Episodes 21 & 22: 9 Year Olds

This is a first for The Niners Podcast: We learn from two people who are both 9 year olds and best friends! Their names have been removed along with other identifying information to protect their anonymity. We sing "Golden," we learn a magic trick, and the insights they share are delightful. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, everybody, and welcome to episodes number 21 and 22 of the Niners Podcast. I'm your host, Tim Cunningham, and this is a really special two episodes in which I get to interview two nine-year-olds. This is gonna be a little bit different for many reasons. If you like to watch the videos of this podcast, there's gonna be no video available to protect the identity of these two nine-year-olds. We're not gonna share their names. We've edited their names out. And of course, I've gotten written consent from their parents to do this recording, to share this recording, and celebrate with you all what it's like to be nine years old about to turn 10. I've got a question. So you're nine now. Imagine in about 10 years, you're gonna be 19. Is there any advice? Like if you could see your 19-year-old self.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Say what my parents said, which is don't be a teenager. Also, you can never be whatever age it is again.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

What does that mean? You can never be whatever age it is again.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

It's something parents say.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Good morning or good evening, or whatever time you're listening, everyone. My name is Tim Cunningham, and I am the proud host of the Niners Podcast. And today we're gonna have an extra special episode. Normally, for folks that listen in, I interview one person at a time. But today, I have the privilege of interviewing two people at a time who are squeezed together on one chair. Two people, one chair, and one is wearing Mickey Mouse ears. And what's super cool about this is they're both the same age. So we're gonna do this interview at the same time. So, hi y'all. How you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Good, good.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Um, I guess my first question, and one that I like to ask everybody on this podcast, how old are you?

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Nine. Nine in twelve. I mean, ten in twelve days. So she's nine.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

So nine. So like so like this this minute, like nine, right? But then in ten days, you'll be ten. How did you all end up being nine at the same time?

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Uh our mothers are about the same age.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Oh yeah? Are your moms friends? Do they hang out sometimes? So if if your moms hang out, does that mean you two hang out a lot?

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Yeah, and we get to have another play date today because you're interviewing us.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Cool. Wait, so this interview is like a play date?

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Well, let's have some fun with it. This, like I mentioned, is really special. I've never interviewed anyone who's nine years old yet on this podcast. You all are the first. So, my first question for you is can you tell me a little bit about what excites you the most about being nine?

SPEAKER_01 2:55

You start to get privileges. Yeah. You start to get to do things that you didn't get to do when you were younger. Like this interview where my sister, who's six, had to go into a different room so we could have privacy because she was being a little annoying and talking more. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

So we get the Does she want to be on the interview too?

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Yeah, I think she wanted to be interviewed. So maybe in three years you could interview her.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

I think that'd be really cool. What are some other privileges?

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Um last year at the ball game. Oh yeah. And um we we had to decide the view of our parents. But then I feel like if we won again this year, we would just be able to roam free. Yeah. The game the the game after that, I remember, I went down and I bargained with this magician to teach me tricks because I sang him a song and and recited lines.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Oh, so you were at a baseball game and you met a magician at a baseball game?

SPEAKER_01 4:03

Yeah. I learned this trick where I can find out what card someone picks, and it's really cool.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Yeah, do you want to do it? Do you think we could do it on this interview?

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Uh, if mom, can you get a card? Sure.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

And for listeners, mom, mom is in the room just listening in, so mom is leaving the room to get a deck of cards. So, so at this, so you were at a baseball game, but there was a magician at a baseball game. Tell me more about that.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Yeah. It was like because there's this kids section underneath, and they have like magicians and face paint and stuff like that. Well, that was fun.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Did you ever see a guy on stilts or a woman on stilts at that baseball game?

SPEAKER_01 4:48

No, but I did go to the circus camp once and we saw stilts. I really loved silts in the traffic. It was so cool. It was really cool. Uh Ringling Brothers. No, it wasn't. Yes, it was. No, it wasn't. Oh, yeah, right. That was a different thing. That wasn't like Mercus. Oh, no, no, I feel like it was JP Circus Center. No, circus. JP Circus Center.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Circus Mercus. Circus Mercus Ring. That's a lot of that's a mouthful right there. Were you nine when you went to the circus camp?

