EP269: A Family Lived in the New York Public Library?, Her Career is a Tribute to Her Great Uncle and A Fake Ring, Real Temptation, and a Golden Marriage

So you're in the garage working on your car and you need the valves you bought last week. You look in the cabinets and on the shelves, but the parts are never in the right place eBay motor says the carport you need over 122 million of them all in one place and all of the right prices find parts for everything from your classic coupe to your brand-new truck@ebay.com.

Let's ride dramas you may know me from the recap on LA TV now got old podcast life as a gringo, to every Tuesday and Thursday will be talking real and unapologetic about all things light and culture and everything in between.

From someone who's never quite been listens alive as a gringo on the iHeartRadio app or web, you get podcast brought to you by State Farm like a good neighbor, State Farm is there hello this is a do choose. This is an ad, but not for your ears for your feet all day listening. Good hey do choose other squishy rest areas latest go to shoes you'll ever have the pleasure of introducing autos to so light a butterfly could steal them so soft couldn't see use with jealousy so cushy your hands will crush your feet for all the love and attention.

Toes you hit the jackpot of comfrey. Hey dude, good to go to Mrs. Lee's Aleve and this is how Americans John Siegler have a better deal than most New York City superintendents.

It was the first super of the New York Public Library Main branch famous Schwartzman building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd St. Her backyard was planned for the 1913 article in the New York Times noted that, before moving into the library. Fiedler had worked as a merchant man doubled in price.

Finding and studied engineering at Harvard. Notably, 1913 article focused on his new invention and air purifier. The promise to suck everything from arsenic to iron particles out of the air.

Our audience love Kristin O'Donnell. Tom's wonderful story from her historical fiction book John Lincoln Klem Civil War drummer boy we asked if she would share another story with us. Here she is telling the story of the family that live in the New York public library. Once upon a time a girl was born inside a library and not just any library, the New York public library. Think famous building on fifth and 42nd, the one with the lions out front to date was May 8, 1917 to French dignitaries happened to be visiting the library that week. Prime Minister René Viviani and Marshall Joseph jump from the girls parents were stumped for an name for their daughter and against the party suggested combining these two dignitaries names and so the girl born inside the NY PL became Viviani chakra Fiedler Viviani was the first daughter and third child of John and Cornelia Fiedler, John Fiedler was hired as the building superintendent in the iconic library was under construction. He, Cornelia and their two sons, John Junior and Edward went into the library. In July 1910 10 months before the library open to the public on May 23, 1911 they lived in an eight room apartment on the mezzanine level of the library. This apartment is where Viviani was born and she's thought to be the only child ever born inside the building.

The footprint of the apartment is still there today Viviani Edward and John Junior had quite a childhood inside those marble walls. They later recounted stories of playing baseball inside the library using books as spaces.

The library often hosted dignitaries at lavish parties inside the stunning building and when Viviani was six. She recited poetry to Queen Marie of Romania in the children's collection because they were not allowed to have pets. John Junior once trapped pigeons on the roof until the American Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals caught wind of this and requested he freed them any money and her friends would slide down the banister's and play hide and among the library's priceless marble statues while her brothers played war in the basement and once a thief was caught trying to steal a rare $10,000 stamp collection, library display. John Senior was quite a character and to prevent his three children from getting into too much mischief in the late-night library. He told his kids in his distinct bowery dial that the library was haunted by a man killed during construction.

Viviani later told the New Yorker magazine that the library is quote like a big marble grave at night after the cleaners are gone the idea that the NY PL is haunted is now quite entrenched in the building's history in the opening scene of the original Ghostbusters movie pays a montage to that belief. 1:40 PM. The main branch of the New York public library on Fifth Avenue. 10 people witnessed free-floating full torso papers apparition book softshell some 20 feet away and start the socks off some poor librarian. I'm very excited. I'm very want you to get right down to check it out and get back get right back on your you're coming with us down there to PKD valences went right off the top of the scale buried the needle for close on this one.

I can feel it.

