The Cathedral (2021) Movie Script
0
Jesse Damrosch was born in 1987,
two years after the death of
his father's brother, Joseph.
Jesse's grandfather,
Dominic, a retired printer,
had been reluctant to
allow his younger son
to return to the family home.
With his health diminished,
Joseph was admitted to a hospital,
where he would remain until
his death, at 38 years old.
It would seem that Jesse's late uncle
was subject to two deaths:
The official death, as confirmed
by medical tests, was AIDS.
The unofficial death, as
Joseph's father would have it,
was a sudden bout of liver disease,
which he is said to have
contracted from unclean silverware.
Some years later, Jesse's
own father, Richard,
would urge caution on his son
when dining at restaurants,
stressing to him the importance
of wiping down his forks and knives.
Liberty is an idea,
handed down from generation to
generation, people to people.
America honors the Statue
of Liberty's centennial
by minting United States Liberty Coins.
Valuable keepsakes that
treasure liberty always.
U.S. Liberty Coins.
Singly or in sets, at
banks, savings and loans,
and Montgomery Ward stores.
Keep liberty in mint condition, forever.
In the spring of 1986,
while vacationing in
Puerto Rico, his first trip
since his brother's death
the previous summer,
Richard was introduced
to Lydia Orkin, age 27.
They met in a hotel elevator.
A year later, they would be married.
It would be Richard's second marriage.
Why don't you thank Mom?
Mind your own business.
While a temporary
tenant in his parents' house,
Richard opened a printing
business of his own.
He acquired many of his
father's former clients.
He soon found an apartment for sale
in the nearby town of Haylett,
long eclipsed by its
more affluent neighbor,
Haylett Bay Park, a village
settled by bankers in the 1920s,
and whose families now
earned their fortunes
in the insurance and financial trades.
Unable to afford a down payment
on the Haylett apartment,
Richard turned to an old
acquaintance, John Menlo,
whom he had known since the early 1960s,
when both men were stationed
as military draftees.
The sources of Menlo's
income were ambiguous,
but there was no question that he earned
and spent his money with ease.
He loaned Richard $50,000.
They agreed to the terms.
On April 23rd, Lydia Orkin
officially became Lydia Damrosch.
In a show of gratitude,
Richard chose John Menlo
as his best man.
Lydia's sisters, Christine and Kara Orkin,
were named the bridesmaids.
On behalf of all of us here,
and all the beloved friends
and relatives who could be here
to share this happy day with
you, we all want to ask God
to lead you to a happy and
healthy long life together.
Congratulations to both of you.
The total cost
of Richard and Lydia's wedding
exceeded early estimates.
Richard claimed he was
misled about the expense,
and suggested that Lydia's
family pay the remainder.
Fearful of a confrontation,
Lydia convinced her parents to comply.
They settled the bill.
Somebody's at our door.
In the fall,
Richard and Lydia's son,
Jesse Joseph Damrosch, was born.
He was christened in a small ceremony
at a Roman Catholic church in Haylett.
John Menlo and Kara Orkin were selected
as the boy's godparents.
Jesse's birth
coincided with great changes
in the lives of Lydia
and Richard Damrosch.
At around this time, Lydia accepted
a full-time nursing position
in the maternity ward
of a nearby hospital, and
Richard's printing business
soon became profitable,
having gained a stable
of recurring contracts and clients.
And there was talk of more
children, too, as Lydia,
having been born into a large family,
had hoped to leave her
son in supportive hands.
For once an only child suffers
the loss of his parents,
there are few familiar faces to turn to,
and few shared memories to be had.
Flora Orkin had not spoken
to her sister Billie
in six years.
The two women had for a time
agreed to share responsibility
for their mother, Josephine,
a depressed woman,
long without a permanent home.
By the spring, however, Billie
and her husband, Ted Alloway,
had announced that they would
no longer house Josephine,
and the Orkins were left with sole custody
of the elderly woman,
much to their distress.
You didn't need to be so friendly.
Why not? I haven't
seen them in a long time.
That's alright.
You and Richard can
invite them to your house.
Why couldn't we invite Aunt Billie in?
- Don't call her Aunt Billie.
- She's not Aunt Billie.
Because that's what I said.
Flora, I'm going to tell your mother
not to invite them into the house again.
Let them wait in the car.
I'll see you later,
okay? Bye, bye, Jesse.
Bye!
Wave bye-bye, Jesse.
Say bye, Aunt Kara.
Bye.
Jesse, look!
Hello!
Hi, ma.
Hello, Jesse, hello!
He's been up since six o'clock.
Oh, no. Well, we'll go
right inside and have a nap.
You be good for Grandma.
Would you like anything to eat?
No, thank you, ma.
Alright, Jesse. Behave yourself.
Me or Lydia will pick him up at five.
That's just fine.
Where's dad?
He went to the store. He'll
be back in a little while.
Bye-bye!
Bye-bye!
Oh, you brought Mr. Bunny!
Let's go inside and give Mr.
Bunny something. All right?
Okay. Here we go.
Daze. Faze.
Gaze. Haze.
Maze. Raze.
Now read these words with me:
Blade, blame, blaze, blazer.
Now try this sound: glll.
Listen: Blll, blaze. Glll, glaze.
Join glll with ad. What word do we have?
Look: Glll-ad. Glad.
That's correct. The word is glad.
Which one?
You're very blessed, Richard.
Thanks, Ma.
You have a wonderful
son. A wonderful wife.
I think he's going to have a good life.
It should start now.
Is it on?
Is there a red light?
Yes.
If it's flashing, then it's on.
It's flashing.
You see it?
Yes!
What's it doing?
It's a flashing red light.
There's the man of the hour. Alfons!
Happy birthday on Long Island.
How do you like my house, Al?
Very nice house. Very nice family.
Very nice ride.
How do I shut this now?
One, two, three. Happy birthday!
Let's give him a hand.
Richard can put that together.
No, not me. Lydia, take it
over to your father's house.
Wow. Did you say thank you?
Thank you!
Where is Daddy? He's
been gone for a few hours.
You must be tired, Richard.
No, I'm up all night tonight, ma.
Tomorrow I have to be in
the city at eight o'clock.
Oh, my.
How do you like my new picture?
I saw it. It's lovely.
You picked it out?
I bought it.
Is that Eve hiding behind it?
No, ma. That's a parakeet.
Oh!
That's what it is. It's a big parrot.
I thought it was Eve in
the garden, hiding behind.
No, ma.
- Dad, you got new shoes?
- Those are nice and shiny!
Thank you.
How do you like that? Very nice, dad.
Mary, we know you have
a four-and-a-half-karat ring, all right?
I wish.
Every time I see you,
you have your hands
jangling around with
all the jewelry on them.
What jewelry?
What do you have on your hands?
What jewelry?
How much money do you
have on your wrists?
Lydia, can you shoot your husband?
Did you bring the
candles? Wait, wait, wait!
We've got to light the
candles first, Rich. Come on!
- All right.
- Here we go.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, dear Jesse
Happy birthday to you
Make a wish!
Who wants cake? Who wants cake?
This would be the last time
the Orkins celebrated their
grandson's birthday in Haylett,
in Richard's company.
- You want that?
- You want it?
It's got a little frosting
on it. You want it?
Go ahead, take it! It's all yours.
Children, children! Come with me.
Single-file, down the hall.
Pay attention!
Pamela, your nose is bleeding.
The liberation
of Kuwait is underway,
and he said it was under,
and the military gives names
to these things, under
the name of Desert Storm.
Billie and Ted
Alloway had been traveling
through the Caribbean when they chanced
upon the Damrosches in
the lobby of their hotel.
