Episode 4

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Published on:

15th Mar 2025

Forever Wild: The Game Show

Triumph on Sale of the Century: A Family's Turning Point

In this episode of 'Forever Wild,' Megan McGovern and Nora Gibbs share a poignant and captivating story from their chaotic childhood. They recount their mother's surprising and transformative journey on the game show 'Sale of the Century,' which brought a temporary but impactful period of stability and joy to their lives. Through struggles of poverty and constant moving, their mother's determined plan to win big on a game show not only brought them financial relief but also a sense of hope and unity. This episode highlights the highs and lows of their family's unique experience and the temporary peace it brought.

00:00 Introduction to Forever Wild

00:37 Setting the Scene: Moving Across the Country

01:21 Life in Los Angeles: Schools and Celebrities

05:15 Struggles and Survival: Food and Finances

08:20 The Game Show Plan: A Desperate Measure

10:55 Preparing for Sale of the Century

17:55 Winning the Game Show

20:23 Unexpected Changes and Challenges

21:59 The Final Episode and Victory

24:52 Life After the Win

27:46 Reflecting on the Impact

31:44 Conclusion and Farewell

Transcript
Meagan McGovern:

Hi.

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Welcome to Forever Wild, a podcast

about family memory and the

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stories that shape who we become.

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I'm Megan McGovern, and I'm the oldest.

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Nora Gibbs: I'm Nora Gibbs and I'm

the funniest of the McGovern girl

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. And together we're sharing our

journey, growing up with a

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childhood full of chaos, adventure,

and unforgettable moments.

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Meagan McGovern: Every episode,

we will dive into some stories

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and share things that make us

reflect about what family means.

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Nora Gibbs: Thank you for joining us.

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This is forever wild.

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Meagan McGovern: So for this episode,

we kind of ended up last time where my

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mom and all of us, all the four of us,

were moving all over the country and.

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We had moved everywhere and

she had burned our house down.

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And we're gonna talk about a plan of my

mother's to get us outta poverty and or

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at least out of, you know, our immediate

crisis for the moment and how it worked.

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And she had a brilliant plan and it

was something that we didn't think

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was even possible and it worked.

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And I think we're gonna kind of

set the scene for how important

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this was and where we were.

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So Nora, you kind of bring us

up to speed with where we were

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at this point in the story.

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Nora Gibbs: Sure.

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So at this point we had left New

York and we had gone through Texas

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and we were now back in California.

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We were in the Los Angeles area and

we, in the first couple of years that

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we were there, I think in the first

year we were there, we lived in three

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different houses in Los Angeles, one in

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Eagle Rock,

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Meagan McGovern: Woodland Hills.

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Yeah.

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First we started in Woodland Hills,

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Nora Gibbs: so we started in

Woodland Hills and then we moved

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to Eagle Rock, Glendale area.

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Meagan McGovern: Yeah.

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Nora Gibbs: And then we moved to the

valley, the San Fernando Valley, and it

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was in the valley that I think I was in.

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I must've been in second grade by

this point, first or second grade.

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Um, and it was a cool, I mean, it was a

cool area, you know, I loved the valley.

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I loved being a valley girl.

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It was right.

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I mean, it was the mid eighties, right?

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Or early eighties.

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So Valley girls were just

kind of becoming a thing.

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And we lived in the valley, like we lived

in Sepulveda and this was a house while

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this grand plan was about to happen.

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That, um, you know, I went to

his elementary school there.

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Um, it was called Glen Hill Street School.

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And while I went to that school, . Just

to kind of give you guys an exact,

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an example of what kind of people we

were hanging around at the school.

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Um, Robin Lively, Blake Lively's sister,

went to the school where I went to.

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She was in I think fifth grade

and I was in second grade, and I.

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She got a role in night writer.

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She was the girl in the coma, night

writer while I was in the school.

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And it was such a big deal that we had

such a famous girl in our school and

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she used to do like the thriller dance

with her best friend, little playground.

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And it was just, it was just kind of

a fun time to be in the valley, right?

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Like everybody you knew was a model

or going to acting classes and, um,

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Meagan McGovern: but I don't think

people who didn't grow up in LA

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understand how common this was.

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I mean, when I was in sixth

grade, I, I went to school.

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With Tiffany and Francis, who was, uh,

one of the kids on Little House in the

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Prairie, which is really funny because now

on my Facebook page I'm friends with Nelly

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Olson from Little House in the Prairie.

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Right.

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And it, I could have, you know, easily

been friends with her at the same time.

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And I'm also friends with the girl

who played Laura Engles and um,

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just Facebook friends, obviously.

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Yeah.

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I'm Melissa Gilbert.

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She's Melissa Gilbert.

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Oh my God, I didn't know that.

