One time a teacher went off the rails in, I think it was 8th grade. Um, rightfully so. One time, uh, we had a bunch -- we had this little group of boys in our 8th grade class who were insanely annoying troublemakers who didn't try to do anything worthwhile in class, just -- or in school. Just constantly causing trouble. Constantly being annoying, constantly talking, constantly trying to disrupt, um, harass. Just every chance they got, just like always acting out, never being -- never doing their work, never being still and normal. And one day, we were in class and then the teacher for some reason had to leave the room. Just for like two minutes or one minute, it was a very short amount of time. He was like, "I will be right back," and he left for just a second. And one of the boys jumped out of their chairs and said, "Let's destroy the room!" And the other boys were like, "Yeah!" And so, on the spur of the moment, a bunch of boys, and eventually like many other people, got up out of their desks and started destroying the classroom by flipping over all the chairs and desks, throwing papers around. Throwing the chalk and the eraser everywhere, making a bunch of chalk dust. They took the recycle bin and emptied it out and threw the papers all around. They emptied out the garbage can and just dumped it. Started just pulling things off the walls. And, um, I didn't. I sat at my desk and didn't do any of that, 'cause I'm not a bad kid. But I watched everyone else do it. I'm sure there was a few other girls who didn't do anything, but many of the boys did. Maybe a couple of girls did, but it was mainly this little group of boys that had the idea and then did it. And the teacher came back into the room, and he turned beet red and started screaming at everyone and said, "I cannot believe you did this!" You know, just imagine a teacher being very angry. All I can remember -- I can't remember any words that the man said, but I can remember his face 'cause he was like, you know, just kind of this average, like older white man with white hair, and he just turned pink as…

My dad was born in the 1930s, my mom was born in the 1940s, and they really liked country music. Um, so it's like, I grew up familiar with Dolly Parton. But I'm just -- you know, it kind of warms my heart seeing like, everyone on social media, you know, posting about her and talking about her and the nice things that she did. Um, with my parents, I think they liked, you know, like Dolly, they liked the idea of singers because like, back in the day, it seems like, you know, people could come from nothing, you know, like, poor families and then become, you know, become, you know, country rock singers or actresses, actors, and actresses. Things like that. And they can make their own music and kind of have a lot of agency. Um, nowadays, it seems like it's kind of a business and then they're -- you know, they pick these child stars and they kind of own them. Um, so it was very different, like, back then. And, you know, decades ago, most people knew how to play instruments and sing and read music and you know, it was like a community thing. Nowadays, like, you know, I -- very few people know how to like, read music, or make music, or you know play an instrument, let alone like, get a little band together and do that at parties and such, you know? But my parents really liked, you know people like that, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash. You know, like, real people who had hard upbringings or hard financial situations and stuff and became successful. So that was always very inspiring. So yeah, so that's been a big headline. And I also want to add for the people that are sad. You know? Yeah, it's sad that she passed, um, she was 80. But the idea is, you can't rely on a handful of people to carry everything at all times. So what I'm saying is like, you're supposed to take that inspiration. You know, it goes through you and you pass it on to others. You know? So, um, you know, her love for reading and education and music and loving each other and caring for each other. Pass -- you know, take that into yourself and pass it on. So it's not like it starts and stops with…

My trip was quite uneventful. This was for my aunt's funeral. My aunt was 101. My aunt was the third person in our family to have died at a pretty high age, having recently eaten ice cream before they passed, and while watching TV. We feel very lucky that these people lived these great long lives and that that's how they went. All of it seems -- we are very grateful for the fact that they were not in pain, they did not struggle, they did not -- they were not miserable and their death was very simple and peaceful, and you can't complain about that. But anyway, I went to my aunt's funeral. It was more of a family reunion than a funeral, and was, um, interesting because we all had stories about my aunt to tell. And she had collected dragonfly pins and earrings and necklaces and things. And so my cousin had them, and she gave out one to all of the women and anybody else that wanted to wear them. Some of the men put them on their ties for the funeral. And it was, it was pretty cool. Everybody had one, and it was a nice show of respect to my aunt among other things. I learned so much from my aunt. She was my mother's brother's wife. She's the only aunt I had. My father and my aunt were both only children, and so they had been a set, so to speak, when we were growing up, and they always hung out together. And I had traveled on vacations with my aunt and uncle, um, and my parents but also with my aunt and uncle. My aunt had taught me how to scramble eggs. My aunt had taught me about Hercule Poirot and Agatha Christie. My aunt had taught me something that I use all the time, and that was how to knit. So, um, I, wanted to be there for my cousins and because it was my aunt. So, um, I was happy to go, but boy, I'll tell you, that trip across O'Hare. I was glad I had a carry-on with wheels. And it really went fast and I moved as fast as I could go for a 72 year old. I was surprised, actually, how fast I did it, and I'm glad I'm as in -- in as good of shape…