Unbeknownst to Lydia, the
Alloways had arrived a week prior,
as it was their habit to
spend part of the winter
in the Bahamas each year.
Before they returned
home, Lydia asked Jesse
not to tell the Orkins that
they had seen Aunt Billie
and Uncle Ted on their vacation.
The Orkins didn't get
along with the Alloways,
Lydia said, and they would be upset
to learn that they had
joined them for dinner.
Ma, you don't have to clean up.
What did you give me for my birthday?
It's my birthday! Thank you, Daddy.
Did Lydia tell you
we've been getting calls?
Calls from who?
From a collection agency.
Do know why they would be calling us?
I don't know anything about that.
Lydia's always out spending money.
I know she is. She's
putting out a lot for Jesse.
All of his things.
I can't do anything about that.
She can't afford it anymore, Rich.
Can't you help my daughter out?
Not me. You and Flora.
I've done enough.
Do you see all the things
we have to go through around here?
Nick.
It's getting difficult for
us. We can't do it anymore.
Wait a minute.
I can't even afford a new pair of socks,
and you have wall-to-wall carpeting.
What do you think? My life is so easy?
You seem to be doing pretty okay.
You think my life is a piece of cake?
I don't think anything.
It's because people respect me.
Good.
My friends respect me.
The only reason I have the lifestyle I do
is because I have loyal friends.
I'm glad.
Without my friends, your
daughter and your grandson
would be on the street.
If it wasn't for my daughter,
you'd be on the street.
You think so?
Why don't you do something useful
and take out the garbage?
You're a real fuck, Nick.
I think it's time you hit the road.
Lydia! Your father just insulted me!
I'm not going to stick around
while your parents treat me like garbage!
I'm fucking tired of it!
I'm not gonna put up with it anymore!
The baby in this picture
is going to have a very special year.
A year of first steps.
First words. First birthday.
And none of these firsts
will ever happen again.
Now, if you were this baby's parents,
which film would you choose?
No other film in the
world gives you purer,
richer colors than Kodacolor Gold film.
Aren't your pictures worth gold?
Look up.
As a compromise with the Orkins,
Josephine's son, Robert,
a music instructor,
agreed to house his mother
from October to December of each year.
There, Josephine would
live a solitary life,
spending her days alone,
restricted to a diet of condensed soup,
and separate from her aloof
son and his unsympathetic wife.
You got any pickles, Jean?
I didn't shop.
Robert?
Robert?
Hmm?
Would you pick up some
things at the store for me?
Would you pick up some
things for me, Robert?
What kind of things?
When you go out. Some
things for the kitchen.
That depends on what's on sale.
I can give you the money.
You know, Jo, Bob has been
making a lot of sacrifices.
I'm sorry. I don't
want to put anybody out.
It's just that there's not much food.
After less than a year,
Josephine returned to the Orkins' home,
where she would remain indefinitely,
safely away from her son and his wife.
And despite Robert's vile indifference
and cruelties as a son,
no one could ever say
that Josephine accepted
her youngest child's
sudden disappearance
from her life with ease.
But the Orkins had already decided
that there would be no
attempts to settle differences,
just as there would be no
cards, no letters, and no calls.
Hello? Who's this?
Who is it?
It's your sister.
Give it to me.
Hello? For what?
Billie, that is not our problem.
No one here ever told her
to do anything she didn't want to do.
I don't know.
Well, then that's what you do.
No, and she already said so.
What does she want?
We have to do what's best for us.
No. I'm going to hang up.
Here. Billie, listen to me.
This has got to stop.
You want to call here?
Then come take your mother. No way.
You and Ted get in the car and drive here,
otherwise we go our separate ways.
You've done nothing for us.
That's what we'll do.
You said it.
Who was on the phone?
Billie.
She didn't want to talk to Grandma?
No.
Are you fucking kidding me?
You know what, Richard,
you're a cheap, flying fuck!
Can you take this to Great-Grandma?
Thank you.
Would you get my purse over there?
Here.
What's this?
It's for you.
I wanted to get you
something at Christmas,
but I didn't get to see you.
You don't have to do that.
I'm sorry, it's not much.
Thank you.
You're welcome. You're a sweet boy.
Would you say hello to your
grandmother Claire for me?
Yes.
Give her my best, will you?
I will.
Okay. I'm going to rest now.
Okay.
Will you close the door when you leave?
You have to leave it in a little longer.
This dye is kind of chintzy.
Well. You've gotta wait.
Probably used too much vinegar.
Where's daddy?
Christine, can you get it for me?
Hello? We're all here,
who do you want to talk to?
I don't know, I can ask.
Lydia? What time are you leaving?
Not late. I don't wanna
be stuck in traffic.
She says not late.
Why don't you just stay over?
We can't.
I'll leave the key in the back.
We have school tomorrow.
We'll all be here.
Maybe we can bring some home?
Okay. Bye.
- What do you think, Jesse?
- Want to bring them home?
Well, that's kinda neat!
Look at that. You can dye the paper towel.
What are you drawing on the eggs?
I'm gonna write my name.
Exciting.
I dunno. Where's the one you drew on?
Oh! There it is.
Here, give me that when you're ready.
It's like a little mystery.
I want the one in the blue.
Jesse, could you come
in here for a minute?
Why?
We want to talk to you.
Grandma Claire died yesterday.
We never want you to forget
how much she loved you and
how much you meant to her.
Grandma Claire thought the world of you.
Why did she die?
Sometimes, when we get older,
our bodies react to things in
ways that can be dangerous.
Grandma was very sensitive to the heat.
It made her very sick. Her heart failed.
Grandma will always watch over you.
Remember that. You understand?
Yes.
Okay. Go back to your show.
Richard Damrosch would remark,
on more than one occasion,
that the day he learned
of his mother's death was
the worst day of his life.
Claire Damrosch had lead a
selfless existence, and her life,
like those of many other
women of her time and class,
was lived unceremoniously,
with a great many unacknowledged
toils and concessions.
Her absence from Richard
and his sister's lives
was something that neither of them
would ever be able to fully comprehend.
There's. There's a...
It's supposed to run down to the end.
They don't want you to go in.
It was strange.
She was wearing one of her house dresses.
It had yellow flowers on it.
Richard and Lydia Damrosch
separated in the spring of 1997.
Their divorce went into
effect at the end of the year.
At around this time, Lydia began seeing
Peter Edward McMillan, a
doctor she met during her shift
at the hospital.
Peter would help Lydia find a new house,
not far from Haylett.
There, Jesse would begin his career
as a middle school student,
and he would visit his father on weekends.
For his part, Richard remarried quickly.
In a gesture of what
he called his goodwill,
he agreed to a rather
unsentimental courtroom wedding
with Judy Roberts, a
manicurist from Trinidad
who had been living in the United States
for the past two years.
They met in the personals
section of a weekly newspaper.
The marriage would allow
Judy to become a U.S. citizen
and reunite with her daughter,
whom she said she had
not seen in five years.
Can I have some lunch money?
Here.
Your mother can't say I
never gave you anything.
Hello, hello, hello?
Nothing's easy. Let's go.
Where are we going to stay?
We're not staying anywhere.
They booked all the hotels. Jude, come on.
Next time you order meat,
make sure it's well done, okay?
Why?
Always request things well done.
Because that's how people get sick.
Here, Jude.
Look what happened to that
little girl in Virginia. Okay?
Family takes her out to a restaurant
to celebrate her birthday, and she dies.
She gets E. Coli and she dies.
That's not the restaurant's fault.
- Not the restaurant's fault?
- These people don't care.
They could care less about you and me.
Which is why I am telling you now
and will continue to tell you
that you can't trust anyone.
Isn't that right, Jude?
Right.
Here. Restaurant silverware is dirty.
