This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. No one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weatherbug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need, from storm warnings to pollen levels, right at your fingertips. Get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10-day forecasts wherever you are.
It's hyper-local, real-time, customizable alerts. Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free weather bug app from the App Store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 24-7. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI.
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Go to public.com/slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com/slash podcast. Paid for by Public Investing. Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc., member FINRA and SIPC. Advisory Services by Public Advisors LLC, SEC Registered Advisor.
Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com/slash. disclosures. Are you trying to get weight loss support through telehealth, but it feels overwhelming and rushed?
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Uh This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. And we love to hear listeners' stories. Share them with us at ouramericanstories.com. Your stories are some of the best we do here on this show. And today we bring you the story of Tom Ryan, a 95-year-old listener of our show in Los Angeles.
Tom had an unusual upbringing. He grew up in Long Island, New York, living behind a funeral parlor run by his family. and he wrote a book about it entitled Love in the Ashes. Today he brings us a story you're going to have to hear to believe. It's all about love, old-fashioned values, and well Breaking the law.
Here's Tom. I slipped the ring on her finger. said I do. and thought it was forever. Boy, was I wrong.
Yeah.
So I've joined the shuffling line of millions of Gongli people. wondering where it all went wrong. Yeah.
What do you do with fifteen years of memories? It is reassuring, however, to know that there are couples. who make it through forty or fifty years of marriage. Of course, they are usually as astonished as anyone else that they made it. That got the surprise in their newspaper anniversary pictures isn't an accident.
I even know of a couple who made it. That long. without being married. Mm-hmm. It started in those lean depression days of the late thirties.
in my small New England home town. Were any woman who dyed her hair, or plucked her eyebrows. with snicked at. And divorce was something for movie stars. Dr.
Joe was the town doctor. A quiet, mumbling man, who made house calls at any hour of the day and night. He brought our family through all sorts of medical crises. He was devoted Catholic and he had a wife and two kids. He was so lost in his work, however, that his wife finally skipped off with a touring actor.
and even took the kids with her. Dr. Joe only worked harder after that. When I passed the bar exam in the fifties, He toyed with the idea of turning over years of unpaid bills to me. for collection.
But he never had the heart to do it. He was too nice. Dr. Joe met Clara Jensen at church.
Social functions. Clara's husband had died in a plane crash. a few years earlier. They became bridge partners and shared a basket at church outings. and they fell totally in love.
According to my mother, who with her brother Jim ran a family funeral home, a block away from the church. and was a close friend of both. said they made great efforts to get a church annulment of his first marriage.
so that they could marry him. But in those days the church was very rigid. Years drifted by. But they never gave up hope. I lost track of them after having moved to the west coast, but.
my ninety year old mother, sometimes mention them, in our weekly phone conversations. During my last trip home, chatting over our usual cup of tea, at her old kitchen table. I asked Mom about Doctor Joe and Clara. She didn't answer. Instead she rose, and hovered over the tea kettle on the stove.
pretending to be busy. she said, talking to the tea kettle. I have done something very wrong. Judge O'Sullivan just called to tell me about it. She hesitated and then turning to me with eyes blazing.
and a smile of satisfaction set deep in her cheeks, And I am so happy that I did it. What? I said, not quite sure of what I had heard. What's the joke, Helen Murphy? No joke.
She started to sniffle. I stood up and embraced the lumpy little figure I had loved all my life. kissing her an incredibly soft, freckled cheek. Hey, you've got a lawyer's son. Don't worry.
I can spring any woman who still doesn't eat meat on Friday and hasn't missed Daily Mass in years. Unless you've committed mass murder. She shook her head as she dabbed at her eyes and nose with a tissue. waving away my attempted humour. Have some more tea, she said.
as she refilled our cups. I waited until she was ready to talk. And then it came spilling out. You asked about Dr. Joe and Clara.
Oh dear. I thought I had told you on the phone. Told me what? Dr. Joe died a few months ago.
I think you were in Europe. He was raking leaves in his garden and The newspaper delivery boy found him. Oh no. Was Clara with him? No, she was at her own place.
