JUDY WOODRUFF: Next, we ring in the 100th installment of our weekly Brief But Spectacular
profiles.
The series was created by Steve Goldbloom, who conducts every interview off-camera from
around the country with his producing partner, Zach Land-Miller.
Their intention is to invite viewers to walk in someone else's shoes.
Steve booked a special guest this week, his grandfather, Richard Goldbloom, of Halifax,
Nova Scotia, who helped inspire the series' title.
He describes his experience with memory loss and what it feels like to forget.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: This is our 100th episode of Brief But Spectacular.
I'm Steve Goldbloom.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM, Grandfather of Steve Goldbloom: And I'm Steve's favorite grandfather, Richard
Goldbloom.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: It's very fitting that you are the 100th guest on Brief But Spectacular.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Oh, I'm flattered.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: You know why?
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Because I'm 100, or nearly?
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Well, you are close to 100 years old, which is amazing.
(LAUGHTER)
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: You know how old you are?
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: No.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: You're going to be 93 this year.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: My God.
If I had known I was going to live this long, I would've taken better care of myself.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: And it's fitting, because you titled this series.
You came up with it.
Do you know that?
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: I think I remember that.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: The story that I tell is that I went to synagogue and left.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: That's correct.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Snuck out, came back in, and what did you say?
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: I said you had made a brief but spectacular appearance.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: I wanted to ask you a couple of questions, not just because you're my grandfather
and I love you, and I, you know, look up to you.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Can I get that in writing?
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: No.
Part of what I wanted to ask you about is that you, right now, are going through memory
loss.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Change of life, yes.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: A change of life.
And things that you used to do for yourself, like manage finances, drive a car, manage
medicine, other people do for you.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Right.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: And I wanted to ask you if that bothers you at all.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: No.
I consider the alternative.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: What is the alternative?
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Being dead.
So, I'm quite happy where I am.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Yes.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: If I can remember where I am.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Do you know what we're doing?
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: I have no idea.
But keep talking.
(LAUGHTER)
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: We're going to look at this camera here.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Right.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: And we're going to do on three a big clap.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: OK.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Right in front of your face.
Ready?
One, two, three.
(CLAPPING)
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Just one clap.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Just one clap.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: What does it feel like to forget?
Or does it feel like anything?
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Well, there are some things I would rather forget.
In that case, it's a blessing.
And, otherwise, I learned to live with it.
You know, people remind me, like, when to get up, when to go to bed, things like that.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Do you remember when you stopped driving?
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Did I stop?
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: You stopped driving, yes.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: I didn't know that.
I don't particularly miss it.
People drive me everywhere.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Tell me the role that music has played in your life.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: I grew up with a lot of music in my environment.
And I took to the piano very readily.
I played by ear before I ever had a music lesson.
I still play, but mostly for my own amazement.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Tell me how lucky you feel to have had to have the kind of marriage that
you have, which is extraordinary and lasted more than 60 years.
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Yes, that is true.
That was a test of my wife's endurance.
It was a great lifelong love affair.
She was a very acute assessor of other people.
And she was very good to me.
She recognized all my shortcomings and discussed them with just about everybody.
(LAUGHTER)
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: When she passed away, how did that change your life?
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Oh, dramatically and forever.
I mean, I still miss her a lot.
And, in that sense, you know, something vital is gone out of my life.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: And you still think about her every day?
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Pretty near every day.
Every once in a while, I take a day off.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: What do you still take pleasure in?
RICHARD GOLDBLOOM: Life.
My name is Richard Goldbloom, and this has been my Brief But Spectacular take.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Wow, Richard Goldbloom, the things you remember.
We're so grateful for that.