It's better this way.
Isn't that right, Jude?
You hear that buzzing noise?
It's not a joke, Jude.
Ah. There it goes again!
Bzz. Bzz.
You don't know how
clean restaurants are.
That's how your Uncle Joseph died.
I heard Uncle Joseph
died from something else.
Who told you that?
Andrew. He said it
was some other disease.
Like what?
Some kind of virus.
I'll tell you when you're older.
Mr. Speaker. Mr. Vice President.
Members of Congress, honored
guests, my fellow Americans.
We are fortune to be alive
at this moment in history.
You guys haven't
actually met Peter, right?
No, no. This is the first time.
This is Betsy.
Nice to meet you.
I've told her entirely
too much about you.
So much!
Steve.
This is Sue.
Hi, how are you!
That's Dan.
Nice to meet you.
Okay, I've told everyone about you.
Don't get too excited! You
don't know what I've said.
Hon. What do you think
is going to happen?
Do you think your father
is going to do something to upset you?
It's strange. They're going
to be in the same room again.
Grandma and Grandpa know
he's going to be here. Okay?
We're all going to be
on our best behavior.
I'm worried he'll say something.
Like what?
I don't know.
I'm worried they'll start a fight.
No, no. Your Dad is not
going to start a fight.
This is your confirmation, okay?
We all love you.
We just want you to have
a good time, I promise.
Great day today. Great
day today, he looks great.
How are you, pal? It's good to see you.
You feelin' good today? You look good.
Hello! Thank you.
It's great to be here to celebrate
Jesse's confirmation day.
Let's see who's here.
Hey! There's Lydia and Richard!
You're right! Jesse's parents are here.
So how about a big round
of applause for them?
Now, who else?
What about that guy over there?
Which guy? You know!
I don't! The doctor!
Oh, you mean Peter?
Yes, the doctor, that's what I said!
His name is Peter, and he's
Jesse's stepfather, okay?
So, how about some applause for Peter?
You know what they say about him?
What do you mean?
You didn't hear?
No.
Well.
Go on.
No, I can't do it. I won't say it.
Now, wait a minute, now you,
wait a minute, wait a minute, come on.
You brought me up here
in front of all these nice people
and the very least you could do
is tell me what it is that
you were going to say!
Well, it's just that he
went to Atlantic City, see?
Okay.
And he had a few drinks, see?
Okay.
Well, then...
Well, go on!
They sued him for statutory rape!
They sued him for statutory rape?
Yeah. He was so drunk, he
didn't know it was a statue!
Jesse, come here.
Come on.
You've been spending too
much time with those people.
Clean all this away.
Congratulations, Jesse. Congratulations!
Best of luck to you.
- Congratulations, Jesse.
- We're all very proud.
Will you please excuse me?
Why you so late?
Can you look at me?
Okay, you can stand up.
Jesse's
graduation from middle school
had come at an especially
enterprising moment
in the boy's life.
He developed an interest in filmmaking,
which his father encouraged
by giving him a video
camera on his 13th birthday.
He recorded indiscriminately,
although rarely,
as a way to memorialize
the things around him.
The many hours of moving images
Jesse stored inside a
cabinet in Lydia's home
reflected less an interest
in memory than in measure:
for the great distance that had opened up
between Jesse and the world
on the eve of his adolescence
could now effectively be
scaled, by videotape and light.
Summer's over.
That's sad.
What are you gonna do?
We didn't even get to
go to the beach this year.
Who wants to go to the beach
with all those people getting bit?
Isn't that terrible? That
young boy from Florida.
Poor thing, eight years old. Coulda died.
I heard.
Yeah. Horrible.
Why are all these people
getting attacked by sharks this year?
It's a crazy world we live in.
I have been married 34 years.
I have not been a perfect
man. I have made mistakes.
But out of respect for my family,
and out of a specific request
from the Levy's family,
I am not going to share the details
of my relationship with Chandra.
And you know what? People understand that.
Gary Condit on KOBR TV
sounds much like Gary Condit on ABC TV,
and in the pages of People Magazine,
Vanity Fair, a local
magazine, even Newsweek.
After months of silent running the married
California Congressman
revealed to have had
an intimate relationship with
missing Washington intern
Chandra Levy, among others,
was suddenly talking a
lot but saying little.
Certainly less than he claimed
he'd already told authorities,
because they were the only ones
with a legal right to know.
In a one hour 45 minute session
with Newsweek's Michael Isikoff,
his longest interview yet,
Condit complained that ABC's Connie Chung,
hand-picked by his own advisors,
was so focused on what he
called the sex question
that he couldn't communicate how quote,
saddened and heart-broken, unquote,
he is over Chandra's disappearance.
All news, all the time.
This is 1010 WINS.
You give us 22 minutes,
we'll give you the world.
Good morning.
64 degrees at eight o'clock,
it's Tuesday, September 11th.
I'm Lee Harris.
Here's what's happening:
It's primary day and the polls
are open in New York City...
By the end of Jesse's first year
of high school, Lydia and Peter's son,
Paul Michael McMillan, was born.
The boy would enter the
world on inauspicious terms,
deaf and in poor health,
requiring a revolving company
of medical specialists and caretakers,
and involving no shortage
of new expenses and responsibilities.
If she was ever pained
by the news of her new son's condition,
Lydia had scarcely shown it.
But Peter had long expected other things
for his first-born child,
and his sadness during this period,
coupled with a growing schism
between him and his stepson,
had become a rather
delicate affair to manage.
It's the other one.
I don't see it.
Try that.
Click there.
- Where?
- On the left.
My name is Daniel Pearl.
I'm a Jewish American from
3545 Leon Canyon Road,
Encino, California, USA.
Time's are tough.
Don't throw those out.
If I were you I'd borrow
as much as I can right now.
How's your credit?
Not good.
Get a home equity loan.
For what?
I'm telling you.
Get a home equity loan, start
looking into real estate.
Now's the time to do it.
Me and my friend Rory are
gonna start snatching up
foreclosures and turning them around.
You'll be sitting on a cash machine.
What are you gonna do
when that doesn't work?
It'll work!
Either that, or start flipping IPOs.
I guarantee you, everyone
that's doing this right now
will tell you the same thing.
The housing market's not
cooling off anytime soon.
In six months, you'll have
half a million in the bank easily.
I gotta do something.
It's not been a good year.
You shouldn't have given
me all that money, Richard.
I wanted to.
You're too generous.
Well, I already told Jesse the holidays
aren't going to be what they used to.
I can't keep going
outta my way for people.
It's okay.
I'm sure his grandparents
will have lots of nice presents for him.
We all can't have money
like Nick and Flora.
Why do you think they have money?
I've been to their house. They're rich.
Richard's
many debts began to mount,
and so, too, did the
changes to his industry.
The shift from offset to digital printing
had jeopardized the
more established methods
by which Richard and
many printers like him
earned their living.
Unable to remain profitable,
he closed his business
and filed for bankruptcy.
You know, Jesse, you're
making things very difficult
for your mother and me.
And I don't like it.
News. Now take it off, and show it off.
Enter Weight Watchers Take it
Off, Show it Off sweepstakes.
Win a...
Brian, it's not often that
we come to you by cell phone,
but there have been so many
glitches in communication today.
You can see everybody walking
down the street, Times Square.
Midtown Manhattan, everywhere,
trying to make phone calls.
It took us over an hour just
to get one call through.
Buildings were evacuated,
clearly there were hundreds
and hundreds of people on the streets,
sidewalks spilled over into the roadways,
traffic police were trying
to clear people off the road
so that ambulances and cars
and police cars could get through.
We also know that there are people
streaming out of Manhattan,
walking across the bridges,
of course an image that
was reminiscent of 9/11,
but for the most part Brian
people are really taking this in stride.