She still had her own place, didn't they live together? No, of course not, Mike. My God they went together for thirty or forty years Didn't they sleep? She shook her head. They were very close, but they were also good Catholics.
And when we come back, this unique voice. and a listener to our American stories. And we're listening to Tom Ryan talking about the story of Dr. Joe and Clara Benson. Tom had moved out to the west coast.
His mom was still back. on the east coast out of Long Island. And catching up on the news of this couple that he looked up to, and admired. Another great listener story here. on our American stories.
Lee Habib here, the host of Our American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing inspiring stories from across this great country. Stories from our big cities and small towns. But we truly can't do this show without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not free to make.
If you love what you hear, go to ouramericanstories.com and click the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go to ouramericanstories.com and give. No one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weatherbug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need, from storm warnings to pollen levels, right at your fingertips.
Get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10-day forecasts wherever you are. It's hyper-local, real-time, customizable alerts. Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free weather bug app from the App Store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 24-7. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously.
On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high-free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one-of-a-kind index, and lets you backtest it against the SP 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks.
Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com/slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com/slash podcast. Paid for by Public Investing. Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc., member FINRA and SIPC.
Advisory Services by Public Advisors LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com/slash. disclosures.
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And we continue with our American stories, and this one is from a listener, Tom Ryan. And Tom grew up at a funeral parlour run by his family in Long Island. moved to LA. But there was this one couple He always thought about and admired. And that's Joe and Clara.
He was having a conversation with his mom when we last left off. And let's pick it up right here. People had standards in those days, not like today. All those years unbelievable I muttered. They always thought they would marry, but the diocese was so strict.
So strict. She shook her head. How's she taking it? I asked. Tears started to flow again as she said with a sob, That's the other sad news.
Clara passed away just last week. Remember I told you last year that she was fighting cancer. Dr. Joe was doing all he could for her. But then he went.
I stared at the bottom of my teacup. That's so sad, both of them.
So you had them waked out in front. within a few months of each other? She nodded. Her voice dropped off as she said, That's what I have to tell you. I broke the law.
I did something I shouldn't have. But I feel so glad I did. Seeing the confused look on my face, she continued. Doctor Joe? donated his vital organs to science.
His two children finally turned up and requested that his remains be cremated. Their mother had recently died, they said. As usual, the crematorium returned doctor Joe's ashes to us. and I stored them out in the hall closet. I nodded as I recalled the hall closet from childhood.
Stacks of canister of ashes had lined the shelves of the closet for years. Many were never claimed by the families. who either moved away or didn't want to come in and pay the funeral bill. Many of the paper name tags had fallen off.
Sometimes before air conditioning, Those with no name tags were used to prop open the front doors on hot summer nights at crowded wakes. I always smiled when I realized that unbeknownst to anyone else. the unclaimed ashes of a big muck a duck politician, as my mom called him, were used on many a hot night to humbly hold the door open for the constituents he had feast for so many years. Do Doctor Joe's kids want the ashes? I asked.
Uh Yes, mom replied, they are fighting over the estate. It's sizable. Both children have voice. The daughter was adopted. and the son is claiming that she isn't entitled to anything.
It's gotten pretty petty.
Now both lawyers are climbing the ashes right away.
So that's what Judge O'Sullivan was talking to you about? Yes, he sent me a copy of a court order. She pulled a blue-backed legal document from her nearby knitting basket. and handed it to me. I guess it says I'm to give the ashes over to the court.
As I read the order, I nodded in agreement. Yep, that's it.
So what's so hot about that? She didn't answer directly. Instead, she put down her teacup, Looked out the kitchen bay window dreamily. and said Clara looked so beautiful in the casket in her peach dress. Her hair done the way she liked it.
A good pearls. She started to sniffle. While speaking, Well, they waited for each other a very long time in full grace, though I'm sure they're together in heaven, I volunteered. She blushed and with a tight smile played around the corners of her mouth. I helped things a little, she murmured.
Mm-hmm. Help things? I asked. An unsettling chill slid down my spine. She looked straight at me and said, When all the mourners had gone, the men were loading them into the limits to go to church.