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Well, it's because of the whole, because

because of the whole prairie dress thing.

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I wrote an article, I wrote a whole

post about how we did a Prairies and

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pioneers tour, and we went to visit

Little Laura Les's house and I wrote

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a whole story about how Nelly Olson

had been the villain in all of my,

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um, you know, childhood fantasies

about, about Little House of Prairie.

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And then I ended up being friends with her

on Facebook, which became really funny.

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Yeah.

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Meagan McGovern: But so we, I was

friends with Tiffany and Francis and

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her sister Melissa ended up being

on Little House in Prairie as well.

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And then you were talking the other

day about Jason Bateman living on

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our street, which I didn't know.

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And

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Nora Gibbs: that's the house we moved into

after this house that's on our street.

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Yeah.

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Meagan McGovern: And then in the

background, you know, my dad was still

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an actor and he had been . Roommates

with Warren Beatty and, and starred in a

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bunch of Jack Nicholson or not starred,

he was, had parts in a bunch of movies

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that Jack Nicholson had starred in.

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And now at the time this story starts,

it was clear that this was unsustainable.

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That I was in ninth grade,

I was in high school.

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At this point I, because I'm seven

years ahead of Nora in school.

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'cause she might be the

funniest, but I'm the smartest.

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So even though she was in

second grade, I was in ninth.

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Um.

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and high school.

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I, I couldn't, we couldn't

move every two months.

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We couldn't keep doing that.

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And my mother did to, some, to her credit,

had some sense that this had to stop.

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Right.

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And I mean, when we say there

was no money, there was no money.

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I mean, nor you tell, I mean, what,

what, talk about food for a minute.

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I mean, what were we doing for food?

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Nora Gibbs: Well, I remember vividly like

going to the Catholic church and getting

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boxes of food from the Catholic church.

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They have a food pantry.

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And I remember going to get, and

I will, I will say nothing makes

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a good grilled cheese sandwich,

like government cheese, like

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Meagan McGovern: vel, Vita, the cheap velv vita.

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It's

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Nora Gibbs: like velv vita.

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It's like a giant block of cheese and

you can slice it and you know, whatever.

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Um, but I can remember going to the

Catholic church and getting boxes of food

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and I can remember, you know, relying

on the kindness of strangers for food.

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Um, there were a lot of

food bank type of things.

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Um, I think at some point there

were food stamps involved.

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I don't know if there were, but I,

I remember some type of voucher and

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I don't know where the vouchers came

from, but I remember going to store

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for vouchers and it was a lot of soups.

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It was a lot of stews.

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It was a lot of split pea soup that

would sit on the stove for a days, you

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know, you take the pot and put the pot

in the fridge and then just put the

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pot back out and reheat the whole pot.

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Like it would never go

into a storage container.

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Right.

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It was just a giant pot of food.

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Meagan McGovern: But the thing was

is that my mother never accepted

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the reality that we were poor.

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The, we were, I mean, I think the quote

from The Great Gatsby is, you know,

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we were temporarily inconvenienced

millionaires that this was very temporary.

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The money was going to be coming in

soon, and we just didn't have money

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this week because next week we'd have

money, and then we would, and I don't

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know whether she got checks from her

dad or checks from her sister, or

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checks from, or insurance checks.

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There were always insurance checks coming,

and I don't know where they were from.

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I don't know what she did to get them,

but there were always insurance checks

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coming and we would have, you know, $500

and we would go spend it and we would

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have steak and we would have real food

and we would have soda and we would

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have potato salad and things that, and

then we would go buy clothes and maybe

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she bought clothes on credit cards.

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Maybe the clothes were

stolen, I don't know.

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But we always looked not rich, but we

fit in and we had the clothes to fit in.

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And we had the houses

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Nora Gibbs: and we had houses,

and our houses had pools in the

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yard and they were nice areas.

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And um, you know, it was, if you

didn't know better, it looked

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like a fantastic childhood if

you weren't in the middle of it.

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Meagan McGovern: Right?

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And so, I mean, there were, eating out

was a big deal because it meant we had

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money and, you know, we always had a car.

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There was never a time that I

can remember not having a car.

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And so we lived all four of us in a

house with a pool and three or four

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bedrooms and nice furniture and a car.

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But sometimes we didn't have gas

money for the car and we probably

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never had insurance on the car.

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And it was kind of all sketchy.

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Everything was sketchy.

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But the longer we went this

way, the more things fell apart.

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There's only so many times you can

. Borrow a moving truck and move all your

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old furniture and take it from place to

place and get stuff from garage sales

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and then move again, and you lose half

the stuff and then you move again and

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you lose half the stuff and there's

only so many times you can do this.

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Things were kind of coming to a head

where her family knew that this was

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unsustainable and my mom knew this

was unsustainable, and she kind

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of in one last desperate measure.

