February 27, 2026 • 13 mins
Before Helen Keller changed the world, someone saw her when others didn’t. This Shop Talk is a reminder that how normal people like us can quietly unlock extraordinary potential.
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Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Everybody is Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Welcome to the shop.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Hi, Alex, Hey, we're actually in your office today and
not the shop.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
We're in the shop. This is the shop. Quit it's
a virtual shop.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I want of her employees took our normal room of
such a shirt. But he's kind of been here a
long time.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I hadn't asked you about the kids lately.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I actually haven't asked you about the wedding. That's what
we need to talk about.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Well, first, as your kids. The wedding was.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Well, Molly decided since being like she's like number thirty
of thirty friends to get married, that everybody's kind of
done every conceivable kind of wedding. And really, at some
point you've been to so many weddings with all these
girls at this marrying age that you don't really go
to the weddings because you want to. You go from
(00:55):
a sense of obligation, and she's like, Dad, I want
people to you know, I want.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
To have to go to a wedding. And so we
had it in Las Vegas and it was.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Crazy interesting from the photos I saw.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, it was nuts.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I mean you had a pretty crazy jacket.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Well, she told us to. It was black tie, but
not standard black tie. Like what, that's what I mean?
She goes, I want everybody in tuxas, but I don't
want everybody in normal black.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Tuxes, so everybody gets something different.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So there were people there with blue light blue seventies ruffles,
and she asked me to wear something on Vegas glitz.
So I bought her Vegas Glitz stucks and I looked like,
you know, the piano guy some some cheesy bar.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Barely Max livestream the wedding on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah, I already did that. He's such a jackle. Did
you watch it?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
No?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
But I saw them.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Well, she was married by Elvis, had Showgirls leader down
the aisle and her cat was in a wedding dress
and Elvis held the cat.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
It was but it was hilarious. So anyway, Molly's married.
She is now Molly Z.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yeah, and I love Tracy, so it's Tracy Erasmond is awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
So uh yeah, it was. It was a good time cool.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Just for point of order, Tracy and Molly did do
the premier of Counseling with a with a Christian Counselors. No,
they did all of the background things that Lisa and
I would want them to do as a serious married couple.
Put in God in the center of their marriage, just
(02:42):
to say that. But the marriage itself was absolutely insane,
and the reception had a contortionist, some roller skaters.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I saw the video on that roller skater being like
thrown in the air in a circle.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, it was crazy. So it was a lot of fun.
It was really good.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Okay, So what happens when you see the person everyone
else ignores?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Love the title?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
So it's Shop Talk number ninety three, and I think
Alex Haley and then Alex Haley, Charles Haley. There was
a defensive end for the San Francisco forty nine ers
that was incredible.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
It was number ninety three.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Maybe it was Charles, Alex Haley wrote roots it's Charles Haley.
I think it's a defensive end for the forty nine
ers that always thought it was really good.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
But maybe I'm wrong about that.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I'm not really seeing much on here besides Metaworld piece
or number ninety three in the Kings.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
The World Peace, all right?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
What happens when you see the person everyone else ignores?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
For Shop Talk number ninety three?
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Right after these brief messages from our general sponsor. All Right, everybody,
welcome back to shop Shop Shop talking number ninety three.
(04:12):
Struggling there. Yeah, this is from Army member Terry Smith. Terry,
thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Who made my day yesterday with this note that she
wrote there.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Okay, well here it is. I love the show. I've
listened to every episode, is what Terry says.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
That it made my day because that's a lot of episodes.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That's a lot of episodes.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
So Terry, thank you so much for being such a
loyal listener, but also thank you for sharing this story
with us.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Oh my goodness. Tewksbury Almhouse, Massachusetts, close enough, eighteen eighty.
It was not built as a school. It was built
as a holding place. The poor, the ill, the elderly,
the men, disabled, and unwanted were housed together with little distinction.
