본문 바로가기

내가 본 미국

새(birds) 같은 가족관계(家族 關係)

Bruce Lisker, The Untold Story


우리가 바다 속의 물고기나 하늘에 날아 다니는 새라면 오히려 이렇게 자유롭게 살 수 있을 것 같다. 새는 우리가 가지는 지나친 격식을 차리지 않기에 높은 하늘을 한없이 날 수 있고 그런 물고기도 물을 헤엄치며 다닐 수 있지 않을까?

긴 내용의 동영상을 이해 하는데 도움이 될 것 같아서 먼저 이들의 가족관계를 조금 이야기 해본다.
지난번에 "사형제도에 대해 생각해본다"는 글을 올린적이 있는데 그 자료를 보다가 관련이 있는 것 같아서 들어보니 흥미로운 이야기였다. 만약 읽지 않았다면 그 글부터 읽고 이 동영상을 보면 더 좋을 것 같다. 브루스 리스커는 17세에 감옥에 들어어가서 26년간 징역을 살고 나왔는데, 나와서 stepfather(새아버지) 집에 가서 살게 된다. 동영상의 이 남자가 그 stepfather(새아버지)이다. stepfather(새엄마)란 어머니의 새 남편을 말한다. 어머니를 살해한 혐의로 감옥에 갔는데 무슨 stepfather(새아버지)가 있어? 아버지는 브루스 리스커가 징역을 살때 죽었다고 했잖아? 그 이유는 여기 있다. 어머니가 죽자 아버지가 결혼을 했는데 그 어머니가 바로 stepfather(새엄마)이고 아버지가 돌아 가시고 나서 이 stepfather(새엄마)가 결혼한 사람이 바로 이 사람이다. 그래서 이 사람이 stepfather(새아버지)가 되는 것이다. 어머니도 죽고 아버지도 죽고 다 죽었는데 뭐 이런 관계가 이어질까? stepfather(새엄마)와 감옥에 있는 아들과는 어찌보면 아무 관련이 없는 관계처럼 느껴지지만 남편과 아버지를 가운데 두고 맺어진 인연이다. 그 남편이면서 아버지였던 사람은  죽고 그 stepfather(새엄마)가 새로 만난 남자와 이 브루스 리스커와는 무슨 인연이란 말인가?  마치 바다속의 물고기 같지 않은가? 더 기막힌 사연은 이 브루스 리스커는 처음 어머니 아버지가 낳은 자식이 아니라 두 부부에게 입양이 되었다는 사실이다. 진짜 웃기는 이야기지만 웃어서는 안될 것 같다. 우리에게 혼이 있어서 그 혼이 우리를 감싸는 이야기를 한번 들어 보면 좋겠다. 미국인들이 다 이렇게 사는 것은 아니니 오해는 하지 말기 바란다. 나는 소리가 좋은, 즉 듣기 좋은 동영상만 골라서 올린다. 듣고 영어공부도 하고 미국문화도 알고 마음도 조금 훈훈해지길 바란다.

위 동영상 내용


He spent more than two decades behind bars for the murder of his mother. But Bruce Lisker's conviction was overturned and he was released. Hello and welcome, I'm your host Alana Pratt and with me today is Jerry Weinstock. Now he's the stepfather of Bruce Lisker. This man Jerry is the man that Bruce came home to, after 26 years in prison, for a crime he did not commit. And Jerry's here today to share with us, the "joyful redemption". So Jerry, tell me about this "joyful redemption." Joyful redemption is what I call extraordinary events that have unfolded in the past 26 years that all started with a murder. Right. In 1983, Bruce Lisker was a 17 year old teenager and he was convicted of murdering his mother in their Los Angeles home and was sentenced to life in imprisonment.