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I decided that she was going to go on

a game show and that she was going to

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win the championship on a game show,

win a bunch of money, and there was a

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game show that wasn't actually money.

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It was um, I think it was

a Cadillac worth $50,000.

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Right.

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And she was gonna try to go on the game

show, win the Cadillac, sell it, and.

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Get us some living money.

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And so that was her plan.

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And I mean, Nora, do you remember

when this all started or what

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you thought of it when it began?

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Nora Gibbs: I do remember.

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I remember her being

very excited about it.

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And I remember, you know, it was a trivia

show, so mom was very good at trivia.

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Mom.

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She knew a little bit about everything.

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And it was just enough as, as my

husband likes to say, you know, it was

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just enough to be dangerous, right?

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He knows a little bit about everything.

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So we were very intentional as a family

in helping her prep for the show.

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As far as I remember reading Trivial

Pursuit cards, like we would just

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have the box of cards in the card, and

anywhere we went, we would just, Hey mom,

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what's the capital of, you know, Spain?

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Hey, what's the capital?

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Wherever.

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And, um, we would just read our cards

all the time, trivia cards, and it's,

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I think, honestly where I got my

love with trivia from, and, and this,

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Meagan McGovern: this show was,

it's called Sale of the Century.

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And it was a show that, I mean, back then,

if you stayed home from school, the only

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thing on were game shows and everybody

would know the show the same way.

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You know what Jeopardy is.

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This is something that everybody

watched, everybody knew.

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And if you weren't, you know, obviously

if you didn't stay at home, you

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wouldn't be able to see who was playing.

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And if you weren't a kid, you

wouldn't ever be able to watch it.

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But.

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There were enough people watching

TV during the day, and I guess

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VCRs were starting to be a thing.

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Some people would tape it and

people cared about game shows back

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then, people knew what this was.

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It was kind of a big deal.

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Nora Gibbs: Well, and the thing with

this show, there was a host named Jim

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Perry that they had spokes models.

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And at the time that this show came

out, I don't even know if you know

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this, but one of the spokes models was

in a ZZ top video for the video legs.

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Meagan McGovern: Oh, you're, I know.

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I didn't know that.

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That's funny.

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So

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Nora Gibbs: one of them, the really,

I don't know, she was very sweet.

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She kinda had short hair, like

a cool little, you know, flippy,

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like a short Farrah FSA hair.

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'cause she was great.

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Yeah.

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Um, she was in the video for

legs, so it was really kind of

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cool that we got to meet her.

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And um, but you know, that's

actually when she gets on the show.

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So she was prepping for the show.

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I think there was a lot of anticipation.

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I didn't know . The extent of what it

could potentially mean for our family.

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I just knew it was an exciting time

in our family because something big

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was happening and it was a family

effort to help mom prep for the show.

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Meagan McGovern: And I think at this

point mom was feeling very under the gun.

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This was two or three years

after my father had left.

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She's got four little kids.

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I'm 13 years old.

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I think I'm 14 now.

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I.

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So NO'S eight, not no's.

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Yeah, NO'S eight and things are

falling apart and there's no other

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option here because I, it's hard to

explain why my mother was unemployable.

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I don't know whether it's temperament

or circumstance, but my mother was

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unemployable and my mother was also

heavy, which I know that's not it.

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It kind of defined who she was.

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Whether this is true or not, . She saw

herself as too heavy to get a job and

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too unattractive to ever work anywhere.

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And it doesn't matter whether that was in

her head or not, but it was a reality for

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her that she felt like she, there was no

one who would employ her to do anything.

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And I think that that was

reinforced by the people around her.

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Nora Gibbs: Well, I think you

have to remember also like this.

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In a very short, in a 10 year period, mom

had gone from this beautiful, you know,

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blonde Marilyn Monroe lookalike, like this

five 10 gorgeous big boobs, blonde hair.

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Um, this really attractive woman that,

I mean, people would, she would stop

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people on the streets when they walked

by to a very plain Jane mother of four,

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single mom, heavyset brown hair, ponytail,

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Meagan McGovern: wearing house clothes,

wearing house clothes, no money.

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She made hair.

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She didn't care.

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She did not care about

her appearance at all.

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Yeah.

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But I think that if you said,

what would you do for a job?

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She certainly wasn't go going to go get a

job as a reporter for a fashion magazine.

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Right, right.

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Meagan McGovern: And people

said, well, go be a secretary.

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And she would just laugh.

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Like, in what world?

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In what world would I leave?

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You know, four kids home alone

by themselves unsupervised.

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And I don't know that we

were special needs children.

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But we were not easy, I don't think.

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There were many days where all four

of us were at school and all of us

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behaved and we would all come home on

the bus and go over to school on the

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bus and get ourselves off to school.

