My Old Man

This one originally aired in August 2013, and the fathers in it tend toward the unexpectedly generous. And heck, this episode may as well be part of our Fathers Day Stories series!

Chesley Calloway grew up in Baton Rouge largely without his dad, a Gulf Coast redneck-hippie who was always in the woods. At 15, a familiar smell triggers a memory and opens an unlikely conversation that changes everything between them. The détente holds until college, ideology, and vegetarianism pull them apart again.

Gretchen Menter-Felice's father ran a funeral home out of the family garage, and she grew up sitting in the corner of his embalming room in a yellow chair while he worked. By her 20s, his cancer diagnosis and a new girlfriend had made him feel far away. She finds a way back.

(Content note: death of a parent)

Colleen Hindsley's father was a classically trained baritone who owned an Irish pub and could work any name into a song. He raised a household that was always singing. When lung cancer took his voice, it silenced the whole family.

(00:00:34) In September 2024, RISK! shared a story by Robin Gelfenbien all about Colleen Hidsley, who has since passed away, in an episode called What A Vision: risk-show.com/podcast/what-a-vision 

And Dan Kennedy is 16, upside down in a totaled car on a residential street in rural Northern California, sitting at a stranger's piano and dreading his father's arrival. His dad turns out to be someone different than he expected.

Comment on these stories and find episode details and music credits at risk-show.com/podcast/my-old-man-cre446

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