Nellie Ralat and Teresa Wicks

[00:03] TERESA WICKS: My name is Teresa I am 68, but will be turning 69 in a few days. Today's date is August 30 of 2024. I'm in Billings, Montana, and I'm here with my one small step partner, Nellie.

[00:25] NELLIEE RALAT: Hi, my name is Nellie, and I'm 76 years old, just a little bit older than you. Today's date is 830 24. And I'm in Waverley Hall, Georgia, and I'm here with my one small step partner, Teresa.

[00:50] TERESA WICKS: Okay, well, I'm going to read Nellie's bio for both of us. I am the oldest of my birth family. Grew up in two foster homes, two unsuccessful marriages, fulfilling work in the medical field. Went back to school a couple of times to advance myself in my career. Always loved college, always loved school. Went to college for the fun of it. Still enjoy learning. Raised a Catholic, but I'm not a churchgoer. My religious beliefs guide me, but I don't push my beliefs onto others. Never had children, but helped raise a stepson during my second marriage. Enjoy talking politics and religion.

[01:42] NELLIEE RALAT: This is Teresa's bio. I'm newly retired after 47 years career nursing, so we have medical field in common. I'm married 44 years old and have two grown children. We are about to have our first grandchild in the fall. I was raised by a single mom, but ended up in the foster care system. I'm concerned about keeping our way of life in my state, having clean air and water, and keeping myself active and healthy. Do you mind answer this one now? Yeah.

[02:20] TERESA WICKS: If you guys want to ask each.

[02:21] NELLIEE RALAT: Other that question, that'd be great.

[02:24] TERESA WICKS: Okay, well, Nellie I'll ask you. Why did you want to participate in the one small step program?

[02:31] NELLIEE RALAT: Well, I've always enjoyed meeting new people, hearing other people's opinions about things. Just, I've always been fascinated about, you know, discovering new ideas, and I enjoy meeting people. And that's about it, I guess.

[02:55] TERESA WICKS: Okay, well, the reason I wanted to participate, I had a few reasons. Some of I think we share is partially as a nurse, I've spent my whole life listening to people's stories, hearing all sorts of viewpoints. I hear the Storycorps program every Friday on our local NPR, and I love listening to those stories. In fact, I've loved storytelling since I was a child. Like you. I love talking about politics and hearing how people arrive at their views. And I guess, finally, you know, Montana, I feel like we've been always considered, you know, kind of this unknown, frontier place. And then since COVID we became the place everybody wanted to go to. So it's like, yay. People know about us now.

[03:50] NELLIEE RALAT: So I want to.

[03:51] TERESA WICKS: People, do you have any questions that I can answer for you about my bio?

[04:05] NELLIEE RALAT: Well, I don't know if this would be too personal, but since we have it in common, you were in the foster care system at one point, and how did that come about?

[04:20] TERESA WICKS: You know, I have to tell you, when I read your bio, I got really excited, and I. Maybe you can relate to this, but you're the only person I've ever talked to who also was in that system. So what happened for me was my mom was single in the 1950s and had me. She was mentally ill her whole life and ended up in our state mental health institution, which was not a good experience, to be honest. For my mom or her family. That was really considered, you know, numerous things. Very shameful. Single mom, she'd been divorced. She had me out of wedlock. And so, really, when all this happened, everybody kind of washed their hands. They didn't want to be involved with me or my mom. And so, yeah, that's how I ended up there. I lived in a total of, let's see, 1234 foster homes and then a children's facility for about a year. So, yeah, that was my experience.

[05:39] NELLIEE RALAT: Wow, that makes me very emotional.

[05:50] TERESA WICKS: Yeah.

[05:53] NELLIEE RALAT: For you.

[05:57] TERESA WICKS: Well, I will say that for me, I was very blessed in my life in that I. I always wanted to be a nurse. I knew when I was seven years old I wanted to be a nurse. Now I'll get emotional because I just retired, and that career has brought me blessings beyond. I couldn't list them all. I am very protective of my profession. I feel incredibly honored. I met my husband on a blind date, and we ended up staying together all these years. But I think, for me, I am a real passionate about education. And, in fact, one of my end of life plans is that I want to leave money to establish an education scholarship for other foster children who want to enter the nursing profession. And that's really important to me to be able to do that, because I truly believe that changed the whole trajectory of my life.

[07:11] NELLIEE RALAT: I feel like we're kindred spirits, because part of my will is going to be that some of the money is going to. I was taken in by the catholic charities.

[07:23] TERESA WICKS: Okay.