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And so, I think even mom was getting to

the point that, okay, enough is enough.

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Right.

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Nora Gibbs: We needed some stability and,

you know, I mean, and for me, and you

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know, I don't wanna get too off course,

but a lot of it was also, you know,

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the friendships were really hard for me

as far as . always being the new kid.

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And I'm really good at like making

friends immediately, but holding onto

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them has always been hard for me.

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Right.

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Like,

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Meagan McGovern: well, yeah, 'cause

they find out you're not as funny.

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They find out you're not as

funny as they say you are

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Nora Gibbs: I know.

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That's no problem.

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It's like when people find me online and

they're like, oh my God, you're so funny.

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And then when they meet me and

I'm like, I'm really not like,

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but sorry.

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So you know, the friendship thing

would always be for me in my mind.

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Well, if it doesn't work out, we're

just gonna move so I don't have

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to invest in these friendships.

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Meagan McGovern: Right, right.

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Well also I think there's a sense

of I'm not going to invest in the

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friendships because it's gonna

be painful when we do leave.

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Nora Gibbs: Right.

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And you don't wanna get invited

to like birthday parties that are

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gonna be in, you know, or trips or

what are you doing for the summer?

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I'm like.

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Well, I don't know what

I'm doing next week.

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Meagan McGovern: No kidding.

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I mean, nobody has any idea.

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Mom.

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Mom and Yeah.

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And what?

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Your mom might steal your wallet if

we do show up at the birthday party.

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All right, so let's get

to the actual game show.

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So, we had helped her prep.

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We had helped her get

into all of the trivia.

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We knew every state capital, we

knew every country's capital.

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We knew a bunch of sports

stuff we didn't wanna know.

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And we went to Sale of the Century and

the setup was that basically you, they

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ask you questions and you get points,

and they called the points dollars.

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So for every question, say you get

$5 to spend, and at the end of the

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game, whoever has the most money wins.

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But during the show, you can use some

of your points to buy small prizes.

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So that's the deal is if you don't

think you're gonna win the game, you

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might as well use the money you've got.

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To get prizes because that's the

only thing you're gonna go home with.

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But if you might win the game,

then you might lose it if you

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spend your money on prizes instead.

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So they tempt you with things

like, I don't know, a fur coat or a

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vacation to Mexico for five bucks.

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And if you're up by $30, then

sure, I'll spend five bucks.

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But then you might still lose 'cause

this is only halfway through the game.

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And we told mom, our strategy

was, do not buy anything.

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We don't need for coats.

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We don't need things to go anywhere.

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We don't want anything.

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Just win the game and we want the money.

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She kind of, yeah, yeah, we want the money

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car.

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Meagan McGovern: We want the car.

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We need you to win.

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And so she went and we, I will be honest

that I thought my mother was brilliant,

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but I also thought this was wacky.

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I thought that you

couldn't win a game show.

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And I also believed that my mother could

come through for us with a lot of stuff,

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but I didn't believe that this was the

kind of thing she could come through with

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because she hadn't come through before and

I did not believe that this could happen.

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And I don't know.

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Nor did you think you were

little, you probably thought,

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of course this is gonna win.

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Nora Gibbs: Well, I mean, I've

always been, you know, pretty

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optimistic about this kind of stuff.

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But I really thought, I don't think

I, again, I don't think I knew

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what it meant for us, so I didn't

really . Don't care if she won.

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I just thought it was really

fun to be involved with.

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Right.

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Like I didn't know what

it meant at that point.

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Right.

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Like of course I'm super competitive,

so of course I wanted her to

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win and beat these other people.

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Right.

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But for me, I didn't know

how much money was involved.

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I didn't know that our livelihood

would change if she want, you know,

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like for me it was just like, let's

have some fun and I really want her

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to win because winning's the best.

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Meagan McGovern: Right.

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So, well, I think, I think they filmed

five episodes in one day, and so . Since

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my mom, I think her first game show,

the first episode she was on was on

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a Wednesday because you know, she had

to wait for somebody else to lose so

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she could get on the next time, or I,

I don't know exactly how they figured

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out which it was, but they told her

to show up for taping and they weren't

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sure which ones she would be on.

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:

Nora Gibbs: And now remember she had

to bring five shirts and we had to

362

:

find five shirts for her to wear.

363

:

Meagan McGovern: Right?

364

:

And that was again, the whole thing

where she didn't have any clothes and she

365

:

couldn't just go to a regular store to buy

clothes and everything was old and ratty.

366

:

So it was a big deal that

she had to go find dresses.

367

:

And so we went and we waited and

we watched Monday's taping and

368

:

Tuesday's taping with other people.

369

:

And we weren't that interested,

but it was kind of fun to watch.

370

:

And we just kept telling her

about strategy, like we knew.

