- (FBE) So you recently provided us with some pictures of yourself
when you were younger. - Oh yeah.
- (FBE) We're gonna show you those now
and learn a little bit more about you.
- Oh god.
- (bashful chuckle)
Wow.
I think I was about nine.
I was raised by my grandparents--
my great-grandparents actually, right.
We lived on a farm in Inkster, Michigan.
We had an acre of land.
Where the house was, we had five more acres,
and my great-grandfather and I would plow the land
with the horse, right, and all that food came from there,
but we'd go out and buy fish.
- This is really an interesting picture.
This was at a store called Wieboldt's at the time,
and it was a very exciting event because the Polaroid camera
was going to be at the store, and they were going
to take a picture and give you the picture immediately,
and this was about 1956, seven, eight, somewhere in there,
I'd have to look up when.
Now, of course, you can just go, "I don't like that one.
Take another one."
But the concept of getting a picture in a minute,
as opposed to having to wait for the whole roll of film
to get exposed, it was a big deal.
- We lived on the second floor and we had an outdoor porch.
I was probably about 16 there, 17 there.
I had attitude at that point, as you can see
with the dangling earrings, and the haircut
was called a D.A. haircut.
The leisure of being able to hang out in an ice cream parlour
that was our hangout, listen to jukebox,
put a nickel in and get a couple songs
on the jukebox... when rock and roll started,
it was magic.
It really was.
I was in high school. It was difficult.
My parents and I didn't get along, especially my dad and I.
We fought all the time because, again,
they could not possibly understand what it was to be a teenager
since they went to work in Ireland.
At 10, my mother went away to work on farms
when she was 10 years old.
Their life was much harder, but they were great parents.
We just did not understand each other, and that was the sad part.
- Working on the flight line.
I was on the team that designed this aircraft.
It's called a Boeing 777.
I was traveling all over the world at this time.
I was going to Paris a lot and London a lot.
I studied geography and I had to make maps and stuff
and I wanted to see the world, so when I got with the airline,
I decided to start traveling.
- This was the summer of Woodstock.
It was the summer of '69 and this is on the train,
and we would take the train down to downtown Chicago,
and we thought it was very exciting,
and it was that feeling of, "Oh, you know,
I'm feeling very grown-up.
I'm going on the train without my parents."
It was a very exciting time.
I loved being in college.
I loved training to be a teacher.
I was on my way. It was very exciting.
You know, stepping out on your own and making bad choices
and that whole thing...
(laughing)
which we all go through.
- This is when I got married.
That's my daughter's father, Joe.
We stayed married for a long time.
(laughing) We did separate many years later.
But that was a nice day.
It was a very nice day.
We were both happy that day, although we both cried
coming back down the aisle because we must've said
to ourselves, "What have we done?"
- I was about maybe 30, 35.
I was watching my son grow up.
He may have been 16 or something, but he was tall as hell.
When I'd talk to him, I'd look up and say, "Man, sit down."
You know why I told him to sit down?
Because I don't want to look up at him like that.
"Sit down." (laughing)
And we'd talk.
So I had a good life right then, watching this kid grow up.
- Now, this is my teaching picture.
This was an event put on by-- I think it was
Southern California Edison and they were offering grants
for teachers, so I wrote a grant to get some parent education going
in my school.
Teaching is the best job on the planet.
It really is.
You're never bored.
You know that what you do every day is meaningful.
And it's kind of hard to beat.
- I ended up becoming a teacher
of a New York City board of education,
and this was a dinner or something that we had.
Kids were great.
I loved the kids in general...
much more than I loved the board of education,
supervisors and whatnot.
I kept in touch with some of them over the years,
but it's a long time now, and I think of them at least weekly,
if not daily.
I think of certain students that I had and wishing them well
and hoping their lives improved.
- (FBE) So now after briefly taking us through
some of the parts of your life, what is it like for you
being on Elders React and having so many people
not only be impacted by your opinions,
but also know that they are interested in your life
and wanted a video like this made about you?
- Well, I mean, I think it's good people know who we are,
our background.
I think it's cool.
I was in Tokyo at the airport, going to Bangkok,
pushing the cart, this guy walks in front of me
and he says, "Hey, you're the guy.
You're the guy from Elders React.
We love you in Japan. Let's do a selfie."
I said, "Okay."
People know me different places.
That's interesting.
- It's so flattering.
Elders has brought so much into my life.
I've been exposed to so many things
that I never would've even known about.
I hope that I bring to you the wisdom and the humor
and the whatever that you guys bring to me.
It makes me feel really loved.
It's really a very nice feeling.
You know, it's that warm, fuzzy feeling.
- My grandson was the one that turned me on to Elders React
and had me apply years ago.
And that was thrilling that he and his friends
were thrilled about it.
They came here the first time with me
and they were thrilled to meet Rafi and Ben.
I mean, it was just the best thing that ever happened to them.
One of them said, "I'll never wash my hand again"
after he shook hands with them.
I've been very lucky to be able to do this.
Thank you.
And thanks to anyone who at all listened to me
or was interested in anything I had to say.
♪ (ragtime music) ♪