[07:24] NELLIEE RALAT: And I feel like I wanted to give. Pay them back. You know, they took care of me, you know, my whole life through the foster homes. I wanted to give their money back, but it had to be to go to foster care division.

[07:43] TERESA WICKS: Yep. I think if you were probably sadly, a growing population, but at least in Montana and in the county I live in. But I think it's so important. I just cannot speak to the value of that education. And actually, the last 2020 years of my career, I went back to school. I got a master's degree in nursing, and I taught in the nursing program for our university. And that's a. It's very near and dear to my heart. So we call ourselves Bobcat nurses, and I still call myself that, even though I'm not a faculty anymore. But I. Yeah. And part of that for me, too, was 15 years ago, I received a diagnosis of breast cancer. That also was a big change in my life trajectory. But I never want to say cancer is a gift. It really is not. But for me, the experience really brought a lot of good things in my life that I don't think I had realized were there before.

[09:06] NELLIEE RALAT: Well, your prognosis is good now, right?

[09:09] TERESA WICKS: It's. It's good. I just said celebrated 15 years in May. In fact, about five years ago, my oncologist kicked me out the door, which was bittersweet. I really liked my doctor, but I was happy to hear that I didn't need to be there anymore.

[09:26] NELLIEE RALAT: Well, that's wonderful. That's one thing that we've seen over our careers in the medical fields. That used to be a death sentence when we started our careers. And now it's like you do. Well, like you. You're cured, really. And for most people, even with other cancers, it's almost like a maintenance. You keep on it and you fix it. You know, something else might crop up, and you get on with that. It's. It's. It's not the death sentence. It was. It was. It's more of a maintenance thing now for a lot of people.

[10:10] TERESA WICKS: You're exactly right.

[10:11] NELLIEE RALAT: We've seen a lot of changes, and good ones.

[10:14] TERESA WICKS: You're exactly right. So, Nellie, I just wanted to ask, what. What did you do in the medical profession? What was your. Your role?

[10:24] NELLIEE RALAT: Well, I started out as an x ray technician, and I did that until I was in my forties. And then I went into ultrasound. Ah, yeah, I went to school twice in ultrasound. Once I went for the normal ultrasound, abdomen, ob and all that. And then I went back to school for another year for. To do hearts, and I went. Then I specialized in hearts and blood vessels.

[10:52] TERESA WICKS: Okay.

[10:54] NELLIEE RALAT: And I loved ultrasound. I loved it. Load. In fact, I worked until I was 70.

[11:00] TERESA WICKS: Okay.

[11:01] NELLIEE RALAT: I just loved my job, and it was so much a part of me I couldn't. So much part of my identity. I couldn't. I didn't want to give that up. And then circumstances, I had a bad accident, which is why I don't. I didn't want to do the photo video of my face. And then I kind of was. I had a retire. I felt like I had to retire because my disfigurement would be too distracting to patients. It would make me feel uncomfortable every time I met a new patient. So I just got out of the field. But, you know, I'm not working anymore. I mean, five years and I'm happy. I mean, I was afraid to let go of my identity that I knew, you know, what I perceived as my identity. And I'm fine. I do keep very occupied. I do play sculpture and I do oil painting and I'm busy and I'm happy and I have my friends and life's good.

[12:20] TERESA WICKS: You know, as you're speaking, I can relate because I was going to retire at 65 and then Covid happened. And as we all know, nurses were greatly needed. We accelerated our education program to get more nurses ready to go. But it was hard to give it up. But I had to remember it was years ago. I was actually shopping at an Eddie Bauer store and they gave me a paper shopping bag. And on the outside of the bag it said, never confuse having a job with having a life. And I had to remind myself of that in the last year or two and finally made the decision to retire. So. And my husband has developed some health problems too. So I understand.

[13:09] NELLIEE RALAT: Now you've been successfully married and that's, that's wonderful. I actually liked being married, but my choices were not that good. So, you know, that's the way it rolls, you know, and.

[13:26] TERESA WICKS: Yeah, yeah, well, and I gotta say, you know, and I've actually told my spouse this too, is being married. You know, it's hard work. It's pretty easy in the beginning, but I told my kids this hard work and some days it's a decision. It's not necessarily feeling so, but it looks like they popped some more questions up for us. So I'm going to ask you who's been the most influential person in your life and what did they teach you?

[13:58] NELLIEE RALAT: Okay. The most influential person in my life was my 7th grade teacher. I went to catholic school all the way through high school. My 7th grade teacher was sister Mary Pauline McDermott. And she was the one that got me out of a bad foster home. And we kept in contact with each other until she just passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 94. And I'm getting emotional again.