(05:05):
Overcrowding was common, disease spread easily, Mortality rates, especially when children,
were very high. Among those sent there was a fourteen
year old girl who had already lost almost everything. Her
name was Anne Sullivan. She was five when trachoma damaged
her sight, eight when her mother died, ten when her
(05:29):
father abandoned the children. She and her younger brother, Jimmy,
were sent to Tewkesbury because there was just nowhere else
to go. Jimmy, her brother, died within months of the arrival.
You know, that's enough for a ten year old to
have handled. Alex Anne was left alone, nearly blind, uneducated,
(05:54):
living in a place that warehouse societies forgotten, but she
refused to spear. For five years. She survived through grit
and instinct. She was angry, loud, defiant, that angry, That
anger likely kept her standing, and beneath it was something else,
a fierce desire to learn. In eighteen eighty, Frank B. Sanborne,
(06:19):
the Massachusetts State Inspector of Charities, visited Tewkesbury as part
of a broader reform effort. During that inspection and did
something bold. She appealed directly to him. She asked to
be sent to school, to the Perkins School for the
Blind in Boston. She insisted she wanted an education and
(06:39):
that she could do more. Sanborn took notice soon after,
arrangements were made for admission to Perkins and arrived there
later that year. She did not fit neatly into that world.
She was older than most of the other students. She
had rough edges shaped by survival, but she brought something
very rare, relentless determination. Medical treatment improved her vision. She
(07:04):
attacked her studies with urgency. In eighteen eighty six, she'd
graduated as valedictorian of her class. The girl from the
Almshouse had become the top graduate. Shortly after, Perkins received
a letter from Alabama. A man named Arthur Keller was
searching for help for his six year old daughter, Helen.
(07:26):
Blind death and isolated in a world without language. Perkins
recommended one of his strongest gadgerates, Anne Sullivan, on March third,
eighteen eighty seven, and traveled to Tuscumby, Alabama. The early
days were chaotic. Helen resisted, She screamed, She struck out.
Many might have left, and proving yet again her resilience
(07:51):
did not. She recognized the rage. She understood what it
meant to feel trapped in darkness. Then came the water pump.
Cool water flowed over Helen's hand as Anne spelled W
A T E R and to her palm. In that moment,
(08:11):
something connected. Helen realized that objects had names, that language
could unlock her world. Helen later called it the day
her soul awakened.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Anne and Helen would remain together for forty nine years. Teacher
and student, companion and collaborator. An spelled lectures into Helen's
hand at Radcliffe College, she stood beside her as Helen
became a writer, an advocate, and a global voice. The
world remembers Helen Keller. Few remember the girl from Tewksbury,
(08:47):
the nearly blind teenager who survived neglect, the child who
lost her brother, the student who demanded a chance, the
teacher who refused to give up. Anne Sulimon died in
nineteen thirty six, Helen was with her. History often celebrates
the visible figure, but sometimes history turns because a normal
(09:09):
person quietly supported their greatness. And Sullivan was once the
forgotten child. Someone listened, and because of that, millions learned
what human potential really looks like. Holy smokes with a
great story. Terry, You're the bomb, You're the boss. Thanks
(09:33):
for sending that. It is just yet again another reminder
of what a normal person can do when they when
they have a passion and they use their abilities coupled
with that passion to fit in need. You have no
idea what kind of that work, what that kind of
(09:57):
work could could do to change the world. And I
think from this story we can easy see if not
for Anne Sullivan, you'd never have heard of Helen Keller.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
It's kind of a really cool maybe this is our
first one doing this like a historical example of supporting greatness.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
It really is.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
It's a historical example of both supporting greatness and the
power of a normal person.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Yeah, and I've I've heard of Anne Sullivan before, but
I had no idea what her story was.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I didn't either. I'd heard the name too. Actually, when
I was reading it, it's like I've heard, but I
didn't know.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
This. Another thing is.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
It's also an example of if you just keep trying,
no matter what the world throws at you, you have
a chance to do something. I mean, she lost her brothers,
lost her parents, she lost her eye sight, a lot
of people just giving up. And I think it's a
healthy reminder that despite all the world throws at us,
(10:57):
there's a path that we can find success and happiness
and clearly and Sullivan did. What a great story, Terry,
thank you so very much for sending it. I think
there's a lot to take from it. Anything else, Alex for.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Those of you listening this will come out in time
for our launch event in Memphis, So ANF Memphis dot
org you can RSVP and then we will still have
the Atlanta one on March eighth NF Atlanta dot org
and the Ozaki one on March eighth a NF Ozaki
dot org. You should join us, should join us. They're
actually all at breweries too, kind of are think Ozaki
(11:34):
One's actually had a Mexican restaurant in the basement. We're
getting like a whole private room down there. But I
love that the Atlanta one and the Memphis one zero brewery.
