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This week’s hometowns include a bloody handprint and debunking a local legend.  Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/3UFCn1g. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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1.936 - 3.177 Ad

This is exactly right.

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6.578 - 21.045 Ad

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In the summer of 1994, four teens entered an abandoned building in Gravesend, Brooklyn. It was the last time they would be seen alive. With few clues and no witnesses, the case went cold. But for Anthony Brewer, the brother of one of the victims, the search never stopped. In 2024, he acquired evidence from the police that contained DNA samples that didn't match the teens.

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That discovery put his life, and the life of his family, in grave danger. Goosebumps, The Vanishing. All episodes available January 10th on Disney Plus and Hulu on DisneyPlus.Disney.com. Rated TV14LV.

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68.181 - 79.123 Karen Kilgariff

Hello and welcome to My Favorite Murder, the Minnesota. That's right. Stop arguing because it's real. We told you. We said we were going to do it. Listen, please listen.

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79.163 - 104.387 Georgia Hardstark

Give us the benefit of the doubt. Now go. Okay. Now that we've just berated them. They like it. This is called Family Drama, Bloody Handprint. Hi. Day seven listener here, a longtime dreamer of writing a hometown, but I never felt I had the right story. Wait, wait, wait. I don't know. Episode seven or day seven? Like seven days after we released the first episode? I don't know.

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104.687 - 110.952 Karen Kilgariff

It sounds like literally I've been listening for seven days and I've dreamed of writing an email forever.

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111.132 - 132.647 Georgia Hardstark

Okay. We were both on the other sides of the... I don't think mine's right, though. I just think it's funny. That would be very funny. Today you asked for family drama, and I come from two large Catholic families and started thinking through all the family lore and shenanigans. Could I tell you the story about dangling my little cousin down the second floor laundry chute? Oh.

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133.007 - 153.363 Georgia Hardstark

Or about the island my family used to own in Pittsburgh until they squandered away all of their money and it was seized by the government? Yeah. Nope, it has to be the bloody handprint on my grandparents' basement wall. Oh, shit. When I was growing up, my grandparents lived in a split-level home, read lots of stairs, and the lowest level was a cement basement.

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153.923 - 174.84 Georgia Hardstark

I was down there one day, probably trying to find their grumpy cat, Mo, when I noticed something on one of the cement walls. I looked a little closer and thought it faintly looked like a brownish-colored handprint, obviously faded with time. Later that day in the car, I asked my dad, hey, is there a handprint on the basement wall at grandma's house? Oh, yeah.

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174.98 - 220.561 Georgia Hardstark

That's from when your great grandmother died. What? Yep. Here's the story. Oh. Oh, no. She fell and hit her head. At some point, she touched her bloody head and then touched the wall, leaving the infamous bloody handprint. It is exact. Yes, it is exactly what you think it's going to be. Jesus Christ.

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220.601 - 220.921 Karen Kilgariff

I know.

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221.281 - 227.547 Georgia Hardstark

She did not die there on the floor, but she was not found until the morning and was taken to the hospital where she died later.

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228.368 - 229.729 Karen Kilgariff

That's just a straight up tragedy.

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229.749 - 232.312 Georgia Hardstark

Why am I doing this story is a question I'm asking myself right now.

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232.332 - 234.455 Karen Kilgariff

Let's see if they have a point. Let's see if we're going to get somewhere.

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234.475 - 242.744 Georgia Hardstark

I mean, the hamper remains to this day, I think, is the point that all our families are fucking morbid and weird and we just go along with it like everything's fine.

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242.884 - 246.507 Karen Kilgariff

Right. What would have been the problem with going down and rinsing that handprint off?

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246.527 - 268.948 Georgia Hardstark

Rinsing, painting over it. Thanks for all you do and share. This podcast has dramatically impacted the way I see the world and myself. And though my husband is not a listener, he doesn't need to be because I literally retell him every single episode. Stay sexy and dig deep for those family stories because everyone's got them. Yeah, that's true. Beth. Beth, good point.

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269.228 - 275.251 Georgia Hardstark

I think that's the point is like everyone has a bloody handprint from their great grandmother in the basement wall.