John Junior told the New York Times. Years later, quote there was some basis for the legend, 10 men died in the nine or 10 years it took to build the central library. The reading room. Ghost was one who had fallen from the scaffolding when they were putting in the reading room ceiling at least that's the way father told it, the elder John Fiedler was also an inventor and worked with Thomas Edison's workshop in the basement is still there today. He called it his private laboratory. He was known to have quote dabbled in plastics long before the word got into the dictionary. Fiedler children had many friends in the area. Some of them lived in the Algonquin Hotel.

Some in Rogers P department store. This group of friends, truly had a unique playground. Viviani lived in the library until she was 15 years old, leaving when she got married. John Junior took over as the building superintendent from his father, retiring in June 1949. All told, the Fiedler's lived inside the New York public library for 38 years.

You can read more about the Fiedler family and their adventures inside the New York public library into books about their lives, the story collector and its sequel, the story seeker and a special thanks to Kristin O'Donnell told her story telling them what a beautiful way to grow up. The reading room may be my favorite place in all of New York City. I can tell you many hours I spent there is a boy just love the boys that reading room, you're gonna read the story of John Fiedler. The family that lived in the New York public library here on our Americans.

If you love the stories we tell about this great country and especially stories of America's rich past.

Know that all of our stories about American history and innovation culture and faith brought to us by the grateful place for students study all the things that are beautiful in life. All the things you can still build it will come to you with your freedom. Terrific online courses go to Hillsdale.edu to learn more and we continue with our American stories and on the show we considered privileged those given their lives in, for others, and so does Heather McPherson who is the curator of history of the South Carolina military is in fact the reason she's at the museum in the first place is Heather tell us more.

So when I was growing up, my mom had photos on account of her uncles was always interested in this one like I want to know historic is name is Ralph Ferguson and he served and of the 29th division door to and landed on Omaha Beach's first wave and made it to June 12 for is killed in action is about 12 miles and under the L River. So I grew up here in bits and pieces that story and throughout your teenage yet other parties where teenagers everything but now I love history class and stuff like that but I was kind to everyone :-) dig into a story little bit and then after college I really dove into it there so much more available on the Internet and get in contact with people and just comment like side mission of mind to figure out historian, found some sense of purpose trying to tell his story. The family didn't really talk about it, brothers didn't want to mention him. Mother and my grandma grew up not knowing a lot about what happened to him and same with his. His widow didn't really know a lot so me being able to piece together his few days and country and what he might've gone through and finding mentions of him in books and stuff. It was is really incredible journey and just got me more interested in other aspects of or two and then eventually other military in general was actually found a mention of him and want to Stephen Ambrose's book while the soldiers under his command as a second lieutenant in the twin at the vision if sake he always felt sorry for Fran because he had read his soldiers mail and since her in and in and he said he knew that he was really, really close these men after having a sense of their mailing.

He didn't want to lose any of them and he kinda reminded me of him taking care of his younger brothers and his younger sisters always be in the manor house because Ashley lost his father a year before he got deployed, so he was like on tour night and I want to care my men, but I know my family needs me at home… You were to was just an era were so may people stepped up and did what they had to do his writing letters back home like Al is his mother's learn how to drive. For the first time because she doesn't have someone to do that for now, talking to my grandmother like wow, did you learn how to drive yet birth and help help mother feel fill the car with gas and I could to send this pool of him wanted to be in two places at once and there's no telling what he went through on the beaches of Omaha along with so many other bar or brave men getting separated from where they are supposed to land in just so much going on and then leading his men across L River of her couple will ask her so he was prime on the first wants to kinda go ahead us what leaders that they wanted their men out of harm's way and they took the point. Not sure how he got killed because of the artillery could've been a sniper but this fuzzies I start talking about him and my my grandmother Sgt. Sherry stories. I know her before it almost like tenant clicks her memory. And like I will.