We do not see anything like
the panic we saw on 9/11...
Four more years!
Four more years! Four more years!
You can expect division
between the races if Kerry wins.
You can expect a United Nations tax
or a World tax if Kerry wins.
You can expect affirmative
action if Kerry wins.
You can expect free prescription drugs,
not only for the elderly
but also for AIDS patients.
You can expect the Boy Scouts
to be outlawed if Kerry wins.
You can expect homeschooling
to be eliminated if Kerry wins.
You can expect the complete
and total elimination
of borders with Mexico if Kerry wins.
You might see a movement to
seize all guns if Kerry wins,
and ultimately you might
see the constitution itself
rewritten if Kerry wins.
Take one, pass them back.
I'm presenting something
that wasn't done by a
professional photographer.
This is a picture that was taken
of my father's apartment in 1989.
The two women on the bed
are my mother's sisters.
I'm not sure what they're talking about,
or why they're there,
but I've been thinking a
lot about this picture.
Take a look at the floor for a moment.
It's difficult to see,
but, there's something
about the way the floors
in my father's apartment
reflect light that has always
left an impression upon me.
In fact, a lot of what I
remember about growing up
has something to do with this light.
You can see it in the reflection
on the bedroom window,
and on the lower left
hand side of the bed.
And it shows up on the desk,
near the back of the room too.
I can't say I have many childhood memories
that don't include daylight.
I don't remember the lamps
or overhead lights very much.
But I do remember what these windows
were like for me as a child,
and I remember
the things I saw outside,
across the street.
When my parents divorced,
my mother and I moved into a new house.
The two women in this photo
were never inside my
father's apartment again.
I find it strange to think
they were ever there in the first place,
in the apartment that my
father still lives in.
The room is still there.
Even if the same people aren't.
If you look closely, in
the back of the room,
you can see something
on top of the radiator,
near the pile of clothes.
It's a baby monitor.
When this photo was taken,
I was two years old.
Tell her what you took.
Tell her, how much.
Judy, is that true?
$8,000!
Gone.
My brother's done a lot for you.
Are you gonna tell
her about your daughter?
There is no daughter.
She wasn't gonna reunite with anyone.
You don't have a daughter?
Why don't you apologize to her?
Apologize! For taking
advantage of my family.
Why would you lie to us?
I had to do what I had to do.
What took you so long?
Hi. Hi John, Hi Talia.
So nice to see you. Hi, Rich.
- Hello.
- Hi.
Jesse, come here.
Ah, uh, you know, uh-
Something I want to say
is just how grateful
Lydia and I are to see you all here.
To have you join us today
to celebrate this wonderful,
wonderful moment in Jesse's life.
We're all so proud of you.
Proud of the things you've
already accomplished,
and proud to be your parents.
Having you in our lives is the best gift
a parent could ever have.
You've given us so much.
So much joy.
I only wish that my mother,
your grandmother Claire,
could be here with us right now.
My mother, she was a wonderful
person, she loved you,
she'd be so proud of you,
and I know that she will
always watch over you.
Jesse, we love you.
We wish all the success in the world,
you make us all so happy.
Congratulations.
Jesse? Listen, your father's upset.
Why?
He sees you've been
with your mother's family
most of the night, he's hurt.
I'm sorry, I don't like the
seating arrangement either.
I know it's not your fault,
I just wanted to let you know.
Maybe spend some time with him.
Sure. I'll go over in a few minutes.
I know he'll appreciate it.
- Yeah.
- I'll see you inside.
- Congratulations Jesse.
- We'll see you soon.
Congratulations. Good luck in college.
Jesse! Congratulations.
Oh my god, good luck in
Chicago! So proud of you.
Congratulations. Best of luck.
What about me? Isn't anyone
going to say goodbye to me?
Isn't anybody going to thank me?
- What are you talking about?
- Rich...
No one's gonna acknowledge me?
Acknowledge what?
Of course we are.
You're not gonna say a word to me?
You got nothing.
Is that what you think?
- Dad.
- Let's go.
Okay, just, just...
He's nothing, he'll always be that way.
Get the fuck outta my face.
Fuck you!
You wanna make things difficult?
Dad, stop.
You say you're sorry to me.
What am I sorry for?
You say you're sorry to me!
I'm not sorry for anything!
Apologize to me!
You should apologize to
my daughter and my grandson.
You get the fuck outta here!
You don't deserve your son.
Oh my God, dad! Stop!
Stop it!
Get off! Get off him!
Get back.
What is the matter with you?
Get him out of here!
Dad, go with them!
You always ruin everything.
Flora Orkins' mother Josephine
died in a New Jersey
hospital at the age of 96,
following a stroke.
Funeral plans were made
quickly, and it was agreed
that no public
announcements would be made:
no death notices, no obituaries.
The Orkins preferred to conceal the news
from Josephine's son,
and, with some reluctance,
Flora's sister Billie consented.
Robert would never learn
that his mother had died.
Where is she?
When she arrived
at her mother's funeral,
Billie Alloway had not seen
the Orkins in 15 years.
The reunion was untimely.
Keep me away from her.
Mom, come inside.
No. Not now.
You can't ignore her today.
You know what the situation is.
I have my reasons.
What are your reasons?
Lydia, mind your own business.
I never told you not to talk to them,
if that's what you want to do then do it.
Alright, alright.
It's her mother too.
We're keeping things as is.
You're in no position
to tell me what to do.
She's hurting.
I'm sorry, but I can't
do anything about that.
Jesse. Do you remember
Ted, and Aunt Billie?
I do. Hi, Aunt Billie.
Jesse. Hello.
We last saw you in the-
- In the Bahamas. And he was so little.
I'm going to go grab Peter. Take a seat.
Jesse.
I wish things had turned out differently.
Will they be joining you?
No. We go our separate ways.
This isn't goodbye. It's not goodbye.
Nick.
Billie. I'm sorry.
Ted.
Flora. What did I do wrong?
Can't we just make peace now?
By the time of
Josephine's death, Jesse had
finished his first semester
of college, in Chicago.
He had returned to Lydia's
home for the winter recess,
when he learned the news.
As the new school semester began,
Jesse's father would be beset
by an unexpected torrent
of legal bills and lawyer fees.
His relationship with Judy had ended
on less than amicable
terms, and it is said
that she left New York comfortably,
her whereabouts unknown.
Some years later, Jesse discovered
that he was not Richard's
first-born child,
he had a daughter in Atlanta,
born after the end of a
previous relationship,
10 years before his marriage to Lydia.
In a photo album, Jesse
would find a letter
that his father had written to Lydia.
"I'm sorry for the way
I treated you," it said.
"If I can be honest, Lydia,"
I'm unhappy with the way
my life has turned out.
Too bad you didn't
bring the other color.
I can't do it with my left hand!
You want me to help?
This is good as it will
drive a little bit faster.
I saw, there were so
many near the entrance.
- We're gonna call the management.
- Try to get rid of them.
What a shame.
They put the poison down all
over the top of the building.
Why are they doing that?
Birds. Tenant's don't
want them on the property.
Just take it for tomorrow.
Did you walk far?
No, just down the street.
It's very windy today.
You've got your bag?
It's in the car.
Well. Let's go.
I know, you keep telling
me, I'll do it, I'll do it.
Bye, honey.
Bye, daddy.
Bye, bye.
Thank you so much. Drive safely!
Thanks for coming.
Bye, darling.
Bye, mom.
Perfect, everything was perfect.
Make sure he puts on his seat belt!
Thank you, sweetie!
Thank you so much! Thank you for coming.
Take care, darling, bye bye.
Drive safely.
