Hi everyone, welcome to thanks for being here, a short weekly pod to remind us of the many

essential and beautiful ways we affect one another. Every Sunday I'll read a submission

from a listener of Kelly Corrigan Wonders. Could be wedding vows or about mitzvah toast,

a eulogy or retirement speech. We believe this is the loveliest way to tap into our better selves

and remember our highest values. We encourage you to share this podcast each week with one person

you love. Maybe someone you miss or need to bring closer. Someone you want to feel your appreciation

or admiration or both. This is thanks for being here.

Hi guys, this week's thanks for being here is from Beth Trootner. She says dear Kelly,

my parents live on Crestro to Piedmont up the street from your former abode. Our family treasures

your podcasts. I wrote the following in the middle of the night after one of my father's trips

to the hospital. He's still with us, but barely. It is painful. This piece may not be upbeat enough

for your segment, but I know my siblings and I are not alone in what we are experiencing.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Beth Trootner. Well, Beth, luckily for you,

we at Kelly Gorgon Wonders do not insist that everything be upbeat and in fact are deliberately

trying to carve out space to feel all the feelings, including the very hard ones. So this week,

we dedicate our reading to you. For dad, watching your decline dad has been the worst kind of punishment,

what I'd give to be exiled by you to the backyard for stirring my ice cream. And what was with that

anyway, dad? Why would you think stirring Fenton's Swiss milk chocolate to the consistency of

Elmer's glue would lead us to live lives of depravity and desperation? Was it a simple matter of

manners or a character building thing? You could wear plaid shirts with plaid shorts and we couldn't

have our elbows on the table during a meal? Who might embarrass whom? I'd go to finishing school

if it kept you from returning to the hospital again. As the caregiver drains your catheter bag,

...