He is that you are at the drugstore so he came home smell like coal pills on what they are put in those pills but is all black pills and smell like: what is West Virginia so everything smells like coal but yes is diesel. Stories of the she didn't even knew she remembered it's is deftly been a journey when he spent many years researching and really get to know the person that you never met you, my mom said you not I really met him, but you've almost brought them to life for me and finally made the pilgrimage. If you will to Normandy and toy 19 and See his grave and going to see his his grave silence like gaze on motion about know some of the remap is like I did know and be able share that with with everyone that was part of the tour with went with the 29th division Association was highly always go by myself but the tour group was going there some like will then why had I can't just go and I not go see the grave site so that it is always favor now watching this moment the pinks looking forward to for a while and you actually have an attendee to come with you, and you can actually rub sand and in the yet engraved part of the cross, so the allegedly pop and actually signifies know someone who knew this person has come to visit, so that one person stay behind me and soul tour group looking on in light of this is awkward. But it was it just felt like the circle was completely eventually had time to go back by myself in time they hey Ralph, I do know is it's really is like I know him and it hit me to like maybe a little bit later like a KS takes pictures is make sure I was here visited and Riley go. This is a story by then there was like okay that was a was a moment and that it weighs on you after little bit.

But yeah, that was those incredible I think that was even more impacted when I went to that the actual River where he passed away because it was on June 6 that we had laid some roses down on the memorials side taken at roses I want to spread some the pedals in L River. I was thinking, but it does seem like the right thing to do so I did that. Now you know the sky looked around River little bit more and listless head down down a little bit those Rose petals were there circling. Okay that's that's so weird so we stood there for a little bit like I guess time to go and then the rose petals left right when I left and I was like okay that's something something going on here at really any more experiences like that, but the seals rose petals like waiting on me almost, and then leaving. As I left it was almost like mouselike thanks for pricking my story alive saying a bed-and-breakfast that was literally like 2 miles where he was killed in now that family who runs the bed-and-breakfast. He also has a tour group and my great uncle story gets to be told multiple times throughout the year in pictures around the roadside in its Mrs. incredible hot how it all turned out. My voice is cracking because of it, but I'm trying not to dishearten thing is why I love working here is because II know how it feels and said he I even yesterday I was talking to one of our donors were going to be showcasing his family at one of our displays these I'm just so thankful that you're doing this for us because they have the Starbucks almost like they do want to share. It is not just for them. Like how I want to share what these people didn't like they want to keep that memory lives in the more people you tell about it the more it feels like a will that person's gonna remember that story just keeps trickling on people who no longer with us have connected so many other people and from different states, but also from the United States to Francis like that the people I stay with were almost British mom was Dutch, but now they take care of a marker where my great uncle died from West Virginia so it's like the stories bring the whole world together and is out of something so horrible, but out of it come something so great as you connect people and keep these memories alive of good sons and daughters make an ultimate sacrifice and disconnects everyone in the world so you must forget me rereading stories of the people and had families and a lot of people forget about families, even serving today that they were serving just alongside their men and women in uniform, so it's it's that's what pulls me in is the stories and keeping them alive because almost like the more stories I keep alive in a museum.

That's one more kinda checkmark for Ralph Goenka job.

No, keep that storyline. Special thanks Robbie for doing that story producing it bring you close and special thanks to Heather McPherson for telling the story is curator of history South Carolina new attorneys telling stories is what she does. Telling stories of those who will a real price that we can enjoy the inheritance we have here in this country and it's an inheritance from we can do anything for so many of us and my goodness, what a story she told about her great uncle and all triggered by those pictures on the top of the piano or those people she thought her curiosity drover she got to know Ralph Ferguson really got to know him, never met him. She really got to know 29th division World War II stormed Omaha Beach, a beautiful story about memory and the power of stories Heather McPherson story were great uncle Ralph Ferguson story here on our American story Medicare coverage decisions for next year and United healthcare can help you feel confident about your choices for those eligible Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7. If you're walking past age 65. You might be able to delay Medicare enrollment. Depending on your employer coverage.

