BeTempered Episode 53 - Faith Under Fire: Misty Hollis’s Journey as a Community Leader and Cancer Survivor

What does true resilience look like?

In this powerful episode of BeTempered, hosts Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr sit down with Misty Hollis, Director of the Richmond Family YMCA and a two-time cancer survivor, as she shares the extraordinary strength that unfolds when faith collides with life’s hardest trials. Proudly sponsored by Catron’s Glass, this conversation reminds us that true strength is forged in the fire.

Born into a fourth-generation ministry family, Misty’s early life traveling across Texas in her parents’ revival van only hinted at the tests of faith ahead. From career ambitions to leading a community, she opens up about how personal heartbreak—including pregnancy losses and two battles with breast cancer—transformed her faith from inherited tradition into an unshakable personal conviction.

“I’m not afraid of dying,” Misty shares with striking honesty. “I’m afraid of not being with Tim.” Her words capture the heart of a love story that’s weathered not just cancer, but the spiritual reckoning that comes with life-altering diagnoses. When doctors discovered her cancer had returned after five years of misdiagnosis, Misty made a bold choice: “I’m running into the fight, not away from it.”

Her story also shines a light on the power of community. From board members who prayed over her to friends who showed up unasked to drive her to treatments, Misty’s experience proves that true support isn’t passive—it’s action.

Whether you’re facing a personal battle, walking alongside someone through theirs, or looking for inspiration to navigate life’s challenges, Misty’s journey offers a moving testament to finding strength in vulnerability and purpose through pain.

🎙️ Tune in now to BeTempered with Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr, sponsored by Catron’s Glass, and hear how Misty Hollis’ unwavering faith continues to inspire hope and build stronger communities—even in her darkest hours.

Support the show

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, my name is Allie Schmidt.
This is my dad, Dan.
He owns Catron's Glass.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Thanks, allie.
Things like doors and windowsgo into making a house, but when
it's your home you expect morelike the great service and
selection you'll get fromCatron's Glass Final replacement
.
Windows from Catron's come witha lifetime warranty, including
accidental glass breakagereplacement.
Also ask for custom showerdoors and many other products
and services.
Call 962-1636.
Locally owned, with localemployees for nearly 30 years.

(00:26):
Kitchen's best.
The clear choice.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Welcome to the Be Tempered Podcast, where we
explore the art of findingbalance in a chaotic world.

Speaker 4 (00:35):
Join us as we delve into insightful conversations,
practical tips and inspiringstories to help you navigate
life's ups and downs with graceand resilience.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
We're your hosts, Dan Schmidt and Ben Spahr.
Let's embark on a journey tolive our best lives.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
This is Be Tempered.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
What's up everybody?
Welcome to the Be Temperedpodcast, Episode number.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
One of season two, episode 53.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
53.
Here we go into year number twoand we're going to come out
with a bang.
So welcome back to the podcastwhere we dive into stories of
perseverance, purpose and thekind of grit that inspires real
change.
Today's guest is someone whodefines all of that and more.
Misty Hollis has spent her lifepouring into others, through

(01:22):
her work in local schools,service in Wayne County
government and now as thedirector and CEO of the Richmond
Family YMCA.
Her leadership has touchedevery corner of this community.
But what makes Misty's storyeven more remarkable is the
resilience behind it.
A two-time cancer survivor,misty has stared down some of

(01:42):
life's toughest battles and cameout stronger, not just for
herself but for the countlesspeople she continues to serve
and uplift every single day.
Her journey is one of faith,determination and the quiet
strength that builds bettercommunities.
Misty, it's an honor to haveyou here.
Welcome to the Be Temperedpodcast.

Speaker 5 (02:03):
That's a great way to get me to start crying.
Oh my goodness, dan, I've knownyou for a long time.
That's a sensitive side of you.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well, I do my best.
I do my best.
No, we are excited to have you,misty, and I told you last week
when we met.
Your names came up many timesfor many different people to
share your story and it's apowerful one.
So, as you've listened to someof these and as we had that
conversation last week, whichwas very touching and I know

(02:35):
today will be as well, I'll tryhard not to cry as much as I did
last week.

Speaker 5 (02:38):
I don't know, I'm pretty emotional still.

Speaker 3 (02:41):
No, it's great.
So how we start every episodeis to start from the very
beginning.
So talk about your childhood,growing up and what it was like
for you.

Speaker 5 (02:52):
I am fourth generation in ministry of a
preacher, so my greatgrandmother was the first
licensed United Pentecostalpastor in Texas, and that was at
a time you're talking like 70years ago.
I mean it just didn't happen forwomen to be in that type of
role, and she built two, threechurches.

(03:15):
So my influence really beganand we'll talk about this later.
She was probably the biggestinfluence on me.
If I think about it now,looking back as you get older,
then both grandfathers werepastors ministers.
My dad, my uncles, all werepastors ministers and my now, my

(03:40):
sister, her husband and mybrother both are in ministry.
I'm the one who hasn't followedthat path it's in a different
place, it's in a different role,but so I grew up in ministry.
That's really all I knewgrowing up, and Texas is my home
.
I was born in Houston.
Dad and mother evangelized forthe first two years, so they had

(04:01):
a white van.
My baby bed was in the van andthey traveled and this was
before cell phones and any ofthat stuff.
So they had a white van, mybaby bed was in the van and they
traveled, and this was beforecell phones and any of that
stuff.
So I was in the sixties.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
So they traveled all over the state of Texas, or all
over the country.

Speaker 5 (04:14):
All over the country.
Yeah, their biggest revivals,tent revivals.
I mean they would do tentrevivals, pop up tents and did
them in churches and um, he wasan evangelist, so that's what he
did.
And then, when I was, I wouldsay I think, mother got pregnant
with my brother and they heopened what they called a home
missions church in San Marcos,texas, and um started very small

(04:38):
and we lived in the church theback part of the church, growing
up when I first, when we firstmoved there and um, then my
brother and my sister were bornin in that San Marcos area.
So, it's, that was my upbringing.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
Okay, so different.
So you're, you're in Texas,you're living in a church that
was when I was younger.

Speaker 5 (04:58):
Yes, we got a house eventually yeah, eventually dad
got a house.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
Talk about school a little bit.

Speaker 5 (05:05):
I was.
I mean, I went to public schoolin second grade and I'm not
sure why, but mother decided itwas best to homeschool me for
one year.
My, um, my grandfather, had aprivate school in Houston, texas
, and along with his church, andso it was male.
I mean, it was different how itis now, everything's online.