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275.452 - 294.423 Karen Kilgariff

Yeah, that for some reason no one is taking care of. Yeah, and that you have to ask about before they'll tell you about it. They'll let you as a child wander down into a darkened basement and discover it yourself. Right. And not be like, we want to keep that there as a remembrance or anything. It's just like, hey, go find it. It's like write a passage.

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297.617 - 302.599 Georgia Hardstark

Okay. You know, I'm going to stick, I am sticking with it. I am, what is it, sticking by my.

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302.859 - 324.629 Karen Kilgariff

You're standing by it? I'm standing by it. Nice. Stand by your email. Yeah. I mean, I like it. Yeah. It's a very good point. It is. It's a little Brene Brown of like that idea that we're all supposed to be ashamed because we're not perfect. Right. When in fact. We all have. We all have all these things. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

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325.489 - 345.433 Karen Kilgariff

The subject line of this email is, you fucking debunked my hometown legend, question mark, exclamation point. And it says, hi there, KNG. This is usually the part when someone says long-time listener, first-time writer. However, I'm breaking the mold. I started listening to MFM in February 2024 and have been breezing through multiple episodes a day.

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345.893 - 350.754 Karen Kilgariff

Shout out to my friend Maria for getting me hooked and to Karen for recommending I skip the first 100 episodes.

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353.355 - 354.535 Georgia Hardstark

Why did you do that?

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357.718 - 363.942 Karen Kilgariff

I don't remember that. Because it was back when we were fucking just blabbing, saying all kinds of horrifying shit.

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364.543 - 366.344 Georgia Hardstark

There were so many episodes.

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366.364 - 372.649 Karen Kilgariff

There were so many episodes. In the beginning, it was just two gals recording a hang.

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372.749 - 385.383 Georgia Hardstark

Having no idea what was happening, but there was a fucking tidal wave happening. But now we're doing rewind episodes, so you can listen to those instead of going back to the first 100. You can listen to the rewind episodes.

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407.109 - 407.089 Georgia Hardstark

843?

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408.29 - 412.115 Karen Kilgariff

No, not even close. In episode 463. There's no way I am that off.

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415.319 - 427.557 Georgia Hardstark

I was like, what's my brain telling my mouth that I said 843? This is our podcast and nothing has changed from the first 100 to now. It's also the 100. It's actually not that different from when it was in the beginning.

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427.698 - 444.892 Karen Kilgariff

You're just in the fourth 100. Right. Okay. In episode 453, Karen covers the Hammond, Indiana circus train crash and mentions showman's rest at Woodlawn Cemetery, where the victims of the crash were buried. Woodlawn Cemetery is in my small hometown of Forest Park, Illinois.

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445.413 - 467.867 Karen Kilgariff

I've been considering writing in this hometown ever since I started listening, but the story I grew up hearing is a bit different. The town legend originally stated that the crash happened in Forest Park and that the only victims were four circus elephants. In Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, there are four large hills at each corner of the cemetery.

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468.367 - 493.161 Karen Kilgariff

The legend had it that the hills were actually the graves of those elephants. Oh. You're saying legend. I'm saying, was it your uncle who was just kind of like bored and telling you a story? Legendary uncle? So the most legendary uncle of Forest Park, Illinois. My new screenplay. The story seemed so far-fetched that even hearing it as a first grader, it never really made sense.

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493.861 - 511.866 Karen Kilgariff

I was thrilled to hear the real facts of the story in the latest spooky Halloween episode and felt an immense sense of pride knowing that there was at least some truth to our small town's legend. Forest Park is a blue-collar village just outside of Chicago that is only two square miles and is the home of three cemeteries.

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512.706 - 538.121 Karen Kilgariff

Part of the legend is that Forest Park held the world's record for the highest ratio of dead people to alive people. But I'll leave that to you two experts to debunk. Daily City. Daily City or Colma, right? Yeah. Which is the real, I mean, all cemeteries. What if we got really competitive with Illinois where we're like, I think that belongs to coma. Okay.