So we're gonna have fun and have a beer and
learn about changing our community.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
And you're gonna be there at the Memphis one, Bill
I am.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I'm gonna be at the Memphis one. I've done March eight, right, No,
March first March.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Don't confuse people, huh, don't confuse people. You're just going
one day at a time, right.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
I have a lot going on, but I'll be there.
It's on my calendar. I promise Lisa and I will
be there, all right. Everybody shop talk number ninety three
and Sullivan teaches us.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
That there's even a title Iro go back to the title.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Well, I know that, but I'm thinking about an Sullivan.
I actually this. I'm going to be thinking about this
story all day.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
But you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
And Sullivan's teacher, and Sullivan's work to teach Helen Keller
is all about what happens when you see the person
everyone else ignores, in the power of an army and
normal folks and supporting greatness. So that's it. Thanks everybody
for joining us. If you enjoyed the episode, please rate
(12:40):
review it. Join the army at normal folks dot us,
and what else. I don't know, I'm tired, do some
other stuff. Hang out with this morning, listen to the
show and tell everybody about it.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Joined the podcast, and join a service club.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
But you can't join a podcast, but you can subscribe
to one.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Do ever do all that stuff? All right, that's Talk
number nine three. We'll see you next week.
Everybody is Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Welcome to the shop.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Hi, Alex, Hey, we're actually in your office today and
not the shop.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
We're in the shop. This is the shop. Quit it's
a virtual shop.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
I want of her employees took our normal room of
such a shirt. But he's kind of been here a
long time.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I hadn't asked you about the kids lately.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I actually haven't asked you about the wedding. That's what
we need to talk about.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Well, first, as your kids. The wedding was.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Well, Molly decided since being like she's like number thirty
of thirty friends to get married, that everybody's kind of
done every conceivable kind of wedding. And really, at some
point you've been to so many weddings with all these
girls at this marrying age that you don't really go
to the weddings because you want to. You go from
(00:55):
a sense of obligation, and she's like, Dad, I want
people to you know, I want.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
To have to go to a wedding. And so we
had it in Las Vegas and it was.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Crazy interesting from the photos I saw.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, it was nuts.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I mean you had a pretty crazy jacket.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Well, she told us to. It was black tie, but
not standard black tie. Like what, that's what I mean?
She goes, I want everybody in tuxas, but I don't
want everybody in normal black.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Tuxes, so everybody gets something different.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So there were people there with blue light blue seventies ruffles,
and she asked me to wear something on Vegas glitz.
So I bought her Vegas Glitz stucks and I looked like,
you know, the piano guy some some cheesy bar.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Barely Max livestream the wedding on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah, I already did that. He's such a jackle. Did
you watch it?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
No?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
But I saw them.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Well, she was married by Elvis, had Showgirls leader down
the aisle and her cat was in a wedding dress
and Elvis held the cat.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
It was but it was hilarious. So anyway, Molly's married.
She is now Molly Z.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yeah, and I love Tracy, so it's Tracy Erasmond is awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
So uh yeah, it was. It was a good time cool.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Just for point of order, Tracy and Molly did do
the premier of Counseling with a with a Christian Counselors. No,
they did all of the background things that Lisa and
I would want them to do as a serious married couple.
