Olympic Figure Skating: Meg's Rink-side Adventures

I Couldn't Throw It Out
Season 2, Episode 20 - Meg Streeter Lauck's Treasures: Olympics, 9/11 and more

Michael Small:
In this episode of I Couldn't Throw It Out, Meg Streeter Lauck shares her favorite treasures, including the ones she saved during her career as a producer and director of network TV sports, especially Olympic skating.

[recorded interview begins]

Meg Streeter Lauck:
The first time I ever saw her skate, she was floating over the ice like a cloud. I was mesmerized. It's just one of those moments where you can tell that someone's going to be amazing. And she was, you know, 13-years-old.

[recorded interview ends]

Michael Small:
You don't have to guess who she's talking about. Just keep listening.

[theme song excerpt starts]

I couldn't throw it out
I had to scream and shout  
Before I turn to dust
I've got to throw it out
Before I turn to dust 
I've got to throw it out

[them song excerpt ends]

Michael Small:
Hello, Sally Libby.

Sally Libby:
Hello, Michael Small.

Michael Small:
Well, I am living up to the title of our podcast, I Couldn't Throw It Out, because I'm not even gonna try to throw anything out today. Are you happy about that?

Sally Libby:
Not at all. You're supposed to be throwing it out.

Michael Small:
Not in this case, because this is our first episode that's entirely dedicated to someone else. She is sharing objects she collected. during 23 years of working on sports coverage for network television, specializing in skating and gymnastics at the Olympic level. And then she's gonna share some treasures that aren't related to her job. They're just important to her for other reasons. So she's gotta decide if she can throw it all out and I'll just lean back and wiggle my toes.

Sally Libby:
All right.

Michael Small:
So let me introduce one of the best people who is ever born on this planet. Meg Streeter Lauck. Welcome Meg.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Oh my gosh, how do I live up to that?

Sally Libby:
Easily.

Michael Small:
Now, can you talk with us a little bit more about what you did through those many years that you were working for network television?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Yeah, so I was really lucky to get hired as a production assistant, which is the ground level production job at ABC Sports before ESPN subsumed it. I worked my way up to associate producer and then we moved to Texas for my husband's job. He was at CBS Sports. He was a producer and he wanted to go on air live and switch from sports to news. Well, you can't do that in New York city. So we ended up in San Antonio, Texas. And I thought my whole career was over, but the '88 Olympics came along and I had been the associate producer in Sarajevo in '84.

Sally Libby:
Wow.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
And the producer, Curt Gowdy Jr. -- Michael, who I'm sure you remember -- needed my assistance. And so I ended up being one of the first freelance people in production in sports television. Because I lived in Texas, but I worked for them by doing everything in my home. And then if I shot pieces and I went back to New York to edit, I could stay with my parents. So ABC loved that because they didn't have to pay for a hotel. And I had to kind of prove that this could be possible. And then this other whole world opened up. And then CBS was like, "Well, we're doing the Olympics now in 1992 in Albertville -- we need a skating person." So then I went to CBS and worked for them. And then I went to NBC and then I went to Turner and USA and UPN and Fox. And before I knew it, I became like this skating specialist. So the funniest thing is that I had told Dan that when we left New York and we were in the U-Haul dragging our little Volkswagen bug behind us -- and I say dragging, it really was -- I was like, this is the worst thing that's ever happened to me. I'm doing this for love, and this feels really terrible. It was like a year into our marriage. And he told me that it was going to end up being the best thing that ever happened to me. And like five years in, after I started working for all these people -- and I still worked for ABC, mostly, they were my primary -- I actually had to suck it up and over a glass of champagne with Dan, tell him that it had been the best thing that ever happened to me.

Sally Libby:
I love it.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
And then I retired early in 2003 because Dan had been diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2001 and we just realized that trying to make it all work was just too hard. But I had directed figure skating, ballroom dancing and gymnastics -- and figure skating in the golden years. And it was truly the career of a lifetime. You couldn't ask for more. And traveling business class on ABC's dime all over the world. And instead of being a tourist, I would work with people in all of these countries, in Russia, in China, in Vienna, in Paris. And it just enriched the experience so much more because I felt like I was really getting to know the people and the cultures of these countries.

Michael Small:
During a career like that, we know you've collected a lot of stuff and that is what we're here to talk about. And I actually want to start with one treasure that you have saved since you were born. I can see that you brought it with you today. And in fact, I know you've been bringing it since the day I met you. And I am talking about your hair, specifically the haircut that you had for many years. It was pretty much the same way till about 10 years ago.

Sally Libby:
Dorothy Hamill?

Michael Small:
Yes.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Yep.
Michael Small:
So this requires a little bit of skating history because not everybody remembers.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Okay, I hope Dorothy never listens to this podcast because...