Now his father Bob Lisker was so tormented by the loss of his wife, the murder of his wife, and the loss of his only son. That this very conservative attorney, ex-marine, Kohanas president, teller of the community, was driven to attempt to contact the spirit of his dead wife to find out who killed her, because he believed Bruce was innocent. Right. And that set the stage for the afterlife communications, his second wife, Joy wrote about, after he died, she talked to him for approximately two years, almost on a daily basis, after he died, and she published it in a book called "Love Ever After, How My Husband, Bob Lisker Became My Spirit Guide." 1:57: Wow.. so that makes sense for Bob and Bruce, and Joy but I still don't know how you fit into the picture. Okay, well, besides, besides, giving Joy spiritual wisdom and helping her rebuild her life, and heal her grief, Bob gave her a twelve step program to find new love in her life. And after six weeks of using it, guess what? She found me! Well it works, you're going to have to teach me then. So we were, we were a match made in heaven, talk about a match made in heaven. Uh. We were gloriously happy. We were so happy we taught twelve steps to finding your soul mate at the learning addicts and elsewhere because we wanted other people to find the love and happiness that we'd found. We talked to Bruce on the phone almost daily from prison. We visited him many times. And after 10 years, Joyce succumb to breast cancer. In 2007, Easter, actually Good Friday. And I was, I was devastated. She was, she was the love of my life. Yes. And in my grief, I didn't know what to do. Yes. I didn't want to live. And.. she began to talk to me. She began to communicate with me, from the afterlife, so she was, she was my spirit guide in the same way Bob had been her's and it was unbelievable but it was happening. And she led me, slowly, on a healing journey, an incredible, extraordinary journey. And ultimately she found someone. Like in, you know in the last scene of the movie, "Ghost"? Where he uses Whoopie Goldberg's body to kiss Demi Moore? Well she found someone, a willing medium, if you will, through whom she literally loved me back to life. Oh my word. It's an extraordinary experience and story, and I had to write about it. And I wrote a memoir, called "JOYride" in my year of grieving joyfully and "How My Late Wife Loved Me Back To Life." And that's not all. A few weeks after I finished "JOYride", the federal judge overturns Bruce Lisker's conviction. And after 26 years, he's released, and he comes home to live with me. 4:30: And, it, it was a great, great, I mean that was something that Bob and Joy had been dreaming about and I had been dreaming about. Yes. And Joy didn't live to see it, but I was there and it was a great honor and privilege to mentor him back to life. What a blessing. I had to show him how to use an ATM, and how to use a credit card. Wow. These things weren't there in the beginning. Sure. And one of the first things we did was go to the Apple store and get an, get an iMac and an iPod because that's what he wanted. And while he was living with me those first few months, I began to see the whole story in a much larger perspective. Bruce's father, driven, by the murder and terrible tragedy of the experience, opened up to some guidance and became a spirit guide for Joy. His, Bruce's stepmother becomes a spirit guide and she was his stepmother and mentor for, 20 years, longer than his actual mother had been. Mmm. This joyful redemption, out of this Lisker family tragedy, this brutal murder, this wrongful conviction, this miscarriage of justice, like the lotus that grows out of the mud. Yes. The beautiful lotus, have emerged two memoirs, not one, but two memoirs.

Mmm. About communication with the afterlife. About life after death. It's a mystery to me. Mmm. But it's extraordinary and I just have to share this with people. 6:00: This is extraordinary but before we end, I want you to tell me the part about the rainbow. Oh right, right. The last time I visited Bruce in prison, the year actually, that he was released, and I didn't know he was going to be released, we were leaving the prison and there had been a thunder storm. And suddenly, this incredible rainbow appeared over the road, near the prison, and there was a tree right in the middle, and we stopped the car, got out and photographed it. It's on the website so people can see it. Mmm. But I took that as a sign that he was going to be released and ultimately, it proved true. So that was sort of the joyful redemption I guess. This, right there! Well, there's clearly a sign. Yeah. That these memoirs and this message needs to be shared with the universe. Yeah. So I, I've very much enjoyed the books myself, very very moved to my core, and also moved by your generosity. What I want all of you to understand is that Jerry has offered the first chapter of Joy's book for free, to all of you. All you need to do is go to theliskerredemption.com and you can download that free chapter right now, because Jerry's committed, that you live your life to the fullest, that like him, you're able to find the love of your life, and if you've lost a loved one, that you are able to heal your grief. So thank you again so much. You're an extraordinary man and a wonderful, beautiful story. Thank you. Thank you a lot for having me. Ah, my pleasure. And thank you for watching.