[14:36] TERESA WICKS: It's okay.

[14:39] NELLIEE RALAT: She is. I used to call her my guardian angel, because that's what she was. She. If she had not gotten me out of that foster home, I probably would have been a victim of molestation by the father, you know, because I was. Anyway. But, um. And then, you know, I'll tell you something funny. This is really funny. My first marriage, she sent away to the Vatican for papal blessing from the pope. Okay? And. And it took me nine and a half years to get a divorce because I kept saying, I can't get a divorce. I got a paper blessing from the pope. And what I was scared about, too, was her saying anything. You know, I'm thinking, oh, my God, what am I going to say? This is to her, Pauline, you know, and I told her, and she said, oh, that's all right, Nellie. She said, my sister got divorced. And she was. What I loved about her is she was never, never, never judgmental. All she gave was unconditional love. And she was the only person in my life that did that.

[16:00] TERESA WICKS: Well, that was a real gift, wasn't it?

[16:06] NELLIEE RALAT: Yes. Yes, it was.

[16:11] TERESA WICKS: Well, like you, I was raised Lutheran, so, you know, we always joke. We're kind of one step down from being catholic, but I worked a nurse for many years who was raised in a very catholic environment, so I always. Yeah, I learned a lot about Catholicism from her experience, similar to yours growing up in catholic school. But like you, I would say, for me, the teacher, it was a teacher, and it was my fourth grade teacher. Her name was Miss Barber. I'm sure she's long gone, because she seemed very old to me then. Probably is not, but she was the one. I remember I was really struggling in math, and I thought I was dumb. And it wasn't just that she brought. She stayed after school with me every day to go over math, but she truly seemed interested in me as a person. And she, I think, as I look back, really made me believe that I wasn't just this poor child with no value, but that I could do great things with my life. And I just will never forget that. And I hope she knows somewhere how much difference that made for me. And I think from there, it's been other teachers throughout my life that really helped me along the way.

[17:48] NELLIEE RALAT: That's what makes all the difference in the world. Someone who believes in you.

[17:52] TERESA WICKS: Yep. And I think, for me, it influenced even my decision, you know, clear through my own nursing program. I had fantastic faculty. And at pivotal points in my college years, as the saying goes, they really threw a bone my way. And in the years that I taught nursing, I really tried to do that with a lot of my students, especially those, you know, the ones that would show up and say, I've always had straight A's. It's like, great. That's wonderful. But, you know, it was sometimes those underdogs that got into the program that I really loved working with. I loved all my students, but I had a special place in my heart.

[18:37] NELLIEE RALAT: For certain students, understandably so.

[18:41] TERESA WICKS: Yeah. Well, let's see. It looks like we got another question. So I'm going to ask you, what do you believe has influenced your personal political beliefs the most? And it said that is a person, an event, religion, or something else?

[19:04] NELLIEE RALAT: I try to differentiate. In politics. What's most important to me is the character of a person. The character of person dictates how they treat the world, how they treat, you know, everybody, the citizens, you know, whoever they're representing. You know, if you don't have integrity and honesty, you're, you know, you're not going to be a good representative of the people. Nowadays. Maybe not just nowadays with all the elections and all the politicians, no matter who they are trying to vie for to please everybody, and they tend to please nobody. And you don't know how much is real truth, but you can sometimes tell by their prior history to try to differentiate. You know, nobody's perfect. People have said one thing and then switched their view to another, whether that was general or genuine because of growth changes as we all change opinions in our lives, or is that just a political ploy for the moment? You know, it's hard to differentiate a lot of things, but you can look, if they've been in politics over the years, you can look up their overall trend and what they've done, their mistakes as well as their successes, and still get some kind of idea of the person. Although it's hard.

[21:09] TERESA WICKS: Yeah, I would think. I think for me, a lot of it is, again, my background, how I was raised, what I specifically remember is, and you're old enough, too, I can say that when we were in foster care, it was before there was good healthcare for low income folks. So I was sick a lot. I had all the childhood diseases I can remember when I still lived with my mom, there was times I went hungry. I remember one time food stamps didn't exist. There weren't good programs. We got a welfare check of $150 a month. And I remember one time my supper, she had a can of creamed corn, and she opened it up. And that was our supper. She had to shoplift to have enough money to feed me. So, you know, that really shaped me. And I also grew up in an environment, you know, that first twelve years, there was a lot of, I guess I would call it bigotry. And I don't think I realized at the time as a young child how that was affecting my thought processes. But it looks like our next question is, what does patriotism mean to you?

