Jeremiah Toller/The Arizona Republic

Teresa Strasser shares her story at the Arizona Biltmore on Dec. 19, 2018.

KJZZ partners with the Arizona Republic to bring you the Arizona Storytellers series. We record the live events and share them with you on the radio. In Phoenix, the storytellers share stories about our community or the life events that have shaped them. 

Teresa Strasser describes herself as "sort of Jewish." Raised by her single mother, Teresa says her mom is a great gift-giver unlike her immigrant Jewish grandparents who usually forgot about things like birthday presents.

However, Teresa describes her mother’s parenting style as somewhere between slapdash and benign neglect. But Hanukkah was magical. Every year her mom scrambled to buy 16 gifts for Teresa and her brother, so some gifts were utilitarian like pencils, erasers and socks.

Teresa Strasser is an author, a podcast host, and an Emmy award-winning television writer.

The next storytelling event is Wednesday, Dec. 18, at The Arizona Biltmore. To learn more about the Arizona Storytellers project or how to tell your own story, visit storytellersproject.com.

→ Hear More Arizona Storytellers