(05:26):
Back then you filled outcoursework, you mailed it in,
they graded it, you got it back,and so I did one year like that
.
And then when we were, when Iwas seven close to eight is when
we moved back to Houston and mydad went to help my grandfather
and his ministry and my motherdid too.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
And you and you were still in the public school, back
in the public school system,when we moved to Houston and
went back to private school.
Okay.

Speaker 5 (05:50):
Yeah, and I graduated , um, you know, we were there
until I was in 11th grade anddad, um, just, life was
happening in the marriage of mymom and dad and you know happens
with everybody.
I mean you have little speedbumps along the marriage of my
mom and dad, and it happens witheverybody.
I mean you have little speedbumps along the way.

(06:12):
And Dad decided he needed tofocus on the family and made a
huge sacrifice he and Mom bothdid for the sake of the family
and their marriage and we movedto California.
Dad knew a family but he didn'thave a job.
He just we went out there andwe were there for three years
and he did a ministry out thereeventually.

(06:33):
But really it was more aboutjust realigning the family and
his marriage, his time with momand making sure that they were
in the right path.
And you look at that and thatwas hard as an 11th grader.
So I went to school one year outthere in public school and it
was just a huge shift for me.
That was just.
It was hard.

(06:55):
It was a beautiful place tolive.
We were in Orange County,california, san Clemente, and if
you've been out there, it isbeautiful, just beautiful.
The school was fine.
San Clemente High School wasfantastic.
I have a good memory of it.
But when we moved we didanother move to Irvine,
california still Orange Countyand that was going to put me in

(07:15):
a different school.
So I requested that I dohomeschool again in my senior
year and I started working.
So, yeah, it worked.

Speaker 3 (07:26):
That had to be.
That had to be challenging.
You know you go through thatschooling to your junior year in
high school.
That was tough, and then you'renot only going to be switched
to a different school, but acompletely different state.
Culture, culture shock Verymuch.
You know at that, at that age,that had to be very challenging.

Speaker 5 (07:44):
Oh no, it was tough, it was really tough.
Uh and and I think dad andmother had we had talked about
possibly me staying I mean, thatwas some conversation of me
staying in Houston, but that is,that was not the desire of the
family.
I mean, we need to staytogether as a unit and and we
talk about it as a family.
Now, my sister was really youngso I'm not sure she truly

(08:07):
understands the impact and thedecision that Dad made, that
sacrifice they made to make thatmove for the sake of the
marriage and the family, to keepthe family together.
And it was.
But it was a turning point.
When you look, now that I'm 53,and you look back and you think
about what was the turning pointfor our family unit and for my

(08:29):
parents' marriage, that was itand that was huge for dad.
I mean, dad, you leaveeverything you know, you leave
your contacts, but I'm going tomy family's first and we're
going to make this the priority.
That was a big decision and our, our family unit is we're very
close, we're extremely close andit's I think it's because of
that sacrifice that was made.

Speaker 3 (08:51):
So you graduate from high school and you said you go
into the workforce.

Speaker 5 (08:56):
Yeah, Well, I was still working going to.
So I was working in Pomona,California Dad had had some
connections and mom did too witha company called Wilbur Ellis
and I was an office manager.
I was like 18, doing that kindof work and it just fit me.
I mean, I felt natural to be anaccounts receivable, it felt

(09:17):
natural to work in an office.
It felt I just didn't seem likeit's like where I was supposed
to be.
It was very natural for me to doit and so I was still going to
school out there.
I really didn't.
Dad preached a revival outsideof Brookville Indiana.
I was in Brookville Indiana andsomebody had reached out to him
in ministry and asked him tocome out here and do a revival.

(09:39):
And he fell in love withCincinnati, brookville, just the
culture, the trees, the greenspace.
You know.
He just fell in love with itand he came back and he was like
hey, we're going to move toIndiana.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
From California.

Speaker 5 (09:57):
Yeah, from California , and at that time I had changed
jobs.
I was actually working with atrucking company as office
manager jobs.
I was actually working with atrucking company as office
manager and I really didn't wantto leave because I'd felt like
this you know, I'd been outthere and I'd kind of got my fit
and the owner of the companywas kind to even offer time for
me to stay.
But again, it's about thefamily unit to me and I did not

(10:21):
want to be away from my family.
I just it just never feltnatural for me to do that.
So I think it was like a parade.
When we drove into Brookville,we had the biggest moving van
you could have.
It was towing a vehicle.
Then we had a station wagonbehind that and another pickup
truck behind it.
I remember and you have toremember, I mean I was 20, 19,

(10:43):
20.
And driving to Brookville, I seehome of what is it?
1200 people, yeah, like, oh mygosh.
And it was june, july, so thecorn was growing and no, there's
, no, yeah, there's no streetsigns, like you don't know where
you're going, and and it was ajust a huge shock.
It was beautiful, but I was, Ihave to say, I was nervous like,

(11:07):
like where, what am I supposedto do?
How am I supposed to make aliving?
Where do I go from here?
That's the first time.
I had that feeling of notknowing what my next steps were
going to be.

Speaker 3 (11:18):
So you got the culture shock of going from
Texas to.
California, california toIndiana.
So so you eventually settle in,right?
Yeah, settle in.
So what are you doing?

Speaker 5 (11:29):
Yeah, so I, I mean I started working part-time down
there and came up I looked atMiami University, IUPUI, and I,
because of me feeling like I wasa non-traditional student, I
knew I was going to have to work, I knew I was going to have to
go to school at the same time.
It, not those two campuses justdidn't fit me very well.
And the person I was livingwith at the time, a farmer, he's

(11:52):
like hey, you can go up toRichmond, there's a some sort of
campus up there, you can lookat it.
And came up here and IU hadjust opened their second
building Hayes Hall just openedit and it fit for me and I
started working up here andbecame a.
I went into first calltemporary services, just walked

(12:14):
right in and said I need a joband they hooked me up with
Centennial Wireless.
You probably weren't even bornyet.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah, I remember the name.
I don't know what year thatwould have been.
You probably weren't even born.

Speaker 5 (12:26):
But I was.
That's how I met Sing thesinging fireman Brian.
He was working at CentennialWireless too, and both of us, I
mean that's how I first met him.
But I was secretary there and Idid little odd and end jobs
until I landed at the Chamber ofCommerce.
That was probably my biggestbreak.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
So you get a break to go to the Chamber, so talk
about that, what that was like.

Speaker 5 (12:48):
It was good.
I was a fireball.
I mean I had to learn to tempermy aggressive personality.
I just I think about things Idid.
Then you know you walk into aplace and you just say we need a
membership for a booth and Ijust didn't have any fear.
I didn't.