SPEAKER_01 5:21

No, I think I was like six or five or something. Yeah, we went to the camp for April. And you went to Circus Camp? Remember, I feel like it was JP Circus Center or something.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Use that that memorizing brain.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

JP Circus.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

JP Circus. JP Circus, we got it. Um you're nine. So what is your f what are your favorite things to do now that you're nine?

SPEAKER_01 5:45

And I know like community theater.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

What kind of community theater?

SPEAKER_01 5:52

She was in Matilda and got like the second main character character that can be played by a kid. And unfortunately, I was the youngest, which wasn't fun. I don't like being the youngest.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

And and and so soon though, when you're 10, you'll you'll not be nine, so you won't be the youngest after that. But I guess if there are people older than you, huh?

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Okay, we got cards. Okay, no, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Okay, we have a deck of cards. On the screen, I am seeing a deck of playing cards. We're gonna do okay. Okay, we've got two decks of cards. So we are ready for the magic trick.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

I am going to be the assistant.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

First, I will shuffle the cards.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

The magician is shuffling the cards, and the assistant is closing her eyes in the background.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Yes, because hey, close your eyes. Just close your eyes though. I'm I'm just shuffling them.

SPEAKER_03 6:43

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

I wrote y'all how to shuffle, so I'm just gonna go like this and um just go like this. And there it's shuffled. Okay, you don't need to close your eyes. I do though. Okay. Okay. Okay, well, I'm blind. Ready? Am I ready yet? Oh, um, um first let me do my magical magician thingy in the back. I have to do that. You messed up my Mickey ear. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

The magician is turning around away from the camera.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Magic, the cadavera, Grizzly O Imperial, other magic words that I can't remember. Um, Louis! Louis! Well, okay, I fixed a card. Okay. Um, where do I put it?

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Card is being picked.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

On top of here.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

It's being placed on top. The magician is looking away from the card deck. The suspense.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

The drama. And now I will wait, I messed up. We have the magic. I forgot to look with the c oh no. Does that mean that I have to redo all my magic words?

SPEAKER_00 7:50

I think we have to start all over again.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Oh my gosh, the magical thingy stuff. Can I see all other magical words? Lumus! Lumus! Think of other words! Um, okay, we're done. Now, pick your card.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Try number two. Card is being picked. Magically brought out of the card deck.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

Good.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

What card is it?

SPEAKER_01 8:17

I'm not supposed to know that yet.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Okay, got it.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

It must have the magic trick. Hold on. I need to shuffle this deck.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Okay, okay, shuffle one more time. Um, so.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

Can I tell you what it was though?

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Yeah, yeah. You want to whisper what it was?

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Guess what? It was five of words. I just guessed it. Okay, keep our.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Okay, last try.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

She fell down.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

The magical words must happen. Avacazam, Abracadabra, Avana Kadabra, Crucio, Imperial, Extaniar Miss, Lilis, um, cool. Oh.

SPEAKER_03 8:56

That was very rude of you, Kimiko. Pick a card.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

She was just saying a magic word, I think. The card is being picked. The magician is using her magical brain to imagine magically what that card is. The card is still being picked.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Okay. Good. I will now find you.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Drum roll.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

I'm going through the card.

SPEAKER_00 9:23

The magician is going through the cards.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wait. Wait, go back one. Was yours the king of hearts who looks very sad and melancholy? Yeah. Yeah!

SPEAKER_00 9:41

Amazing. The melancholy king. Thank you so much for doing that trick. I'm a little bit curious. You've gone to circus camp. It sounds like you all are busy doing all sorts of fun things. You've got more privileges, so maybe the next baseball game you can walk around on your own a little bit. What are you excited about, like turning 10? I know that like in two weeks one of you will be 10. Eventually, you both will be 10.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

So everything's gonna be gold. I don't get my golden birthday until I'm 20. No fair. And then I'm gonna be like, oh my god, I'm so done with golden birthdays.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Time for this golden birthday. I had that when I was 10. Wait, are you gonna play the song golden?