Michael Small:
Well let's say all the amazing things we can say about Dorothy Hamill.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Dorothy is not only one of the greatest skaters who ever lived, but an incredible person and has a wicked sense of humor. She is so funny.

Michael Small:
So she'll laugh about this.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
She will. Dorothy won the 1976 Olympic gold medal in Innsbruck, Austria. And she was probably 18 at the time. Back when she was younger, she had to take her eight figure skating tests, which put her in the senior category for going to compete internationally. And she lived in Riverside, Connecticut, which was about an hour and a half drive and she'd have to be on the ice at 6 AM. And my coach and her coach were the same person, Mr. Peter Dunfield and Ms. Sonia Dunfield.

Michael Small:
Because you were a skater too.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
'Cause I was a skater too. And my mother was very involved in our skating club and we had an apartment in Manhattan and my sister had gone to boarding school and we had an extra room. And so Mr. Dunfield asked if we could host Dorothy at our home. I think it was about three months while she trained for this final test. And so we got to know Dorothy before she was famous and we had a wonderful time. We used to walk the dog together. She came to my field day, my birthday party. We were just a year apart and she was just so much fun. Dorothy's actually quite shy. A lot of people don't know that. But getting to know her on that level... and the first time I ever saw her skate, I walked into SkyRink and she had... she was wearing a pink dress and a fur muff around her...  covering her head as like a little cap with little ties. And she was floating over the ice like a cloud. I was mesmerized. It's just one of those moments where you can tell that someone's going to be amazing. And she was 13 years old.

Michael Small:
And so while she was staying with you, here's the part that will make Dorothy laugh if she ever listens. Talk to us a little bit about your haircut.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Dorothy had longer hair in those days and I had this shorter haircut because I have a very small face. And if I have long hair, I look like a basset hound. Kind of droopy. So I had a shorter haircut. And I mean, I'm not saying anything. I'm just saying that after she left living with us, she got her hair cut. Oh. Just saying.

Michael Small:
And also for those who don't remember, Dorothy was extremely famous for that haircut.

Sally Libby:
Yes. People loved her hair.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
It was Suga who cut her hair. And he did a much more amazing job than mine. Mine is the cheap imitation, but it just happened that I started a little earlier with it.

Michael Small:
Okay, so I think I need to say, just so you don't have to say it, that when I first saw you skating in college, I thought, "Her hair looks exactly like Dorothy Hamill's." And I did not know at the time that you knew Dorothy Hamill or that you had that very famous type of haircut before she did. Anyway, in the true spirit of this show where I never throw out the greatest treasures, we are not throwing out your hair. You're allowed to keep it as it is. Short and...

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Short and sassy. Wait, wait, wait. Remember it was "Short and Sassy."

Michael Small:
That's right.

Sally Libby:
Yes.

Michael Small:
Like so many of the treasures that I'm saving, it will go with you right to the end.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Yes. Thank you, Michael, so much for allowing me not to throw it out. I'm very grateful to you for that.

Michael Small:
They say I didn't throw anything out, but apparently I lost my hair, somewhere along the line. So I think that we are now ready for you Meg to tell us the stories behind some of the things that you brought. Ultimately, when you're done telling the stories, we wanna know, are you gonna throw it out or not? Okay. Actually, before we start that, I think the question of "Are we gonna throw it out?" is raised because you have one daughter and two stepdaughters and they have some children also. But are they gonna want this stuff?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
I'm just laughing because I don't think so. I moved last year. I pared away and pared away and pared away and they're still like, "Oh my God, mom, you brought way too much stuff." So I don't know. I think some of these they might. It's a hard one.

Michael Small:
You know, I've collected all this stuff trying to figure out what happens to it when I go and you're sharing this experience with us, the same experience, and now we'd love to hear about what you brought.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Most of these are written documents. So the first one is a letter from Mr. Michiake Wachi and Yasushi Inoue, Carolyn Brillet, Yoko Nakajima. It's a very special letter and I'll tell you why. But first let me set up the story. So it was in January of 1995 and I was 38 years old. I'd been directing for five years. And NBC... hired me to go over to direct a show in Tokyo. And the only problem was that we weren't allowed to bring any of our camera people. And so we were working with TV Tokyo and they were going to provide all the cameras, their own television truck and their own technical director. And they were going to basically be doing the show, even though we brought our own announcers for the audio and everything else. The problem was that they were concerned as to whether or not the quality of their direction was going to be up to snuff to air on NBC. So they sent me over as a consultant to teach the Japanese how to direct figure skating. Now the other thing was that we had our own little separate truck and I have a technique that I learned from Doug Wilson. And they do it in all Hollywood big shows and productions. It's, it's a long time technique called camera blocking where you plan your shots ahead of time, because skaters go out and do the same routines over and over and over again, they don't, it's not a spontaneous sport like football. So what you can do is go to practice and you can plan all your shots in your head as to where you think you've... Plan your cameras. You know that there are going to be six cameras around the rink, and you're thinking, "Oh, the opening shot will look great on three on a tight face shot, and then we'll go to camera two in the center head to toe, and then that camera will pull back and then we'll dissolve to camera one head to toe before the triple Lutz." Blah, blah.

