Someone I've Met Has Been in the News This Week

@bagarad (14283)
Paso Robles, California
May 1, 2018 3:02am CST
I can't say I actually know her now, but we are Facebook friends. I did meet her, but when she was fourteen and lived at home. Her mother was my favorite roommate in college. Politically and religiously we rarely agreed but I still felt closer to her than any of my other roommates. The last time I talked to my ex-roommate Kate Talev, she was very proud of her daughter's great start to her career in journalism. I lost touch with Kate a few years after that last visit. My letters weren't answered and I couldn't get through on the phone. Our relationship was growing ever closer as we aged and then the communication just stopped. We lived on opposite coasts. I have probably mentioned Kate before. When we had been out of touch for so long I finally remembered her daughters might be on Facebook and I looked them up. Sure enough. They were there. But the news wasn't good. Kate was in an assisted living center because she had Alzheimer's Disease. She was in Texas by then, close to the younger daughter. I was broken-hearted, and Kate finally died a little over a year ago. While the daughters on Facebook were my only source of information about Kate during the few years preceding her death, I learned more about the daughters and their chosen lives and careers. The older daughter's career is quite public. She's the only one of my roommates that ever had her photo taken with Barack Obama at the White House Christmas party. In one photo he had his arm around both the sisters. She's also the only person I know who has traveled on Air Force One. This elder daughter is often on TV. You may have seen her the last couple of days in countless news replays. She is now an important person in her chosen profession. I wonder what her mom would be saying now if she were still alive? I wonder what she herself is thinking about her part in what's making so much news this week. Is she regretting a certain decision? Or would she make the same decision again? I probably will never know. That may not be on her timeline. But I'll look one of these days. Can you guess who she is? Later edit: If you aren't able to guess because you don't follow USA politics very closely, here's a link to what I'm referring to with the video of this person and what happened to get her in the news.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house-correspondents-association-president-i-regret-that-comedians-speech-is-defining-a-unifying-night
13 people like this
14 responses
• China
1 May 18
How happy your roommate would be ,if she lived to see her daughters get on in life.
3 people like this
• China
2 May 18
@bagarad There were surely some diagreements between two generations and usually it was hard to bring the opposite side around to their point of view.
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
I would really like to know what she would have thought of the media furor her daughter was part of. But I know she loved both daughters very much. She would have been kind even if she hadn't agreed with all they might be doing. Neither would she have been silent if she had an opinion.
3 people like this
@sprite1950 (30461)
• Corsham, England
2 May 18
How sad that Kate became a victim of Alzheimers but I'm sure she would be so proud of her daughters. Facebook, despite its shortcomings, is a great way of finding people we may have lost touch with. I think it's inevitable that we will lose touch with people as we travel our different paths in life.
2 people like this
@sprite1950 (30461)
• Corsham, England
3 May 18
@bagarad Yes I even found people I knew when I was a teenager. It's harder to find women because they often marry and change their name,
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
3 May 18
@sprite1950 Yes. That is a problem. Sometimes If we have mutual friends we can find them on a different friend's profile, as I've often done.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
Yes. Facebook has helped me find many friends I've lost touch with.
2 people like this
@silvermist (19701)
• India
1 May 18
That was really sad the way you lost touch with your friend.Hope you keep in touch with her daughters on Facebook.
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
Unfortunately I've never had a real relationship with either of them. Just one meeting when they were children playing with my children and now Facebook. Aside from their mother, we have little in common.
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
4 May 18
1 person likes this
@silvermist (19701)
• India
3 May 18
@bagarad Well that is unfortunate.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (40052)
• Toccoa, Georgia
1 May 18
I can't guess. Who is she? What news channel is she on and what is her name. I may know who she is. Tell me.
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
She doesn't' have a TV show. Various stations have played a video of her from the White House Correspondents dinner. Someone above guessed in one of the comments above.
2 people like this
@LeaPea2417 (40052)
• Toccoa, Georgia
2 May 18
@bagarad Oh ok.
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
@LeaPea2417 I just edited the post to link to the site that has a video of her and an explanation of the controversy.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502653)
• Italy
1 May 18
I am so sorry for the loss of your roommate. I cannot guess who she is.
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
The daughter is the current president of the White House Correspondents Association.
3 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
@LadyDuck I wouldn't expect people outside the USA to know something like this. I wouldn't know or care myself if I didn't know her. I've been following her career by watching the White House Press Briefings where they occasionally show a show of her asking a question. But she stirred up a hornet's nest with the selection of the entertainer for the evening.
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (502653)
• Italy
2 May 18
@bagarad Thank you, I do not know a lot of US Politics.
2 people like this
@YrNemo (20254)
2 May 18
Margaret Talev?
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
Bingo! Did you just know that or did you use my hints to look it up?
1 person likes this
@peavey (16936)
• United States
1 May 18
I think I need to keep up with the news more; I have no idea of who you are talking about. Alzheimer's is an evil disease and I'm sorry your friend had to go through it.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
So am I. The disease stole my friend as it has stolen loved ones from so many others.
@JudyEv (382337)
• Rockingham, Australia
1 May 18
It is sad when we lose touch of someone who was once close to us but you know the reason now pretty much. I'll read the comments to find out who the journalist is.
2 people like this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
Nemo guessed above.
1 person likes this
@paigea (36143)
• Canada
2 May 18
I am not in US and don't know who this journalist is. I am sorry you lost touch at some point with your friend. It certainly has happened to me as well.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
The hard part was knowing that this brilliant woman lost her memories and relationships and even the ability to read.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
@paigea I am so sorry. I hope you won't inherit it. I wonder if my friend's daughters will share her fate. My friend's father had dementia.
@paigea (36143)
• Canada
2 May 18
@bagarad yes. A lot of that in my family. I almost assume it will happen to me.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (130150)
• Israel
6 May 18
@bagarad Barbara, I am so sorry about the loss of your friend.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
7 May 18
Thank you. I think of her very often.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
7 May 18
@Hannihar Only on Facebook. We have very differing opinions on important things. They live in a totally different world. About the only thing that connects us is Kate. And she is gone.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (130150)
• Israel
7 May 18
@bagarad Are you in touch with her daughter or daughters?
1 person likes this
@aureliah (24687)
• Kenya
2 May 18
Its heartbreaking when you lose a friend. Its good that the lady has made it in her career and generally in life
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
She may have just broken her career. I just edited the post to link to the site that has a video of her and an explanation of the controversy.
1 person likes this
@aureliah (24687)
• Kenya
3 May 18
@bagarad Okay thanks for sharing
1 person likes this
@porwest (112864)
• United States
2 May 18
Hmm. I have no idea.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
3 May 18
The answer is in the edited version of my post. I put the link to the website with the video there.
1 person likes this
@mlgen1037 (29882)
• Manila, Philippines
1 May 18
Hi Barbara. I have no idea and I am not up to date with the current events.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
If her mom hadn't been a close friend, I would never had known who she was, either. But now anyone following politics in this country watching television probably would recognize her, even if they didn't remember her name.
1 person likes this
@mlgen1037 (29882)
• Manila, Philippines
2 May 18
@bagarad Yes, thats right. I am sorry about your friend. I think I better look about the daughter so I can understand.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
2 May 18
@mlgen1037 I just edited the post to link to the site that has a video of her and an explanation of the controversy.
1 person likes this
@arunima25 (93194)
• Bangalore, India
1 May 18
Sorry for your personal loss!! Even the girls must be missing their mom. Though I can not guess the name, Wish them both all the best in their journey
1 person likes this