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Oh, we can put that on, but we can sing it if you want to. I can sing it. What was the theme of your nine-year-old birthday party? Oh, it was K-pop demon hunters and boba tea. Yeah. Like strawberry and mango popping boba, because those are my favorite kinds. And then we did Demon Hunters karaoke, and it was fun.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

So you've already done that part of the golden. Um, what is a golden? What else happens in a golden?

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Can we? Yeah, okay. I'm done hunting now. I'm shining like a born a big. Oh, fears no lesson we're born a big. I think we gotta redo this chair thing.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

We've got a golden birthday coming up. What do you think you're gonna learn when you're 10? Like, are you gonna learn something new?

SPEAKER_01 11:16

We're going to learn that. We're going to learn that. Um, let's think. We will never be nine again.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

What's the best part about being nine? What's the part about nine you might miss?

SPEAKER_01 11:32

You're young. Yeah. You get to do what you want, and your parents don't give you too many chores.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Oh, you think you might get more chores when you're 10?

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

What's the your least favorite chore that you might have to start doing when you're 10?

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Uh taking the garbage out.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

That smells.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

Um. Hmm. Let's unloading the dishwasher. This thing that my mom does sometimes. She has this thing. I don't want to do laundry because sometimes she has to smell underwear.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Oh, that's stinky.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Disgusting.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

And usually she knows, so then she checks, but one time she got really surprised.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

And I bet that wasn't a pleasant surprise.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

My mom my mom is in the corner going like this. She's like, Which is governor based on another magic trick.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

Alright, what's this other magic trick?

SPEAKER_01 12:34

We need to move the computer back for this because you need table space. Okay. Okay. Oh, yeah. Oh, that actually does work.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Do you guys do you do magic tricks for your friends sometimes?

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Sometimes. Okay, so I am going to pick the top first 21 cards. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen. Pause! We skipped six, seven. So we need to say right now six, seven, fourteen, seven, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one. Okay. And now I'm gonna put them in columns.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

In three columns of seven.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

So you're stacking them in three columns of seven, got it?

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Yep, and then she's gonna pick one. We might not have enough space here, but we're gonna try. Okay. Try over. Wow, that's a lot of jokers. There's only two jokers. Yeah, I know. But that's still a lot.

SPEAKER_03 13:41

That's probably good luck.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

What I really liked about Turning Nine was um my grandma always delivers my um Christmas gifts after my birthday and my birthday gifts during Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Oh, why did she do that? Oh, what a beautiful is that a locket?

SPEAKER_01 14:07

No.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

Oh, it's a necklace. Ooh, that looks like a stone.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Okay, so I set up the cards, and the cards are time to fly. Ten of Feast of Hearts. Yeah, yeah, I'm not gonna say all those. And now she is going to pick a card and show it to you.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

And don't say what it is.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Will you will you show it to the camera? We won't say it out loud, but we will show it. Okay, I can see it. Got it. I I've got it memorized.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

Okay, uh, this is getting messed up. Tell me which column is your card in. This one, this one, or this one? Which column is your card in? Okay. That's let's see. If it's a magical card, it will move. Stop.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

It will move.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Slowly.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

Okay, so you're moving the cards around. Are you moving them to different stacks?

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Uh no, we're putting it in the stack again. Um, I'm starting to I never miss. Well then, what you just put my card in the pile. Yeah, I know. It there's three rounds. Okay. Round number two. Wait, do you remember what my card was?

SPEAKER_00 15:20

I do. Do you remember?

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Oh, you're right. It was the um got it. Move the cord out of the way, so now it won't get stuck.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

I'm nervous. Do you all get nervous when you're waiting for magic tricks to happen?

SPEAKER_01 15:34

Sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

But um The other day I made She made mini pot holders. You could just they they're just gonna be like you can put a cup on it. Okay, they're just gonna like keep you can put on it. Which column is your card in? Magical card.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

Magical card, magical column.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

It's a magical card because it moved. It did. Whoa. How did it move? Yeah, that's because you you were you shuffled it and then put it back into different columns. I didn't shuffle it. The magic cards speak themselves. They show them when they what do they say?

SPEAKER_00 16:22

How do they speak to themselves?

SPEAKER_01 16:24

I don't know. I'm not a magical card. I don't know that language. Something like that. Okay. Anyway. One, three, two. I think I got this wrong, but I'm gonna try.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Can I ask how you learned your magic tricks?

