Zack Robidas
Today we are checking in with one of our favorite past guests, actor Zack Robidas. It's been a year since his beautiful wife Marni passed away from breast cancer. Zack and Marni were on this show together during the pandemic talking about her diagnosis and the challenges they faced head-on during treatment. So on the anniversary of her death, we wanted to see how Zack was doing, and ask him to share some thoughts on the changing nature of grief and loss, and the glimmers of hope and healing he's found all around him.
If you'd like to listen to the original episode with Zack and Marni, it's called A Big Love Story and was released on 3/24/21.
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In this episode:
Meeting Marnie for the first time.
Welcoming Coda to the world.
Reflecting on Marnie’s diagnosis during the COVID pandemic.
Cherishing and celebrating the little moments.
Personal and toddler grief.
Listening to and advocating for your body.
LINKS & RESOURCES:
Instagram: @zactoryrobotdance
Facebook: Zack Robidas
Twitter: @ZackRobidas
Podcast: The Pod Spotter
Charity: Marnie’s Army
Wise Words:
At the march at her memorial, read her mission statement that she wrote in college. We had to write a mission statement for The Business of Us as actors and Marnie’s whole first page was "I just wanna make people happy”.
“I just wanna make people happy. I want to make them feel at ease when they're around me.” And it was all she cared about. If you were talking to her, you were the only person in the room. It was undoubtedly her special talent, her special skill, her special ability. She made you feel like you were the only person on Earth.
That little moment that comes when something beautiful would happen. Like Coda would walk for the first time or she would say Dad for the first time.
And this little thing would happen where you'd share in the bliss of the moment, but then also the fear of the moment of, oh God,I don't know how much of this I'll be here for. I don't know how much of this she'll be here for. You never vocalized it, but it was there.
It was there for both of us. And what we really talked about doing and actively tried to do, was to hack that moment and to trick our brains in a way and say, when that thing creeps in, as opposed to letting it subtract from the moment, let it highlight the moment and let it tell you this is something, this is beautiful.
It's happening? This is a day to remember.
Doggedly pursue answers when something isn't right with your body. Because people will give you the easy answer or not the easy answer, just the most common answer because that's what statistics say. And you just have to listen to that little voice because no one gives a shit about you except you. You give the most shits about you. So listen to yourself and get your screenings.