Michael Small:
The triple Lutz. You have to always mention the triple Lutz.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
You know, you've got to always put in a triple Lutz. So the point is that it allows you to get amazing face shots. Because you can have that camera be on a face shot way before it's ready. And the person's going in and out of the frame. But I'm on another camera, so it doesn't matter. But as soon as that person stops mid program and turns right to camera three, he's already on the face shot. He doesn't have to push in because if he had to push in, the skater would glide right out. So now you take camera three and you know that it's 37 seconds in because you've got your notes that you told your camera blocker. And you got the shot and then you get right off into camera two head to toe, and the skater moves on and you plan every shot. You literally can plan every shot but you do it all in your head. Isn't that amazing?

Sally Libby:
That really is.

Michael Small:
It's the coolest thing. We never knew this.

Sally Libby:
How do you keep it all in your head though? How do you keep it all straight?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Oh, I don't. I have a camera blocker. Or I do it in my head at practice while watching them or we tape it and then we go back and look at it. We zero a stopwatch on the music and I'll say, 10 seconds in, I wanna be on three wide and push in. I'll give the camera direction. It's very time consuming because you go through all the... if you tape it, it's time consuming. If you do it live, just watching in practice, you do it on the fly and you just have to think, you're basically looking at everything from all your camera angles. So it's really a cool technique and I loved it. And I learned from Doug Wilson, the very best director of figure skating in the world. And I was his camera blocker for years and years and years. So then I had a camera blocker named Kristen and others who were fantastic. But the bottom line was I was going to have to teach the Japanese crew how to camera block. Okay. So I get there and let's just say my welcome was.... Terrible.

Michael Small:
I thought you were going to say icy or cool.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Icy would have been perfect. That's the perfect word. Okay, of course, in more ways than one.

Michael Small:
Oh, wait, we have to pause for one minute. "It was icy in more ways than one." And we have to know that there are dueling punsters because Sally is also a punster and Meg is way into puns.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Oh, absolutely. So I can't believe that I didn't come up with icy and I'm like now falling behind you.

Sally Libby:
So right. You also could have used frosty.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Yep. Frosty. Very good. Cool. Yep. You know, the whole thing. So we get there and we meet, honestly, there had to have been like 40 people from TV Tokyo and I had no idea what anybody did. And all we did for like a whole day was we had these huge meetings and people nodded their head and I talked and basically they nodded their head and they weren't listening at all. They were not paying any attention. They were like in their own home mode. And they were like, "Who is this 38 year old woman coming in to tell us how to do our job?" And we really are just gonna nod our heads and just not listen to you.

Sally Libby:
Well, there was a translator, right?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Oh, there was a translator. We sat through all these meetings, but I could tell. They were just like, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Oh. And the glaze in their eyes, it was just not a happening thing. So I had brought over a video of one of the shows I had directed. And I realized we were in trouble because they weren't paying any attention. They just dismissed me. So we get to the next day. And now we're like three days from the show. We've missed a whole day of really making progress. And I start off the meeting and I put in the video of a show I've directed and I said, "This is what NBC is expecting." And they watched it. And their faces just got like... just stone reaction. And they went, "Okay." And they basically, from that moment on, listened to everything I did. I camera blocked the entire show for them, which was a competition and then an exhibition -- competition in the first half, exhibition in the second half. I worked with Caroline Brillet, their interpreter, because we'd lost the day. We stayed up 24 hours to get through all the routines and I gave them all my notes and all their cameramen were ready. And we went in. They said, we'll just take your notes for the competition. We don't really need them for the exhibition. At the exhibition, there's this knock on my TV truck door and they're like, "We need your notes for the exhibition. We need your notes for the exhibition."

Michael Small:
There's justice in this world.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
So we had to send Caroline to go copy them. And so I'm in my own truck. I'm taking the shots a second faster than they are because I know what's coming and I just... But I couldn't direct a single camera. They didn't hear me. The cameramen did not hear me. It was all directed by their director with the same camera notes as I had. So it was actually a pretty amazing international cooperative experience.

Michael Small:
How did it go? Was it a success?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Oh, the show was beautiful. It all looked great and NBC was happy.

Michael Small:
Oh, okay. There's a happy ending to that.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
But here's what I kept from TV Tokyo Sports Division.

Michael Small:
Now wait, how did you get this?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
This is on a fax. It came in. I had sent them a note thanking them for working with them. It came in one day. My fax, this is, you know, way back in 95. My fax went on.