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Uh well this one I learned from my second uncle. Um, he knew this trick. And I taught him my trick, so he he I he taught me this trick. Okay. That's a fair trade. Which column is your card in? It stayed in the same column? Okay. I think I got this really wrong, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

I still remember. Wait, is that it? No, I didn't see it.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

When are you gonna guess after this? Okay, now I'm gonna put down the cards and stop when I find her card.

SPEAKER_03 17:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Is this your card? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

What? You got it, the eight of spades!

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Yeah. Nice work. I'm magical and mental, I told you.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Hey, I've got another question. Being so magical and so mental and like doing magic tricks and things like this, what are some other things that you all like to do with your friends now that you're nine?

SPEAKER_01 17:43

To dance sometimes. Sometimes I do sleepovers. She's doing a sleepover for her birthday. Yeah, and she's coming. Ow.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Are you gonna do it at your house or are you gonna do it somewhere else?

SPEAKER_01 17:57

My house. Doing it at her house.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Whoa, golden party sleepover.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

I'll just do golden, not golden.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

My next Oh, next is golden. So ten ten is not golden.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Eleven is golden.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

What's 11 is golden.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Oh, there is a nothing. Remember, I already told you. And then you were like there are I like to do a lot of stuff. Sometimes I like to talk. Yeah, she she talks my ear off sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Yeah. Do you who do you think talks more? Do you all talk equal equal amounts?

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Equal amounts. Maybe her a little more.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Oh, nice earrings. Did you just get earrings?

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Yeah. I got my ears pierced last February.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

Alright. So when you were nine, were you nine then or were you eight?

SPEAKER_01 18:41

I was eight.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Eight?

SPEAKER_01 18:43

I was nine because I got them pierced two weeks ago. Yeah, she got scared when I said that it happened. It's not true. Then why do you tell me that? Are you lying to your bestie? No. Okay, it is true.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

It's true. When I got my ears pierced, it hurt. I was surprised. It hurt more than I thought. And I was an old man. What's it like to be a best friend? What how do you know you are each other's best friends?

SPEAKER_01 19:11

When you tell each other secrets that you can't tell anyone else. Yeah. Like when my other friends don't tell the secret. I'm not and it's not yours. When my oh, I can't tell that secret. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Yeah, that's fair.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Maybe she listens to this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Yeah, maybe if she hears it. Yeah, so no secrets.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Um we were obsessed with K-pop demon hunters, so we decided to dress up like the characters, and I was like, okay, I'm Rumi. I don't know why you guys insisted on making me Zoe. I didn't insist on the book. Jesse, I would I wanted to be Zoe or our uh Rumi. I just did not. Zoe has hyper issues. Rumi has anger issues, and Mira has sassy issues. Like, I don't know why Rumi has to scream off the roof of buildings. Yeah, she hurts my ears when she's. Well, I would want to be Zoe.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Got it. If I was a K-pop demon hunter, who do you think I would be?

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Uh Bobby.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Bobby? Is Bobby the manager? Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

He's really funny. He's like, girls, we're going in 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

He seems so stressed out all the time. But I guess that's what managers have to do. Hey, what you're gonna be 10 soon. Are you worried about anything about being 10?

SPEAKER_01 20:34

No. Um I'm worried about starting to have to do more chores. More chores.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

What's your homework like nowadays?

SPEAKER_01 20:47

Uh 25 minutes of reading.

unknown 20:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

We have to do one page of we have to do one page of like a lot of math, and then we have to do math on the computer for like 50,000 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Do you go to the same school?

SPEAKER_01 21:04

No.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

You go to different schools. Would you like to go to the school? Ah, so different grades, different schools.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

She would be in the same or earlier, she would be in the same grade as.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

I've got a I've got a question. So you're nine now. Imagine in about 10 years, you're gonna be 19. Is there any advice like if you could see your 19-year-old self?

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Say what my parents say, which is don't be a teenager. Also, you can never be whatever age it is again.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

What does that mean? You can never be whatever age it is again.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

It's something parents say.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

Why do parents say things like that?

