Emory and Catherine

00:02 My name is imari. I am 18 years old. Today is November 26th. I'm speaking with my mother, Catherine who is my mother, and we are in our house in Birmingham, Alabama.

00:24 My name is Katherine Brooks I am 53 years old. Today is, as Emory said, November 26th. I'm speaking with my son, Emory and we are recording at our house in Vestavia.

00:45 All right, so can you tell me your happiest memory growing up?

00:53 Gosh, Emery, I have had a lot of happy memories growing up. Maybe instead of my most happy, I'll just share with you a happy memory. I remember when I was in kindergarten and we got our dog Ruff Ruff. We were really excited about getting a new dog because our other dog had died, got hit by a car, and so we just couldn't wait to get a new dog. And I remember we got her, and my parents let me name her, and I named her Ruff Ruff. And she was a black cockapoo. And I was so happy to have a dog again. And I do remember that pretty well.

01:41 All right. Thank you. Do you have any regrets from your childhood?

01:47 Oh.

01:48 Or your biggest regret?

01:50 Regrets from my childhood. Oh. There was a girl. I remember. Gosh, I can't even remember her name. And I remember she made me mad. And we were in sixth grade, and I decided that I just wasn't going to talk to her anymore. And this went on for so long that at some point, it dawned on me we weren't even friends anymore. And I regret that I was not being very forgiving over something really small.

02:23 All right. Thank you. So did you have a nickname growing up that people called you?

02:31 My family, mostly just my family called me Kate.

02:35 Kate? Why?

02:37 My dad came up with that. Kate's a pretty standard nickname for Katherine. And that's what my dad called me, and so my mom called me that, too.

02:46 All right.

02:46 And now my husband calls me that.

02:51 All right. Are there any funny stories about your family that come to mind?

02:57 One time, my dad was making chicken, and my sister and I were eating it, and the chicken was so incredibly hot, we were having trouble eating it because it was just burning our mouths. And we wanted to eat it so badly because we were hungry. And my dad said, this chicken really holds in heat. And my sister and I nodded in agreement. And about 15 seconds later, he very seriously said, you know, I wonder if you could figure out how to insulate a house with a chicken? And my sister and I nodded our heads yes. And at the same time, the three of us realized that was the Most absurd statement somebody could make to insulate a house with a chicken. And we all laughed so hard for, like, 10 solid minutes. We couldn't stop laughing. It was absolutely hysterical because it was such a ridiculous thing to say. And right when he said it to be nice, we were all in agreement. But at some point, we realized it was complete lunacy, the idea of insulating a house with a chicken.

04:12 So what was one of the worst things you ever did as a kid?

04:17 Um, well, one time when I was in third grade, it was second or third grade, I can't remember which. My friend Kim and I were eating lunch with our friend Terry in the cafeteria, and something happened to Terry's fingernail, and she had to go to the school nurse. And when she went away, my friend Kim and I decided we were going to eat her Tater Tots, which doesn't seem like a terrible thing, except that she came back with only a minute or two to eat her lunch. And when she did, her lunch was all gone because we had eaten it, and we felt terrible, and we both got in trouble for it.

05:04 Yes, I remember that story. How would you have described your sister when you were growing up?

05:13 Oh, my sister was very smart. She was always reading a book. She enjoyed spending time alone, and she enjoyed writing. She always had a little notebook with her, and she would make note of what things were going on around her. She was a really good student, and she liked to enter contests and things like that. So she was very, very studious.

05:42 What is your worst childhood memory?

05:47 Oh, gosh. Well, I actually hate to say because it's a real downer, Emory but I remember when my mother told me my parents were going to get divorced, that made me really, really sad. I was very sad and very tearful and just very unhappy about the whole experience. So that's probably my worst childhood memory.

06:09 All right. What was your favorite job you had growing up?

06:15 Well, actually, I was on something called the Teen Board, and we would model clothes for fashion shows. But when we weren't modeling clothes, we had the opportunity to wrap Christmas presents, and they would pay us to do it. And I loved wrapping Christmas presents. I still love wrapping Christmas presents. And so when they would hire us to wrap Christmas presents, I was very, very good at it, and I did a really good job, and I could wrap presents all day long. I just loved it so much. And they had all the supplies to make it really easy. I just thought it was great.