(13:10):
It was just interesting fromwhen I look at it now, and I
remember Doug Peters was thechamber president.
He brought me in a couple oftimes.
He's like you just need to coolyour jets or a little pressure
heavy on the sales part, youneed to just cool off.
But it was such a greatopportunity for me.
I met some amazing people thathave mentored me through life.
I mean David Stidham is stillmy mentor.
That's how I met him wasthrough the chamber.

(13:30):
Names like Jan Passmore, bobRosa, alan Rosar I mean there's
just a list of people that havebeen, that were a part of my
life then that taught me so much.
And they didn't have to.
You know I think about that.
I think about Jim Passmoredidn't have to invite me to
Kiwanis, he didn't have to takeme to lunch and teach me the

(13:55):
ways to kind of sell membershipand sell booths at an expo, and
you know he didn't have to dothat, and people here in this
community.
I feel like they adopted me.
I mean it was.
I was a complete stranger,young, and they pulled me into
their life and helped me be apart of their life.

Speaker 3 (14:14):
Well, I think that's that's.
It's kind of cool to hear that,because you know when you're,
when you're in your earlytwenties, and you all you want
to do, if somebody tells you todo it, you you're just going to
do it, you know, because youdon't understand until you get
older.
Some, well, we want to do that,but maybe we want to go about it
this way or that way.
So those are all things thatyou learn.
So it's it's cool to hear that,because I think back on the

(14:36):
when I was 23 years old and Iwas just a hard driver and.

Speaker 5 (14:39):
I'm going to do this and I'm not.

Speaker 3 (14:41):
You know, you figure things out with experience.

Speaker 5 (14:45):
Yeah, I know with experience.
Yeah, and it's still I don'tmean to be it's still hard for
young women to move into andyou'll learn this with your
girls.
Your girls will experience it.
I don't know if you have kidsor not.

Speaker 4 (14:57):
I got boys, you got boys as well.

Speaker 5 (14:59):
It is.
I mean, it's still a littlehard for it's better now but
then for women to be in aleadership position and we had a
committee we were hosting atthe chamber at that time I mean
the chamber membership was 900members.
I mean it was a very largechamber membership base and we

(15:20):
hosted the Midwest ProfessionalWomen's Conference.
So we'd have women from Ohio,kentucky, illinois and Indiana
that would drive in for thisconference every year and the
women that were a part of it MrsRowland, diana Pappin, pat
James.
There were professional MaryHayab women that were part of

(15:41):
that committee that helped me tomaneuver about being a
professional woman in this areaand how to be graceful but also
you can still be strong, andthat is.
Those moments have still stayedwith me.
It was.
It's not as difficult now, butthen 30 years ago it was.

Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yeah, challenging, that's pretty cool.
So you're in the chamber,you're getting settled in in the
community, meeting lots ofpeople.
What's next?

Speaker 5 (16:11):
Yeah, I had the blessing of meeting Mayor Dennis
Andrews and he, out of theclear blue at a ribbon cutting
in the Rose Garden, one day,pulled me aside and said I have
a place for you in myadministration.
I'd love to talk to you aboutit.
And I was going still going toIU East.
I was one of those long I thinkit ended up taking me 12 years

(16:32):
to get my degree because I wasworking and going to school at
the same time and then decidedto get married and all of that
97.
But he pulled me aside andasked if I would have some
interest in being a part of hisadministration.
I met with him and I felt itwas an opportunity of a lifetime
for me.
My degree was going to bepolitical science and I felt

(16:52):
being able to understand localgovernment and opening that door
was the right thing to do.
And it was a hard choice toleave the chamber.
It really was.
I loved.
I had no problem with that job.
I loved working at the chamberof commerce.
I had no problem with that job.
I loved working at the Chamberof Commerce.
But going to the city did openup a lot of other opportunities
for me with relationships withpeople and then understanding

(17:15):
the basic of local governmentand that was a good.
It was a good experience.

Speaker 3 (17:19):
Now, you kind of glossed over something there.
You said you got married, I didso let's talk about that.

Speaker 5 (17:31):
Yeah, Mr Hollis, I met him at IU East and I fell in
love with him first time I sawhim and he did not love me back.
He did not love me back.
There was an eight yearsdifference there, so I chased
him around.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
IU East for a couple of years and he finally just
stopped running.

Speaker 3 (17:47):
This is the truth, so you caught him.
Well, he just said I just gotjust stopped running.

Speaker 5 (17:50):
This is the truth.
So you caught him.
Well, he just said I just gottired of running.
Anyway, yeah, so we dated May1995 is when we started dating,
and in 97, we got married.

Speaker 3 (18:04):
So you finally caught him.
I finally caught him, tied himdown.
Tied him down yeah, you'reworking for the city in an
administrative position.
Yeah, I finally caught him Tiedhim down, tied him down.
Yeah, you're working for thecity in an administrative
position.
Yeah, so things are good.

Speaker 5 (18:17):
Yeah, life is good, life was good, so keep talking
on the city part, on themarriage part, and things are
progressing.
Yeah, my first hiccup in lifethat I wasn't ready for because
he was older, I felt we neededto hurry up and create a family
and my first hiccup was we gotmarried and within a month I
lost the first baby and I it washard but it wasn't like, okay,

(18:37):
we can do this again.
Yeah, still at the city.
Um, and then we tried again andgot pregnant and we were
excited and that one got us toclose to three months.
And we lost that one too.
That one was harder and thatdid.
We were about year five in ourmarriage about that time, and

(18:59):
that is when kind of the realityof my relationship with the
Lord, my personal relationshipwith the Lord not just because I
was raised in the church andheard about it my whole life,
but that's when my personalrelationship with the Lord
started to bubble up andrealizing I needed to have one.
I needed, you know.
Is this real?
Is it not real?

(19:19):
Questioning a lot of thingsabout faith and what did I do to
deserve this?
Those questions started at thattime too, and it just was hard
and it became a challenge forour marriage.
That because, with Tim beingolder, we can have this
conversation now.
At that moment I was so focusedon having a family and I felt

(19:45):
that was my role to be able togive him a child and give our
family a child, my parents agrandchild.
That was the next step.
Right, you get married, youhave family, get your degree.
Life is good.
And when I started realizingthat my body wasn't being able
to give me that, that just put alot of questions in my mind.