Michael Small:
Wait, we have to tell people what a fax is, don't we?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Oh my God, how do we tell them? It was this cool machine that, like, you got an instant telegram in your house.

Michael Small:
It would be like a PDF.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Yes. OK, so here is what it said. "Dear Ms. Meg Streeter, Thank you very much for your heartfelt fax message. We also feel very happy to work with you, and it was a pleasure to do a good job with your assistance. To tell a truce." Now they actually misspelled it. They meant truth. But we actually did come to a truce. "To tell a truce, when we met first, we were not happy to be concerned from you and your staff."

Michael Small:
To say the least.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
"Because we were at panic stations to prepare all the things for the event. But soon we realized that your knowledge of covering figure skating was nothing but excellence." This is self aggrandizing, sorry. "We were able to learn quite a lot from you and your methods and will certainly be useful in our work. It was a stimulating experience. We certainly won't forget the personal contacts we had during your short stay in Japan and the kindness shown by yourself and your staff. Thank you very much for everything. And we hope that we will get a chance to work together again. P.S. We and our technical staff enjoyed drinking the whiskey which you presented."

Michael Small:
Oh. There was the, that's, it was all about the whiskey. It's all about the whiskey. But you know, this is the most honest letter I have ever received. It basically said, "To tell you the truth, we didn't want to work with you."

Sally Libby:
I think that's great.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
With the happy ending. I do too, and I treasure it. And fortunately, I made a copy before the fax paper turned into, you know, mush.

Michael Small:
Oh, yeah, because it used to turn into mush. Well, Meg, I mean, it's certainly...

Meg Streeter Lauck:
That's my first treasure.

Michael Small:
...a memory of a wonderful event and a triumph of turning something sour into something sweet and whiskey and drunk. It was a whiskey sour, and it became a whiskey sweet.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Very good. Very good.

Michael Small:
Are you going to keep saving that paper? And what's the fate of that paper?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Because it's only a piece of paper, I'm definitely saving because honestly, I don't remember a single letter written by anybody else after any show I ever did. Not that I didn't get them, but nothing was as honest as this and the fact that they could say that and felt that they could tell me the truth or the truce. I love the truce. It just, I will, there is no way I'm giving this up and maybe my kids will find it and get a good laugh.

Michael Small:
Okay, excellent. I heartily approve. Sally, take note.

Sally Libby:
I'm noting.

Michael Small:
It is not just one person in your life who is saving and holding onto a few things.

Sally Libby:
I would hold onto that too, definitely.

Michael Small:
Ah, okay. Okay. Wow, validation Meg.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Yeah, cool.

Michael Small:
Okay, well what else have you got for us?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
So my next treasure comes from the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City in which I was the Director of the World Feed for high definition, which had never been done before in high def. And it was just so amazing. Oh my God. I mean, now we all just take it for granted, but the difference was spectacular. Because it was for the World Feed, I had to cover every single skater, which the networks only do sort of the top ones. But every single skater, every single routine. And we camera blocked all of them. And I had a whole team of four interns that went out and taped every single... all the practice. sessions all over Salt Lake where they went and taped their routines. Then my camera blocker and I came back and camera blocked every routine and the whole thing. Okay, so we get to the pair event and in 2002 in Salt Lake there was that big scandal where the judges made a whole thing where they put the dancers ahead if the Russians could win the pairs because the Russians were afraid of the Canadian skaters Jamie Sallet and David Pelletier.

Michael Small:
Wow, even I heard of that.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Yes, huge scandal. Okay, so Sale and Pelletier, the Canadian skaters who are fantastic, and their choreographer, Lori Nichol, is a dear friend. They started off with a routine that year that didn't kind of work. And I called Lori... I saw them in an earlier competition, and they have all these events leading up, and I kind of called Lori and I said, "Lori, I gotta tell you, it just... I just don't think this is a winning."

Michael Small:
It was too routine.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Thank you, Michael. It was too routine.

Sally Libby:
And how did she take that?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Well, Lori was very cool. So I said, "You know, their program to Love Story last year was amazing. And I really would consider them going back to it." Now, I'm not saying it was just because of me. I think some other people said it too. But they ended up doing Love Story. Okay. So that was kind of like a big, whoo. And I knew it was gonna be great.

Michael Small:
We have to tell people what Love Story was.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Oh my God. We do, no one knows. We do, okay. So Love Story was about two people who were at Harvard and they were students and he was rich and she came from a poor background and worked in the library and they fell in love. And then...

Michael Small:
Don't give it away.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
No, I have to, 'cause it's part of my story. She gets diagnosed with cancer and she doesn't make it. And it's a real tearjerker. And I saw it and cried through it.

