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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. And we're going to finish up today with an end of year call in for a few tributes to anyone you know in your personal life who passed away in 2024. On Tuesday, if you were listening, we took calls about the public figures you admired who passed away this year, and we got calls on musicians, and activists, and all kinds of people. My producers told me a few people called in who wanted to talk about personal losses and didn't realize the distinction we were making, so now is the time for that. We decided to follow up on Tuesday's segment and give a few of you some space for that.

212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692 if anybody wants to call in and pay tribute to anyone in your personal life who passed away in 2024. I know this might be emotional for you, so it's only for people who want to, obviously, but we took the lesson from Tuesday's show that there are some of you out there who believe you'd find value in saying the name of a lost loved one on the air, maybe doing a half a minute, these are going to have to be short, of tribute to that person, and we want to give you the opportunity that some people were hoping to have when they tried to call in on Tuesday. So 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

We know that this time of year can be joyous and warm with good spirits and chances to see friends and family, but also, the sorrow of having lost someone who you may have lost this year. First year is always hard, right? 212-433-WNYC, 433-9692. I see people are calling in to do this, so we're just going to go to the break and we'll come back and we'll take your calls with some brief tributes to people you know personally who you lost in 2024. Stay with us.

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now, your brief tributes to anyone in your personal life who you lost in 2024. Chip in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Chip. Thanks for calling.

Chip: Hi, Brian. I'd like to celebrate my grandmother who died at 100 this last September. Her name was Shirley Xenia Gabis Pearl. She was a pianist and a poetic scholar. She was close friends with Leonard Bernstein, Ned Rorem, Eugenia Stoneman and many other wonderful musicians. They grew up together and yes, was a really incredible, incredible person.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much for starting us off. Marilyn in Mamaroneck, you're on WNYC. Hi, Marilyn.

Marilyn: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. I lost my 70-year-old sister this past March. It felt like I lost a limb. We were 22 months apart and we shared a lot of interests together. We were both swimmers and we would compare notes on how our swimming went. Her birthday was November 2nd and she used to host Thanksgiving, so November was a tough month, but yes. So I just wanted to shout out to my sister.

Brian Lehrer: Do you want to say her name? You can. I know sometimes people either want privacy in that respect when calling into a show like this or you want the opportunity to say the name out loud and have it out there on the air for eternity?

Marilyn: Sure. Thank you for that opportunity. Her name was Joan Dobrof Penrod.

Brian Lehrer: Marilyn, thank you very much and of course I'm sorry for your loss. William in North Bergen, you're on WNYC. Hi William.

William: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. I'm calling just to remember a wonderful producer, engineer, classical music named Adam Abeshouse. He was very well known. He recorded many great musicians including Jeremy Denk. I worked with him on several recordings with the New York Virtuoso Singers and Donald Berman, my own music, but he was an amazing, amazing person. He is sorely missed and I just wanted to-

Brian Lehrer: Thank you.

William: -thank him.

Brian Lehrer: And thank you for that tribute, for getting it out there. Teresa in Midtown, you're on WNYC. Hi, Teresa.

Teresa: Hi, Brian. Thank you for having this forum for us. I lost my brother Joseph Macchio in May. He's one of my three older brothers and he died very quickly and suddenly of a brain aneurysm, so no one ever saw it coming. It has left a hole in our family. Miraculously, two weeks later, one of his daughters went on to get married, and it was the right thing to do to continue with life's many, many events. It was, it was the right thing to do and we just miss him so much. I was not prepared to lose a sibling. Our mother is 92 and you always expect-

Brian Lehrer: The parents will go first.

Teresa: -to lose a parent, exactly. You always expect that and never expect ever-- and I don't think that we're hardwired to lose a sibling like the other woman spoke about, her sister. I don't think we're supposed to lose siblings. I don't think it works that way, but that's how it is and--

Brian Lehrer: That it's a different kind of grief when, if I understand your story right, somebody dies suddenly as compared to if they're much on that's so young-

Teresa: A long illness.

Brian Lehrer: -also, so it's a long illness. Not that it's ever easy, but in a certain sense you're preparing yourself for it. And when something happens suddenly, it's different.

Teresa: It was very different and it took-- I'm only now starting to like properly grieve because it was so shocking and we were all in a state of denial. And of course, at holiday time, it just feels worse. But it's very real now and just, just starting the grieving process, which is not a linear one.

Brian Lehrer: Teresa, thank you very much. And Julia in the Bronx, you're on WNYC. Hi, Julia.

Julia: Good morning, Brian. Thank you so much for this forum. I agree with the last caller. Thank you so much. Longtime listener, first time caller, and I lost my beloved beautiful mom, extraordinary mom. Her name was Frances Bartley. She's the last of 14 children and she was the first woman to graduate from the Jamaica Bible School, Jamaica in the west indies in the '40s, and it was the honor of my life to have been her caregiver. We were best friends, and although she was 97, she would have been 98 on Friday the 13th and last week, so it was really a tough day for me. Then two days ago, I lost my dear, dear best friend, Maria Frances Hardiman-

Brian Lehrer: Oh, my goodness.

Julia: -so they both shared Frances, the name. She was 57 and just so vibrant, biggest U2 fan and we loved going to see Neil Diamond concerts as well as the cover band, Super Diamond, so we have that bond and just so vibrant, full of life.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, what a tough time for you. You lost your mom at 97 and you lost your best friend at 57, both within the last few weeks.

Julia: Yes, yes. Well, my mom passed 5/11 but her birthday was December 13th. She would have been 98.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, I see, I see.

Julia: Sorry, sorry.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, yes, so that was in--

Julia: Then Maria died two days ago. Yes. My apologies, so--

Brian Lehrer: Glad you got to-- No, I probably misunderstood. I'm glad you got those tributes out, Julia. Let's see, we can do one more maybe two. Steve in Westchester, you're on WNYC. Hi, Steve.

Steve: Oh, Brian, thank you so much. Listening to you for over 30 years and to give my cousin 101-year-old opportunity for me to tell her children about having you ask me about her on National Public Radio is such a gift. Brian, she was a tap dancer in the 1930s and she just loved dancing. She would call me every couple of weeks just to ask me how I am at 100 and 101 years old. I was so humbled by having a cousin who cared so much for me and for the example she set for her children on being this very stoic, wonderful woman, never complained, always celebrated everyone else. It taught me so much about relationships. This has meant so much to me and I can't believe I'm sharing it with you today. Thank you so much for this.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you for that and I'm sure her memory thanks you for that. That's all the time we have for this today. Thank you so much, everybody who called in for those wonderful tributes to your loved ones. They appreciate it somewhere and a lot of the people who survived them appreciate it. Thank you very much for being such wonderful callers. Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Stay tuned for Alison.

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