[0.00 -> 1.16] I have five children.
[1.16 -> 4.64] I have four boys and a girl, boy, boy, boy, girl, boy.
[5.72 -> 7.44] Four of them don't speak to me.
[7.44 -> 8.84] Still to this day?
[8.84 -> 11.28] One, I'm very close to, we speak almost every day.
[11.28 -> 12.76] I'm optimistic.
[12.76 -> 14.76] People often accuse me of being
[14.76 -> 17.36] irrationally optimistic, overly optimistic,
[17.36 -> 19.40] but I prefer to live my life like that.
[19.40 -> 23.68] And I'm hopeful and relatively confident
[23.68 -> 24.96] that things are gonna work out.
[24.96 -> 25.80] How old are they?
[25.84 -> 30.68] 33, 30, 21, 19, and 14.
[30.68 -> 35.68] I've also made very clear to every one of them
[36.56 -> 38.00] that I'm a phone call away.
[38.88 -> 40.20] That's all they have to do.
[40.20 -> 43.80] If it's something about this generation specifically,
[43.80 -> 46.12] I've tried to do as much reading
[46.12 -> 48.68] about family estrangement as I can.
[48.68 -> 51.28] There are a lot of really good books out there right now.
[51.28 -> 52.84] It's a really common issue, actually.
[52.84 -> 55.36] And that's exactly what I was gonna say.
[55.36 -> 58.68] I saw something on the news just yesterday
[58.68 -> 62.32] saying that 25% of all American families
[62.32 -> 66.56] are experiencing some level or form of family estrangement.
[66.56 -> 68.32] And it's easy to think you're alone.
[68.32 -> 69.92] I have a friend.
[69.92 -> 71.72] She used to write to me when I was in prison.
[71.72 -> 74.56] She was a Broadway star from the 60s.
[74.56 -> 78.40] And now she's almost 90 years old.
[78.40 -> 81.36] And we call each other every few weeks.
[81.36 -> 83.92] Her son, she has one child.
[83.96 -> 87.84] Her son, who's now well into his 50s,
[87.84 -> 92.44] just cut her off like 10 years ago, 12 years ago now,
[92.44 -> 95.64] just cold turkey, cut her off.
[95.64 -> 98.08] She doesn't have any idea why.
[98.08 -> 100.32] She called me one day and she asked me
[100.32 -> 102.20] if I knew of a good private investigator.
[102.20 -> 105.16] I said, oh yeah, I know a very good private investigator
[105.16 -> 106.24] and I connected them.
[106.24 -> 107.70] And she hired him.
[107.70 -> 109.24] I didn't ask her why she wanted him.
[109.24 -> 110.44] It was her business.
[110.44 -> 113.04] But he told me all she wanted
[113.08 -> 115.36] was a picture of her granddaughter.
[115.36 -> 117.68] She had never met her granddaughter.
[117.68 -> 119.32] And so he kind of, you know,
[120.36 -> 122.64] he parked across the street from the school
[122.64 -> 126.44] and figured out who her granddaughter was
[126.44 -> 127.28] and took a picture.
[128.80 -> 130.96] But not a, you know, a minute goes by
[130.96 -> 133.98] that she's not thinking about the son
[133.98 -> 135.60] that she doesn't understand how she lost
[135.60 -> 137.48] or why she lost and the granddaughter
[137.48 -> 138.92] that she's never met.
[138.92 -> 141.84] She doesn't have very much more time left on earth.