Michael Small:
Question, Sally, did you cry too?

Sally Libby:
Oh, I'm sure there was a tear, but I do remember my younger sister had a band-aid box full of coins and right at the peak of the sorrow, it drops on the theater floor.

Michael Small:
She was trying to change things.

Sally Libby:
Yes, she was.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Oh! Oh, and it certainly didn't make any sense to me why that happened.

Michael Small:
Oh! There we go. Good, good, good.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Well, you know, we can coin a phrase from that, I'm sure. Oh. Anyway, so now they were doing Love Story. I knew this routine inside out, directorially. And I knew they were going for the gold. So this was, you know, a top performance. So I always have this camera meeting before, every evening, which you do before every show. And that's when I tell the cameraman about tricky shots, shots that are, you know, may make it or may not. But I want them to go for it. So Tim Two was on camera three, and I told him that when Jamie Sale turns to David and there's the moment in the routine where she realizes she has cancer. But they're standing side by side and then she turns under his arm and looks up at his face and you see the expression on her face that she's stricken by the news. And I... there was no... the problem was the other cameras. You could only get a profile or his head was blocking her face.

Sally Libby:
Oh no.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
So I was gonna miss the moment. But I was like, "Tim, if you can, try." And he had... David had his arm raised and I was like, maybe you can get this shot under his arm to see her face. Now this is a two and a half second shot. But it's the payoff to the whole thing. And the thing is, if he misses, we get David's arm, okay? But we won't know it. I've only visualized this in my head. In the end, Tim Two got the shot. It was awesome. It was a quick shot. The arm was high enough thanks to David, the skater, and the routine went on. And then they ended up being co-Olympic champions with the Russians. Because the Russians won. But then there was the whole big scandal. We had never had co-Olympic champions ever in the history of skating and they ended up winning. Okay, so. On the last night of the whole thing after the ladies event was over, my whole camera crew presented me with this. The album from Love Story with Allie McGraw and Ryan O'Neill on the cover. And they all signed it.

Michael Small:
That's one of the most beautiful and tragic things I've ever seen.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
I know.

Michael Small:
But Meg, can you share some of what was written on there?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Okay, so this is very nice from my Chiron operator. See again, this is all very self-aggrandizing. I'm so embarrassed, but...

Michael Small:
Go for it.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
"Working with Meg on figure skating is our crew's love story."

Sally Libby:
Love that.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
You know, there are lots of other ones that are just, you know. very lovely and nice, but the album certainly moved me to tears and I treasure it.

Michael Small:
Of course. I guess we're back to that question. Are we keeping this?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
This is a keeper for me.

Sally Libby:
Absolutely. I would keep them.

Michael Small:
Do you have a record player still? People don't even know what records are, by the way. We might have to explain that.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
No they do. Vinyls are back in.
Sally Libby:
Yes, that's right.

Michael Small:
I am curious what is on that album. Like there was the wonderful theme song. which I could sing again. (Singing together) "Where do I begin to tell the story of how great a love can be....?"

Meg Streeter Lauck:
All right, so here we go.

Michael Small:
What could be on it?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Oh, wait, look. Theme from Love Story, but then there's the snow frolic. Sale and Pelletier actually do a whole snow-frolic-like scene in their performance. (Reading) Mozart, Sonata in F Major. I Love You, Phil. The Christmas Trees. Search for Jenny. Skating in Central Park! (Stops reading) Perfect!

Michael Small:
Okay, there we go.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
(Reading again) Johann Sebastian Bach, concerto number three in D major, and then of course the finale theme from Love Story. (Stops reading)

Michael Small:
Wow. So they made albums and sold them, and all they had on them was a theme song and then a bunch of dialogue from a movie.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
I don't think they had dialogue. They just put in the other background fillers.

Michael Small:
I like the way you've got your... you've got it in a nice clean sleeve. The records came in sleeves.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
I'm sure one of my interns went to some old music store and found this.

Sally Libby:
You could throw it out or give it away or sell it. I wonder how much it could go for.

Michael Small:
I think that actually the writing on it lowers the value.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
I think you're probably right.

Michael Small:
Those are treasured words to you, but Meg, on to the next.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Now these two things. have nothing written on them, but I treasure them because when we went off to the Olympics, sometimes we stayed in hotels -- it depends who we were working for -- and sometimes we were in media villages. And media villages could be basically apartments that were designed to host the media and then afterwards to be sold for people to live in, but they weren't very warm and friendly, shall we say. So many of these became apartments and they were very sterile. and they weren't very welcoming when we got there. In both the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, the Winter Olympics, and the 92 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, the school children of the city did drawings and welcomed us, and they had them up in the rooms when we arrived.