Put in God in the center of their marriage, just
(02:42):
to say that. But the marriage itself was absolutely insane,
and the reception had a contortionist, some roller skaters.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I saw the video on that roller skater being like
thrown in the air in a circle.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, it was crazy. So it was a lot of fun.
It was really good.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Okay, So what happens when you see the person everyone
else ignores?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Love the title?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
So it's Shop Talk number ninety three, and I think
Alex Haley and then Alex Haley, Charles Haley. There was
a defensive end for the San Francisco forty nine ers
that was incredible.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
It was number ninety three.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Maybe it was Charles, Alex Haley wrote roots it's Charles Haley.
I think it's a defensive end for the forty nine
ers that always thought it was really good.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
But maybe I'm wrong about that.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I'm not really seeing much on here besides Metaworld piece
or number ninety three in the Kings.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
The World Peace, all right?
Speaker 1 (03:43):
What happens when you see the person everyone else ignores?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
For Shop Talk number ninety three?
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Right after these brief messages from our general sponsor. All Right, everybody,
welcome back to shop Shop Shop talking number ninety three.
(04:12):
Struggling there. Yeah, this is from Army member Terry Smith. Terry,
thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Who made my day yesterday with this note that she
wrote there.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Okay, well here it is. I love the show. I've
listened to every episode, is what Terry says.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
That it made my day because that's a lot of episodes.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That's a lot of episodes.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
So Terry, thank you so much for being such a
loyal listener, but also thank you for sharing this story
with us.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Oh my goodness. Tewksbury Almhouse, Massachusetts, close enough, eighteen eighty.
It was not built as a school. It was built
as a holding place. The poor, the ill, the elderly,
the men, disabled, and unwanted were housed together with little distinction.
(05:05):
Overcrowding was common, disease spread easily, Mortality rates, especially when children,
were very high. Among those sent there was a fourteen
year old girl who had already lost almost everything. Her
name was Anne Sullivan. She was five when trachoma damaged
her sight, eight when her mother died, ten when her
(05:29):
father abandoned the children. She and her younger brother, Jimmy,
were sent to Tewkesbury because there was just nowhere else
to go. Jimmy, her brother, died within months of the arrival.
You know, that's enough for a ten year old to
have handled. Alex Anne was left alone, nearly blind, uneducated,
(05:54):
living in a place that warehouse societies forgotten, but she
refused to spear. For five years. She survived through grit
and instinct. She was angry, loud, defiant, that angry, That
anger likely kept her standing, and beneath it was something else,
a fierce desire to learn. In eighteen eighty, Frank B. Sanborne,
(06:19):
the Massachusetts State Inspector of Charities, visited Tewkesbury as part
of a broader reform effort. During that inspection and did
something bold. She appealed directly to him. She asked to
be sent to school, to the Perkins School for the
Blind in Boston. She insisted she wanted an education and
(06:39):
that she could do more. Sanborn took notice soon after,
arrangements were made for admission to Perkins and arrived there
later that year. She did not fit neatly into that world.
She was older than most of the other students. She
had rough edges shaped by survival, but she brought something
very rare, relentless determination. Medical treatment improved her vision. She
(07:04):
attacked her studies with urgency. In eighteen eighty six, she'd
graduated as valedictorian of her class. The girl from the
Almshouse had become the top graduate. Shortly after, Perkins received
a letter from Alabama. A man named Arthur Keller was
searching for help for his six year old daughter, Helen.
(07:26):
Blind death and isolated in a world without language. Perkins
recommended one of his strongest gadgerates, Anne Sullivan, on March third,
eighteen eighty seven, and traveled to Tuscumby, Alabama. The early
days were chaotic. Helen resisted, She screamed, She struck out.
Many might have left, and proving yet again her resilience
(07:51):
did not. She recognized the rage. She understood what it
meant to feel trapped in darkness. Then came the water pump.
