Recorded on April 16, 2025; In this conversation, Elana explains the life lessons she wanted to impart to her grandsons, called “The Mantras”, and how important they are for living a good life and being happy and kind. Then, from the idea of forgiveness, Elana wants to, “get political for a minute” and we go right into the challenges of navigating the current landscape and all of the difficulties that come along with it, including the impact of things on our ever eroding democracy, and ...

Recorded on April 2, 2025; In this conversation, we discuss various topics starting with Elana and Allan’s then-new cat Bruno and the challenges of getting him acclimated to his new home. We then cover everything from Elana’s love for elephants, Charlie’s recent visit to her, the important WI Supreme Court election and the state of US politics, including being hopeful for the future despite current challenges. We also discuss the importance in her life of therapy, her friends, keeping connect...

Recorded on December 3, 2024. In this episode - a little longer than usual since there was so much to say - Jonas, Elana’s youngest son (and my hubby), sits down with his mother to reflect on the life and legacy of her first husband and true love, Martin E. Nachsin, known as “Marty”. They discuss the impact of Marty's illness on their lives, the moments and memories that shaped their lives, and the legacy he left behind. Elana recalls the details of their time together like it was yeste...

Recorded on Nov 20, 2024; In this episode we touch on a variety of topics, starting off with the pool party Elana hosted that ended up changing the life of one of Jonas’ best friends, Steve Kelley. From there we touch on the themes of paying it forward, the fate of our democracy in light of the recent 2024 presidential election, the importance of listening to others, forgiveness, our shared love of movies and art, bittersweet memories, and feeling overwhelmed, among so many other topics. This...

“I’m Not Easy But At Least I’m Interesting”, recorded almost a year ago to the day on August 22, 2024, three days after her 92nd birthday (!). As always, we start with some difficulties in hearing each other but they resolve quickly (thankfully). This conversation runs the gamut from the relatively light - being too busy, good blood work results, sleep issues, irritating people, her 92nd birthday party ("best party ever"), exhaustion, Frank Sinatra, the mafia, and her deep love of eleph...

Recorded on Nov 30, 2023; We start out discussing people that are driving Elana crazy - who she dubs “The Needers” - and how people constantly seek her help and counsel, making her one of “The Needees”. We agree that while it’s important to help people, something she excels at and is admittedly drawn to, she must also prioritize taking care of herself as she doesn’t always get that kind of care given back to her. She also questions why certain kinds of people, especially those that she feels ...

Episode 11 “I Can’t Do it All”, recorded on Oct 19, 2023. Due to unforeseen and unexpected events -good and not so good - getting in the way, our recording sessions and the ability to publish episodes have been delayed. These included Elana having a stint in the hospital (but all ok now), us traveling to Florida to be with her, a college graduation, more travel (work and personal), and various other life events that took more time, energy and attention than usual. But we are now back on track...

Episode 10 “My Interest in Life is Other People”, recorded on July 26, 2023. After Allan gets Elana situated with her volume levels - but can’t quite eliminate the echo she seems to have going on - she notes how she’s been thinking about how some people in her life had apologized to her, why that is, and we discuss how rare apologies generally are so we have to appreciate them. Elana reflects on the fact that she's the only one left out of most of her friends and family and how it’s important...

Episode 9, Recorded on July 12, 2023; In this conversation, Elana shares a childhood trauma that sent her to a psychoanalyst as a young girl. We discuss how early experiences impact emotional well-being and how shared experiences can inspire empathy toward others. We commiserate on how we both enjoy talking to and being around people and discuss how listening to others helps with real human connection. Elana shares a few stories of spontaneous interactions she had that made her think about ho...

Episode 8 “Why Should We Not Protect Ourselves First?” Recorded on April 27, 2023; In this conversation, we cover everything from navigating tricky social situations and turning around uncomfortable conversations, which Elana has become a master of, to managing close personal relationships, which we confess we’re both still figuring out. Elana shares more of her raw and introspective writings, the product of sleepless nights and overwhelming thoughts, and we talk about the power of crea...

Episode 7 “Everybody Has A Story”, recorded on April 22, 2023; Once Elana gets Jonas to agree to look into flights on Allegiant Air (or as I like to call it Belkin Air, for you Odd Couple fans out there) we jump right into her reciting some recent poems about Earl and her fears around sleeping, which emanate from childhood. We discuss shared fears for the future based on the political landscape (2023!) and Elana conveys her anxiety about the world that will be left for her grandkids. She stre...

Episode 6 “90 Isn’t So Old”, recorded on March 29, 2023. In this conversation, we’re a bit all over the place with topics but one is again about music, which is a major part of Elana’s life. After Elana recites some of the poems she wrote as a young girl of 12 near the end of WW2 - and still remembers!- we talk about how it continues 80 years later with lyrics she’s currently writing about Earl and a song she started lyrics for called “Shangri La”, which Allan is composing music for. Elana re...

Episode 5 “Without Music I Don’t Know What the World Would Be” Recorded on March 19,2023. In this conversation, after some issues that required Allan’s savvy technical skills, we talk about the importance of music and the joy it brings to us. Elana shares how she’s just starting to write lyrics for music, at the encouragement of her musician son, Larry. She also describes how she finds happiness in dancing with her friends and neighbors during Allan’s piano performances at Aviva (which bring ...

Elana, with her busy and active schedule, is MIA at first but after a lot of waiting and wondering she finally calls back, then promptly kicks Allan out of the room. Once we yet again establish that “this thing is on” we reflect on her life, relationships, and the regrets she holds on to, including the “bad things” she did in her life and the apologies she feels others, particularly her sons, are due. She discusses the importance of making amends, and the lessons she learned from her past, an...

In our third episode, once that we establish the fact that ‘yes, we are recording’, we explore various themes including family dynamics, the wisdom that comes with aging, humor being essential to get through any situation, and the value of authentic relationships. We discuss the the significance of living in the present and the challenges of navigating relationships, which includes the need for respect and compromise. The conversation also touches on facing mortality, the importance of lettin...

In this episode we focus on politics and delve into the significance of the Supreme Court in our historic and current political landscape. It was originally recorded in Feb 2023 but is still significant, perhaps even more so today, two years later. We also discuss, in the context of politics, the importance of open dialogue and accepting differing viewpoints. We explore the nuances of meaningful conversations, the importance of living in the now, and the value of storytelling. Elana dis...

In this pilot episode, I sit down with my now 92-year old mother in law, Elana Gordon, as she shares her remarkable life story and discusses the importance of humor, resilience, and love in the face of grief and adversity. From the losses of two husbands to starting over- and finding love- at 90, her story is not just inspirational but highlights the importance of always being open to growing and learning. Elana reflects on her relationships, the challenges of raising children alone, the less...