(20:07):
Tim didn't know really how torespond.
I mean, this was reallydifficult for him.
He's an introvert, heinternalizes things.
He has to think through itfirst.
Where I'm the external person,where we've got to talk about it
, we've got to deal with it,we've got to plan, we've got to
fix it, so let's go.
And he's like we're not.
And that's when I mean I wouldsay, if I had, if there was any

(20:32):
time in our marriage that Iquestioned things, that was,
that was I didn't know what todo and I, yeah, so I sought
counseling at that point so talkabout that a little bit you
know, there, there, there camethat point and a lot of stress,
a lot of friction, a lot ofstress, a lot of friction, a lot
of questioning.
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (20:47):
How'd you get through it?

Speaker 5 (20:48):
Yeah, it's embarrassing to say you need
help and it's a hard step to youknow you want everybody to feel
confident in who you are andnot that you have to show this
weakness.
And it was my first time to sayI need help.
I needed to figure out what wasgoing on with me mentally and

(21:10):
emotionally and it was the rightthing for me.
We had a Christian counselorhere in town.
He's retired now.
I look back at that moment withhim and he it was the right
thing.
I mean I needed that.
He was so good.
He really helped me understandthe and I hope I don't offend
people that are watching this.

(21:30):
I want to be careful about this.
But growing up in thedenomination I grew up in,
united Pentecostal, a part ofthe life and the culture of that
denomination is about familyand I don't want to say it's
just that denomination.
I think it's a part of anydenomination that you go into,
that you know we're gonna havefamily pizza night, we're gonna

(21:52):
have family movie night, hey,we're doing the easter egg hunt.
It's a family thing and so kidsare just a part of that whole
conversation and things that youdo in a church and and
subliminally, the message is.
You're not worthy unless youare having a child.
And when we got to that pointand he helped me understand, I

(22:16):
didn't do anything wrong.
It's not anything that I did.
It's just a part of life.
I mean your body.
Some people are able to havekids, some people are not.
This isn't a punishment.
Life, I mean your body.
Some people are able to havekids, some people are not.
This isn't a punishment.
Now it becomes.
What can you do and what rolecan you play if your body isn't
going to allow you to have achild?
So that was it was I believe ithelped our Tim.

(22:41):
Never, we didn't go together.
It was just me.
He went separately once or twicewith him, but it really was my
journey.
I mean, it's something I had towork through and there were
still things that needed to workthrough with my parents and the
things they went through.
And you're still uprooted, youmove.
I mean there's just a lot ofthings you have to go through.

(23:04):
And so I went through that withhim and he really helped me and
for me I needed a faith-basedcounselor and that's what it was
just a perfect timing.
I mean, when I look back atthings and people and it's like,
okay, I was at the right placeat the right time with the right
person.
That guided me through thatfirst part of my journey.

Speaker 3 (23:23):
So what I want you to do is and I hope everybody
listening understands what youjust said is that how important
it is, especially in today'sworld and today's society where
everything seems so perfect ineveryone's lives you were very
vulnerable there to share thatstory, because I know that it

(23:44):
still impacts you to this day.
Oh, very much so I'm tears inmy eyes now.

Speaker 5 (23:47):
I mean, I remember the day I lost the babies.
I remember the day that Icelebrated the babies, that I
was pregnant and we were inTexas with the second one, and
so I was able to tell mygrandparents.
We drove up to Dallas to seethe other set of grandparents
and they had a little shower forme.
So when you lose and you haveitems I've got baby items in my

(24:11):
house and knowing that I don'thave a place for those, it's,
it's hard, and I, you know, Ihave a lot of friends who have
lost babies and then they hadchildren, so happy for them.
But I do know that those momsstill remember the ones that
they didn't get to hold, and um,and that's the heart.
You know, that's the hard part.
I got to a point, though, whereI just my prayer to God was if

(24:35):
this isn't my play, if thisisn't my role, if I'm not going
to be a mother to children, thenbless me and help me, have
other ways and we'll talk aboutthat, obviously where I can have
kids in my life and serve kidsand serve families, and that was
the prayer.
I mean cause that I neededfulfillment.
From that perspective, I neededto be able to know that, if I'm

(24:58):
going to volunteer with kids,or whatever it might be, I'd
still need to feel like there'sa fulfillment of being around
children.

Speaker 3 (25:06):
And so what did that do for you and Tim's
relationship?

Speaker 5 (25:09):
We.
I mean we got better.
I mean it was, luckily.
He was going through a programat our church called Joshua's
men, and so he was meeting withmen regularly once a month, and
then he also led a group.
I think for him that was whathe needed.
He needed to be able.
I know there was a night thatthere was um.
He shared with me that he wasvulnerable about the feelings

(25:32):
and the frustrations of being ahusband and not being able to
fix it.
So you know, from a like Idon't know what to say to her, I
don't, I can't fix it, I can'tfix her body, I can't fix her
emotions.
And when a commercial comes onand it's a baby commercial, I'm
sitting there crying at the tv.
What do you do?
I mean it's like I don't, youcan only hold her so much, and

(25:53):
so it's so.
I know that there was a nightthat he shared that that was a
part of the men's night duringbible study, that they talked
through that and the men helpedhim a lot.
So thankfully that helped.
I think he was going throughthat.
I was doing the counseling.
Tim's a very.
He grew up in a.
He was a preacher's kid too, sohis walk with the Lord, had he

(26:17):
had to do that on his own andlearn.
And so I'm blessed, I'm blessed, I'm blessed to have a husband
that I feel unconditionallyloves me and will fight for me
and fight for a marriage.
And that's where we were.
I mean we got.
We got through it.

Speaker 3 (26:34):
Yeah, which is amazing.
Yeah, what I I guess my pointto all that was is that if
there's someone out there, whomight be going through what you
have went through, um to not beafraid to, to reach out and seek
counseling.

Speaker 5 (26:48):
It's nice to talk to friends it is, and I, but I
needed help and I knew it.
I mean, I knew it was to apoint where I just you know it,
when you're breaking down andyou're crying, when you don't
need to be crying, and you can'tsleep and certain things are
triggering your emotions, is youjust get to points like I need
the help and and.
I swear it was um and certainthings are triggering your

(27:08):
emotions, you just get to pointslike I need the help and that's
where I was, and I know that'shard.
It's hard for people to ask forit.
It worked for me.

Speaker 3 (27:16):
Great advice.
So you are working through thatat that point in your life.
What's going on outside of thatwith work?
You're still in the government.
Yeah, I stayed in that vein.

Speaker 5 (27:27):
I moved across the street and worked for county
government for a little bit andum did a visioning program
called wayne county vision, andI think that's when I first met
you actually is when we startedthe young adult professional
network yeah through thatprocess and it's called hype now
yeah kind of interesting howI'm happy it's still going on
right, but that's how it started.
And it was a great experience.

