Cheryl Ritenbaugh and Ann Kay
Recorded
January 11, 2021
45:52 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
ddv000447
Description
One Small Step conversation partners Cheryl Ritenbaugh (74) and Ann Kay (68) share their life stories, talk about their relationship with their faith and spirituality, remember their earliest political memories, and discuss what they have learned from their careers.Subject Log / Time Code
CR shares some of her life story, explains that she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which radically changed her life. She also explained how it led her to alternative medicine.
AK shares her life story, saying she had brothers and played the piano. She talks about her parents, who were involved in politics, and also discusses her family life and work as a music teacher.
CR shares her first political memory was shaking Richard Nixon’s hand when he visited Park Forest when he was running for president. She then discusses adjusting to life in the South right after desegregation.
AK says her first political memories are of handing out fliers for candidates as a child. She remembers learning early on that people in privileged positions make the decisions.
AK remembers when her mother ran for office as a Republican in Minneapolis and lost against a male Democrat.
AK remembers when a group of women took her out for breakfast to ask her about her views on abortion, while she was staunchly pro-choice, which eventually led her to leave the Republican party.
CR tells a story about her ex who was a physician who had to work with women who had developed infections as a result of abortion procedures. She talks about how his work changed her mother’s mind on abortion.
CR says that from 198-1992, she was visiting Egypt annually. She explains that she was in conversation with Muslims while there, she learned a lot about Islam. CR also describes a woman she met while in Egypt, who was an energy healer, who gave her her Sufi book to learn Sufism.
AK talks about her own religious path, starting with childhood memories of visiting different churches.
CR and AK talk about the people in their lives who have been kindest to them.
Participants
- Cheryl Ritenbaugh
- Ann Kay