It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be this at UHC Medicare health plan's.com to learn more United healthcare helping people live healthier lives. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop for small business insurance. I need my State Farm agent make sure my business days piping hot and I say cool and confident. The small business owners to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Call your local State Farm agent for quote today doing household chores can Artie be time-consuming and tedious. And there's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done can be overwhelming for anyone. If you want to get those larger laundry loads down right and get back to your life. Try all three clear maggot packs all three clear mega packs are bigger packs with two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular packs of that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry all three clear mega packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and their dental and skin which is great for any families sensitive skin needs my family. We definitely have sensitive skin.

The next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back from summer camp or whatever the situation is. That's because this big pile of dirty clothes is not all three clear maggot packs have your back purchase all three clear mega packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types and we continue with our American stories in our next story comes to us from Sarah Wells, author of American honey field guide to resisting temptation. Let's take a listen I firemen in the frayed edge of suburbia day it was an Auburn Township pretty traditional upbringing with at home mom and the working class dad kind of pull yourself up from the bootstraps type of home life and that was what I expected the teacher to look like I had one degree in mind when I would graduate from college and that was my NRS I had dreams of being a writer teaching, but it was always in the background that what would really happen is I would meet the man of my dreams, and he would live happily ever after and stay home and raise my kids just like my mom had done and so that was the mission that I had coming into high school and into my college career, always keeping in mind my dad my dad was this and is somebody that always looked up to tremendously. I adored my dad and wanted to be with my dad all the time and he was kind of my model for the kind of man that I wanted to marry and so I went through. Like many girls do a boy crazy phase where from. Probably the age of 13 to 21 I had a boyfriend. Every every month long term boyfriend relationship and as soon as that one would and I would write in and find a new one and I really craved love and adoration. My dad was a hard-working dad was always gone early in the morning working late evening and I think that I craved his attention so much that I had kind of a gaping hole of desire from the young teenager all the way through to college.

Eventually I met my now husband Brandon. We met when I was 19 and I was ready to marry him 10 days into dating him. I was certain that he was going to be the one that I was also certain that every previous boyfriend was going to be the one. So actually I amazing information that I met my husband and so we dated for 10 months and got engaged got married four months later and after my has been proposed to me.

I was rifling through his side dresser drawer looking for receipts for the dinner that we had gone on the night that he was engaged as putting together a scrapbook to memorialize our short engagement and I came across a receipt that I thought was the dinner receipt that turned out to be the receipt for my engagement ring, which looks beautiful. It was shiny and I love to look at it.

I loved everyone complemented it is a beautiful ring thing, but it turned out that my ring was, not what I thought it was. It turned out to be on sale at a department store and was far less than what I thought he had spent on my ring and these things are the things that I didn't think it mattered to me. I didn't think that it was a big deal to wear expensive rings. I do not wear expensive jewelry, llamas and dirt under your fingernails type of girl that had mattered and that need to feel worthy and to be invested in as his future bride mattered to me.

It was really hard to get over it and I wanted to just suck it up and go on and just get married that I couldn't do it.

It was too big of a block to our relationship and so I confronted him about it and asked him like he cried and asked him I told him I found the receipt for my ring and obviously he knew immediately that this was a problem why I was used to. Another expectation that I had growing up was that people didn't really say they're sorry they would be defensive, or redirect blame and when I confessed to my husband, my fiancé at the time that I had found this receipt I expected him to be defensive and to make a big deal about it and turn it back on me and when instead he apologized and asked for forgiveness. I was blown away without this man is not exactly who I thought he was in a good way but marriage ended up being a whole lot more work than I expected and then having babies ended up being a lot more work than I expected. It didn't work out just that you got pregnant. It actually turned out that you got pregnant and then didn't get pregnant and miscarried or struggled to get pregnant had two miscarriages before we had our first child, daughter Lydia, then I thought oh well this is it I'm I'm back on track. I'm happily married. My husband has a job and then a stay home with my daughter who is beautiful and tiny and cute and about six weeks into my maternity leave. I felt like half my brain had fallen out of my head. I couldn't put half of the sentence together anymore.

I called my boss and is like I have to come back to work. I don't know who I am.