(27:49):
I mean it really linked me intounderstanding the rest of Wayne
County because I was so focusedon Richmond.
It opened up a lot of doors forme to understand Wayne County,
understand planning, development, how that all works.
And still, you know, I wasn'tlooking, looking for a job, but
there was one that came up inWinchester and the facility was
an outdoor team buildingfacility and I just thought,

(28:12):
well, I am a girly girl, I amnot a woodsy girl, but I went
out there with my high heels andI interviewed and there were
three really good candidatesthat came, became friends of
mine actually for the job ofdirector and I got hired and
basically I moved my way up toWinchester and it really opened

(28:35):
up another set of doors for me.
But it was a.
The main reason they startedthe camp was for kids that were
in the juvenile program, okay,and it was supposed to be
another opportunity to take themout, kind of outdoors team
building.
And once you go through theropes course, you actually
debrief each section.
I don't know if you've everdone one.

(28:56):
It really is phenomenal.
I mean I would love to bring ithere to Richmond one day, but
it or the concept to it, becauseyou, once you learn as a team,
you got seven to 10 people thatare going through this section,
whether it's climbing over thewall or whether it's a they call
it a spider's web and you'regetting every team member
through the web and how you'redoing it, communicating and

(29:18):
planning through it.
Then, after you're done with it, you sit down and you debrief.
Well, there's a lot of stuffthat comes out in that.
I mean you've got people thatyou have to trust that they're
going to lift you up and get youthrough the spider's web
without touching a piece of therope and you're dealing with.
I mean, at times people wereyelling at each other and

(29:38):
screaming at each other, andthen you've got to calm them
down.
And so it was a good, it wasgood for me to understand team
building, to understand the mindof young people that are
struggling, and then we startedopening it to schools and we got
kids from schools out there andthen we started bringing the
business community out there.
It was just a really, reallywonderful job.

(30:01):
And out of the clear blue, drBorff called me here at Richmond
Schools.
They had received a sizablegrant called Safe Schools
Healthy Students, and he askedif I would sit down and meet
with him and I said, no, I lovemy job, I love being out here.
I know people were surprisedthat I worked out there, but I
just loved it.
And then two months later hepasses by, calls me again.

(30:23):
He's like hey, will you give mea chance?
I'll just sit down with me.
Well, I did, and Tim and I wenthome that night and we did what
we call family planning.
It's two of us, but we weregoing to do a family plan.
What are our goals as a couple?
What do we need to do?
And as we walked through, I hadmy own personal mission
statement.
He had his personal missionstatement of where we felt God

(30:46):
was leading us.
And when we had talked, sawthat it was.
It was on sticky paper on thewall.
And I'm looking at him like, ohmy gosh, like this is what I
need to do.
I mean, I it was, and I cried.
I didn't want to leave CampYale, but I felt this was the
next phase for our marriage.
This was the next phase for myfuture.

(31:08):
I can have bigger impact onkids at Richmond schools.
It just so.
Yeah, I made that decision tocome back at Richmond schools
and yeah, so you go from yeah,you go from helping kids and
businesses and everything up inWinchester.

Speaker 3 (31:23):
You come to the Richmond community schools and
and you're you're working there,so you make that another big
change.
A big change, yeah, and thingskeep moving forward, yeah, so
talk about that.

Speaker 5 (31:32):
Yeah, so we.
So that's also when thepolitically thing started
opening up.
I ran for city council at thattime and, um, and again I think
because I was at Richmondschools, I started seeing things
I was concerned about inRichmond and I felt, okay, it's
time for me to step up.
You can complain so much, andthen it's time.
It's time to say, okay, how amI going to solve this solution?

(31:55):
By myself?
Not by myself, but and we had agreat team.
I mean Phil Quinn and Ron Oler,who's the current mayor.
He ran at large and me and ClayMiller, jeff Locke I mean we
just had a really, really solidgroup of people that ran and,
and um, kelly Cruz was on theretoo, and I think that was my
first time to really see didn'tmatter about party that council,

(32:16):
we could work together.
It didn't.
We might have internal littlefights and stuff, but we worked
together and, um, we had our owngoals.
We shared those with the mayor.
This is what we expect ascouncil.
We're going to get done.
It was just a great, greatgroup of people to serve with.
And then I served again afterthat.
So while I'm working at RichmondSchools, I'm also on city

(32:38):
council.
But that's when that politicaldoor opened up for me as well.
And then I mean, I guess youknow, you think about, I didn't
apply for any.
Some of these just all poppedup, I mean all these
opportunities.
And God just kept opening upthe door.
And David Stidham, one of mymentors, walked in Richmond
school's office one day and itwas after Dr Borf had announced

(32:59):
he was leaving and so I wasn'tsure if I needed to stay there
or not.
And he said we have anopportunity at the Y if you're
willing to look at it.
And so I did, and that's whereI'm at, still there after 10
years.

Speaker 3 (33:13):
So you leave the schools, you go to the Richmond
family YMCA where you're now theexecutive director, the CEO,
the the big kahuna Right, and soso talk about the Y a little
bit, talk about life in general,and there's some major things
that are happening.

Speaker 5 (33:30):
Are we good on time?

Speaker 3 (33:31):
Yeah, you're good.

Speaker 5 (33:32):
I just feel like I'm talking and you're just looking
at me, you're good.

Speaker 3 (33:34):
I feel like we need popcorn or something Kevin's got
some.
No, you're good, don't worryabout time I don't want to bore
people.

Speaker 5 (33:42):
No, you're not boring anyone.
No, anyway, born anyway.
So I first year in at the.
So the Y was really close toclosing their doors again.
Like there's these storiesevery time you hear if you grew
up here it's like, oh, the Ymight stay open, might not stay
open.
We were at that stage again andluckily we had just some amazing
people Dave Stidham, PaulineCole that stepped up and said,

(34:05):
look, we'll help you financially, but you're going to have to
turn the ship around.
We had a good membership base.
We were probably running aboutI don't know 200 kids in sports
and we had one after-school site.
So it was going good.
And then the board.
We just focused on leadership,getting the board back together
and how do we need to have astronger board.

