Listening to my Dad's Last phone call | John Witherspoon

But I did say to myself I wanted to do it.

And then it took me about maybe two more years to even get started.

I started recording a few episodes and now I'm like probably three years into recording episodes.

And I think the reason I haven't started is because I haven't recorded this one.

Which is weird.

I mean, I think this episode is kind of like the...

I don't think it's the magnum opus, but it's the episode where I have to sit down, acknowledge my dad's death, and... process it again.

And grief is not fun.

And honestly, listen, if I start crying, it is what it is, you know, with that, though, this episode, I'm going to basically listen to a voice recording that I have of me and my dad talking from, I think, sometime in the like, the middle of 2019, where I had him on the phone for a little bit, and we're just going to go over it and chat about it and be silly and talk about it.

And I will probably do a little bit of this kind of like commentary as it's happening and then tell you my feelings on how it makes me feel and kind of ramp you up into what the future holds.

The future is more of a sit down side by side interview with someone else, um, which is really cool.

And I'm glad that I've had the people I've had on it, you know, shout out to George Lopez who's done it.

Uh, uh, the homegirl Roxy Hayes, Godfrey, a bunch of people, uh, that I know in my personal life.

Um, Actors like Jesse T.

Usher It's it's for me cathartic to be able to sit down with people and get to know them on a real level because I don't think I know enough of these people to in my personal life as real people.

I just know them from the passing, the passing by conversations and the moments we have with each other when we're like, yo, we should do something and we never get around to it.

And now I'm just like, well, maybe I'll just, I'll change that.

I'll make sure I change that.

Um, with that being said, is there anything else that I want to do in this intro? Um, Oh, so random, but like when it comes to my dad passing away, right? I actually recently went to his grave and sat there and talked to him.

That's something I haven't done before.

And I do it like every once in a while, just kind of like to myself, but I haven't gone to like, I guess the place of his, where his body's resting and sat down and had a conversation.

it was interesting i definitely cried a lot i think i definitely i think i filmed it for the sake of just like i don't know why i filmed it honestly a part of me felt like this is weird to film but i did film it and a majority of it was just me crying if i do have footage of it on the screen right now then you can just see me crying right now i'm probably not gonna uh i'm not gonna cut to probably what i'm saying to him but um i sat down and i i read something where it said you know if there's anything you want to tell your family as they're gone to go to their place of resting and like talk to them about it or um there's also the concept of like you know everybody gets the family members and parents that they get you don't really get to choose so if there's ever an opportunity for you to go and maybe I don't know what the word is, acceptance, forgiveness, not to say that there's anything to forgive, but there, I mean, I think there is for some people like, you know, you might've gotten a beautiful life with your family, but it might've not been the way you saw it or the way you thought you would see it as you got older, but you can still be appreciative and thankful for that life regardless.

And I went over there and I did that.

And, you know, I would say on a spiritual level and a mental health level, it was a doozy.

It was definitely a doozy.

But I did say to myself I wanted to do it.

And then it took me about maybe two more years to even get started.

I started recording a few episodes and now I'm like probably three years into recording episodes.

And I think the reason I haven't started is because I haven't recorded this one.

Which is weird.

I mean, I think this episode is kind of like the...

I don't think it's the magnum opus, but it's the episode where I have to sit down, acknowledge my dad's death, and... process it again.

And grief is not fun.

And honestly, listen, if I start crying, it is what it is, you know, with that, though, this episode, I'm going to basically listen to a voice recording that I have of me and my dad talking from, I think, sometime in the like, the middle of 2019, where I had him on the phone for a little bit, and we're just going to go over it and chat about it and be silly and talk about it.

And I will probably do a little bit of this kind of like commentary as it's happening and then tell you my feelings on how it makes me feel and kind of ramp you up into what the future holds.

The future is more of a sit down side by side interview with someone else, um, which is really cool.

And I'm glad that I've had the people I've had on it, you know, shout out to George Lopez who's done it.

Uh, uh, the homegirl Roxy Hayes, Godfrey, a bunch of people, uh, that I know in my personal life.

Um, Actors like Jesse T.

Usher It's it's for me cathartic to be able to sit down with people and get to know them on a real level because I don't think I know enough of these people to in my personal life as real people.

I just know them from the passing, the passing by conversations and the moments we have with each other when we're like, yo, we should do something and we never get around to it.

And now I'm just like, well, maybe I'll just, I'll change that.

I'll make sure I change that.

Um, with that being said, is there anything else that I want to do in this intro? Um, Oh, so random, but like when it comes to my dad passing away, right? I actually recently went to his grave and sat there and talked to him.

That's something I haven't done before.

And I do it like every once in a while, just kind of like to myself, but I haven't gone to like, I guess the place of his, where his body's resting and sat down and had a conversation.

it was interesting i definitely cried a lot i think i definitely i think i filmed it for the sake of just like i don't know why i filmed it honestly a part of me felt like this is weird to film but i did film it and a majority of it was just me crying if i do have footage of it on the screen right now then you can just see me crying right now i'm probably not gonna uh i'm not gonna cut to probably what i'm saying to him but um i sat down and i i read something where it said you know if there's anything you want to tell your family as they're gone to go to their place of resting and like talk to them about it or um there's also the concept of like you know everybody gets the family members and parents that they get you don't really get to choose so if there's ever an opportunity for you to go and maybe I don't know what the word is, acceptance, forgiveness, not to say that there's anything to forgive, but there, I mean, I think there is for some people like, you know, you might've gotten a beautiful life with your family, but it might've not been the way you saw it or the way you thought you would see it as you got older, but you can still be appreciative and thankful for that life regardless.

And I went over there and I did that.

And, you know, I would say on a spiritual level and a mental health level, it was a doozy.

It was definitely a doozy.