I'm going to do this and I was 24 at the time and all of this turned into with his early 20s late 20s. A season of thinking that I was one type of person and discovering that I was actually a whole other kind of person I learned that I looked up to my dad not because that was maybe the type of guy wanted to marry, but the kind of person that I was I was a hard-working person I loved to invest all of myself into a team of people or into projects and that kind of thing and my husband ended up being a stay-at-home parent and being the one who was raising our children, which was shocking to everyone involved, including a myself and my husband.

I knew that things at home when I took my full-time job were not great for my husband he wasn't enjoying being a stay-at-home dad nearly as much as he thought he might, but I didn't have a real good picture until one morning we were dancing around each other in the kitchen getting breakfast ready. I was in my pants suit with my travel again.

My phone in my purse and was ready to walk out the door to the job that I loved and that I felt like suddenly I was made for and my husband is in his warm-up pants and an untapped T-shirt in his not shaven for the last however many days he knows their daughter is screaming in the highchair and my infant son is wailing in the rocker and I go to pass my husband on the way out of the kitchen and Craig the kitchen cabinet and turns to me and screams, then you been listening to some wells tell the story of her life and ultimately her family life will find out how veterans and how that works. When we come back. Seller will story or book American honey field guide to resisting temptation. Her story her husband continues. You are an owner can store millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year and United healthcare can help you feel confident about your choices for those eligible Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7. If you're working past age 65. You might be able to delay Medicare enrollment. Depending on your employer coverage. It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be UHC Medicare health.com to learn more United healthcare helping people live healthier lives.

I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop for small business insurance. I need my State Farm agent make sure my business days piping hot and icicle and confident the their small business owners to help you best.

State Farm is in your corner and on like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Call your local State Farm agent for quote today doing household chores can Artie be time-consuming and tedious.

And there's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done that can be overwhelming for anyone. If you want to get those larger laundry loads down right and get back to your life. Try all three clear maggot packs all three clear mega packs are bigger packs with two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack so that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry all three clear mega packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and their dental and skin which is great for any families sensitive skin needs my family. We definitely have sensitive skin. The next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back from summer camp or whatever the situation is.

That's because this big pile of dirty clothes is not all three clear maggot packs have your back purchase all three clear mega packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types and we continue with our American stories and offers several wells from the more American honey field guide to resisting temptation. We last left off. Her husband was expressing some discontent with being a stay at home. Let's pick up we last left off like what felt completely out of the blue and I didn't know what to say because I was so shocked that the life that I felt like we were was it kind of a dream life because I had everything I wanted. I had the husband I had the job I had children. I couldn't see how he can see the beauty of our life. He was struggling to find work.

We found a church community and started to build friendships and that helped. We started to go on dates on a weekly basis to try to stay connected and that way about like he really needed was to find another outlet and work out. Let the stay at home parent thing wasn't working for him. He eventually found work and was and began working as a contractor for ESPN and Fox and started working on the road. Sometimes I would get to go with him and it was heaven we went we went to dinner.

We would go out dancing and sing karaoke and do all these things that we love together and made each other laugh and then we would come home, in reality would sink back in. He would go back on the road by himself and I would go back to work by myself and in the midst of all of that other people became very important to me. My friends became very important to me but also conversations with other people became really important and I was I blindsided by a developing friendship with a friend who was a man and we totally hit it off. I was in a writing community and he shared a lot of the same interests and we just really connected.

He was funny. We started texting a lot and suddenly we were texting a whole lot. And all of a sudden I realize how much I was sharing in my life with this stranger out of the kind of out of the blue and not with my husband one day I had been texting with this person on and off throughout the day.

I felt really uneasy about it and told my husband to hand run over to my friend's house for a little bit and I list telling her about this relationship and she said Sarah have you said good night to and my the color drained out of my face and I realized yes I just wished him good night. Think 15 minutes ago and she's like oh that's a bad sign and she said you need to and and you need to tell your husband and I like talking about big deal. Not a big deal and I told her I think I can do that. She's like well if you don't do that. This will just keep happening where you will find yourself drawn to someone else who is saying all the right things but is the wrong person.