(34:27):
And David Stidham stayed inanother year as board president,
which helped a lot for mepersonally and um.
So we ended up with a good boardand 10 years later we're at 600
kids in sports and almost 300kids in child care, two daycares
, and then we have after schoolcare at richmond, northeastern

(34:48):
and in Liberty and looking atone other school to open up
after-school care right now.
So it's it's been amazing, buta part of that is a board and a
part of its vision.
But during all that, so youkind of feel like okay, hey,
we're getting there, we'regetting there.
And I ended up one morningwaking up and I couldn't walk
and I had L4 disc had herniatedall the way into my sciatic

(35:11):
nerve and, long story short, ittook like three or four months
for people to accept what wasreally wrong with me and ended
up having back surgery.
So that was another time inyour life.
It's like okay.

Speaker 3 (35:24):
Yeah, back surgery is nothing to mess around with.

Speaker 5 (35:26):
No, no, and it so.
That was a time it's like, okay, that was eight years ago and
that was a hiccup.
Well, you have to really trustthe Lord, because my job is
fundraising and that puts youout I mean you're.
I was out of commission for awhile and I'm having to really
trust God to help keep the doorsopen and fundraising open.
And people stepped up.
That just amazed me.

(35:49):
I mean just called and said whatdo you need from us?
And I would say a check.
So funny, you know, theaggressive person working at the
Chamber of Commerce wasn't asaggressive.
It just seems like when you getolder it's just fascinating for
me to feel like I don't havethat same not the drive, but

(36:10):
just I'm a little bit shyer thanI was then.

Speaker 3 (36:13):
Well, maybe maturity, maybe life experiences you
learn things, communication withpeople you still got that fire.
I can see it.
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 5 (36:24):
You need to temper me , temper me.

Speaker 3 (36:28):
Oh, you're tempered, You're tempered.

Speaker 5 (36:31):
So we got through that and still growing and still
going and again I shared thiswith you the YMCA's mission is
still faith-based.
I mean our mission is stillaround teaching Christian
principles through ourinitiatives.
I mean that's very much stillour base.
So having a board that isfaith-based is huge.

(36:52):
I mean they really they buyinto the mission, they buy into
prayer.
They know if you pray, god willanswer.
They have at times they've hadfaith that I didn't have faith
and they did and they walked outand spent money.
And I'm like, ok, guys, if hethinks what we need to do and oh
, god will take care of us andhe does he just keeps doing it.

(37:14):
Ok.
But so six years ago, out ofjust doing a regular mammogram I
was faithful to always do amammogram because my
great-grandmother, who was apastor, had breast cancer.
So I was very faithful toalways want to make sure that I
had that.
And we were doing Christmastree sales that's one of our big
fundraisers.
I was in my Christmas treeattire and I went out just

(37:37):
thinking, no big deal going,gonna have mammogram, walk out,
what just they kept bringing meback in, you know to, and I
thought, okay, this isn't good.
And by the third time they didanother mammogram.
She said you know, we reallyneed to get you back and we're
gonna do an ultrasound.
And I said I don't have time, Igotta get back out the tree
light.
I said can we reschedule this?

(37:58):
Well, but you need to come inpretty soon.
So I did and it turns out I hadbreast cancer and that was um
shocking.
I did not anticipate that.
I wasn't in my plan, it wasn't.

Speaker 3 (38:13):
Can you remember the when they told you your initial
reaction?

Speaker 5 (38:19):
I do.
So we had the ultrasound andthey brought me into an office
and I still think the medicalcommunity you know this is their
job, right?
They tell you, oh, you havecancer, or it looks like you
have cancer.
And I still sometimes feel likethey need to have training in
how to help people through thatconversation, because that was

(38:39):
as blunt it was.
We.
She said, well, it looks likethere's some, it could be cancer
.
What we'd like to do is goahead and plan your surgery
excuse me, like I don't.
Even my husband doesn't evenknow yet.
And she said, well, we're doit's just a biopsy, we're going
to get you in, we're going to dothe biopsy.
And I went, no, we're not.

(39:00):
And she said what I'm like?
No, I want a second opinion.
I need a second opinion.
I need, I need to talk to myhusband.
He doesn't know yet.
I, I need time to think throughthis.
I just I wasn't expecting thistoday.
And she said, well, we need toget you in right away.
And I said, well, I appreciatethat, but I need time.
So I left and human behavior isvery interesting.

(39:22):
So outside the breast center atReed is the grocery store.
Good Lord there is.
Yeah, it's their store.
That's how I dealt with it.
I went in and started lookingat stuff in the store because
this can't be true, be true,this can't be okay.
I just need time just to behere a little bit, and I didn't

(39:43):
buy anything, I just needed tolook at stuff and pulling out
clothes and looking at it.
And I get in my car and Icalled my husband and he said
well, we're going to do a secondopinion.
I mean, we need to do one justfor the sake of feeling good
about it.
And so my dad had just finishedhis treatment with rectal cancer
and survivor, I mean, and Iwatched God work miracles with

(40:06):
him because he really was in sofar gone with his.
So I realized, okay, god can dothis.
I mean, we can do this.
Still not real to me, though.
I mean just still going throughthe motions.
You feel so numb like you justcan't.
This isn't real.
And we got into iu, um,thankfully, because dad was a

(40:29):
patient there.
So we were able to get into iuand um started their testing and
their process and it after Iofficially received I'll never
forget I was at having anexecutive committee meeting at
the Y my phone rang and I said Ineed to take this call, which
is unusual.
I don't ever leave a meetingwalked out and it was the doctor

(40:49):
and she was letting me know andit was the 31st of December
letting me know that I hadcancer.
That was confirmed, and so byFebruary 1st is when I had my
first surgery.
So it was pretty impactful.
I don't know.
You go through that process ofdenial.

(41:09):
I mean every stage grief,denial, anger, all of that was a
part of it.
Fear, sorry, got emotional here.
The thing that was importantfor me because again, this is

(41:30):
like the next step, right withmy relationship with the Lord.
Back surgery helped me getthere, but this was like me
owning it.
Is it real?
Is this real?
Are you really the God that Iserve?
Are you really my savior?
Are you really my healer?
And so that was the step againwhere I feel like I became the

(41:53):
closest to the Lord and myrelationship with God became my
relationship, not my parents,not my grandparents, not my
great grandmother, mine, andthat's where it started for me.
Um, so yeah, that's prettypowerful.

Speaker 3 (42:08):
Yeah, so you know you're undoubtedly questioning,
you know everything becauseyou've just been given the
diagnosis that everyone fears.
But you flip it upside down andyou say, okay, this is my
journey, this is where I have totrust in you and I'm going to
get through this with your help.

(42:29):
So you go into surgery, gothrough the treatments, kind of
talk about that.

