This is the Moth Radio Hour.

I'm your host, Chloe Salmon.

Nothing captures the heart and the mind quite like a good beef.

I'm not talking the deli counter variety.

I'm talking grievances, rivalries, grudges.

Now, do I generally advocate for negativity and chaos?

No.

But I'll admit it.

Something about the technicolor drama of a good feud has me reaching

for my popcorn every time. And I know it's not just me. Tales of bad blood and petty squabbles

have entertained us all for centuries. So in this episode, stories of bringing and slinging

beef and the highs and lows we can find in the fight.

Our first story comes to us from Lori Tucker Sullivan.

She told it at a story slam in Detroit where we partnered with public radio station WDET.

Here's Lori live at the moth.

Okay.

So in the summer of 2010, my husband Kevin was in the hospital,

dying of cancer, a stage four diagnosis. He had tumors that were in his lungs and in his spine.

And the ones in his lungs, we had treated successfully, but the ones in his spine didn't

respond to treatment. And so he had had surgery. And the first surgery went pretty well, but the second surgery his spine didn't respond to treatment and so he had surgery and the first surgery went pretty well but the second surgery did not

and it rendered him a quadriplegic so he was in the hospital for about 50 days

and during that time we also had two kids our daughter was in middle school

...