Ken Morganstern, Priya Morganstern, and Bhavani Jaroff

Ken Morganstern, Priya Morganstern, and Bhavani Jaroff

Interview transcript

Ms. PRIYA MORGENSTERN: I’m Priya Morgenstern.

Mr. KEN MORGENSTERN: Excuse me. Can you raise the volume?

Ms. MORGANSTERN: I can raise my volume.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Yes, louder. Yeah.

Ms. MORGANSTERN: Okay, let me turn the dial. I’m going to be interviewing my father today, and I’ll be interviewing him with my sister, Bhavani.

Ms. MORGANSTERN: Dad, why don’t you say your name and how old you are?

Mr. MORGANSTERN: I’m Ken Morgenstern. I’m – I think 81.

Ms. MORGANSTERN: That’s right.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Is that right?

Ms. MORGANSTERN: Yes.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Okay.

Ms. JAROFF: All right, dad, I’m going to ask you a bunch of questions.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: All right.

Ms. JAROFF: And you’ll answer them the best you can from your memory. You came out here to New York and then somehow you met mom.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: I’m met her in New York?

Ms. JAROFF: Yup. You did.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Don’t remember how, when. Mom would have remembered.

Ms. JAROFF: She would have remembered, yeah.

Ms. MORGANSTERN: Our mom passed away about four and a half years ago. Do you recall dating her?

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Oh yeah. I remember dating her. She was a sexy gal.

Ms. JAROFF: She was. Let’s talk about your kids a little bit.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: We had four kids. Is that the right number?

Ms. MORGANSTERN: Yes, it is.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Good. They were great.

Ms. JAROFF: Who are they?

Mr. MORGANSTERN: You, who else?

Ms. JAROFF: Priya, Bhavani…

Ms. JAROFF: Priya, Bhavani, and there’s a man in there.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. JAROFF: David, Dad.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: David, yeah.

Ms. JAROFF: David is not going to be too happy with you when he listens to this, Dad?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. JAROFF: Who was the best kid?

Mr. MORGANSTERN: David.

Ms. JAROFF: He was actually the best kid. No, he definitely was.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: He was.

Ms. MORGANSTERN: And you see us all a lot still, right, Dad? Dad?

Mr. MORGANSTERN: What?

Ms. JAROFF: Priya was asking if you still see us a lot?

Mr. MORGANSTERN: See you a lot?

Ms. JAROFF: Yeah. Are we in your life?

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Sure. What are you talking about?

Ms. JAROFF: We’re just asking you a question. You know, what’s your life like now, Dad?

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Oh, it’s a wonderful life. I get up in the morning. Go to sleep at night. And in between – three meals.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. MORGANSTERN: What’s wrong with that?

Ms. MORGANSTERN: It’s a nice thing that is so easy to make you happy, Dad.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: I’m very much like I think my father.

Ms. MORGANSTERN: Mm-hmm.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: He was an easygoing guy. People used to call him Happy Harry. And I had a lot of his characteristics, I think.

Ms. MORGANSTERN: Dad, was there anything that you wish you had gotten in life that you didn’t get?

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Anything that I wish I have gotten in life?

Ms. MORGANSTERN: Yeah.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: I’m sitting here thinking I have no regrets on anything. The important thing is I have a family that I love. And they’re loving people. That’s the biggest thing that you leave as a…

Ms. JAROFF: Legacy.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Legacy, yeah.

Ms. JAROFF: I want to tell you, Dad, that I’ve always considered you my guru and teacher.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Well, thank you.

Ms. MORGANSTERN: I would say the same.

Ms. JAROFF: You’ve been a role model for all of your family. People are constantly saying to us how lucky you are to have all of us, and I turn to them and say we are because of him. You’ve created such love around you and we want to be with you.

Mr. MORGANSTERN: Thank you, honey. That’s awfully nice to hear.

Ms. JAROFF: It’s the truth.

Ms. MORGANSTERN: I love you, Dad.