Sally Libby:
That's really sweet.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
And I have, yes, I have this one lovely drawing of a little boy. flying on a bird. He's sitting on his back and it's by Ragnhild Magnus and he lives in Gyllenborg Skål. So that's in Norway. And I'm not sure what that has to do with the Winter Olympics, but I thought it was very, very sweet. And then the one from Barcelona is from, her name is Olga Sesma. She says, Benvenido amigo, Bienvenue ami and Welcome friend. 

Michael Small:
Those are beautiful. I mean, they're really beautiful. And the one with the flying the goose towards the moon, you can't throw those out.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
It's kind of magical.

Sally Libby:
And imaginative.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
He's tapping into like the higher spirit of the Olympics or something. All I know is that I felt, (choking up) sorry, very far from home. And they really cheered me up every night when I came in. And when I first arrived, I felt like somebody had taken the time to make all these strangers coming from all over the world feel that they were welcome.

Sally Libby:
Yes, magical.

Michael Small:
And this is helping me think about why we save things because look at what just happened. You got very emotional. You revisited an important emotion that you never would have thought of if you did not have those two drawings.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Right. I know.

Michael Small:
And look, we're winning over Sally too.

Sally Libby:
Oh, let's just save everything!

Michael Small:
She's a convert Meg, you've done better than I could ever do in a whole season of this podcast.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Well, fortunately, these aren't huge items that aren't, they're not taking up a lot, but you know, I kind of think in life that part of what we're meant to do here on earth is to send out positive ripples and you know, Ragnhild and Olga must be, you know, 40 right now. They don't know this, but they sent out a ripple to me that made a difference in my life. And here I am talking to you about that. And Ragnhild and Olga and their art are living on.

Michael Small:
Exactly.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
And they sent out a beautiful ripple to me that I'm sharing and sending out to others.

Michael Small:
And by the way, the podcast allows that ripple to go farther. And that is another reason why we're doing this whole project.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
There you go. Bingo.

Michael Small:
Okay. Keep those. What's next?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Oh, you already decided to keep them. Okay. You didn't even have to ask me.

Michael Small:
Okay. Well, I always decide that. So you don't have to, if you're going to... you're going to have to disagree with me on something.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Okay. So one of the things is that I was gone from home a lot, especially with Olympics and stuff. It'd be a month, because you have to prep and all that stuff. And so when Courtney was in first grade...

Michael Small:
And Courtney's your daughter.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Courtney is my daughter. Yes. Thank you. And, um, her teacher suggested that I do, uh, an Olympic presentation. And so I gathered up all my memorabilia, I had hats and I have, oh, the coolest pins. When you go to the Olympics, they literally do a story, every single Olympics -- and I did one in Lake Placid -- on pin trading. That's how big pins are. And every year I'm like, I'm just waiting for the pin trading story. How excited people get. So I brought in a lot of my memorabilia and I did this presentation and here are some of the notes I received. (Reading) "Dear Mrs. Meg, thank you for the pins. I going to save mine because sooner or later, L-A-D-E-R, it is going to be worth a lot of money. I learned a lot about the Olympic Games. Thank you again. I know you miss your child for a month. I'm scared to go on a plane by myself. Thank you, Lizzie."

Sally Libby:
That's adorable.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
And then she has all of these Olympic logos.

Sally Libby:
Wow.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Anyway, that was fun. And then here's another one.

Michael Small:
Yep, go for it.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
(Reading) "Dear Mrs. Locke, Those pins you gave us are really neat. I traded pins a lot. I traded three times. This is the one I ended up with." (Reading ends) And it's the ABC Sports pin.

Michael Small:
And then all those kids had, from the from the pins in the back, they all had bleeding fingers and Meg was to blame.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Yes. So we had a pin trading flurry and the kids got a sense of the Olympics and that was fun.

Michael Small:
And they were stuck on you. You got me going Meg.

Sally Libby:
You got to quit needling her.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Well they put a hole in my heart.

Michael Small:
OK, on to the next. Next.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
OK, these have nothing to do with skating.

Michael Small:
OK.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
When 9-11 happened, I was a wreck because I grew up in New York City and I just felt this burning need to go back to New York and just to mourn, to see, whatever. But I wanted to do more than that. And so I found out from my mother that at the 68th Street precinct, even though it was very far uptown, they lost two firefighters. And so I went to Courtney's school, this was in fifth grade, and told the kids about it, and would they like to do drawings and write letters, and raise some funds for the families of the firefighters who didn't make it. And they all took this on with gusto. And actually, I think it was very healing for them. And it turned into a huge project, and I'm just going to show you one of the drawings, because we gave them all to the firefighters, but I kept one. And... It says at the top, thank you for saving America. And she has, she has the towers and then a lot of fire and the ladders and Lady Liberty and the American flag.