371

:

But she went on Wednesday

show and she won.

372

:

And she won like whatever

it was, $120 or something.

373

:

But by the end of the show.

374

:

And it was super exciting and I think

you had to win a certain amount of money

375

:

to get the Cadillac in the grand prize.

376

:

I think you needed . $500 or

something like that to get the thing.

377

:

And nobody really won more than

a hundred dollars per episode

378

:

'cause every question is worth $5.

379

:

But at the end of the episode, she had

like $105 and she was the champion,

380

:

which meant she was gonna go back

on Thursday's episode and Fridays.

381

:

Nora Gibbs: Well, you could buy things.

382

:

You could buy whatever You could buy

383

:

Meagan McGovern: things

384

:

Nora Gibbs: you could buy.

385

:

They had some prizes that if you had like

300 bucks, you could buy something big.

386

:

It wasn't a car, but it was

probably worth five or 6,000 bucks.

387

:

I think it's important to say that at

some point they gave her, I wanna say

388

:

it was a hundred dollars cash, because

I remember going to dinner that night.

389

:

Meagan McGovern: I think they gave

you the actual money that you want

390

:

to take home because that night,

391

:

after she went on Thursday and on

Wednesday and Thursday and spoiler

392

:

alert, she went on Friday too, which

meant we were done and then we had to

393

:

wait like two weeks for the next taping.

394

:

So, but that night when we

went home, we had like $200.

395

:

Nora Gibbs: Yeah,

396

:

Meagan McGovern: and cash.

397

:

They just gave her the cash that

she had from that day, which

398

:

to them was nothing but to us.

399

:

We had filled up the car on the way

there from our change jar and we

400

:

were out of quarters at that point.

401

:

It was all nickels and dimes and pennies.

402

:

'cause the quarters had

gone a long time ago.

403

:

So we had filled the car up to get

to the game show with like, you know,

404

:

$4 and 73 cents from our change jug.

405

:

And we went home with

$200 and we stopped for.

406

:

I, I think it was Luby's or,

or I don't even know if they

407

:

had Cal Lubes in California.

408

:

I don't remember where we went, but

I know we had ice cream and Morgan

409

:

got a shake and it was a big deal.

410

:

Nora Gibbs: I remember her calling

her sisters and telling them that she

411

:

had won those days and she called 'em

from a payphone in the restaurant.

412

:

I do remember.

413

:

Yes.

414

:

Meagan McGovern: And

she was almost crying.

415

:

She was so excited and she knew that if

she could play two more days, she could

416

:

get, she could win and she could get

the $500 and she could get the Cadillac.

417

:

And

418

:

so I think,

419

:

yes, she cut her hair and decided she

wanted to look better for the next

420

:

two episodes, and I think she, she

was just gonna, because it was over a

421

:

weekend, so she told them, you know,

I think she was just gonna say, I

422

:

got my hair styled over the weekend

or something, or whatever it was.

423

:

But when we went, but somehow over

the next couple of days while we

424

:

were waiting for the next taping.

425

:

I think it was maybe a week, maybe

10 days, they said that they decided

426

:

the game show called my Mom and they

said that the single mother of four

427

:

girls was such a cool thing and they

were so excited about it and they

428

:

couldn't see giving her a Cadillac.

429

:

That that was kind of a weird thing

to give a single mother of four girls

430

:

and they were gonna change the format

of the game show right in the middle.

431

:

So that instead of a Cadillac,

you got $50,000 cash.

432

:

And she would have the choice

to decide whether she wanted

433

:

to go for the money or the car.

434

:

And they wanted to refilm the ending of

the last show she did before she kept

435

:

playing and they said, whatever you do,

don't get a haircut and don't get, don't

436

:

change your appearance 'cause we're gonna

refilm the, the ending of the last one.

437

:

And she had already gotten

haircut for that I remember.

438

:

So she had to go back and refilm it

with like a wig or something that

439

:

looked, they put her in a wig for

440

:

Nora Gibbs: the last couple

of minutes of the show.

441

:

Yeah, I remember that.

442

:

Meagan McGovern: And so we went

back and after two weeks or

443

:

whatever we, that $200 was gone.

444

:

But at this point we

believed this could work.

445

:

And so I'm the oldest and I've

got all four of us who are

446

:

in the audience, and I'm 13.

447

:

And you're, you're 14 and

you're, you know, six or seven.

448

:

I think I was, I guess.

449

:

Meagan McGovern: Yeah.

450

:

And so at this point.

451

:

I'm watching all of you like a hawk,

and I'm making sure that we all

452

:

have snacks and that we all behave

and I'm telling you all to shush

453

:

and we know this is gonna work.

454

:

This is super, super exciting for us.

455

:

And then she won game number four and

she was like $5 short for the cash prize.