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538.281 - 563.155 Karen Kilgariff

Thank you both so much for being real as shit all the time. We can't help it. It's a crutch for you. You've inspired me to start therapy and become sober all in nine months of listening. Oh, my God. It's taken me nine years and I'm fucking only doing one of those things. Also, this is bullshit. Like, this sounds like someone, it's like, write in this email to make them feel better.

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563.235 - 590.151 Karen Kilgariff

It's really changed my life. Double thumbs up. Yep. You are both very special to me. And I can't wait to see where the next year of listening takes me. And then it parentheses, it says more than likely to the first 100 episodes. Stay sexy and check your hometown facts and dead to a live ratios. Raelynn Sheher. Raelynn, I feel touched. I'm truly touched. I feel that was touching. I feel touched.

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590.431 - 610.605 Karen Kilgariff

It's funny because we keep on making jokes, right? But we shouldn't when people are being touching with us. It's because we can't handle vulnerability. It doesn't feel great. Humor, cover it all up. With humor. You know, I've been rethinking Santa. He breaks into your house, he steals your cookies, and he vanishes until next year.

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610.745 - 612.886 Georgia Hardstark

That's why I prefer deliveries from Home Chef.

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613.106 - 618.429 Karen Kilgariff

Home Chef boxes are delivered to your doorstep with fresh ingredients, easy recipes, and zero cookie theft.

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618.809 - 625.773 Georgia Hardstark

Users of leading meal kits have rated Home Chef number one in quality, convenience, value, taste, and recipe ease.

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625.973 - 632.937 Karen Kilgariff

Home Chef has step-by-step recipes that are designed to make cooking a breeze, whether you're a total beginner or a confident cook looking to save time.

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633.117 - 640.162 Georgia Hardstark

With speedy recipes that are ready in less than 30 minutes and oven-ready dishes that require zero prep, you can choose the meals that work for you.

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640.382 - 646.887 Karen Kilgariff

So no more feeling overwhelmed, no more racing against the clock, just delicious meals that come together effortlessly every time.

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647.067 - 653.532 Georgia Hardstark

And Home Ship has over 30 options a week and serves a variety of dietary needs, so you don't have to worry about what to make ahead of time.

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653.672 - 659.957 Karen Kilgariff

Plus, they roll out 18 fresh options every week, like black pepper steak strips or buttermilk chicken schnitzels.

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660.677 - 667.239 Georgia Hardstark

Not only is it convenient, but it's economical, too. Home Chef customers save an average of $86 per month on groceries.

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667.459 - 690.525 Karen Kilgariff

I have to say, looking at these menus, like the idea of working until 730, whenever I work to rolling out and then going to my kitchen and opening the kitchen and there's some salsa chicken enchiladas sitting there waiting for me to warm up that are restaurant quality and taste like restaurant quality is the reason that I love Home Chef. How about some shrimp carbonara fettuccine for you?

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690.645 - 712.462 Karen Kilgariff

I'd be down with that. Come on. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering our listeners 18 free meals plus free dessert for life. And of course, free shipping on your first box. Go to homechef.com slash MFM. That's homechef.com slash MFM for 18 free meals plus free dessert for life. You heard me right. Homechef.com slash MFM. Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Goodbye.

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713.942 - 718.025 Karen Kilgariff

If you're spending all winter hunkered down at home, it might be time to upgrade your space.

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718.326 - 723.73 Georgia Hardstark

Article makes it effortless to refresh your home with beautiful furniture that's thoughtfully crafted and surprisingly affordable.

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723.95 - 730.115 Karen Kilgariff

Article believes in delightful design for every home. And thanks to their online-only model, they have some really delightful prices too.

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730.255 - 740.343 Georgia Hardstark

Article makes furniture shopping a breeze with its carefully selected styles from mid-century modern to boho and everything in between. No more endless scrolling, just beautiful options that suit your taste.

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740.603 - 746.684 Karen Kilgariff

Check out their Calabri bed. With its wing-backed headboard and dense foam padding, it's perfect for sleeping through winter.

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746.904 - 754.445 Georgia Hardstark

And Article provides fast and affordable shipping across the US and Canada. You get to choose your delivery time, and they'll keep you in the loop with updates along the way.

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754.585 - 764.027 Karen Kilgariff

When it comes to quality, Article's designers hit the sweet spot between style, durability, and price. They're all about thoughtful craftsmanship that not only looks great, but it stands the test of time.