Speaker 5 (42:38):
And that was not going to be your last test.
No, it was not going to be yourlast test.
No, it was not.
Um, they IU was amazing.
I mean, I had a great, greatjourney with them.
Um, we chose to do the removalof the cancer and reconstruction
at the same time, which, at thetime, it made sense on paper,
but it was a very, verydifficult surgery to recover
from.
My surgery was um 1st ofFebruary and we I didn't leave

(43:04):
my house until mid-March, and myhusband not that I, you just go
through so much like you don'twant people to see you, you
don't.
You're embarrassed, you don't,um, but my, they had felt
confident that when they went into do the surgery that they
were going to be able to get allof the cancer.
The call two days.

(43:27):
So you know this is all worthit.
We're going to do it, we'regetting it out, reconstruction
surgery at the same time, andtwo days later I get the call
from the doctor and I did nothave clear margins, and what
that means is that when youremove cancer, you're supposed
to have margins around thecancer.
That should be clear.
Well, mine were not, and so Iremember falling into the

(43:50):
recliner.
My mom was with me.
Tim was getting ready to leavefor work.
I remember just collapsing inthe recliner and just I mean
just weeping uncontrollably Likethis is not the plan, god.
We were supposed to go in andhave surgery and this is I'm
supposed to be back at work forweeks.
This is not the plan.
And I hated this for Timbecause he had to leave watching

(44:10):
me in that place and I justsaid it wasn't worth it.
This wasn't worth it.
You know, and I I didn't tellyou this, so everybody might
have a different way ofunderstanding how God works, but
I was at probably my deepestpart of trying just like.
This doesn't make sense.
You've abandoned me again.
I'm questioning everything andmy mom's cell phone rings and it

(44:32):
is my dad's, one of my dad'smentor.
He lives in Florida, he's aminister, one of my dad's mentor
.
He lives in Florida, he's aminister, and I hear his voice
say where's Misty?
And my mom said she's here andhe said I'm in prayer and God
told me to call and I know Ididn't tell you that the other
day and she handed me the phoneand he said I'm on my knees and

(44:59):
God said to call you.
I hadn't talked to Ralph Sykes Idon't talk to Ralph, he's my
dad's mentor, he's not mine andhe prayed over me and he said
God's not finished with you yet.
You need to stay strong.
So um got off the phone andokay, god, here we go, let's do
this.
So I had to have a secondsurgery to get the rest of the
cancer out, and the weird partof all that too is and I can

(45:21):
tell you this when she calledafter the second surgery, she
said there were no cancer, likeshe said I feel bad.
There wasn't any cancer there,like they'd gone and it was gone
.
So okay.

Speaker 3 (45:36):
Okay, talk about a range of emotion.

Speaker 5 (45:40):
So went back to work and started my radiation
treatment at Reed and just keptmoving forward.
People are amazing in thiscommunity.
I mean I'd had friends thatstepped forward and made sure we
had food and make sure that wewere okay.
And that first journey.
Every year I went back for mymammogram and every year it was

(46:01):
hey, you're cancer-free,cancer-free, cancer-free,
cancer-free.
Well, september 2023, I juststarted noticing like my eyes
started sagging and I startedgetting some pain in my neck
over here, and I went to my eyedoctor and my eye doctor said
they call that Horner syndromeand it's usually tied to cancer.
And so he's like we've got toget an MRI.
Well, they did have my brain,my head, and it came out clear

(46:27):
Nothing was wrong.
And he's like well, this is alittle weird, but it is what it
is right.
Well then my pain in my neckjust kept continuing to get
worse my arm, my shoulder, here.
So I sought help and everydoctor I went to said nothing
was wrong.
We did MRIs and everybody keptsaying nothing's wrong.
So, june 2024, I'm in my showerand I'm just.

(46:48):
I am asking God to help heal mybody because I'm in so much
pain at this point I can'texercise, I can't do weights, I
can't lift my arm.
I can't lift my arm.
I can't sleep.
I'm in a recliner.
I've moved to recliner Umwhere's your head at?

Speaker 3 (47:02):
What are you thinking ?

Speaker 5 (47:03):
I did not think cancer.
I thought I.
That wasn't in my head at all.
I didn't know what was wrong,cause everybody kept saying I
was okay, like everybody.
They'd look at these MRIs.
I had CT scans.
I had two MRIs and and everydoctor CT scans, I had two MRIs
and every doctor that I saw keptsaying nothing was wrong.
So I got out of the shower thatday and I just I'm done, I'm

(47:24):
going to go to my back surgeon,I'm going to spine surgeon,
because if it's in my neck,maybe it's.
You know, there's somethingelse.
By then you could feel the knotsin my neck, like they were
bulging in my neck, and they gotme in so quick.
Orthoindy got me in so quickand 15 minutes.
He let me know that there weremasses that were blocking my

(47:44):
nerves and that we needed tohave an MRI.
I'm like, okay, this would bemy third MRI.
He said, no, we're gonna doyour MRI on the brachial plexus,
your shoulder and this part ofthe neck.
And so three, three, four dayslater he called back and goes we
gotta get you back at IU.
You've got cancer.
He says.
What it appears to me is thatwhat you have is cancer.
So, um, my cancer surgeon wasavailable to read the MRI.

(48:12):
She called me a couple dayslater and said that it appeared.
It was in my lymph nodes and myneck and in my shoulder and a
pec muscle at that time.
That was before the PET scanand she said you know, I'm sorry
, misty, I don't think thecancer was ever out of your body
.
I think you had it there.
I think it was in your lymphnodes.
Well, the mammogram only justfocuses on the breast part and

(48:35):
they did not do a PET scan.
So it had been growing for fiveyears is what she still
believes happened.

Speaker 3 (48:43):
So now, where's your head at?

Speaker 5 (48:46):
Oh, anger, I was so angry.
I was angry at every doctorthat couldn't find out what was
wrong with me.
I was angry at the institutionI was angry at I wasn't angry at
God at that point.

Speaker 3 (49:04):
But you were questioning again, oh yeah, oh
yeah, like why?

Speaker 5 (49:07):
why are we right back at the same place I was.
I felt like we got out of.
Why are we back here again?

Speaker 3 (49:12):
Where's, where's Tim at what's what's he?

