Falling in Love at 81 - THE MOTH

When someone disappears from your life... you just don't know when they'll show up again. Cynthia Riggs shares her incredible love story at The Moth Main Stage Event on February 15, 2013 in New York City. The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling.
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[@richl9268]

I'm from Boston and I remember being at work at Walgreens and reading about this story in the newspaper during my downtime at the register. Made me happy in a terrible job. I love this.

[@MrPdxLover]

Beautiful woman, beautiful story. What a great lesson to let down our protective shell, and to step through to the side that loves stands on !

[@wanful50]

Thanks for the upload, it gives us hope that we are never too old to find love. Age 81 is still hopeful. Never to old.

[@kathycooper7496]

My Late husband was 81 when he and I met and I was 50. He and I fell in love, married, had a wonderful life, then he died of colon cancer and I still miss him.

[@traceysouth1047]

Kathy, that is touching. My condolences. My husband of 31 years died 6 months ago. He was ten years older than me. I am extremely surprised that in the past 6 months I have found a meaningful friendship with a wonderful man. It may always remain as it is now but I am really grateful and shocked to know that while my love for my husband & sadness for the loss will never end, it is possible for new beginnings. Maybe you & others will wonder why I shared this. I just want to share the possibilities. Trust me I never expected or even wanted to be with anyone else. But I realize that is not healthy & my husband would want me to be happy. This much I do know.

[@Mrs.TJTaylor]

Tracey South It’s perfectly healthy to not want to have a partner! Many, many many widowed women choose to not remarry and WE ARE HAPPY. Loved my husband to pieces. Don’t want to do it again.

[@sandraromero3336]

What a nice story. Thanks for sharing, Cynthia!

[@annmccorkle1862]

I AM YOUR NEIGHBOR ON CAPE COD. I MET A HIGH SCHOOL MATE 50 YEARS AFTER. WE HAVE A WONDERFUL RELATIONSHIP.. 80 IS A GOOD #

[@shazbot7120]

This is edited to the point of becoming meaningless, which is a shame--this seems like a pretty cool story, if it hadn't been made into mincemeat.

[@MsShellectable]

Seriously. The editors did her story a huge disservice by chopping it to bits.

[@terrymott2816]

Just beautiful. Love the back and forth as she comments about public speaking, interspersed with the stage. A good storyteller leaves some details out - catching your attention, and engaging your imagination!

[@harriet10001]

I want to be her!! Love at 81 is amazing thank you for sharing this

[@adriideangelis888]

Beautiful story! ❤ That is very well told! She's very sweet and smart. ❣

[@iolanisjourney4828]

Love this story! She is a great storyteller.

[@olivier.gagnon]

Thanks! That's interesting. I guess that wasn't made very clear by thinkr. It's just weird to me that half the video is a story and the other half an interview but edited together in a weird broken up way. I would have rather they had shown the whole story and then the interview or only the interview with a link to the whole story. Maybe that's just personal though.

[@mgichndz]

Great story!

[@syedtahar97]

Beautiful !

[@joebazooks]

What a wonderful story

[@halibut1249]

It seems to end without saying what if anything happened. Did you talk, spend time, date, fall in love??

[@reggieazem4143]

haha aww she has a cute chuckle

[@slugsmudge]

Which clever thnkr decided to edit her story like a reality TV show? It's The Moth FFS, the point is to focus on someone telling a story!

[@erangasubasinghe8052]

Wow❤

[@BxCortez2050]

Im thinking of doing my stories..this is making me more comfortable ..i tell stories to friends but on stage seems numbing

[@TheDeanParks]

Love was the theme of the night.

[@callahanwelsh]

THNKR is terrible for making the cuts to insert the interview portion of the video. Viewer's just want to hear the story, not hear the interview during the story. It breaks up the moment of us watching the video. Poor editing on THNKR's part.

[@ivynamnam3288]

sooooo cute !

[@creme2824]

I will wait for you, DLW & FLW

[@MsPenny1962]

TO CHOPPED UP TO ENJOY THE STORY... YOU HAVE TO FILL IN THE BLANKS..

[@Moonblue54]

Oh, how sweet and beautiful! :-)

[@redbell16]

well thnkr is interviewing the speaker after the speaker performs on "the moth" stage. they're two separate organizations. the moth holds these storytelling performance and you can listen to them from their free podcast on itunes or from their website too.

[@margaretmears406]

I want to hear more!!! Sweet lady

[@michelleaw1325]

Ditto..👍

[@sud60]

Mother Teresa is a saint-our family was closely associated with her.God Almighty bless you Dr.Lombardi.

[@olivier.gagnon]

I think this video is interesting but I find that the interview sections break up the rhythm of the storytelling in a way that doesn't help getting into the story. She's a lovely woman who speaks very well though!

[@PennyPriddy1]

Full version is here: themoth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/120813_CynthiaRiggs_Martha.mp3

[@shnglbot]

Link is broken, here's the new/correct link: themoth.org/stories/the-case-of-the-curious-codes

[@joebazooks]

Who said he was her father's age?

[@lindamon5101]

Martha's Vineyard, my first nude beach, Gayhead Beach,1983 funniest thing i ever saw was a big circle of guys playing hackey sac...buck naked!

[@vegashainning8071]

I just heard this story on The Moth Hour NPR. THE INTERVIEWS/INTERJECTS totally TAKE away from the mood and vibe of the actual story. What a shame😔

[@Jado155]

Seriously, man, enough with the onions.

[@aripink2556]

That emcee doe

[@jeancamacho3399]

union hall.. 1199

[@jeancamacho3399]

(

[@asherael]

I love this story, but you RUINED it. If you must tell the story of telling the story, TELL IT AFTER.

[@caroledrury1411]

If he was her father's age and she was 81????

[@warmaxxx]

why

[@InvalidUsername1323]

RIGGS!!!

[@kurosukichuu860]

Dawww O u q b

[@AndrewVelonis]

Bogus! Tell the freakin' story, I don't give a tinker's damn about the behind-the-scenes happenings at The Moth.

[@zyxvwu]

Lovely woman, but this editing was horrible and a disservice to her story.