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764.287 - 779.699 Georgia Hardstark

So we have a little back house that we let guests stay in, friends stay in when they want to. And recently a good friend of mine wanted to stay back there and none of my friends had stayed back there, only Vincent. So I kind of hadn't done anything to it because I don't care, but I wanted to impress her. Where did I go? Freaking article.

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779.979 - 791.971 Georgia Hardstark

So like, for example, there was just a like a plain mattress on wheels back there, you know, that I didn't care about. Then I saw this Calabria bed. It's gorgeous. It's like simple, but it adds so much style. I threw

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792.051 - 817.544 Karen Kilgariff

it up there it looks amazing yeah it really does it looks adorable back there she was so impressed and now all of vince's friends will be like oh you did something with the place you're so fancy article is offering our listeners fifty dollars off your first purchase of a hundred dollars or more to claim visit article.com slash murder and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout that's a-r-t-i-c-l-e.com slash murder to get fifty dollars off your first purchase of a hundred dollars or more goodbye

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819.389 - 843.325 Georgia Hardstark

Okay, this one's called The Balloon Priest. Yep, you read that right. He would be friends with Lawn Chair Larry. That's the whole subject line. Hi, Karen, Georgia, an MFM team. I have a hometown that will match Karen's story for Lawn Chair Larry, and it comes all the way from Brazil. The Balloon Priest, a tale equal parts inspiring, bizarre, and undeniably tragic.

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844.346 - 863.549 Georgia Hardstark

The year was 2008, and on April 20th, Father Adelir Antonio de Carli, or as he became known, the balloon priest, took flight from a city in the south of Brazil attached to 1,000 helium balloons. Father Adelir's mission wasn't just about grabbing attention. He had a purpose in mind.

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863.989 - 877.063 Georgia Hardstark

His goal was to raise funds for a rest area and chapel for truck drivers where they could take a break from the road, recharge, and find spiritual comfort. Sorry. That's so specific. I know. It's for like, maybe it's a cultural thing. I don't know.

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877.083 - 887.194 Karen Kilgariff

It could be. And also, I know that truck drivers are exhausted all the time and actually probably really need that. But it's like usually orphans in a far away. Children are hungry.

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887.435 - 903.829 Georgia Hardstark

But how about let's think about the truck drivers. They're also hungry. Yeah. And tired. And they needed spiritual comfort. But to accomplish this, he decided to break the record for cluster ballooning and make it all the way to the state where his brother lived. It was both audacious and outrageous. People couldn't look away.

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904.989 - 921.621 Georgia Hardstark

Adelier even went through jungle survival courses, parachute training, and packed a GPS parachute and five days worth of food and water. On what? Are they about to tell us? I don't know. Packed on his back? I guess so. The only problem, he didn't know how to use the GPS.

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923.281 - 945.465 Georgia Hardstark

After taking off and reaching a dizzying 19,000 feet, and it says way higher than planned, he was heard frantically saying, quote, I need to figure out this GPS or no one will know where I am, end quote. It was a detail only our priest could overlook, but to his credit, he tried valiantly to reach the Coast Guard before his phone battery died.

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946.685 - 968.919 Georgia Hardstark

Unfortunately, by the time he called in his position, he was far off course, swept out over the ocean. Oh, no. Despite efforts by the Navy, Air Force, and even a plane rented by his family, hope faded. Months later, in July 2008, the lower half of a body was found floating off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, 522 miles away from where he took flight.

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969.6 - 992.949 Georgia Hardstark

DNA tests confirmed it was Father Adelier closing this chapter in his remarkable journey. Cool. God, that's sad. And then it says, jump to 2013. A pop country duo drops a dancing track that skyrockets to the top of the Brazilian charts and has everybody dancing to it in nightclubs and social events. I am going to leave you with some of the lyrics from that song. The sun is blazing. It's past noon.

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1017.478 - 1017.999 Karen Kilgariff

God.

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1019.801 - 1039.376 Karen Kilgariff

I'm just staggered at it was 2008. Yeah. So it's like this idea, there were people nearby and there was computers nearby and things that could have helped this. Like a GPS. Just learn it. That was like me getting that fucking car and then getting into it and being like, I don't know how to drive this car.