Jesse! Come say goodbye.
Jesse Damrosch was born in 1987,
two years after the death of
his father's brother, Joseph.
Jesse's grandfather,
Dominic, a retired printer,
had been reluctant to
allow his younger son
to return to the family home.
With his health diminished,
Joseph was admitted to a hospital,
where he would remain until
his death, at 38 years old.
It would seem that Jesse's late uncle
was subject to two deaths:
The official death, as confirmed
by medical tests, was AIDS.
The unofficial death, as
Joseph's father would have it,
was a sudden bout of liver disease,
which he is said to have
contracted from unclean silverware.
Some years later, Jesse's
own father, Richard,
would urge caution on his son
when dining at restaurants,
stressing to him the importance
of wiping down his forks and knives.
Liberty is an idea,
handed down from generation to
generation, people to people.
America honors the Statue
of Liberty's centennial
by minting United States Liberty Coins.
Valuable keepsakes that
treasure liberty always.
U.S. Liberty Coins.
Singly or in sets, at
banks, savings and loans,
and Montgomery Ward stores.
Keep liberty in mint condition, forever.
In the spring of 1986,
while vacationing in
Puerto Rico, his first trip
since his brother's death
the previous summer,
Richard was introduced
to Lydia Orkin, age 27.
They met in a hotel elevator.
A year later, they would be married.
It would be Richard's second marriage.
Why don't you thank Mom?
Mind your own business.
While a temporary
tenant in his parents' house,
Richard opened a printing
business of his own.
He acquired many of his
father's former clients.
He soon found an apartment for sale
in the nearby town of Haylett,
long eclipsed by its
more affluent neighbor,
Haylett Bay Park, a village
settled by bankers in the 1920s,
and whose families now
earned their fortunes
in the insurance and financial trades.
Unable to afford a down payment
on the Haylett apartment,
Richard turned to an old
acquaintance, John Menlo,
whom he had known since the early 1960s,
when both men were stationed
as military draftees.
The sources of Menlo's
income were ambiguous,
but there was no question that he earned
and spent his money with ease.
He loaned Richard $50,000.
They agreed to the terms.
On April 23rd, Lydia Orkin
officially became Lydia Damrosch.
In a show of gratitude,
Richard chose John Menlo
as his best man.
Lydia's sisters, Christine and Kara Orkin,
were named the bridesmaids.
On behalf of all of us here,
and all the beloved friends
and relatives who could be here
to share this happy day with
you, we all want to ask God
to lead you to a happy and
healthy long life together.
Congratulations to both of you.
The total cost
of Richard and Lydia's wedding
exceeded early estimates.
Richard claimed he was
misled about the expense,
and suggested that Lydia's
family pay the remainder.
Fearful of a confrontation,
Lydia convinced her parents to comply.
They settled the bill.
Somebody's at our door.
In the fall,
Richard and Lydia's son,
Jesse Joseph Damrosch, was born.
He was christened in a small ceremony
at a Roman Catholic church in Haylett.
John Menlo and Kara Orkin were selected
as the boy's godparents.
Jesse's birth
coincided with great changes
in the lives of Lydia
and Richard Damrosch.
At around this time, Lydia accepted
a full-time nursing position
in the maternity ward
of a nearby hospital, and
Richard's printing business
soon became profitable,
having gained a stable
of recurring contracts and clients.
And there was talk of more
children, too, as Lydia,
having been born into a large family,
had hoped to leave her
son in supportive hands.
For once an only child suffers
the loss of his parents,
there are few familiar faces to turn to,
and few shared memories to be had.
Flora Orkin had not spoken
to her sister Billie
in six years.
The two women had for a time
agreed to share responsibility
for their mother, Josephine,
a depressed woman,
long without a permanent home.
By the spring, however, Billie
and her husband, Ted Alloway,
had announced that they would
no longer house Josephine,
and the Orkins were left with sole custody
of the elderly woman,
much to their distress.
You didn't need to be so friendly.
Why not? I haven't
seen them in a long time.
That's alright.
You and Richard can
invite them to your house.
Why couldn't we invite Aunt Billie in?
- Don't call her Aunt Billie.
- She's not Aunt Billie.
Because that's what I said.
Flora, I'm going to tell your mother
not to invite them into the house again.
Let them wait in the car.
I'll see you later,
okay? Bye, bye, Jesse.
Bye!
Wave bye-bye, Jesse.
Say bye, Aunt Kara.
Bye.
Jesse, look!
Hello!
Hi, ma.
Hello, Jesse, hello!
He's been up since six o'clock.
Oh, no. Well, we'll go
right inside and have a nap.
You be good for Grandma.
Would you like anything to eat?
No, thank you, ma.
Alright, Jesse. Behave yourself.
Me or Lydia will pick him up at five.
That's just fine.
Where's dad?
He went to the store. He'll
be back in a little while.
Bye-bye!
Bye-bye!
Oh, you brought Mr. Bunny!
Let's go inside and give Mr.
Bunny something. All right?
Okay. Here we go.
Daze. Faze.
Gaze. Haze.
Maze. Raze.
Now read these words with me:
Blade, blame, blaze, blazer.
Now try this sound: glll.
Listen: Blll, blaze. Glll, glaze.
Join glll with ad. What word do we have?
Look: Glll-ad. Glad.
That's correct. The word is glad.
Which one?
You're very blessed, Richard.
Thanks, Ma.
You have a wonderful
son. A wonderful wife.
I think he's going to have a good life.
It should start now.
Is it on?
Is there a red light?
Yes.
If it's flashing, then it's on.
It's flashing.
You see it?
Yes!
What's it doing?
It's a flashing red light.
There's the man of the hour. Alfons!
Happy birthday on Long Island.
How do you like my house, Al?
Very nice house. Very nice family.
Very nice ride.
How do I shut this now?
One, two, three. Happy birthday!
Let's give him a hand.
Richard can put that together.
No, not me. Lydia, take it
over to your father's house.
Wow. Did you say thank you?
Thank you!
Where is Daddy? He's
been gone for a few hours.
You must be tired, Richard.
No, I'm up all night tonight, ma.
Tomorrow I have to be in
the city at eight o'clock.
Oh, my.
How do you like my new picture?
I saw it. It's lovely.
You picked it out?
I bought it.
Is that Eve hiding behind it?
No, ma. That's a parakeet.
Oh!
That's what it is. It's a big parrot.
I thought it was Eve in
the garden, hiding behind.
No, ma.
- Dad, you got new shoes?
- Those are nice and shiny!
Thank you.
How do you like that? Very nice, dad.
Mary, we know you have
a four-and-a-half-karat ring, all right?
I wish.
Every time I see you,
you have your hands
jangling around with
all the jewelry on them.
What jewelry?
What do you have on your hands?
What jewelry?
How much money do you
have on your wrists?
Lydia, can you shoot your husband?
Did you bring the
candles? Wait, wait, wait!
We've got to light the
candles first, Rich. Come on!
- All right.
- Here we go.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, dear Jesse
Happy birthday to you
Make a wish!
Who wants cake? Who wants cake?
This would be the last time
the Orkins celebrated their
grandson's birthday in Haylett,
in Richard's company.
- You want that?
- You want it?
It's got a little frosting
on it. You want it?
Go ahead, take it! It's all yours.
Children, children! Come with me.
Single-file, down the hall.
Pay attention!
Pamela, your nose is bleeding.
The liberation
of Kuwait is underway,
and he said it was under,
and the military gives names
to these things, under
the name of Desert Storm.
Billie and Ted
Alloway had been traveling
through the Caribbean when they chanced
upon the Damrosches in
the lobby of their hotel.
Unbeknownst to Lydia, the
Alloways had arrived a week prior,
as it was their habit to
spend part of the winter
in the Bahamas each year.