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Say that we can't that I can't get a phone until I'm twelve. 21. 21. I can't get a phone until I'm 21. And even then it will be what they call a dumb phone where I can only call my relatives.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

That sounds like a really the horror. How are you gonna survive? What are you gonna do?

SPEAKER_01 22:15

I'm going to survive without music.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

And uh and you can't find that anywhere else. It has to all come from a phone, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:23

And it can come from an iPad too, I guess. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:27

That's true. You're gonna be 10 really soon, which is super exciting. Like you'll have two numbers in your age.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

Yeah. What do you do with that? Double digits. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Don't talk to me. I'm 10. You're nine. Where's my lipstick?

SPEAKER_01 22:46

You're describing disagree. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

Sometimes you disagree. What is it? How do you how do you figure things out when you disagree? What happens when you disagree? How do you figure things out when you disagree about something?

SPEAKER_01 22:59

Um, first we smack pillows at each other. Yeah, we have a pillow fight. It's really fun.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

Nice. I think that's a very like reasonable way to work things out. And then after the pillow fight, what happens?

SPEAKER_01 23:11

We um wait, where did my Nicki Mouse ears go? I want to kind of back them.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

Yeah, they went flying long ago. I think the magic blindfold knocked them off. What do you think, as a nine-year-old, right now, what matters the most to you?

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Um, I need to have good friends. Yeah, I need to have good friends. Like, not the kind of friend who like ditches you and then becomes your friend because Do you feel like you've got some really good friends already?

SPEAKER_00 23:43

I mean, I know you all are besties. Do you have other pretty good friends too?

SPEAKER_01 23:46

Yeah. Yeah, I have good friends, and I have some friends who don't choke me.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

Oh, do best friends occasionally choke, gently choke?

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Sometimes. Sometimes. I just feel like that, and then she goes, Oh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:03

That's a little dramatic.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

My parents say I am over dramatic.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Do you do you agree?

SPEAKER_01 24:09

Yeah. No. I'm not dramatic.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Not at all. Your magic was a little dramatic. It was seriously dramatic magic. But I guess you gotta you gotta be dramatic with magic.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

Drama, you're dramatic. That's true. Theater. Theater is the life and passion of us.

SPEAKER_00 24:29

We put the drama and dramatic. Hey, I've asked all the questions that I have. Do you all have any questions for me? Or is there anything else that you want to share with the audience who wants to learn about being night?

SPEAKER_01 24:39

Is this live?

SPEAKER_00 24:41

It is not live. No. We're gonna we're recording and then I'm gonna edit it, and then I'm gonna share it with your parents. And if they like it, and if you like it, then then we're gonna share it with the world.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

Say that, um, no matter what your parents say, keep being nine. Yeah. Even if they say, can't you just be younger again and say, I wish I could stop time and go back to when you were younger. Or like, can't you be more mature? Or like, I di if this is what you're like right now, imagine what you're like when you're a teenager. Don't listen to them. Just do being who you are. Who you are?

SPEAKER_00 25:24

That's great advice. Thank you all so, so, so much. Are there any other questions or anything before we stop recording?

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Um can you think of a question for us to send? What made you want to do this podcast?

SPEAKER_00 25:42

What made me want to do this podcast? I'm close to 49. Um, but when I was 39, I was nervous about turning 40. And I really wanted to learn from a bunch of other people what it was like to turn 40. So I wanted to ask a bunch of people, but you know what I did? I did not take your advice, and I was not who I was. I should have been just who I was, and I should have started asking people. Instead, I just thought about it for eight years. And then now that I'm 47, I was like, I'm gonna stop thinking about it. And I just want to ask people who are turning 50, 40, 30, 10. So I'm just curious to learn. And now, because of you two, I've learned about what it's like to be nine about to turn 10.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

And this is what you remember about being nine.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

What do I remember about being nine? When I was nine, I remember Christmas time.

