I don't

have the patience for that. It wasn't in my aptitude. And although I love my

children, I'm not sure I could teach hundreds of them every day for 47 years.

Like my mom did. That's a saint. I'm glad that my mom made me study. Now, most

people wouldn't know it because my mom's your typical Jewish mom stands about

this tall. She cooks like I'm unbelievable. But she is a third degree black belt

in the martial arts. Yes, yeah, it's terrifying. She is a third degree black belt in the martial

art of Jewish guilt, which is why I still studied and why my siblings were so successful.

Well, I think I'm still successful. She still has that over me. I just said, you know,

gosh, if I could just be rich, I could buy my mom a house. I could buy my mom a car.

...