456

:

But here's the thing, she could have

walked away with everything she had.

457

:

Now, maybe the money was like

$5,000 or whatever the cash price

458

:

would've been at this point.

459

:

Um.

460

:

But I think at this point, if she

kept playing and she played the next

461

:

day, if she won, she won the $50,000.

462

:

And if she lost, she lost all the prizes

and everything else she already had.

463

:

Nora Gibbs: I remember them

asking her, are you gonna do it?

464

:

And she kept saying, I want the money.

465

:

I want the money.

466

:

Meagan McGovern: Right.

467

:

I think they were offering her ways.

468

:

I think they were offering

her buyouts to not play

469

:

Nora Gibbs: well.

470

:

I will tell you, she did

take a couple buyouts.

471

:

She took a buyout.

472

:

She took, she bought a fur

coat that I know that you had.

473

:

Meagan McGovern: It was a coyote fur coat.

474

:

It was so weird.

475

:

Nora Gibbs: And then I know

that she bought a scooter.

476

:

She bought a moped, and I remember

that because Katie got hit by a

477

:

neighbor on it when we were on rainbow.

478

:

Yeah.

479

:

Meagan McGovern: Katie was like 12

writing the moped all over the place

480

:

and it was a very cool moped and yeah.

481

:

And so she,

482

:

somebody buying those two things,

those were the two things I

483

:

remember her actually buying.

484

:

Meagan McGovern: And so she

was $5 short for the last one.

485

:

And then, so it all came down to this last

episode and whether she was gonna win or

486

:

lose, and I mean, the questions were all

things like, what's the capital of, um.

487

:

I don't know, not Mongolia, but what's

the capital of Yugoslavia, right?

488

:

Or whatever it was at that point.

489

:

And what's the capital of Alabama?

490

:

And she knew all of those.

491

:

Those were easy.

492

:

But some of them would be, you know,

about mystery writers, which she knew.

493

:

And a lot of them were about

celebrities, which she didn't know.

494

:

And there were a couple of times

when we thought somebody else was

495

:

gonna win and they were ahead.

496

:

And I think there was an episode where

somebody else was ahead, but he was

497

:

so far ahead that he bought a trip.

498

:

And he spent $10 and mom won by $5.

499

:

And we were like, ha, ha ha.

500

:

Nora Gibbs: I do remember there was

somebody, and I think it was that

501

:

same guy who kept buzzing in and he

didn't know the answers, but he was

502

:

trying to block mom from winning.

503

:

I think she was, I was so mad.

504

:

Oh my God.

505

:

She was too.

506

:

Meagan McGovern: I was so mad.

507

:

Nora Gibbs: She was so pissed.

508

:

Was

509

:

Meagan McGovern: furious.

510

:

Yeah.

511

:

And so at the end, okay, go ahead.

512

:

Tell it.

513

:

What's the last, what happened?

514

:

Nora Gibbs: She won the money.

515

:

But the question coincidentally was

about somebody who was from Staten

516

:

Island, New York, and it was a friend

of her grand, of her mother's, Joe

517

:

Meagan McGovern: Garla.

518

:

Nora Gibbs: Garla.

519

:

I don't even know.

520

:

He

521

:

Meagan McGovern: was some kind

of, I don't even know who he was.

522

:

He was some kind of sports

player, a baseball player.

523

:

And he was from, he wasn't,

he were from Staten Island.

524

:

It must've been from Staten Island.

525

:

And my mom knew it because she was from

Staten Island and she's her mother.

526

:

And her mother had just died.

527

:

Like six months ago, and she kept

looking for signs for her mother.

528

:

Right.

529

:

And that her mother was talking to her.

530

:

And so the last question on the last

episode was, you know Joe Garla, and

531

:

she took that the rest of her life.

532

:

She said, my mother was with

me that day and my mother knew

533

:

that I needed to win that money.

534

:

And my mother gave me the money from

my girls, and she went $58,000 cash.

535

:

Nora Gibbs: Yeah.

536

:

Meagan McGovern: Which, all

right, get your calculator out.

537

:

What was 58?

538

:

Well, I,

539

:

Nora Gibbs: she also won a, a year

supply of success Rice, um, which we ate.

540

:

It was a boil and bag rice, which we, is

541

:

Meagan McGovern: that, is

that like pre boiled rice?

542

:

Nora Gibbs: Yeah, it's like par boiled

and you put it in a bag in your, um, like

543

:

a pot of water and it sims in the bag,

so then you can just pull the bag out.

544

:

You don't remember this?

545

:

We ate that like every meal for a year.

546

:

Meagan McGovern: I don't remember it.

547

:

I mean, I remember what it looks

like, that it was a weird plastic

548

:

bag that you put it in there, but

I was, I wouldn't have eaten that.