06:53 All right, what's the first item that you can remember really saving up for?

07:00 Well, this is a really silly item. But I do remember when I was pretty young, I was in, like, third grade, I had seen this koala bear that was covered in rabbit's fur at a store called the World Bazaar. And I remember the cost of that stuffed animal was $14. And I asked my mother if she would buy it for me and she said, nope, you'll have to save up your money for it. And so I did all kinds of odd jobs around the house and I saved up the money and I bought the koala bear. I was very pleased with myself.

07:34 Alright, what about sort of the, I guess, teenager experience would you say has changed the most from when you were a teenager in the 80s to cell phones?

07:52 You know, I had every friend's phone number memorized because that's how we communicated with each other, was on a landline. But now kids text and kids, well, they don't even call each other on the cell phone, they just text on the cell phone. So kids communicate really differently. But the truth is, it's a lot easier. And one of the upsides to that is if Emory is out, I can text him or call him and get in touch with him very easily. Whereas before, my parents might not know where I was. And now I can look on my life360 and see where Emory is at all times, even though he doesn't like that.

08:35 Well, all right, thank you. So now I'm going to go back and you repeat the questions to me.

08:44 Oh, okay. Can you tell me about one of your happiest memories?

08:52 My happiest memory as a child is probably. I remember I got tickets to see the Glenn Miller Orchestra at the bjcc. And I remember we were going into the auditorium and we were walking down the aisle together. And I kept on thinking, you know, we're gonna turn into our seat pretty soon. But we just kept on walking closer and closer to the stage and we were really in like the second row in front of the audience. And it was. Or not audience in front of the performers. And it was. It was kind of amazing just how close we were. And it was. It was just a great gift and a great memory with you.

09:44 Do you have any regrets?

09:47 Um, regrets? Maybe my one regret is that I feel like I should have. This might sound kind of harsh, but kind of wish I had dropped band sooner in high school than done it junior year because I guess band just wasn't where I felt like I belonged because I was enjoying choir so much that I kind of wish I had gotten involved with more choir instead of just having done band another year, which was really an activity that ultimately, I guess I just. I didn't enjoy very much and did not like doing.

10:35 All right. Do you have a nickname? And if so, can you tell me a story about how you got it?

10:41 Well, my nickname more among my friends than my family, but my family uses it sometimes too, as Emog. And I got the name Emog from when I was very little. I was subscribed to Lego magazine, and for some reason, every new issue that they sent to us, they would send us two copies of. And on the back of one of the issues it would say Emery Brooks but on the back of the other one it would say Emog Brooks And so it just kind of stuck. So now my family and my friends will call me Emog every now and again, and it's very funny and I'm happy it's my nickname.

11:29 Are there any funny stories your family tells about you that come to mind?

11:37 I very vividly remember the story of. It was one Sunday evening, me and my brothers and my dad were cleaning out the garage. And I was pretty little, and I didn't really like doing that sort of stuff, so I guess it was to kind of get out of working. I would make up little songs and sing them for them instead of doing actual work and helping clean out the garage. So I would just kind of provide the entertainment, I guess, and my dad especially still laughs about it.

12:14 Do you remember any of the songs? No.

12:16 They were funny.

12:18 What was one of the worst things you ever did as a kid?

12:23 I remember when I was little, I. My hair was really growing out and my. I kept on asking you if I could go get a cut, and I'm sure you were busy, so you, you know, were putting it off, I guess not putting it off, but, you know, you just couldn't find a time to do it. And eventually I had enough of it, so I got a pair of scissors and I cut my own hair. And obviously it looked very bad.

13:04 And what was the story you told me?

13:06 Of course, I'm getting to that.

13:07 Oh, sorry.

13:08 I remember I tried to, you know, hide it from you because I was embarrassed and looked awful. And I remember we were at Nothing but Noodles, and before you realized how awful it looked, and I don't know why I thought you would believe this, but I said that I had a pair of scissors and I was walking down the stairs and I tripped and I cut my own hair with the scissors. And that's how it happened. It did look terrible. It did. And I Guess I was just afraid that you'd be mad at me, so I made up that ridiculous story so I wouldn't have to with it. That's very funny.

