Franny’s Last Ride by Mike DeStefano

Comedian Mike DeStefano died of a heart attack March 6, 2011. In 2007, he appeared with The Moth storytelling organization to tell the story of his wife, Fran, who was dying in hospice after a drug addiction and affliction with AIDS.

“I don’t wanna be here telling this story,” he says. “But I promised her I would.” Watch the video, where he shares the tale of “Franny’s Last Ride”.

DeStefano also shared the larger story of his life dealing with drug addiction, AIDS, and the loss of his wife through his one-man show Drugs, Disease, and Death: A Comedy, where he opened his heart and drew an audience into his struggles through laughter.

He sums up his life’s story in one joke: “I’m a stand up comic. Before that, I was a drug counselor. Before that, I was a drug addict. Before that? I was 12.”