In this hour, stories of healing, hope, and heart. A birthday celebration, a dream job, the importance of an heirloom and chance encounters when we need them the most. This hour is hosted by Jay Allison, producer of this radio show. Storytellers: Katya Duft goes camping for her 15th birthday. Aditya Dakshinamourtay learns a lesson about negotiating. Brenda Williams finds meaning in a set of pots and pans. Alistair Bane finds a kindred spirit in his horse, Bo. Kathi Kinnear Hill has hard conversations on the campaign trail. Jason Schommer has a chance encounter in a grocery story. Podcast # 707 To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Full Episode
This is the Moth Radio Hour. I'm Jay Allison, and in this episode, stories about finding the light at the end of the tunnel, bright futures in dark times, and hope even when things seem hopeless. Our first storyteller is Katya Duff. Katya told this story at one of our Open Mic Story Slam competitions in Los Angeles, where we partner with public radio station KCRW. Here's Katya live at the Moth.
When I was 14 years old, my parents decided it was a great idea to get me out of school and move a million thousand miles away from the far east of Russia, close to Moscow, so I could go to a great college several years later. I didn't want any of this. I liked my school. I liked my skiing. I liked my rock climbing, my friends. So when they just moved me to Moscow, I got very depressed.
In addition to everything, once we moved, we had a little bit of savings, but they suddenly all disappeared because of a financial crisis. So when I came to my new school, not only we were poor, but also I had no friends. I mean, it's all my fault. I was very grumpy about moving, and I didn't want any friends. But the first year in the new school was extremely miserable.
So for my 15th birthday, my dad told me, I know what you'd like as a birthday present. Let's go camping with a bunch of other adults and kids. And this way you can climb the tallest mountain in Europe. You know, most girls for 15 years old, at 15, they want probably a dress or a pair of shoes. For me, it was an amazing idea. Yes, I really want to climb the tallest mountain in Europe.
So we go on this trip. which was not very well planned, honestly, because it was 10 parents and about 15 kids. And we didn't bring enough food for all of us. And it was nonstop camping for a month. We lived in intense bathing in rivers. And for the last two weeks of our trip, we completely ran out of food and we were in the mountains.
So we had to stop by different villages asking Highlanders for cheese and milk. And that was our diet for about 10 days. We all lost about 10 pounds, I'd say. And we were completely emaciated. But for my birthday, I said, I'm still climbing that mountain. So we spent the night in a wooden house, all of us. And they tell me, Katya, the weather doesn't look very well.
You know, they promised a little bit of rain for tomorrow and maybe a little bit of a storm. I say, no, we are going. It's my birthday. I absolutely have to do it. So next morning, when I get out, I realize that there is no electricity because all the electric cables lay on the ground after a storm. My dad tells me, Kati, we are not going. No, you're not doing this. I say, no, it's my birthday.
I'm 15. My life has been crap for the last year. I absolutely have to do it. So when my dad turns away, I put all the equipment on these special metal shoes, and I bring a metal stick, and I started climbing. Good thing my dad got out of the house and he saw me on the horizon and he was like, oh God, she decided to do it. So he starts chasing me with other adults. They grabbed me off the mountain.
They bring me back to the house. They say, Katya, you don't want to die on your 15th birthday. And that's when I started bawling and saying, oh, my life just sucks. It's been nonstop for a year. It's so bad. I'm so depressed. Why, why, why, why did you take me away from my friends? You started this. And then my dad looks at me, he says, Katya, but you know what?
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