13:56 Tell me about your brothers. How would you describe them?

14:00 Well, they're both pretty smart people. I guess I see them as a little snooty. A little bit. They're both very. I think they're both sophisticated people, but they can be a bit. They think highly of themselves, I think, which isn't a bad thing, but they really like movies. You can always talk about them with that. And, you know, they're really my best friends in the world, but they. They remind me a lot of Niles and Frasier from the show Frasier sometimes. But I guess that's not a bad thing because they're pretty funny and they're smart. And they're smart. Yes.

15:01 Can you tell me one of your happiest childhood memories and one of your worst childhood memories?

15:09 Well, I guess I told you the happiest one about the Glenn Miller, but I guess another happy one was last year, my performance in Mamma Mia. It was a very happy time because everyone was laughing and I guess it just sort of felt like a perfect wrap up to my junior year. And I was happy it happened. One of my worst memories. Um. Huh. It's a hard question. Um. I guess when I found out that Z. Daddy had passed away. I remember it was. I was lying in bed and you. You woke me up and I was like, you know, half asleep still, and you told me, and I just kind of. I don't know, I was so tired. I just kind of laid in bed and, like, I was half asleep, so I wasn't really thinking straight, but, like, I knew something was wrong, obviously, and it was just. It was a sad day.

16:23 Yeah, it was sad. I think those are all the questions, Emery.

16:30 Well, there's a few more that I sort of, you know, like the.

16:33 Okay, I'm sorry, are there. I see that now. Are there any childhood friends you want to tell me about?

16:39 Um. I guess I was telling you about it this weekend. I was. I was thinking about how besides family, the two people I've probably spent the most time with, probably Finn and Henry Blankenship and just kind of.

16:59 Boy Scouts.

17:00 Yeah, Boy Scouts.

17:01 Neighborhood play.

17:02 Neighborhood. Just trips we've taken together.

17:06 Yeah.

17:07 I've spent a lot of time with them and they'll. I'll always remember them. Yeah.

17:18 So what. What is the first job you ever had?

17:22 First job I ever had. The job I still have is I work at Brewster's. Had the job for about. Which is an ice cream place. I've had the job for about over.

17:37 Two and a half years.

17:37 Yeah. Two and a half years. Yeah. And I really enjoyed the job. Honestly, I kind of think of it as just another, like, extracurricular activity I do in a way, because, well, I'm friends with most of the people there. That's how I've definitely found some friends in my school career. And it's just, you know, it's not that hard of a job. So it's kind of fun. Yeah, it's fun. It's not like I'm cooking.

18:10 Well, you also have a lot of friends that come by and see you, right?

18:12 A lot of friends come by and see me. And, you know, it's easy. I never burn myself or anything. So.

18:21 Not too demanding.

18:22 Yeah, it's not a very demanding job.

18:24 And of the money that you have saved and earned while you were there, what is something that you have spent money on that you remember?

18:35 Um, I guess I don't feel like I spend that much money.

18:41 But you bought things.

18:42 Yeah, I remember. I had worked there for about half a year, I believe, at this point. And I remember I. I had, you know, more money than I'd ever had before, and I didn't really know what to do with it. And Christmas was coming around, and so I had to buy gifts. And my brother Henry, he. We're all very big fans of the show Seinfeld, and I saw a Lego Seinfeld set, and I just felt like, you know, we're all such big fans of the show. I feel like it would be. I guess I just thought it would be a very thoughtful gift. And it was, you know, $80 about. Which is, you know, more than I would normally spend on something like that. But I guess I just felt like he would enjoy it so much probably, that I feel like it would be worth it. And so I decided to get it for him, and I'm really happy that I did.

19:50 And he did like it a lot. And he did what some. Can you think of anything else you spend your money on?

19:58 Um, fast food. Yeah, I buy a lot of Milos.

20:04 Some spending money here and there for little things like movies with friends, stuff like that.

20:08 Right, right. But nothing big. Yeah, I mostly just save it.

20:11 Yeah, you are a good saver.

20:14 Yeah. Well, I guess that's about the end of our questions, so. Thank you so much for doing this with me, Mom.

20:22 You're welcome.

20:22 My pleasure. I'm glad you could carve out a little time, so thank you. Sure.