Cool water flowed over Helen's hand as Anne spelled W
A T E R and to her palm. In that moment,
(08:11):
something connected. Helen realized that objects had names, that language
could unlock her world. Helen later called it the day
her soul awakened.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Anne and Helen would remain together for forty nine years. Teacher
and student, companion and collaborator. An spelled lectures into Helen's
hand at Radcliffe College, she stood beside her as Helen
became a writer, an advocate, and a global voice. The
world remembers Helen Keller. Few remember the girl from Tewksbury,
(08:47):
the nearly blind teenager who survived neglect, the child who
lost her brother, the student who demanded a chance, the
teacher who refused to give up. Anne Sulimon died in
nineteen thirty six, Helen was with her. History often celebrates
the visible figure, but sometimes history turns because a normal
(09:09):
person quietly supported their greatness. And Sullivan was once the
forgotten child. Someone listened, and because of that, millions learned
what human potential really looks like. Holy smokes with a
great story. Terry, You're the bomb, You're the boss. Thanks
(09:33):
for sending that. It is just yet again another reminder
of what a normal person can do when they when
they have a passion and they use their abilities coupled
with that passion to fit in need. You have no
idea what kind of that work, what that kind of
(09:57):
work could could do to change the world. And I
think from this story we can easy see if not
for Anne Sullivan, you'd never have heard of Helen Keller.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
It's kind of a really cool maybe this is our
first one doing this like a historical example of supporting greatness.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
It really is.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
It's a historical example of both supporting greatness and the
power of a normal person.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Yeah, and I've I've heard of Anne Sullivan before, but
I had no idea what her story was.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I didn't either. I'd heard the name too. Actually, when
I was reading it, it's like I've heard, but I
didn't know.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
This. Another thing is.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
It's also an example of if you just keep trying,
no matter what the world throws at you, you have
a chance to do something. I mean, she lost her brothers,
lost her parents, she lost her eye sight, a lot
of people just giving up. And I think it's a
healthy reminder that despite all the world throws at us,
(10:57):
there's a path that we can find success and happiness
and clearly and Sullivan did. What a great story, Terry,
thank you so very much for sending it. I think
there's a lot to take from it. Anything else, Alex for.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Those of you listening this will come out in time
for our launch event in Memphis, So ANF Memphis dot
org you can RSVP and then we will still have
the Atlanta one on March eighth NF Atlanta dot org
and the Ozaki one on March eighth a NF Ozaki
dot org. You should join us, should join us. They're
actually all at breweries too, kind of are think Ozaki
(11:34):
One's actually had a Mexican restaurant in the basement. We're
getting like a whole private room down there. But I
love that the Atlanta one and the Memphis one zero brewery.
So we're gonna have fun and have a beer and
learn about changing our community.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
And you're gonna be there at the Memphis one, Bill
I am.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I'm gonna be at the Memphis one. I've done March eight, right, No,
March first March.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Don't confuse people, huh, don't confuse people. You're just going
one day at a time, right.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
I have a lot going on, but I'll be there.
It's on my calendar. I promise Lisa and I will
be there, all right. Everybody shop talk number ninety three
and Sullivan teaches us.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
That there's even a title Iro go back to the title.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Well, I know that, but I'm thinking about an Sullivan.
I actually this. I'm going to be thinking about this
story all day.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
But you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
And Sullivan's teacher, and Sullivan's work to teach Helen Keller
is all about what happens when you see the person
everyone else ignores, in the power of an army and
normal folks and supporting greatness. So that's it. Thanks everybody
for joining us. If you enjoyed the episode, please rate
(12:40):
review it. Join the army at normal folks dot us,
and what else. I don't know, I'm tired, do some
other stuff. Hang out with this morning, listen to the
show and tell everybody about it.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Joined the podcast, and join a service club.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
But you can't join a podcast, but you can subscribe
to one.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Do ever do all that stuff? All right, that's Talk
number nine three. We'll see you next week.
Host
Bill Courtney
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