SPEAKER_03 26:33

Well, I love Christmas time.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

I love Christmas time. Yeah, and I remember Yeah, getting presents. Yeah. I remember going to sleep on Christmas Eve. We would go to a church service and we would have candles, and I remember the candle would drip on my hand and it hurt a little bit, but that's okay because I was like, I'm gonna wake up tomorrow and it's Christmas, and I remember singing a lot of songs with my family, and I remember presents.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

For the last two years, we've stayed up so late with our family Christmas parties because on Christmas Eve we just have like a little family Christmas party, and every year since last year, so basically for two years, we've stayed up so late that we see Santa Claus.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

Whoa, you see Santa? I never saw Santa. That's cool. I like being nine. I was nine for a whole year, and I think it was a good time. I d I need to think a little bit more about my memories though. I don't think about them a lot.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

During COVID, uh when I was like five or six, four or five or six, for Christmas we made this giant gingerbread man with like MM eyes, and because we couldn't go to anyone else's house because it was COVID.

SPEAKER_03 27:45

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

And so we were just staying home alone. My brother wasn't born yet. And uh then I remember being like, There's not gonna be presents under the tree because you know, some presents are from Santa, some presents are from Santa and some presents are from like your parents and some presents are from your like relatives. And I was like, But my relatives aren't gonna be here. But then Maybe Santa caught COVID.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

I hope you wore a mask.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Yeah, I did. And then on Christmas morning I remember the sheer joy of looking under the tree and seeing that there were presents from my relatives because you know my parents told me that there was like um the boxes by the door were just like uh little desks. Now I realize that they were probably all the presents packed into one giant big brown box that people sent from Minnesota and Connecticut.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

So sweet. So even though you couldn't go anywhere during COVID, the presents came to you and you still had a pretty good Christmas, huh?

SPEAKER_01 28:52

And we made gingerbread. Yeah, but the thing that was really creepy was Santa Bit Off the Head.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

Oh, weird. Do you think Santa was just in a mood that night?

SPEAKER_01 29:03

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Maybe Santa, I mean, like Santa's wearing a mask, got all his vaccines, and was probably like, man, this is a really hard Christmas with the pandemic. So maybe he just was taking out a little frustration on your gingerbread. Right? That's a great question. Of the billions of gingerbread men all over the world on Christmas Eve.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

Maybe he did through all of them because his frustration wasn't um small enough to happen. I don't remember. And I remember the window being open because we didn't have a chimney. Window being open and it being freezing in the morning because the window was open and Santa had climbed.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

Cool, Santa.

SPEAKER_01 29:48

Wait, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 29:49

What are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Not open! I'm not done yet.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

Yeah, show the show the show the camera.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

I'm not done yet.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

It looks like you're working on a very serious art project. Yeah, okay. Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

This is you so far.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

Is that what I look like?

SPEAKER_01 30:06

You made your beard this long. I I started like I started like very small time ago. But um, like I started when she started talking about the presence, and I tried to draw it really quickly.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

You think if I grow a big enough beard, I could be Santa one day? I mean not like the real Santa, but like a Santa lookalike.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

Yeah. Um when I just I had just turned nine. Three days after I was nine on the 11th. And I drew this and I was like, my art skills have very much improved.

SPEAKER_03 30:44

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 30:45

Not sure if they had, but I've thought that they really improved since I was nine.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

Well well, there's one way to test it. When you turn 10 on your birthday, do you want to draw another self-portrait?

SPEAKER_01 30:56

I'll be in London.

SPEAKER_00 30:58

Oh, you'll be in London. Well, do they have art supplies in London?

SPEAKER_01 31:02

Hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

I know, right?

SPEAKER_01 31:04

What if they do?

SPEAKER_00 31:06

I what if you pack them? Pack them and take them with you. Maybe. Just think about it. I'm gonna stop the recording. I'm gonna press stop, but don't hang up, okay?

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Okay, okay, wait, 38 minutes. Can you believe we've been talking about it? Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

Oh, wait, what's for breakfast?

SPEAKER_01 31:23

Bagels.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

Thank you both so much. And thank you, all listeners, for joining us in a really different interview than what we've shared so far. These are episodes number 21 and 22. My goal is to share 99 total episodes of folks from across the age of spectrum who are moving on to a new decade, a new century, or about to bring a new life onto this planet. Tune in for our next episode, and you'll learn from my friend Kenya, who's at her mid-century mark. I'm your host, Tim Cunningham, here on the Niners Podcast. And also a special thanks to Jen Cornell for creating our intro and outro music. You can learn more about Jen Cornell at JenCello.com. We'll see y'all next time.