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1039.396 - 1052.126 Georgia Hardstark

Yeah, but a GPS isn't going to steer you. You know what I mean? Correct. Like, I don't think learning DPS would have helped at all. I think maybe something, staying on the ground might have been a better decision. Walking. How about a long walk to raise money?

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1052.146 - 1065.957 Karen Kilgariff

Yeah, exactly. Let's keep it on the ground. And also, I think with Lawn Chair Larry's story, it's just like, do we all need to be told often that you can't control balloons? Right. And they just go, if you get a bunch.

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1065.977 - 1071.922 Georgia Hardstark

How many times, like, how many decades apart do we need to learn this lesson? It shouldn't be that close.

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1072.242 - 1090.276 Karen Kilgariff

I don't know. Like, 2008 seems like we're due. Hey, everybody, if you have some sort of plan to get a bunch of balloons. Well, there's Balloon Boy. Remember? Balloon Boy was fake, though. Yeah. Remember that? Yeah. That was... That was tragic, actually, because that was weird stage parents putting their child at the center or something. It was.

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1090.676 - 1094.638 Karen Kilgariff

I feel like the way America reacted to Balloon Boy, it was all like, oh, no, look away. Yeah.

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1094.658 - 1096.219 Georgia Hardstark

Look away. Like, oh, no, this isn't good.

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1096.379 - 1121.471 Karen Kilgariff

Yeah. It's very sad. Oh, anyway, you interrupted my great announcement. What? Hey, if you were thinking of raising money or just going on a trip with balloons, don't do it. You won't be able to control them. Okay. This is our public service announcement. Don't do it. Fucking the end. Listen. Okay. We'll work on that public service announcement. We'll do another one next year that's more effective.

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1121.731 - 1138.915 Karen Kilgariff

Okay. This is funny sibling story. Hey, ladies. Love what you do. I'm the youngest of three daughters, and growing up, I always wanted to do whatever my sisters were doing. It was hard for them because I was so much younger, and they really wanted nothing to do with me. My oldest sister, Kaylee, came up with a game for us to play. Okay.

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1139.795 - 1160.871 Karen Kilgariff

for us to play together that was a good compromise for everyone called Servant and Princess. From the title, you can probably guess how it went. Kaylee would be the princess and I would be the servant doing whatever she asked me to do. In return, I would get a quarter as a reward for all my work. I loved this game and I would ask her to play it with me as often as she would allow.

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1160.891 - 1181.447 Karen Kilgariff

If her friends came over, even better for me because I got to play with the big kids and would have more princesses to serve. That's so sweet. I look back and laugh at how funny and brilliant she was for coming up with this game where she got catered to all day. Yeah. And I felt included and loved the time I got to spend with her. Now that we're all grown up, we're very close.

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1181.607 - 1189.391 Karen Kilgariff

And I feel lucky to have her as a sister, even though we didn't really get along for the first 18 years of my life. Isn't that every sister story?

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1189.971 - 1195.114 Georgia Hardstark

Your best friends and then you fucking hate each other more than you've ever hated anyone. Yeah. And then your best friends the next day.

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1195.334 - 1199.453 Karen Kilgariff

Yeah. And then it just says, thanks for all that you do, Tori. That's cute.

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1200.234 - 1215.784 Georgia Hardstark

Did you see that one? Like there's like a TikTok video of like the older sister. She's probably like 10 telling her little sister exactly how to ask her for what she wants. Yeah. And it's, you know, and at the end, no, you may not. I'm that little sister. I'm so triggered by that as a little sister.

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1215.804 - 1226.111 Karen Kilgariff

I mean, and my big sister sent it to me. Yeah. Like this is my favorite. And I, the second, because I knew, you know, it's coming. Say, please may I blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

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1226.391 - 1229.512 Georgia Hardstark

Please, may I not? No, you may not. No, you may not.

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1229.632 - 1250.721 Karen Kilgariff

Fuck that girl. And she makes her do it a couple times and keeps adjusting it. Do it perfectly. Fuck. Okay. Little sisters. It's so fucking hard. It's the funniest. And also, they're always going to do that to you over and over. Right. And then it's like, oh, the youngest ones are always so wild. Right.

