Caption: Antonio Gonzalez and his mom, Judy Ojeda, at a friend's wedding in 2009., Credit: Courtesy of Antonio Gonzalez.
Image by: Courtesy of Antonio Gonzalez. 
Antonio Gonzalez and his mom, Judy Ojeda, at a friend's wedding in 2009. 

Life without mom

Series: MPR News' Youth Series
From: MPR News Stations
Length: 00:08:51

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Death makes the news. Grief doesn't. When Judy Ojeda, a public health worker, died last October, she left behind a husband and six kids. Her oldest son, 16-year-old Antonio Gonzalez, reports on how his family is doing seven months after the sudden and mysterious death of his mother. Read the full description.

20100527_tony-and-mom_39_small Antonio Gonzalez captures his family's profound grief over the sudden and mysterious death of his mother in October, 2009. Through interviews with his father and some of his five siblings,  an audio diary and music he wrote about his mother, Gonzalez tells his story of surviving profound loss.

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Piece Description

Antonio Gonzalez captures his family's profound grief over the sudden and mysterious death of his mother in October, 2009. Through interviews with his father and some of his five siblings,  an audio diary and music he wrote about his mother, Gonzalez tells his story of surviving profound loss.

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"Life Without Mom" Review

Death is a difficult topic to cover, because stories can become scattered and overly emotional to the point where listeners are either uncomfortable or lost within unexplained references. However, Antonio’s piece was brilliantly constructed. The use of background noises and audio clips added so much to the piece. The house noises at the beginning immediately transported listeners into the story, into the family kitchen. Antonio’s narration throughout is clear and focused. He leads listeners throughout his experiences, using outside audio to enhance the story. Antonio could have easily created a piece of solid narration, but new sounds—like the news report or the rap music or the audio diary—keep the listener engaged. Some of the question and answer clips should be trimmed, just to make the piece a little cleaner. Comments like “is there a pause button on here?” are probably unnecessary! Antonio talks a lot about his music, but never strays too far from the topic of his mother. His explanations of how she influenced him through her life and death are interesting and beautifully narrated. Great piece!

Broadcast History

MPR News, May 27, 2010

Transcript

Stories about people dying are in the news every day. What's not usually in the news is how families cope day after day with their grief, and how differently each person in a family can be affected. Sixteen-year-old Antonio Gonzalez's mother, Judy Ojeda (oh-HAY-dah) died suddenly last October of an undiagnosed and untreated brain infection. She left behind her husband and six children.

Today in MPR's Youth Radio Series, Antonio Gonzalez gives us a portrait of life in his family, seven months after losing his mom:

INCUE: "My mom was the breadwinner..."

DURATION:7'41"

OUTCUE: "For Minnesota Public Radio News, I'm Antonio Gonzalez" + 1:10 music

Antonio Gonzalez is a sophomore at Fridley High School. He lives in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

transcript:

((start over food noises kitchen ambi)

Script: My mom was the breadwinner for our family of 8. There are moments eve...
Read the full transcript

Timing and Cues

7:42 + 1:10 music

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

Stories about people dying are in the news every day. What's not usually in the news is how families cope day after day with their grief, and how differently each person in a family can be affected. Sixteen-year-old Antonio Gonzalez's mother, Judy Ojeda (oh-HAY-dah) died suddenly last October of an undiagnosed and untreated brain infection. She left behind her husband and six children in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

Gonzalez gives us this portrait of life in his family, seven months after losing his mom:

OUTRO:

Antonio Gonzalez is a sophomore at Fridley High School. He lives in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. His story comes to us from Minnesota Public Radio's Youth Radio Series.

Related Website

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/05/27/living-without-mom/