Before they returned
home, Lydia asked Jesse
not to tell the Orkins that
they had seen Aunt Billie
and Uncle Ted on their vacation.
The Orkins didn't get
along with the Alloways,
Lydia said, and they would be upset
to learn that they had
joined them for dinner.
Ma, you don't have to clean up.
What did you give me for my birthday?
It's my birthday! Thank you, Daddy.
Did Lydia tell you
we've been getting calls?
Calls from who?
From a collection agency.
Do know why they would be calling us?
I don't know anything about that.
Lydia's always out spending money.
I know she is. She's
putting out a lot for Jesse.
All of his things.
I can't do anything about that.
She can't afford it anymore, Rich.
Can't you help my daughter out?
Not me. You and Flora.
I've done enough.
Do you see all the things
we have to go through around here?
Nick.
It's getting difficult for
us. We can't do it anymore.
Wait a minute.
I can't even afford a new pair of socks,
and you have wall-to-wall carpeting.
What do you think? My life is so easy?
You seem to be doing pretty okay.
You think my life is a piece of cake?
I don't think anything.
It's because people respect me.
Good.
My friends respect me.
The only reason I have the lifestyle I do
is because I have loyal friends.
I'm glad.
Without my friends, your
daughter and your grandson
would be on the street.
If it wasn't for my daughter,
you'd be on the street.
You think so?
Why don't you do something useful
and take out the garbage?
You're a real fuck, Nick.
I think it's time you hit the road.
Lydia! Your father just insulted me!
I'm not going to stick around
while your parents treat me like garbage!
I'm fucking tired of it!
I'm not gonna put up with it anymore!
The baby in this picture
is going to have a very special year.
A year of first steps.
First words. First birthday.
And none of these firsts
will ever happen again.
Now, if you were this baby's parents,
which film would you choose?
No other film in the
world gives you purer,
richer colors than Kodacolor Gold film.
Aren't your pictures worth gold?
Look up.
As a compromise with the Orkins,
Josephine's son, Robert,
a music instructor,
agreed to house his mother
from October to December of each year.
There, Josephine would
live a solitary life,
spending her days alone,
restricted to a diet of condensed soup,
and separate from her aloof
son and his unsympathetic wife.
You got any pickles, Jean?
I didn't shop.
Robert?
Robert?
Hmm?
Would you pick up some
things at the store for me?
Would you pick up some
things for me, Robert?
What kind of things?
When you go out. Some
things for the kitchen.
That depends on what's on sale.
I can give you the money.
You know, Jo, Bob has been
making a lot of sacrifices.
I'm sorry. I don't
want to put anybody out.
It's just that there's not much food.
After less than a year,
Josephine returned to the Orkins' home,
where she would remain indefinitely,
safely away from her son and his wife.
And despite Robert's vile indifference
and cruelties as a son,
no one could ever say
that Josephine accepted
her youngest child's
sudden disappearance
from her life with ease.
But the Orkins had already decided
that there would be no
attempts to settle differences,
just as there would be no
cards, no letters, and no calls.
Hello? Who's this?
Who is it?
It's your sister.
Give it to me.
Hello? For what?
Billie, that is not our problem.
No one here ever told her
to do anything she didn't want to do.
I don't know.
Well, then that's what you do.
No, and she already said so.
What does she want?
We have to do what's best for us.
No. I'm going to hang up.
Here. Billie, listen to me.
This has got to stop.
You want to call here?
Then come take your mother. No way.
You and Ted get in the car and drive here,
otherwise we go our separate ways.
You've done nothing for us.
That's what we'll do.
You said it.
Who was on the phone?
Billie.
She didn't want to talk to Grandma?
No.
Are you fucking kidding me?
You know what, Richard,
you're a cheap, flying fuck!
Can you take this to Great-Grandma?
Thank you.
Would you get my purse over there?
Here.
What's this?
It's for you.
I wanted to get you
something at Christmas,
but I didn't get to see you.
You don't have to do that.
I'm sorry, it's not much.
Thank you.
You're welcome. You're a sweet boy.
Would you say hello to your
grandmother Claire for me?
Yes.
Give her my best, will you?
I will.
Okay. I'm going to rest now.
Okay.
Will you close the door when you leave?
You have to leave it in a little longer.
This dye is kind of chintzy.
Well. You've gotta wait.
Probably used too much vinegar.
Where's daddy?
Christine, can you get it for me?
Hello? We're all here,
who do you want to talk to?
I don't know, I can ask.
Lydia? What time are you leaving?
Not late. I don't wanna
be stuck in traffic.
She says not late.
Why don't you just stay over?
We can't.
I'll leave the key in the back.
We have school tomorrow.
We'll all be here.
Maybe we can bring some home?
Okay. Bye.
- What do you think, Jesse?
- Want to bring them home?
Well, that's kinda neat!
Look at that. You can dye the paper towel.
What are you drawing on the eggs?
I'm gonna write my name.
Exciting.
I dunno. Where's the one you drew on?
Oh! There it is.
Here, give me that when you're ready.
It's like a little mystery.
I want the one in the blue.
Jesse, could you come
in here for a minute?
Why?
We want to talk to you.
Grandma Claire died yesterday.
We never want you to forget
how much she loved you and
how much you meant to her.
Grandma Claire thought the world of you.
Why did she die?
Sometimes, when we get older,
our bodies react to things in
ways that can be dangerous.
Grandma was very sensitive to the heat.
It made her very sick. Her heart failed.
Grandma will always watch over you.
Remember that. You understand?
Yes.
Okay. Go back to your show.
Richard Damrosch would remark,
on more than one occasion,
that the day he learned
of his mother's death was
the worst day of his life.
Claire Damrosch had lead a
selfless existence, and her life,
like those of many other
women of her time and class,
was lived unceremoniously,
with a great many unacknowledged
toils and concessions.
Her absence from Richard
and his sister's lives
was something that neither of them
would ever be able to fully comprehend.
There's. There's a...
It's supposed to run down to the end.
They don't want you to go in.
It was strange.
She was wearing one of her house dresses.
It had yellow flowers on it.
Richard and Lydia Damrosch
separated in the spring of 1997.
Their divorce went into
effect at the end of the year.
At around this time, Lydia began seeing
Peter Edward McMillan, a
doctor she met during her shift
at the hospital.
Peter would help Lydia find a new house,
not far from Haylett.
There, Jesse would begin his career
as a middle school student,
and he would visit his father on weekends.
For his part, Richard remarried quickly.
In a gesture of what
he called his goodwill,
he agreed to a rather
unsentimental courtroom wedding
with Judy Roberts, a
manicurist from Trinidad
who had been living in the United States
for the past two years.
They met in the personals
section of a weekly newspaper.
The marriage would allow
Judy to become a U.S. citizen
and reunite with her daughter,
whom she said she had
not seen in five years.
Can I have some lunch money?
Here.
Your mother can't say I
never gave you anything.
Hello, hello, hello?
Nothing's easy. Let's go.
Where are we going to stay?
We're not staying anywhere.
They booked all the hotels. Jude, come on.
Next time you order meat,
make sure it's well done, okay?
Why?
Always request things well done.
Because that's how people get sick.
Here, Jude.
Look what happened to that
little girl in Virginia. Okay?
Family takes her out to a restaurant
to celebrate her birthday, and she dies.
She gets E. Coli and she dies.
That's not the restaurant's fault.
- Not the restaurant's fault?
- These people don't care.
They could care less about you and me.
Which is why I am telling you now
and will continue to tell you
that you can't trust anyone.
Isn't that right, Jude?
Right.
Here. Restaurant silverware is dirty.
It's better this way.
