Evan Lunt
Appearances
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
Now, I am not religious at all. My mother's Jewish. My father's a nice little goyim. I was a nice mix. They said, you can do whatever you want. And I said, great. I choose neither. I'm going to choose the holidays that have the best food. So Lent was out the window. Yom Kippur was out the window. But my grandmother, on the other hand, Elizabeth Tobkiss, she was very religious.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
She was the nice Jew that had the latke in her pocket when we went through her clothes after she died and we found, we were expecting to find money, we were expecting to find jewelry, but we found an old latke. And it was great.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
We would visit her in the nursing home and she would celebrate the holidays with us and she would celebrate all of the little, we'd have Hanukkah celebration with her, we'd have a Passover Seder. She wouldn't remember who I was, but we'd have Passover Seder with her. And that continued, and I had her menorah, and one day I said, mom, can I take this menorah to college with me?
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
And she looked at me, she said, absolutely not. This is in my family for too long, you can't take it with you. And I said, mom, can I, you know, it's tradition in the Jewish faith, in case you're not familiar, to ask twice. And I said, Mom, can I please take this menorah to college with me? And she said, fine. I'm going to wrap it up all nice. I'm going to put it in a little box.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
And you're not going to touch it until Hanukkah. And I said, OK, fine. So Hanukkah comes around. This is now last year around. Hanukkah was late last year. It was around Christmas time. So my house that I lived in with eight other people was mostly Christian. So we had a Christmas tree. And I said, OK, I'm going to do this up a little bit.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
I'm going to put the menorah right next to the Christmas tree, right in the window on the second floor so everyone else on the street can see it. And I said, my grandmother would love this. It's her menorah. She would love this. And each night, I would go up and I would walk upstairs, because I lived on the first floor, and I'd light the menorah. And first night went by, great.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
Second night went by, great. Haven't burned anything down. This was an old house. Third night goes by, great. Fourth night comes, and I'm feeling a little down. This was, senior year of college was a little rough for me, as I'm sure it's a little rough for most people. You know, you're writing thesis, you're dealing with relationships. It's a time.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
And I'm lighting the menorah, and I say, all right, you know what? Here's something I haven't done in a long time. In fact, my entire life. I'm going to pray. I do my little, I sing the song to no one. There's no one there, everyone's doing their own thing. But I'm gonna sing it to myself, and then to my grandmother, God bless. And I say, all right, I'm gonna pray, and I say, all right.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
I'm not on my knees, because it's a dirty floor. But I'm gonna sit down in my chair, and I say, all right. How do I start? Elizabeth, no, that's too formal. Grandma, can you hear me? And I say, I'm going to light my candles for you tonight. And I'm going through, and I'm lighting the candles. And it's the fourth night, so you light five candles.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
And I'm going through the prayer, and I say, Grandma, can you hear me? And I look out, and looking out the window, nothing. It's cloudy. Looking out the window, maybe I'll see something. Is there a cat? No. She liked cats. And I'm sitting there, and I'm just looking at the candles, and they're flickering, and they're flickering, and all of a sudden, they go out. I'm like, that was weird.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
There's no wind. I'm inside. There shouldn't be a draft. I paid rent this month. And I say, Grandma, is that you? And there's a knock on the door. I'm like, that's weird. Again, I paid rent this month. There shouldn't be a knock on the door. Shouldn't be anyone coming for me, I promise. And I go down and there's no one there. And I come back up, and it turns out one candle had stayed lit.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour: Menorahs, Presents and Palm Trees - December Holiday Stories
And it's the shamas, which is the candle that you light all the other candles with. And that was the night I realized my grandmother was still with me. Thank you.