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1271.315 - 1271.475 Karen Kilgariff

Okay.

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1273.53 - 1288.573 Georgia Hardstark

Let's face it, we take way too many photos every year, but how often do we get a chance to show them off? With Oriframes, it's ridiculously easy to share your favorite pictures with the ones you love. They allow users to curate and share their photos and memories with loved ones, making it a personal and meaningful gift.

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1288.773 - 1306.199 Karen Kilgariff

These frames were ranked as the number one digital picture frame by Wirecutter, and here's why. They're incredibly easy to set up, update, and enjoy. Oriframes features a high-resolution display showcasing photos in vivid detail. Users can also update their frames from anywhere using the Aura app, making it convenient to add new memories.

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1306.399 - 1319.79 Karen Kilgariff

Plus, you can preload them with photos and a gift message, making it personal right out of the box. I gotta say, I went home for Thanksgiving, visited my dad, and that Aura frame is sitting on the counter facing him in the living room.

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1320.15 - 1335.619 Karen Kilgariff

So he's watching football in his lazy boy recliner, but he can look right over here and it's like, my niece when she was five years old, my niece when she was two years old, my niece when she was just born. A picture from the 70s. My niece, you know, at the prom.

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1335.759 - 1358.965 Georgia Hardstark

It's the cutest. And your niece with a sunset. That's so sweet. I love that. Save on the perfect gift by visiting AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver matte frames by using promo code MFM at checkout. That's A-U-R-A frames.com promo code MFM. This deal is exclusive to our listeners, so get yours now in time for the holidays. Terms and conditions apply. Goodbye.

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1361.192 - 1385.939 Georgia Hardstark

This is called an absolute child hero. Yes. Hi, it's me, the child hero. It's me. For the past 24 years, I've had a thin white box in the bottom of my jewelry box. Inside is a bronze medal attached to a red, white, and blue ribbon fastened to a pin. You're welcome. George Washington's bust is under the words, Good Citizenship Award.

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1387.02 - 1409.325 Georgia Hardstark

In 2000, I was given this medal, interviewed by a local news station and got my name in the paper. This is a story of how I helped to save my teacher's life. Holy shit. I love this. I remember watching a movie about penguins. All desks were pushed to the sides in my second grade classroom and all the kids were sitting huddled together under the TV in the dark. Picture it. Ugh. Ugh.

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1434.429 - 1455.303 Georgia Hardstark

I slowly and quietly got closer to her until I could see her eyes were closed. My heart was beating so fast and my chest felt on fire. I decided I needed to tell the most in-charge adult in the school, the principal, Mr. Johnson. I remember running down the hallway to get there. I made it breathlessly to the front office. The secretary asked, what do you need?

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1455.683 - 1474.857 Georgia Hardstark

I responded, Miss Hill is sleeping on the floor and she won't wake up. She stood up, opened Mr. Johnson's office door behind her and repeated what I said. Like a superhero, he popped up and started running. When he got there, he turned on all the lights, scared the shit out of my second grade class, and immediately started performing CPR.

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💬 0

1475.317 - 1483.944 Georgia Hardstark

The paramedics were called and all kids were ushered into another room for the rest of the day. I went home and did my homework as usual, not sharing the events of the day with anyone.

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1485.496 - 1489.9 Karen Kilgariff

And the principal and the secretary, they were just like, thanks so much, buddy.

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1490.24 - 1511.352 Georgia Hardstark

It wasn't until Mr. Johnson called my mom that night and told her what I did that I realized it was important. I remember my mom with her ear to the phone, tears streaming down her face, just staring at me. It turns out Miss Hill suffered cardiac arrest at the age of 50. Oh, no. Due to the quick action of Mr. Johnson and the paramedics, she made a full recovery.

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💬 0

1511.813 - 1516.714 Georgia Hardstark

If she had gone without CPR for two minutes more, she would have had permanent brain damage.

