Hello, Moth Family. Have you listened to our new podcast, Grown Yet? Grown, that's GROWN,

is a podcast filled with true stories all about the joys and pains of growing up.

Listen with a young person in your life, or by yourself to hear Moth Stories,

storyteller interviews, and audio diaries from young voices that tackle family dynamics,

heartbreak, culture, mental health, and so much more. If you love listening to Moth Stories,

then share Grown with a young person in your life. Find it by searching GROWN on all major podcast

platforms.

From PRX, this is the Moth Radio Hour. I'm Sarah Austin-Geness. Moth Stories are all true,

and are all told live. Listening to these stories is like walking for a few minutes in someone

else's shoes. So let's do that for this hour. Our first storyteller is Val Rigadon. We met Val

when she told a story in the CUNY Young Women's Voices Festival, which brings students together

from all over the City University School System in New York. Since telling this story, Val has

gone on to host shows with Moth, she's charming, and she's quick on her feet, as you'll hear.

So live at the Moth, Val Rigadon.

Hello. Okay, so a few months ago, I learned that someone I knew very, very long ago. I was maybe

six or seven, and he was five. He died all of a sudden. And to be honest, I haven't thought about

him or spoken to him since I was six or seven. So it was very strange for me. It was like a puzzle

piece plucked out of my past and just thrown away. It was very, just like I was on uneven ground.

Suddenly, I could die next. My house could burn down. My parents could die. I could get into a

car crash. I could fall down the stairs and break both my legs. Anything could happen. I was like,

oh my god, this is too much. I got to watch cartoon. So I go and I turn on this CGI

movie and it's called Leap. And it's a very ugly movie. It's like CGI 3D and they have these

...