Isn't that right, Jude?
You hear that buzzing noise?
It's not a joke, Jude.
Ah. There it goes again!
Bzz. Bzz.
You don't know how
clean restaurants are.
That's how your Uncle Joseph died.
I heard Uncle Joseph
died from something else.
Who told you that?
Andrew. He said it
was some other disease.
Like what?
Some kind of virus.
I'll tell you when you're older.
Mr. Speaker. Mr. Vice President.
Members of Congress, honored
guests, my fellow Americans.
We are fortune to be alive
at this moment in history.
You guys haven't
actually met Peter, right?
No, no. This is the first time.
This is Betsy.
Nice to meet you.
I've told her entirely
too much about you.
So much!
Steve.
This is Sue.
Hi, how are you!
That's Dan.
Nice to meet you.
Okay, I've told everyone about you.
Don't get too excited! You
don't know what I've said.
Hon. What do you think
is going to happen?
Do you think your father
is going to do something to upset you?
It's strange. They're going
to be in the same room again.
Grandma and Grandpa know
he's going to be here. Okay?
We're all going to be
on our best behavior.
I'm worried he'll say something.
Like what?
I don't know.
I'm worried they'll start a fight.
No, no. Your Dad is not
going to start a fight.
This is your confirmation, okay?
We all love you.
We just want you to have
a good time, I promise.
Great day today. Great
day today, he looks great.
How are you, pal? It's good to see you.
You feelin' good today? You look good.
Hello! Thank you.
It's great to be here to celebrate
Jesse's confirmation day.
Let's see who's here.
Hey! There's Lydia and Richard!
You're right! Jesse's parents are here.
So how about a big round
of applause for them?
Now, who else?
What about that guy over there?
Which guy? You know!
I don't! The doctor!
Oh, you mean Peter?
Yes, the doctor, that's what I said!
His name is Peter, and he's
Jesse's stepfather, okay?
So, how about some applause for Peter?
You know what they say about him?
What do you mean?
You didn't hear?
No.
Well.
Go on.
No, I can't do it. I won't say it.
Now, wait a minute, now you,
wait a minute, wait a minute, come on.
You brought me up here
in front of all these nice people
and the very least you could do
is tell me what it is that
you were going to say!
Well, it's just that he
went to Atlantic City, see?
Okay.
And he had a few drinks, see?
Okay.
Well, then...
Well, go on!
They sued him for statutory rape!
They sued him for statutory rape?
Yeah. He was so drunk, he
didn't know it was a statue!
Jesse, come here.
Come on.
You've been spending too
much time with those people.
Clean all this away.
Congratulations, Jesse. Congratulations!
Best of luck to you.
- Congratulations, Jesse.
- We're all very proud.
Will you please excuse me?
Why you so late?
Can you look at me?
Okay, you can stand up.
Jesse's
graduation from middle school
had come at an especially
enterprising moment
in the boy's life.
He developed an interest in filmmaking,
which his father encouraged
by giving him a video
camera on his 13th birthday.
He recorded indiscriminately,
although rarely,
as a way to memorialize
the things around him.
The many hours of moving images
Jesse stored inside a
cabinet in Lydia's home
reflected less an interest
in memory than in measure:
for the great distance that had opened up
between Jesse and the world
on the eve of his adolescence
could now effectively be
scaled, by videotape and light.
Summer's over.
That's sad.
What are you gonna do?
We didn't even get to
go to the beach this year.
Who wants to go to the beach
with all those people getting bit?
Isn't that terrible? That
young boy from Florida.
Poor thing, eight years old. Coulda died.
I heard.
Yeah. Horrible.
Why are all these people
getting attacked by sharks this year?
It's a crazy world we live in.
I have been married 34 years.
I have not been a perfect
man. I have made mistakes.
But out of respect for my family,
and out of a specific request
from the Levy's family,
I am not going to share the details
of my relationship with Chandra.
And you know what? People understand that.
Gary Condit on KOBR TV
sounds much like Gary Condit on ABC TV,
and in the pages of People Magazine,
Vanity Fair, a local
magazine, even Newsweek.
After months of silent running the married
California Congressman
revealed to have had
an intimate relationship with
missing Washington intern
Chandra Levy, among others,
was suddenly talking a
lot but saying little.
Certainly less than he claimed
he'd already told authorities,
because they were the only ones
with a legal right to know.
In a one hour 45 minute session
with Newsweek's Michael Isikoff,
his longest interview yet,
Condit complained that ABC's Connie Chung,
hand-picked by his own advisors,
was so focused on what he
called the sex question
that he couldn't communicate how quote,
saddened and heart-broken, unquote,
he is over Chandra's disappearance.
All news, all the time.
This is 1010 WINS.
You give us 22 minutes,
we'll give you the world.
Good morning.
64 degrees at eight o'clock,
it's Tuesday, September 11th.
I'm Lee Harris.
Here's what's happening:
It's primary day and the polls
are open in New York City...
By the end of Jesse's first year
of high school, Lydia and Peter's son,
Paul Michael McMillan, was born.
The boy would enter the
world on inauspicious terms,
deaf and in poor health,
requiring a revolving company
of medical specialists and caretakers,
and involving no shortage
of new expenses and responsibilities.
If she was ever pained
by the news of her new son's condition,
Lydia had scarcely shown it.
But Peter had long expected other things
for his first-born child,
and his sadness during this period,
coupled with a growing schism
between him and his stepson,
had become a rather
delicate affair to manage.
It's the other one.
I don't see it.
Try that.
Click there.
- Where?
- On the left.
My name is Daniel Pearl.
I'm a Jewish American from
3545 Leon Canyon Road,
Encino, California, USA.
Time's are tough.
Don't throw those out.
If I were you I'd borrow
as much as I can right now.
How's your credit?
Not good.
Get a home equity loan.
For what?
I'm telling you.
Get a home equity loan, start
looking into real estate.
Now's the time to do it.
Me and my friend Rory are
gonna start snatching up
foreclosures and turning them around.
You'll be sitting on a cash machine.
What are you gonna do
when that doesn't work?
It'll work!
Either that, or start flipping IPOs.
I guarantee you, everyone
that's doing this right now
will tell you the same thing.
The housing market's not
cooling off anytime soon.
In six months, you'll have
half a million in the bank easily.
I gotta do something.
It's not been a good year.
You shouldn't have given
me all that money, Richard.
I wanted to.
You're too generous.
Well, I already told Jesse the holidays
aren't going to be what they used to.
I can't keep going
outta my way for people.
It's okay.
I'm sure his grandparents
will have lots of nice presents for him.
We all can't have money
like Nick and Flora.
Why do you think they have money?
I've been to their house. They're rich.
Richard's
many debts began to mount,
and so, too, did the
changes to his industry.
The shift from offset to digital printing
had jeopardized the
more established methods
by which Richard and
many printers like him
earned their living.
Unable to remain profitable,
he closed his business
and filed for bankruptcy.
You know, Jesse, you're
making things very difficult
for your mother and me.
And I don't like it.
News. Now take it off, and show it off.
Enter Weight Watchers Take it
Off, Show it Off sweepstakes.
Win a...
Brian, it's not often that
we come to you by cell phone,
but there have been so many
glitches in communication today.
You can see everybody walking
down the street, Times Square.
Midtown Manhattan, everywhere,
trying to make phone calls.
It took us over an hour just
to get one call through.
Buildings were evacuated,
clearly there were hundreds
and hundreds of people on the streets,
sidewalks spilled over into the roadways,
traffic police were trying
to clear people off the road
so that ambulances and cars
and police cars could get through.
We also know that there are people
streaming out of Manhattan,
walking across the bridges,
of course an image that
was reminiscent of 9/11,
but for the most part Brian
people are really taking this in stride.