549

:

You guys probably it.

550

:

Nora Gibbs: Well, I love rice.

551

:

I used to eat rice and

butter all the time.

552

:

That was my meal.

553

:

But it was like a yellow box with red,

with white writing, like red background.

554

:

Okay.

555

:

$58,000 in 1984 is the

equivalent of $177,000.

556

:

Meagan McGovern: That's a lot of money.

557

:

And I also

558

:

Nora Gibbs: say at this point in

time, this was the most money that had

559

:

ever been given away on a Gabe show.

560

:

Meagan McGovern: It was, and one of

the things that I was annoyed by then

561

:

was because when, and I don't remember

how it all worked, was I think it took

562

:

her eight days to win the money and, or

maybe, but only five days into it, she

563

:

started, they switched the money around

or whatever it was, so she won $58,000.

564

:

'cause every day that somebody didn't win.

565

:

You added another a

thousand dollars to the pot.

566

:

So since the time they started

to the end, it was eight,

567

:

eight days, or she got 58,000.

568

:

But subsequently, like, you know, the

other people who set it up with the same

569

:

kind of whatever format they had, people

were winning like a hundred, $2,000.

570

:

'cause it had been 52 days

since anybody won the jackpot.

571

:

Right.

572

:

Meagan McGovern: And I was like,

damn, I wish they had, you know,

573

:

that would've been a big deal if

she could have doubled her money.

574

:

But

575

:

Nora Gibbs: yeah.

576

:

Meagan McGovern: You know what, $177,000.

577

:

Yeah, that would be life

changing for anybody.

578

:

Nora Gibbs: Yeah, that's a lot of money.

579

:

Meagan McGovern: It was huge.

580

:

Nora Gibbs: And it was fun.

581

:

I mean, it was a, it was a

fun experience for our family.

582

:

We were, I felt very, you know, it

was a cohesive moment for our family.

583

:

We're all into this, we were all

very close wanting mom to win.

584

:

And you know, I remember when she

won, like, I, I'm gonna get teary,

585

:

teary-eyed about it, but I remember like,

I was so proud of her and I remember

586

:

like walking down the stairs and I

was like, oh my God, I'm gonna fall.

587

:

Um.

588

:

But we all got to run

out on stage with her.

589

:

Yeah.

590

:

And I know there's videos somewhere

out there, so if anybody has an

591

:

idea of how to get this old video,

I've looked all over YouTube.

592

:

I've looked everywhere.

593

:

I can't get it.

594

:

But there is a video of all of

us running out to be with my mom.

595

:

And I remember I, there's a

596

:

Meagan McGovern: ton.

597

:

Yeah, there's a ton of videos

of Sale of the Century.

598

:

It's not, but I haven't been able to

find her as a, as a player anywhere.

599

:

It just doesn't, it is just not online.

600

:

But, um, this was kind of a turning

point for us that . Because my mother

601

:

was so damaged and so I don't know,

because of her background and everything

602

:

else, this was never going to be a happy

ending for her and she was never going

603

:

to be able to completely turn it around.

604

:

But this was where everything

kind of, you know, changed for us

605

:

for at least a couple of years.

606

:

We had money and she bought a house.

607

:

And we bought a house,

and that was a huge deal.

608

:

Now there was still no plan in

place to pay the mortgage payments.

609

:

And there was still not a great

plan for how to keep us in this

610

:

house, but this was, this was it.

611

:

We had peace.

612

:

I mean, for at least I, this was

right at the start of 10th grade for

613

:

me and things didn't fall apart again

until I was a senior in high school.

614

:

Two and a half years.

615

:

We were in a house for

two and a half years.

616

:

That was a big deal at the time.

617

:

Nora Gibbs: Yeah.

618

:

I mean, it was a great

house and it was, um,

619

:

It was a very calm time.

620

:

I feel like I remember, you know,

aunt Maggie coming over to wallpaper,

621

:

the living room or wallpaper,

the front entry of that house.

622

:

Like I, I had a lot of really

good memories of that house.

623

:

My best friend lived next door, Tricia.

624

:

Um.

625

:

You know, and I

626

:

Meagan McGovern: made

friends in high school.

627

:

It was the first time I had had friends.

628

:

I made friends that I, I still have today,

and good friends, wonderful people, and

629

:

they came over to visit and we had food

we could feed them when they came over.

630

:

Yeah.

631

:

And it was fantastic.

632

:

It was.

633

:

And of course the house had a

pool and a hot tub and another

634

:

hot tub and a tree house.

635

:

And it was food and a what?

636

:

Nora Gibbs: A tree house.

637

:

Meagan McGovern: Oh, and a tree

house and pet cages in the backyard.

638

:

I mean, it was, it was a very weird,

funky la house, but it was cool.