I went back to say a last goodbye to Clara before they came back to close the casket. I was all alone with her, having a good cry. when suddenly I remembered Dr. Joe's ashes in the closet.
So So So she spoke rapidly. I pried off the top of the canister with those pliers we keep in that closet and poured all of Doctor Joe's ashes onto Clara's lap and into the satin lining of the casket. Her voice rose with pride as she finished. A warm glow surged through me. You mean?
A smile cut me off. Mike, Clara, and Doctor Joe are finally joined together in eternity, and I'm so happy for them that I just want to burst with joy when I think of it. I know that legally I had no right to disturb those ashes. Tears of happiness rolled down her freckled face. And now I'm in trouble.
The court wants the ashes. What should I do? I kneeled next to her chair and hugged her and comforted her. She didn't see the tears of pride in the corners of my eyes. My mind raced as I searched for an answer.
Mum I talked quietly over her shoulder while still holding her. The law is very hard in ways. but it tries to be responsive to our human needs and desires. We know, and I'm sure Judge O'Sullivan would agree. if he knew that you were right.
that doctor Joe would have wanted to be with Clara. You did something beautiful. She broke away for a moment to dab her nose and eyes with the tissue. Uh I stayed close to her and started to speak, but she blurted, He knows. and started to cry again.
What? He knows, she repeated. Judge O'Sullivan knows what you did. She nodded. He's an old friend.
We buried his mother and father. He knew Dr. Joe and Clara. They were close. I couldn't lie to him.
I plopped down in the kitchen chair. Wow, was all I could manage. He said to talk to you, she continued. He knows you're a lawyer. What else did he say?
Not much. He was silent when I told him. I think he almost cried. His voice broke, sort of. He said to talk to you and oh yes.
to tell you to get a canister of ashes. with doctor Joe's name on it to his court clerk. That's exactly what he said. Get a canister of ashes with Dr. Joe's name on it.
Yeah.
She just nodded and sniffled. I sipped my tea and smiled. The kitchen was quiet except for the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway. I headed for the hall closet. And what a story, and thanks to Tom Ryan, and again.
He's a ninety five year old listener. What a voice. What a story And my goodness, there was a time, I mean, imagine that, the Catholic Church wouldn't annul that wedding. And so these two just could never live together. They just couldn't live together.
They always thought they'd marry. But things were so strict, So So strict. The mom said that. And my goodness. The way Tom's mom handled things.
I broke the law. And I'm so glad I did. And sometimes, you know, folks... The rules don't make any sense. And that's a hard thing to teach your kids 'cause you gotta teach them to follow the rules.
Except when they shouldn't. Right? Except when they shouldn't. Tom Ryan's story and his mom's story about Joe and Clara. all of their stories together.
Here on Our American Stories. No one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weatherbug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need, from storm warnings to pollen levels, right at your fingertips. Get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10-day forecasts wherever you are. It's hyper-local real-time customizable alerts.
Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free weather bug app from the App Store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 24-7. This is Julian Edelman from Games with Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time.
And one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete my identity is something I am proud of. But I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate that aired during the big game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted, even if you don't have the perfect words.
And sometimes standing next to someone is enough. And you can show support by sharing the blue square. Are you trying to get weight loss support through telehealth, but it feels overwhelming and rushed? Check out orderlymeds.com.
Now, orderlymeds.com was built to be different. Here, you connect with real doctors who take the time to understand your goals, review your eligibility, and guide you through a plan that's right for you. Orderly Meds provides access to proven GLP-1 medications like semaglutide and terzepatide, including both name-brand options and personalized compound versions when appropriate.
So, you have choices backed by clinical oversight, not guesswork. It's a simpler, more supportive telehealth experience designed around people who want clarity, care, and confidence in their weight loss journey. And your medication is delivered directly to your home in discrete packaging.
So, your experience stays private from start to finish. Do your research, ask the right questions, then visit orderlymeds.com slash podcast for an exclusive offer. Again, that's orderlymeds.com/slash podcast. Individual results may vary not medical advice eligibility required. for details.
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Guaranteed human. Mm-hmm.