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1516.734 - 1526.52 Karen Kilgariff

Oh, my God. Thank God for this kid's little bladder, for Bailey's little bladder. And also just for hauling ass, like understanding. Don't stand there in freeze mode. Yeah. This is something's off.

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1526.66 - 1549.555 Georgia Hardstark

Yeah. Miss Hill was in the hospital for the rest of the school year and retired that summer. She never taught, nor did I ever see her again. I would, however, get called down to the attendance office every year on the anniversary of the event. Miss Hill sent me letters from when I was eight to 18, thanking me for saving her life. The last letter I received was when I was a senior in high school.

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1550.015 - 1571.917 Georgia Hardstark

Miss Hill. Miss Hill writes her letters. She keeps up with her letters. That's lovely. The best part of the story, I did some light stalking while composing this email. Miss Hill is still alive, a beautiful woman in her mid-70s. Her social media is filled with pictures of her children and six grandchildren. Come on. Well, that's how I peaked at seven years old.

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1573.078 - 1591.743 Georgia Hardstark

Thank you both for creating the podcast that created this community. At the same time, this little girl helped to save a life. Finding a dead body was on her bucket list and CSI was her favorite show. Yeah, girl. I knew I wasn't the only weirdo. No. Stay sexy and look for the helpers, even the tiny ones. Bailey, she, her. Bailey.

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1592.683 - 1602.19 Karen Kilgariff

First of all, gorgeous intro of that email. Yes, like the structure of that story. Just to like, clearly you're way ahead of the other second graders.

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1602.23 - 1604.711 Georgia Hardstark

Right, like I'm opening with this thing I have.

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1604.751 - 1616.376 Karen Kilgariff

Let me tell you why I have it. The declaration, though, of like, it's me, the child hero. It's me. It's so good. But also interesting. You didn't peak at seven years old, Bailey.

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1616.616 - 1636.252 Karen Kilgariff

You just do the kind of work that goes unappreciated all the time, which is you are a logical, level-headed thinker that probably is like, oh, if you leave the dinner plans for your group of friends to that person, they'll go where they want to go, which doesn't have the right seating. Right. You take over and you're like, here we go. This is where we're going.

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1636.292 - 1645.255 Georgia Hardstark

It's all going to work. Maybe that was the first fucking instance of your badassery. And for the rest of your life now, you've been on this trajectory. You're just doing it.

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1645.335 - 1658.179 Karen Kilgariff

Yeah. You're the day-to-day, level-headed, don't panic second grader that's grown into, I'm assuming, a beautiful young woman. Eye of the tiger, really. Right? Congratulations. I wish I had a little ribbon.

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1659.621 - 1660.162 Ad

I'll get you one.

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1660.502 - 1688.55 Karen Kilgariff

A little ribbon medal? Was George Washington's bus on it? Did I say busts? No. Bus? George Washington bussing on it? Bussing. Okay. I'm last. I got a look just now from Karen. That means someone's going to cry? Okay. Someone. Kid Pastimes Playing in the Sand, A Strange Brother Edition. Hello from the hellscape that is the end of 2024. Hi. Hi. No one's going to save us but ourselves.

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1688.93 - 1698.214 Karen Kilgariff

Create genuine community. Find your support system. I'm reading an email right now, just so you know. I'm reading from the first paragraph of this email. They're opening up fucking hard and fast.

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1698.394 - 1723.514 Karen Kilgariff

strong they're coming in saying exactly what needs to be heard create genuine community find your support system give what you can and as the ever fabulous divine said be twice as gay do twice as many crimes Fuck yes. I love it. What an opening. Yeah. You asked us for stories of what we did growing up to pass the time. My older brother is two and a half years older than me.

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1723.815 - 1730.16 Karen Kilgariff

He would have a toy gun and I'd have my water baby. And then in parentheses it says, a plastic baby filled with water.

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1730.44 - 1734.264 Georgia Hardstark

What the fuck? Oh, because it was like heavy? Could squirt a baby.

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1734.404 - 1758.15 Karen Kilgariff

No, I think it was like a... Well, he had a water gun. Oh, a water gun. Sorry, my assumption was that she would use that baby to squirt water. But I think now that I reread it, you're right. It's just a toy gun. It's not a water gun toy gun. Let's keep going and I'll help you out. Okay. And sometimes the Terminator would hang out with the Barbies in Rainbow Valley.