And so I did. I told my husband what was happening and we had kind of a fight about it. He felt bad and then we continued on with our regular life. So after nine years of being married to Brandon. We had three children. We had four miscarriages. We had three dogs we had bought a house together. We had sold the house together. We had refinished a house together. We had invested so much of our selves into our shared life and we had on top of all of that decided to change our diets and suddenly I was feeling and fine and healthy and not pregnant for the first time in nine years myself and this created other attention that I didn't anticipate from other people besides my husband so that one evening event and having a great conversation with my colleague and he was certain to go through a divorce or thinking about getting a divorce and I just felt really bad for him because my marriage was great and I didn't want them to separate and so I found myself having to make a conscious choice whether to destroy my life or preserve my life. I never air quote. I never did anything.

Nothing ever happened.

But the emotional energy in the mental energy of washing my daughter's hair in the tub and only thinking about whether he was going to text me that night or whether he was going this, send me an email that said something inappropriate in it and how would I handle that it came to another head and there was another moment there I was in the car with my colleague and he was started rubbing my back and we were in my driveway. My husband wasn't home. My children were home and it was time for me to get out of the car here is that intersection here is the opportunity either you destroy your relationship with your the rest of your life or get out of the car and I felt this. I heard this voice say Sarah get out of the car now and it was audible obviously but they heard it and I said I have to get out of the start so I swung the door open eyes that good night. Thank you for bringing me home land the door and walked into the house as I watch through the door. The light in his headlights scanned across my wedding picture that was hanging on the wall and I felt this way lift off of me freedom. You are no longer enslaved by this thing you don't have like you don't have to resist this anymore. It's done. It's over. This will never be a thing again and I felt strong and ready to face whatever was going to come next with my husband which ended up being doing a lot of confessing and having a lot of conversations where were standing in the middle the kitchen together holding each other, crying, I'm apologizing like I forgive you for whatever it is that you feel like you need to be forgiven for and that the man that I married and that's the foundation that carried us through into the healing into rebuilding trust and into being able to confide in each other about everything to celebrate our 10th anniversary we headed out of town for one of Brandon's work weekends right before heading out to dinner.

He said I have something for you that I think you should wear to dinner and I felt embarrassed about this because it's been 10 years and I love my wedding ring. It's pretty, I'm over the receipt. It works fine now. You know, and this investment in a real diamond ring in the real engagement ring felt extravagant and so Brandon opened up this case and it was beautiful absolutely beautiful ring and then he said I have something else for you and handed me an envelope and inside was the lyrics to a song that he had started to write for me and I started bawling.

It was so touching to me to have him think about what our marriage meant to him and what our relationship was about it was that far exceeded the price of any engagement ring. The engagement ring ended up being a real bonus course because I have been on my finger all the time that the real gift of having this start of a song that he had composed for me, touched me far deeper than any engagement ring could never have reached an excellent job by Greg on the production on the piece of the storytelling of living in a special thanks to Sarah Wells for sharing her story.

All of us from her story of her boats with temptation and her book is American honey, a field guide to resisting temptation. Go to your local bookstore or River you get your books together and there's the critical moment she says something so important. I was no longer enslaved by this thing and the enslavement was not her marriage marriage. Her freedom, temptation, enslaved Christian motion, but you don't have to be a Christian were experienced this motion. The story of a marriage and what saved Sarah Wells a story for husbands to hear on our American stores.

Millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year and United healthcare can help you feel confident about your choices for those eligible Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7.

If you're working past age 65. You might be able to delay Medicare enrollment.

Depending on your employer coverage. It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be this UHC Medicare health.com to learn more United healthcare helping people live healthier lives would draw most of you may know me from the recap on LA TB.

Now, all podcast life as a gringo, to every Tuesday and Thursday will be talking real and unapologetic about all things like that and culture and everything in between. From someone who's never quite been listens alive as a gringo on the iHeartRadio app or web, you get podcast brought to you by State Farm like a good neighbor, State Farm is there to start. You have a better future for everyone.

Combining the face of humanity, we will unleash all imagination. Everything that can connect will be connected with most critical juncture in human history. Touch and experience to relate this to the impact on MW C Las Vegas October 28-30