[22:49] NELLIEE RALAT: Patriotism is the love and respect of your country with that is not glossed over by, how do I put it? The gloss of perfection. Because our country is not perfect, but that doesn't mean that we can't help make it better and that it doesn't have any worth. The United States of America is a wonderful country, and so are peoples. And patriotism is loving your country and wanting to look at it without rose colored glasses, but still loving it. Maybe that's how the best way to put it.

[23:50] TERESA WICKS: And I would say for me, patriotism is respect. Respect for our country, for our traditions, but also for other people. And as you know, being willing to hear other points of view and as we see in the effect of social media, that hasn't. I don't think it's been good. But we have another question. Have political discussions or arguments strained any of your relationship with friends, family or coworkers?

[24:30] NELLIEE RALAT: Unfortunately, yes, there have been some people. I live in a very. I'm a Democrat. I consider myself a moderate Democrat. I see things Democrats do wrong, you know. You know, but I also feel, you know, and the so, so is true of the other party. I live in a very republican district. I'm like a token Democrat.

[25:03] TERESA WICKS: Okay.

[25:05] NELLIEE RALAT: And some of my friends, we argued. You know, some people have moved away from me because, you know, I'm a libtard, which I don't really believe I am. And. But then my other friend, my close neighbors, I mean, there's my one friend, Ron, on Facebook. We're at each other's throats, and I shouldn't say that. He keeps. He says on Facebook, Nellie, you're just so. You're a really small person. How can you be so stupid to. Da da da da da da da da da. Yeah. And, you know, I'll remind him. Ron, you know, I don't attack you personally. You know, please don't do that. And. But we will disagree heartily. But then at the same time, Ron, can you come over and help me with something? Oh, sure, Nellie. I love you, Nellie. You know, he comes over, we chat. We, you know, we're good friends. But, man, when you start talking politics, you know, we just don't agree. And we agree to disagree. And it's just when he's on Facebook, he gets so much more adamant about it, let me put it that way. But so I have friends like that and there's some neighbors that we don't discuss. Guess politics. They just don't want to discuss. And I said, okay, fine. You know, yeah, I have lost some people because of our differences, because, you know, I'm lip tar and, you know, I feel like, well, you know, whatever, you know, if that's how you feel, there's nothing I can do about it and it's your loss. Didn't that sound conceited?

[27:07] TERESA WICKS: But anyway, no, I say we need to value ourselves as women and who we are. And I guess what you're saying, I also live in a very similar situation, very red state turning red. It used to be purple. Very conservative. You know, I would say I have tended to avoid discussions. I don't really talk to people who I also consider myself Democrat. We don't really have many discussions. All our friends tend to agree with each other. And I really would like to see sometime sit down and ask someone who feels the opposite of me, but I don't want to be berated. I don't want to have them try to convince me why I'm wrong. And I guess that's why I avoid it. But I see we have another question. So I want to get through them all because I think they're important. Are there any issues that motivate you to engage? So what's extremely important to you? Why and how did you come to those beliefs?

[28:29] NELLIEE RALAT: What I get frustrated about is, and this is where I get into trouble. I can't understand. All right, we'll talk about, talk about the abortion issue. I was born and raised Catholic. I would never have an abortion. I have a problem with it. But at the same time, I also feel like I don't dictate my beliefs to somebody else and I'm not in their shoes. And what I get angry about is the people that are so adamantly against abortion. I've told my neighbors this. I said, fine, if you're going to tell everybody that they cannot have an abortion, I don't have a problem with that. If you want to pay for it, raise your taxes so you can support all these kids that you're going to make, have these women have because they're not going to take care of those kids. And that's what kills me. If you're going to force your belief on somebody, then put up or shut up. Sorry.

[29:42] TERESA WICKS: No. I think you and I are 100% on the same page. My area of specialization in nursing has been ob and women's health. So I worked for years. I've taken care of patients that found out their baby is no longer alive. Their baby has a lethal genetic mutation. I took care of a twelve year old that was a victim of incest and pregnant. Any of those situations, and I agree with you, and I know it sounds kind of counterintuitive, maybe. Am I glad my mother didn't abort me? Yes. But as you and I both know, I didn't have a normal growing up. I didn't have a lot of things that kids get in their life, not just monetary, but that support system. I have no idea who my father was. So, yeah, it's influenced me profoundly that parenting should be a choice and it needs to be supported better than it is. So I'm very in favor of bringing back the child tax cut credit. For one thing. I want to see families succeed.