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1758.651 - 1782.565 Karen Kilgariff

And then that says, the stairs when a crystal in the window cascaded rainbows all over the carpet. But my favorite thing we did was play in the sand patio out back. My dad was supposed to make my mom a flagstone patio, and he finally hired someone to do it only 40-some years after he promised. Consequently, we had a huge sand pit. We would dig a complex riverbed.

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1782.905 - 1804.644 Karen Kilgariff

We stacked wooden logs for the spout. of the water hose as our water fell. Once the stream was ready, my brother would run to the side of the house to turn on the water. He'd run back as fast as he could so we could watch our creation come to life. Once we even brought crawdads, we got at a real stream to put in ours, only for them to burrow deep in the sand and never be found.

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1804.664 - 1809.328 Georgia Hardstark

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. My toes hurt thinking about that.

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1809.368 - 1830.067 Karen Kilgariff

Yep. Good luck in your sandpit, children. My only sibling, my brother and I drifted apart as drugs took over his life as a teenager. Now addicted and living on the streets, I haven't spoken to him in a long time. Writing in, I'm struck by what an amazing person he was. Most brothers would send the little sister to turn on the water. He wanted me to see it.

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1830.727 - 1831.748 Georgia Hardstark

Oh no. Oh no.

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1834.383 - 1860.469 Karen Kilgariff

Thank you for reminiscing playing stream with me as I can't do it with him. Be gay, do crimes. Anonymous. She, her. Anonymous. Come on. That's a sweet one. Here's the thing. Because seriously, the beginning of that email is so smart and good and strong. Yeah. And it's like, and this is, I think, those kinds of memories and things are truly like the glue inside.

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1861.309 - 1869.114 Karen Kilgariff

I feel like those kinds of reminding, even when there's loss, there's beauty. That's why you miss him.

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1869.214 - 1882.32 Georgia Hardstark

And there's still good memories, even though they're tainted by this thing. It sucks. By loss. You can still share them with people and feel them and feel good about them instead of just feeling... Sad. That's really sweet. Yeah.

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1882.721 - 1894.704 Karen Kilgariff

And it's the idea, like, it's a great email anyway, but the idea of that they get to understand that that's what their brother did for them is so beautiful.

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1894.724 - 1918.566 Georgia Hardstark

I wanted her to see it. It makes me think of my brother because he would never have done that. Asher. My sister would have been like, get out of the sandpit. This is our sandpit. What a sweetheart. I know. All right. Well, thank you guys for listening to The Hometowns. Please send yours in, whatever it is, at MyFavoriteMurder at Gmail. Try to make us cry. That'll be the new request. Dare you.

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1918.606 - 1919.106 Georgia Hardstark

Make us cry.

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1919.126 - 1940.429 Karen Kilgariff

Make us, well, you know what it is? Make Georgia cry. It's easy to make me cry. Make Georgia cry. Yeah, do it. I dare you. Good luck. Nothing, nothing sad about animals. No, no, no. I feel like we have to make rules now. No, everyone knows that. Do it. We mean poignant crying, not like, oh, my God. Don't call me names. Oh, my God. Please don't bully Georgia through email.

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1941.169 - 1942.951 Georgia Hardstark

I will cry. That's easy, though.

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1942.991 - 1944.512 Karen Kilgariff

That's the way to get her. Don't do it.

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1944.712 - 1950.377 Georgia Hardstark

Don't do that. Also, stay sexy. And don't get murdered. Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie?

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1958.55 - 1960.252 Karen Kilgariff

This has been an Exactly Right production.

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1960.632 - 1962.455 Georgia Hardstark

Our senior producer is Alejandra Keck.

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1962.935 - 1964.877 Karen Kilgariff

Our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.

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1965.358 - 1967.46 Georgia Hardstark

This episode was mixed by Liana Squalacci.

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1967.981 - 1970.624 Karen Kilgariff

Email your hometowns to myfavoritemurder at gmail.com.

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1970.964 - 1975.249 Georgia Hardstark

And follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at My Favorite Murder. Goodbye.

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