The vital things that make life spectacular

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• 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.