Sally Libby:
Oh, that is lovely.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
And then it says United We Stand. And then that was drawn by Alisa, who I knew very well. So we brought our drawings and messages. to the firemen who were wonderful.

Sally Libby:
How long after the tragedy were you there?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
I think it was five weeks. So it was still very fresh. They gave us a tour of the firehouse and they put Courtney in a fire hat and on the truck and took the time out to really make us feel special because we'd flown in from Houston. And they were so kind because we saw that on the walls of the firehouse, like, of course, hundreds of children had brought messages and drawings. And it was almost like, "Oh, how do we make them feel good for more messages and drawings? We have so many." Oh. The thing that I remember most is that outside the firehouse, they had this shadow box with glass and inside the frame was a picture of one of the men they lost and his name was Ray. I still remember that distinctly. And... He was walking into that ashen abyss, you know, everything was white. And underneath they had written, "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." And that has stayed with me forever. And even when I think of my impending death and my husband's death, I think of that. And I think of the last line, "I will fear no evil." We were having this very, very sad... but also they were so kind that it was a rich time together. And then all of a sudden the bell rang and they were like, "Hey, we gotta go do our job. See you later. Get lost." And we were like, "Oh my God, how do we get out of the way so we don't get run over by the truck?" Suddenly it was like "Get the hell out of here."

Michael Small:
It's just more proof that when we save things, this amazing memory you just shared with us came out of that thing you saved.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Right.

Michael Small:
And all the feelings come back.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
I know. Exactly. And they're so powerful. And I think of Ray every now and then and I just think how he walked right into it. I mean, we know that that's what people always said, that they didn't hesitate. And there was Ray just walking into it.

Michael Small:
And, you know, I was gonna say that maybe you should take this stuff that you saved and donate it maybe to the 9-11 Museum. But it sounds like they probably have a lot of pictures from kids.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
I think they have thousands. But I have the one that, to me, always brings back the memory. And that's what I hold on to.

Michael Small:
Well, thank you Meg for sharing that. You have one or two more things to go through?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Two more things. They're small, but mighty. In 2017, my church paired me up with a Syrian refugee family, the Al Saleh family. And they had escaped, obviously the Syrian civil war with their six children. And their mother, Ebtesam, wanted me to help teach the three youngest children English and work  with them with their reading and their schoolwork. And I checked the ages, Kasem was 13, Rawan was 11, and Feras, who is just such a hoot. Oh my God, he'll do anything not to do homework. He's eight. I have known them now for six to seven years, and I just, I love this family. They are kind, hardworking, fun, funny. They make me laugh. And I've watched the older children -- who I'm close to also -- grow up and attend high school and graduate. And their mom and dad and the older children have become U.S. citizens, which is just so heartwarming. But my heart belongs to the three that I tutored up until COVID. And I went every week and we read books and we struggled over fourth grade math. And I'm just going to be honest and say they didn't -- I did. And we worked on science projects like gravity egg dropping. We had an amazing time and Rawan presented this to me with a little ladybug.

Michael Small:
It's felt with googly eyes. The ladybug is about six inches big.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
But the thing I love is what she wrote. (Reading) "Hi Miss Meg, thank you for sunlight." Oh. Here's what just warms my heart, that and leaving behind destruction was sunlight. That reading was sunlight. That playing Simon Says, which we used to do at the end just for fun, was sunlight. That dropping eggs off the second floor of their apartment was sunlight. I love that she interpreted it as sunlight.

Michael Small:
Me too. Yeah. And I'm telling you. If you think you're throwing that out, I'm grabbing it from you and I'm saving it.

Sally Libby:
What an experience.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
They are fantastic. This is one of the reasons that I just say America is made up of amazing people from all over the world. And what they are bringing to our country is this incredible culture, spirit, and so many riches.

Sally Libby:
Right, and gratitude.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
And gratitude. You know, it's the classic where they've enriched my life more than I've enriched theirs. That sounds so trite, but it's so true. And after my husband died, they were just so wonderful in just being a touchstone for me.

Michael Small:
Well, you mentioned your husband dying, and I think that's the last thing you saved.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
That is the segue to the last one, yes. So Dan had... Parkinson's for 20 years and dementia for 10, which was a long journey for him, for both of us. And he passed, I honestly say, and I think this can sound New Age-y, but I really believe that I don't say "died" and I don't say "passed." I say passed over to the other side because I still feel this deep connection to his spirit. And he passed over to the other side on December 31st, 2020. He really helped me a lot with my taxes because it was right on the last day. It was very thoughtful of him. A little dark humor. What can I tell you?

Sally Libby:
A very practical man.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Anyway, it's been two and a half years. And last year I chose to downsize because I was in a home that felt lonely and empty and I moved last August. So of course. I actually did what you did, Michael, which was to go through all my stuff. So I really had to cull.