We do not see anything like
the panic we saw on 9/11...
Four more years!
Four more years! Four more years!
You can expect division
between the races if Kerry wins.
You can expect a United Nations tax
or a World tax if Kerry wins.
You can expect affirmative
action if Kerry wins.
You can expect free prescription drugs,
not only for the elderly
but also for AIDS patients.
You can expect the Boy Scouts
to be outlawed if Kerry wins.
You can expect homeschooling
to be eliminated if Kerry wins.
You can expect the complete
and total elimination
of borders with Mexico if Kerry wins.
You might see a movement to
seize all guns if Kerry wins,
and ultimately you might
see the constitution itself
rewritten if Kerry wins.
Take one, pass them back.
I'm presenting something
that wasn't done by a
professional photographer.
This is a picture that was taken
of my father's apartment in 1989.
The two women on the bed
are my mother's sisters.
I'm not sure what they're talking about,
or why they're there,
but I've been thinking a
lot about this picture.
Take a look at the floor for a moment.
It's difficult to see,
but, there's something
about the way the floors
in my father's apartment
reflect light that has always
left an impression upon me.
In fact, a lot of what I
remember about growing up
has something to do with this light.
You can see it in the reflection
on the bedroom window,
and on the lower left
hand side of the bed.
And it shows up on the desk,
near the back of the room too.
I can't say I have many childhood memories
that don't include daylight.
I don't remember the lamps
or overhead lights very much.
But I do remember what these windows
were like for me as a child,
and I remember
the things I saw outside,
across the street.
When my parents divorced,
my mother and I moved into a new house.
The two women in this photo
were never inside my
father's apartment again.
I find it strange to think
they were ever there in the first place,
in the apartment that my
father still lives in.
The room is still there.
Even if the same people aren't.
If you look closely, in
the back of the room,
you can see something
on top of the radiator,
near the pile of clothes.
It's a baby monitor.
When this photo was taken,
I was two years old.
Tell her what you took.
Tell her, how much.
Judy, is that true?
$8,000!
Gone.
My brother's done a lot for you.
Are you gonna tell
her about your daughter?
There is no daughter.
She wasn't gonna reunite with anyone.
You don't have a daughter?
Why don't you apologize to her?
Apologize! For taking
advantage of my family.
Why would you lie to us?
I had to do what I had to do.
What took you so long?
Hi. Hi John, Hi Talia.
So nice to see you. Hi, Rich.
- Hello.
- Hi.
Jesse, come here.
Ah, uh, you know, uh-
Something I want to say
is just how grateful
Lydia and I are to see you all here.
To have you join us today
to celebrate this wonderful,
wonderful moment in Jesse's life.
We're all so proud of you.
Proud of the things you've
already accomplished,
and proud to be your parents.
Having you in our lives is the best gift
a parent could ever have.
You've given us so much.
So much joy.
I only wish that my mother,
your grandmother Claire,
could be here with us right now.
My mother, she was a wonderful
person, she loved you,
she'd be so proud of you,
and I know that she will
always watch over you.
Jesse, we love you.
We wish all the success in the world,
you make us all so happy.
Congratulations.
Jesse? Listen, your father's upset.
Why?
He sees you've been
with your mother's family
most of the night, he's hurt.
I'm sorry, I don't like the
seating arrangement either.
I know it's not your fault,
I just wanted to let you know.
Maybe spend some time with him.
Sure. I'll go over in a few minutes.
I know he'll appreciate it.
- Yeah.
- I'll see you inside.
- Congratulations Jesse.
- We'll see you soon.
Congratulations. Good luck in college.
Jesse! Congratulations.
Oh my god, good luck in
Chicago! So proud of you.
Congratulations. Best of luck.
What about me? Isn't anyone
going to say goodbye to me?
Isn't anybody going to thank me?
- What are you talking about?
- Rich...
No one's gonna acknowledge me?
Acknowledge what?
Of course we are.
You're not gonna say a word to me?
You got nothing.
Is that what you think?
- Dad.
- Let's go.
Okay, just, just...
He's nothing, he'll always be that way.
Get the fuck outta my face.
Fuck you!
You wanna make things difficult?
Dad, stop.
You say you're sorry to me.
What am I sorry for?
You say you're sorry to me!
I'm not sorry for anything!
Apologize to me!
You should apologize to
my daughter and my grandson.
You get the fuck outta here!
You don't deserve your son.
Oh my God, dad! Stop!
Stop it!
Get off! Get off him!
Get back.
What is the matter with you?
Get him out of here!
Dad, go with them!
You always ruin everything.
Flora Orkins' mother Josephine
died in a New Jersey
hospital at the age of 96,
following a stroke.
Funeral plans were made
quickly, and it was agreed
that no public
announcements would be made:
no death notices, no obituaries.
The Orkins preferred to conceal the news
from Josephine's son,
and, with some reluctance,
Flora's sister Billie consented.
Robert would never learn
that his mother had died.
Where is she?
When she arrived
at her mother's funeral,
Billie Alloway had not seen
the Orkins in 15 years.
The reunion was untimely.
Keep me away from her.
Mom, come inside.
No. Not now.
You can't ignore her today.
You know what the situation is.
I have my reasons.
What are your reasons?
Lydia, mind your own business.
I never told you not to talk to them,
if that's what you want to do then do it.
Alright, alright.
It's her mother too.
We're keeping things as is.
You're in no position
to tell me what to do.
She's hurting.
I'm sorry, but I can't
do anything about that.
Jesse. Do you remember
Ted, and Aunt Billie?
I do. Hi, Aunt Billie.
Jesse. Hello.
We last saw you in the-
- In the Bahamas. And he was so little.
I'm going to go grab Peter. Take a seat.
Jesse.
I wish things had turned out differently.
Will they be joining you?
No. We go our separate ways.
This isn't goodbye. It's not goodbye.
Nick.
Billie. I'm sorry.
Ted.
Flora. What did I do wrong?
Can't we just make peace now?
By the time of
Josephine's death, Jesse had
finished his first semester
of college, in Chicago.
He had returned to Lydia's
home for the winter recess,
when he learned the news.
As the new school semester began,
Jesse's father would be beset
by an unexpected torrent
of legal bills and lawyer fees.
His relationship with Judy had ended
on less than amicable
terms, and it is said
that she left New York comfortably,
her whereabouts unknown.
Some years later, Jesse discovered
that he was not Richard's
first-born child,
he had a daughter in Atlanta,
born after the end of a
previous relationship,
10 years before his marriage to Lydia.
In a photo album, Jesse
would find a letter
that his father had written to Lydia.
"I'm sorry for the way
I treated you," it said.
"If I can be honest, Lydia,"
I'm unhappy with the way
my life has turned out.
Too bad you didn't
bring the other color.
I can't do it with my left hand!
You want me to help?
This is good as it will
drive a little bit faster.
I saw, there were so
many near the entrance.
- We're gonna call the management.
- Try to get rid of them.
What a shame.
They put the poison down all
over the top of the building.
Why are they doing that?
Birds. Tenant's don't
want them on the property.
Just take it for tomorrow.
Did you walk far?
No, just down the street.
It's very windy today.
You've got your bag?
It's in the car.
Well. Let's go.
I know, you keep telling
me, I'll do it, I'll do it.
Bye, honey.
Bye, daddy.
Bye, bye.
Thank you so much. Drive safely!
Thanks for coming.
Bye, darling.
Bye, mom.
Perfect, everything was perfect.
Make sure he puts on his seat belt!
Thank you, sweetie!
Thank you so much! Thank you for coming.
Take care, darling, bye bye.
Drive safely.
Jesse! Come say goodbye.