[30:59] NELLIEE RALAT: The other thing is that bugs me about this whole abortion issue. It was, you know, the Congress and people who are anti abortion, and I can respect the idea of anti abortion, but they always put the burden on the women. How bad? Every man has a reversible vasectomy so they don't impregnate women, and then we don't have a problem with abortions, but they never touch the men.

[31:28] TERESA WICKS: Yeah, I would agree with you. We're. We're like, we're like sisters from across the country, I think.

[31:36] NELLIEE RALAT: Exactly. I'm just, you know, I'm kind of. I'm really happily, pleasantly surprised. But it seems like we have so many similarities. It's just kind of freaky. I mean, both of the false cast system, we've all felt that the rejection of not fitting in or being, you know, labeled and, you know, you weren't good enough because of your mother and you and you and all this, all the things that society puts on us. And the thing is, you know, everyone keeps talking about, we're such a christian nation, but God loved Jesus, loved everybody. So where the hell is that? Yeah.

[32:34] TERESA WICKS: Well, I see we've got our wrap up question. So was there anything you were hoping got discussed in today's conversation?

[32:46] NELLIEE RALAT: I didn't really have any anticipations or checklist of what I wanted to discuss or not. I just kind of go with the flow and, you know, it's about it. But I will say one thing, you just have such a, you're such a pretty lady, just a beautiful smile, and it's been a pleasure.

[33:12] TERESA WICKS: Well, thank you. And honestly, for me, I think it was meeting someone from so far away, from the other side of the country and finding we have some commonality. And our last question, it looks like we get 1 minute. Is there a ready for wrap up? No, no. You're at 30 minutes.

[33:33] NELLIEE RALAT: I usually just post that question just so y'all have time to discuss if anyone had anything in their mind on.

[33:40] TERESA WICKS: Their mind that they wanted to talk about.

[33:42] NELLIEE RALAT: But you guys still have, like, 17 more minutes.

[33:46] TERESA WICKS: Okay. I was thinking we were running short.

[33:48] NELLIEE RALAT: Good.

[33:54] TERESA WICKS: Well, so anyway, I think for me it was, you know, all I know about Georgia is what I hear on the news, and I try to listen to a wide variety of news. I will say we don't have cable tv. I don't watch Fox News, you know, but I like to listen to, you know, maybe the national network. We watch PBS, NPR. I try to read a lot of things. But, you know, despite that, it's like I sometimes wonder, especially, you know, probably the southeast, where I haven't traveled as much. It's like, well, is everybody that way? Do they all think that way? And so for me, it's, it's, it's good to hear that that's not true, and I know that logically, but it's great to have those conversations.

[34:46] NELLIEE RALAT: Well, I'll tell you about Georgia. I love Georgia. I mean, I was born and raised in New York City, okay. Moved to Florida and was there like, 25 years. And then my second husband was from Columbus, Georgia, so we wanted to get out of the hurricanes every year, worried about all that. So we moved to. I love it. And then when my second husband and I got divorced, I stayed here, you know, because I loved it. And the one thing south did teach me, which I'm very grateful for, being a little bit more gentle. Like New Yorkers can be very caustic, and they'll just tell you exactly what they think. And you can do that, but you can do that gently and with more kindness. And that's one thing the south did teach me. And I have this, I have this lady friend, Daisy. I call her the typical gentle southern lady. Just wonderful. Just absolutely wonderful. And you'd be surprised. There's a lot of Republicans around me. Like I told you, I'm kind of tokens, you know, Democrat in the area, but there's a lot of Democrats here. We just don't voice as much because we're over, overpowered by the Republicans. You know, we kind of like closet some of the closet Democrats. You don't know, they just keep their mouth shut because when their friends start talking, you know, this rabid rat republican mantra, we just shut up and just move away, you know, because it's, you know, and. Go ahead.

[36:37] TERESA WICKS: I'm sorry, no, I'm interrupting you. I'm going to let you finish.

[36:41] NELLIEE RALAT: Okay. And so, um, there's more of us. More even. There's more even moderate Republicans and Democrats in Georgia, they keep the balance. It's like, I'll tell my republican friends, you know, last November, in the last election, I voted to have the Republican kemp back, governor again. And I voted for Warnock I says, and so I don't vote just Democrat. But they're always surprised when I say that. I said, because, you know, you try and look at the person like I said and what they've done and, you know, if that's what you try and do, it's not just the party. Take it all the way.