Sally Libby:
Sounds like it was "cull waiting," right?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
It was "cull waiting," and it had been waiting for years.

Michael Small:
No, Sally, no. That was a stretch.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
So I went through all the meaningful mementos, revisiting them -- waves of emotion, sorting them out, and then, of course, bringing way too much to my new home. After unpacking it all, I opened this random box. And my heart stopped. And there was a yellow Post-It that simply said, "Meggie, I love you, Danny."

Sally Libby:
Oh. Do you remember seeing that before?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Here's the thing. I didn't. I think it was one of those times when he just, you know, it reminds me of the... it's a... Is it Stevie Wonder? "I just called to say I love you."

Sally Libby:
Right.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
And I think it was one of those just everyday kind of things where the person pops in and leaves you a little note and you think, "Oh gosh, that's so nice and thoughtful and everything." And, you know, you love it in the moment, but you kind of move on. And I just treasure this the most. All the things that I brought over from the house, this is the one that means the most to me.

Sally Libby:
He's still with you.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Yes, and he used, you know, our endearment names were Meggie -- that's what I was called when I was a little kid -- and he was called Danny when he was a little kid. And it's just my touchstone, and I have it on my audio bar underneath my computer. The first thing in the morning when I come up and tackle life's stuff, it's the first thing I see.

Sally Libby:
Oh, that's wonderful.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
And it makes me so happy. I just feel him with me all the time.

Sally Libby:
That's so great.

Michael Small:
Well, Meg, you brought so much to us. You've got the Olympic gold medal for saving good things.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Yes. Well, my daughter would probably call me a hoarder. It's all the other stuff I didn't show you. It's the closet with the... the, like, 20 file boxes that I didn't show you. Those are all financial statements and all that stuff that you never... you always wonder, "If I throw it out, is somebody gonna come back and ask me for it?" But these are the ones that go in a special box. And, you know, I remember reading a book once where, and people do this, they put in a special chest the things that really matter to them. And I think it's time for me to create just one repository that speaks to the heart. Yes, for the ones that really matter.  And actually, I really just thought of this right now because of this podcast, to go through and pull out what really matters so my kids know.

Michael Small:
Yes, that's great. I just can't believe you're like, you're saying all these things for me because this... you're saying it better than I ever said it. And this is why we do the podcast. And thank you so much. That's just amazing.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Well, you're welcome.

Michael Small:
You're justifying us.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
I guess what's interesting is that it wasn't things. It was what people wrote. And I realized that that's what's had the most, not just impact, but I've taken it into my cells when I received each of these beautiful epistles in one way or another, that they have become part of me and that my gratitude to the people who exchanged them and shared them with me is brimming and makes my heart full. I know it's cliche, but I think that things are cliche sometimes because they're really true. And what it really does help me to understand is that it is about the connections we make with others that is part of why we're here on this planet, to connect and to love and to reach out and shine your light and receive the light of others. And that's how I feel.

Sally Libby:
That's so true.

Michael Small:
Meg, can you take photos of the things you shared today and send them to me?

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Yes, I can.

Michael Small:
Excellent, because then everyone will see these treasures. I'll post them on the page for this episode on our website. That's at throwitoutpodcast.com

Sally Libby:
And you can get a reminder about our latest episodes on Instagram at throwitoutpod.

Michael Small:
And I think that's it for today. Thank you so much, Meg. We loved your stories.

Sally Libby:
Loved them.

Michael Small:
And... I loved seeing that you are no better than I am at throwing things out. It is not easy. And you proved it.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
I didn't throw out a single one. I know.

Michael Small:
But Sally, we are going to keep trying on the next episode of... 

Sally Libby:
I Couldn't Throw It Out.

Michael Small:
Bye Sally. Bye Meg.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Bye Sally. Bye Michael.

Sally Libby:
Mwah.

Meg Streeter Lauck:
Mwah.

[Theme song begins]

I Couldn't Throw It Out theme song
Performed by Don Rauf, Boots Kamp and Jen Ayers
Written by Don Rauf and Michael Small
Produced and arranged by Boots Kamp

Look up that stairway
To my big attic
Am I a hoarder
Or am I a fanatic?

Decades of stories
Memories stacked
There is a redolence
Of some irrelevant facts

Well, I couldn't throw it out
I had to scream and shout
It all seems so unjust
But still I know I must
Before I turn to dust
I've got to throw it out
Before I turn to dust
I've got to throw it out

Well I couldn't throw it out
Oh, I couldn't throw it out

I'll sort through my possessions
In these painful sessions
I guess this is what it's about
The poems, cards and papers
The moldy musty vapors
I just gotta sort it out

Well I couldn't throw it out
Well I couldn't throw it out
Oh, I couldn't throw it out
I couldn't throw it out

[Theme song ends]

END TRANSCRIPT