When Scott Simon's mother was hospitalized, he started tweeting from what would become her deathbed. His 1.2 million Twitter followers were soon privy to the pair's final moments together.
Simon is the host of NPR’s Weekend Edition. In June 2013, he had been planning a trip to California with his wife, two daughters, and his mother, Patricia Lyons Simon Newman Gelbin. His mother was hospitalized, and Simon tweeted his 1.2 million Twitter followers: “Mother called: ‘I can’t talk. I’m surrounded by handsome men.’ Emergency surgery. If you can hold a thought for her now.”
Soon, it became apparent that Mrs. Gelbin was dying of cancer, and Simon stayed by her side, sleeping on an orange camping mat on the floor of her hospital room. He continued tweeting her final days—last teachings, poignant memories, and even her jokes. In April, he talked with Krys Boyd about his memoir, Unforgettable: A Mother’s Final Days – And the Lessons that Last a Lifetime. We revisit the conversation today as part of our "Best of Think" series.
Listen to the full conversation here.
I tell my mother, "You'll never stop teaching me." She said, "Well don't blame me for everything."
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 27, 2013
On class and belonging
As an Irish immigrant, Mrs. Gelbin hadn’t felt immediately welcomed into Chicago with open arms. Many of the people on the Irish side of her family had worked at the swanky Drake Hotel, and between shifts, she would often slip into the ladies’ restroom to change into the uniform for her second job.
“She made a point the night before her first cancer surgery of bringing our oldest daughter, Elise, into the ladies room at the Drake,” Simon says. “My wife, my mother, and Elise left the ladies’ room, and my wife had tears in her eyes. I wondered what the hell had gone on. My wife told me that my mother had told our daughter, ‘Honey, remember, never be afraid to go into a classy place. Remember, you deserve it.’”
On forever
“She had a pretty religious background as a Catholic,” Simon said. “At one point, she looked up at me and said, ‘Will this go on forever?’ And I think she meant the pain and just the dread of expectation and I said, ‘No. It won’t go on forever.’ And she said, ‘You and me, we’ll go on forever.’ I believe that too.”
I just realized: she once had to let me go into the big wide world. Now I have to let her go the same way.
— Scott Simon (@nprscottsimon) July 28, 2013
Think airs at noon and 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday on KERA 90.1, or stream the show live. If you loved this interview, click here to nominate it for Best of Think 2015.