[37:36] TERESA WICKS: It's interesting living in Montana, as I said, we're a very purple state, or we were until the last election, and everything has really shifted to the right, to very, I'm just going to say it. Everybody comes out and says they support Trump. And so our congressman, who I really admire, one of them, the Democrat, is, you know, in a tough election. But what's interesting is I know more about Georgia politics over the last few years than I ever knew before because of all the national attention.

[38:18] NELLIEE RALAT: Yes.

[38:19] TERESA WICKS: And I think what's hard for me is the attitude in Montana was always live and let live. You know, we don't bother you, we'll help you. You know, I mean, we're a very rural state, you know, like you described. If you need something, we'll come over and help you. You know, if you're stuck in the blizzard, we'll come shovel you out. And I've really seen that attitude changing and the polarization, and that makes me, that makes me feel sad.

[38:49] NELLIEE RALAT: Yes, I agree. But it's, the media's, whether you want to call it mainstream media or the cable shows have gotten so they've gotten polarized and they've, it's almost like they, they control us if we allow it. You know, even my friends, you know, I hear them say stuff I said, you quote, you, you quote that straight from somebody else, you're not even thinking on your own.

[39:22] TERESA WICKS: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I would say a lot of social media.

[39:30] NELLIEE RALAT: You know, what it is, what it is, and no, I just hope things work out. I like Harris teams mantra. They had it on Facebook, you know, mind your own business, you know, live and let live, you know, I like that.

[39:54] TERESA WICKS: Yeah, that was really, interestingly, in Montana, along the way, it's asking, is there a historic event that occurred in your lifetime that changed the way you view Americans? So I just want to say for me, I remember in 1973 when abortion was legalized, and of course, we all know what happened, you know, with the Dobbs decision. But now that that's on the ballot in Montana. Montana, actually, we rewrote our constitution in 1972. It's a very strong constitution. It protects individual rights. And so as a result of that, I don't know if you heard about it, there was a case that went before the Supreme Court about the climate, because it's guaranteed to have a healthy environment in Montana. And now we're about to, in our November election, it's on the ballot to codify the right to reproductive freedom in Montana. So, you know, for me, that's been an event. And then it's, you know, our last question and I'll wrap up. What are your hopes for future, both personally and politically? I hope we get to a point of 50% of our government leaders are women because I think we'd be better off, not because we're women, but because I think we view the world more holistically and we can collaborate a little better. Sorry. To the men out there.

[41:34] NELLIEE RALAT: Oh, I greek complete with you. With you. You know, it's like, it's like I always said, you know, I hate wars and all that. I wish that if the leaders of these wars, like the presidents or somebody in, like the president of one country who wanted to get war, let the two leaders kill each other. What? You know, and that would. Then there'd be no more wars because they wouldn't want to do it. Instead, they let all the citizens die for their cause.

[42:08] TERESA WICKS: Well, it's always the women and children who take the brunt of it. I don't care if it's Vietnam, if it's Gaza, if it's Ukraine, it's. That's the vulnerable population. And I guess I speak to that from my experience as a. As a nurse, as a mother, as just someone who pays attention to what's going on in the world. So I guess that's my hope, is we get more women leaders and maybe we can right the ship and hopefully dial back some of the rhetoric and the polarization and become a nation that supports each other again instead of fighting each other.

[42:54] NELLIEE RALAT: And I agree with you. And I hope this happens all over the world, just not here. I mean, women have, and the thing is the places where women have become empowered, they economically DoN well, so if you wanted to look at a very in economical, I guess, agenda, women help place, help things grow when they're able to grow.

[43:28] TERESA WICKS: I see we have our closing question. It's what is something you will take from this experience? And I'm going to answer really fast because I know what my answer is, and it's I have a newfound friend in Georgia named Nellie and I'm so happy to have met and had this chance to talk and share our lives. Today.

[43:51] NELLIEE RALAT: Again, I'm going to do that. I found a soulmate of I think so.

[43:57] TERESA WICKS: I agree, Nellie.

[44:00] NELLIEE RALAT: It's been wonderful, absolutely wonderful. And if we had another hour to talk, I would have no problem with that either.

[44:07] TERESA WICKS: I agree. And I just want to say thank you for making time to chat with me today. I had a busy few days and I was happy they called me, I was on the road yesterday and said, would you do this? And I'm so glad I said yes.

[44:26] NELLIEE RALAT: I'm glad you did, too. It's been a pleasure, an absolute pleasure.