639

:

I love

640

:

Nora Gibbs: that house.

641

:

Love that house.

642

:

Meagan McGovern: Um, I think we are

going to wrap up the episode here

643

:

because that was kind of the highlight.

644

:

That was the, the calm and the storm.

645

:

That was when my mother, we believed

in her and she believed in us and we

646

:

thought that we could make this work.

647

:

And, you know, I

648

:

Nora Gibbs: like, I really feel like

that whole time in our life, like

649

:

between when she went on the game show

and we lived on Ramer Street was like

650

:

the epitome of the McGovern girls.

651

:

In, in a good place,

like having a good time.

652

:

We didn't need our dad,

we didn't need men.

653

:

It was the four of us and our mom.

654

:

And we swam and we ate good food and we

had, we went to the beach on the weekends.

655

:

The was seven, you know, and we

had a great life in that house

656

:

and it was really a good time.

657

:

And I think we all felt some peace.

658

:

Meagan McGovern: Great.

659

:

When it, when it, when we finally, you

know, had to pack it up and leave, we

660

:

were . 10, 12, 14, and 16, and I was 16

in LA in the eighties and I went to North

661

:

Hollywood High School and it was fun.

662

:

I had a car we could

drive, places we could go.

663

:

I mean, great friends and good people.

664

:

And we had, I had a real normal

teenage life for a year, a year

665

:

and a half, something like that.

666

:

It was, it was kind of exciting.

667

:

Yeah.

668

:

And you know, I mean, yes, it

all fell apart and got worse.

669

:

But we believed in mom and

this meant everything to her.

670

:

It meant that her sisters

saw her differently.

671

:

Her, her brother saw her differently.

672

:

Her parents, I mean, her mother

was gone at that point, but she

673

:

kept saying, I won this for my mom.

674

:

Right?

675

:

And people believed in her, and I

think her family did kind of believe

676

:

in her again for a little while.

677

:

Nora Gibbs: She was kind of famous in la

I remember, I remember we were at the zoo

678

:

at the LA Zoo, and a woman came up to her.

679

:

Oh, I'm gonna cry again.

680

:

And we were on, oh, I don't know where.

681

:

We were on a bridge

looking at animal below.

682

:

And woman came out there.

683

:

She said, are you Maureen?

684

:

She said, yes.

685

:

She said, I was rooting for you the

whole time on sale of the century.

686

:

I.

687

:

Meagan McGovern: Isn't that funny?

688

:

I think, and that did, it happened a

lot for like the next year, year or two.

689

:

People kept saying, you poor thing

with your four beautiful girls.

690

:

We just wanted you to win.

691

:

And I'm so glad they switched to the

money and that guy was just awful to you.

692

:

I just hated him so much.

693

:

,

Nora Gibbs: I gotta find that video somewhere out there.

694

:

There's that.

695

:

But, all right, I think we wrap up today.

696

:

I think, you know, as we

kind of foreshadowed a little

697

:

bit, you know, it was a.

698

:

It was a great time in our life,

but unfortunately it didn't last.

699

:

And we'll get into what happened and kind

of, you know, set us on the next path,

700

:

the next journey path in our journey,

and next journey, wherever we are.

701

:

Um, leaving LA or

leaving this house in la.

702

:

Meagan McGovern: All right, well,

thanks for listening to Forever Wild.

703

:

Nora Gibbs: As always.

704

:

If you've enjoyed this

episode, let us know.

705

:

Leave us a review, find, make

it on Facebook, or share it with

706

:

someone who loves a good story.

707

:

Meagan McGovern: We would

really like to hear from you.

708

:

We want you to hear your stories,

your questions, your thoughts.

709

:

And you know, we wanna know what

resonates with you so we can talk

710

:

more about what you wanna hear about.

711

:

Nora Gibbs: And if you remember

our mom on sale of the century,

712

:

we'd love to hear about it.

713

:

I think that would be so fun for anybody

who was homesick in the eighties and

714

:

watching this little lady, well, big

Lady of Kids, you know, win the jackpot.

715

:

But that

716

:

Meagan McGovern: would be really cool if

somebody could track down those episodes.

717

:

So, yeah.

718

:

Nora Gibbs: Well, until

next time, stay wild.

719

:

Meagan McGovern: Bye

720

:

Nora Gibbs: bye.

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About the Podcast

Forever Wild
Stories from the McGovern Girls
Forever Wild is a memoir podcast about four sisters, a con artist mother, and a childhood spent on the run. From mafia bars to game shows, mental hospitals to Australia, it’s a story of survival, chaos, and the search for home. Hosted by sisters Meagan McGovern and Nora Gibbs, this deeply personal series blends dark humor, nostalgia, and raw honesty in a journey you won’t forget.

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Meagan McGovern