Speaker 5 (49:15):
Tim is the protector, right.
I mean, his job, he felt, wasto make sure I was okay and um,
so we scheduled biopsy and it,and it was the same exact cancer
that was in my breast before.
And when we got the final wordthat all the way home from IU to
to Richmond, there wasn't oneconversation, we didn't not one

(49:39):
word.
And I don't it's not, I wasn'tmad at him about that, I was in
my place, he was in his place,right.
I mean, we needed and we'vebeen married 27 years now, so
it's so it just we needed thatspace to try to figure it out.
So, yeah, we had.
When we got home, the difficultconversation happened about what

(49:59):
do we do?
Do I seek treatment?
Do we just let it go?
Do we?
And that's the first time Ihave ever been with my husband
and see him weep about me andabout where we are and what we
needed to do as a couple?
We don't have kids, you know,it's just us, we're all we got,

(50:23):
and so it's one of those momentswhere you run to the Lord, not
away, and I think that's theheart.
You know a lot of people getangry and it's like, okay, I'm
mad at you right now, god.
But for me, I had to visualizerunning to him.
It's the fight.
I'm running into the fight, I'mnot running away from the fight

(50:44):
.
And at that moment, with Tim,it became about Tim.
I mean, it became about us,like we got to fight for each
other.
It's because it is we're notkids and we still talk about
it's like dear lord, like who'sgoing to change my diaper when
I'm so something else I want toask you.

Speaker 3 (51:06):
You know you still got a job, yeah right, what's
going on back at the y whileyou're going through all this?

Speaker 5 (51:13):
well, first of all, I have an amazing staff.
They're fantastic.
Uh, they have, I really do.
They are just phenomenal.
And Butch Thompson is myoperations manager and you know
he's like what do you, what dowe need to do?
You just tell me, just let usknow.
And that the team was amazing.
I didn't have to worry.
I mean money.

(51:33):
You know you always need tofundraise, you need to do it.
So the staff number one isfantastic.
Number two again the board.
I cannot tell you how you're ina board meeting and somebody
says we need to pray for Mistyright now.
You know that's, I mean, theywould lay hands on.
At one meeting they laid handson me.
Another meeting they prayedover me, the emails, the phone

(51:54):
calls, the text, and it was.
I have a board member, tomCarrico.
He grew up in this communityand he said it's about you.
We got to get you healthy,cause we know if you're healthy,
we'll be okay, too healthy.
So, um, that's, that's that wastheir focus, is what we need to
do to help you and we'll getthrough it.

(52:14):
And they did.
I mean, they've helped me, yeah, so it's, it's been amazing.

Speaker 3 (52:20):
Boy, if that doesn't tell you you're at the right
spot you're at the rightlocation, working and working
with the right people in theright community, so to get rid
of the cancer.
What's the next stage?

Speaker 5 (52:32):
Well, um, there was.
They did a lot of research.
So, just to make it a littlebit more complicated, the, your
nerve system, flows from the topof our head down through our
neck, across our chest, you know, and.
And the lymphatic system isextremely important to our
health, our body.
And so they actually had totake it to a tumor board is what

(52:54):
they call it at IU.
And they had to analyze am, amI?
Should they do surgery?
Should they not do surgery?
Let's, should we do theradiation first?
So it was decided that surgerywould be too dangerous because
of where it was located, so itcould create nerve issues in my
face and my hands and my arms.
So they determined let's goahead.
And they found out it wasestrogen-based cancer.

(53:16):
So put me on shots and put meon pills and then we started
that first.
And then I did six to sevenweeks of radiation at Muncie, at
IU, ball, and again, thiscommunity is amazing.
You can drive like two weeks.

(53:36):
You can do pretty good thefirst two weeks of treatment.
The third week is when youstart getting tired, and the
treatment was in my neck and inmy shoulder, so the neck part
they had pretty much said youmight be on a feeding tube,
you're going to lose your voice.
This is going to be a verydifficult journey for you and I

(53:58):
mean I believe in supplements.
I take a lot of supplements, mydiet.
We changed my diet and, um, Ididn't.
I had like a couple of weekswhere my voice was really soft
spoken.
I still have raspy issues withit, but we started the journey
and again I, so I you thinkabout that.
That.
How are we going to do this?

(54:18):
So Tim's gonna have to take offtime from work and driving me
up there after those like fourweeks, and it's every day.
And I had friends call thatwere retired and and it wasn't
how can I help?
It was tell me when yourappointments are and I'm gonna
drive you.
So I had a driver every day ofthe week.

(54:39):
Volunteers drive me to Munciefor five weeks.
It was amazing.
And the issue with food like Icouldn't really eat.
So they started feeding TimLike they would just drop food
off for Tim.
He didn't have to worry aboutfood because that was me being
so tired, I couldn't cook, Icouldn't.

(55:00):
So my routine was I was pickedup at the at the house by eight
30,.
Drive me up for treatment, behome.
I'd taken about about a 20minute, 30 minute nap and then I
I worked every day.
Except the last two weeks Iworked from home, but I worked
every day for about four hours.
I'd go in for four hours, hard,difficult.
But I wanted the staff I didn'twant the staff to feel like I

(55:23):
wasn't fighting, you know.
I wanted them to see that I wasfighting.
I wanted the staff to know thatI'm right here, not going
anywhere.
I might look horrible today, Imight sound horrible today, but
I'm right here.

Speaker 4 (55:40):
And so that was important to me to make sure I
was there for them.
You still got that 20 year oldlittle girl at the chamber.

Speaker 3 (55:45):
That's amazing.
So you, you go through all thetreatments.
The community's amazing.
And we talked about this lastweek because I happened to go to
a funeral, I think, the daybefore you and I met and, and
just how important it is, Ithink you know.
It's one thing when somethinghappens to an individual or to a
family, something tragic or adiagnosis of cancer, it's one

(56:06):
thing to to reach out and say,hey, I'm here for you if you
need anything.
Or hey, I'm praying for you.
It's another thing to lay handson you and to pray with you.
It's another thing to call youand say, once your appointment,
I'm going to pick you up and Ihope anyone listening out there
I know we have a ton of greatlisteners, great people who care
about individuals and abouthelping others, but I want you

(56:28):
to think about that next timesomething happens to someone
that you know, maybe somebodyyou don't know, instead of just
saying how can I help, sayinghey, when's the treatment?
Yeah.
I'm going to get you there.
I'll be there on Monday.
I think that that is superimpactful and I think it's very
important for people to hear,because I get caught in that too

(56:48):
.
You know, there's things thathappen all the time and you say,
hey, I'm here, you send a text,I'm here for you, let me know
if I can help in any way.

Speaker 5 (56:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (56:55):
Just do it.

Speaker 5 (56:56):
Yeah, it's very.
You don't ask, it's hard.
I have a friend right nowthat's going through treatment
and she's driving.
She's been driving herself fortwo weeks and I called her
yesterday on her drive up and Isaid, how are you doing?
She said today's hard.
I'm like, well, from here on out, I mean, let me, I'm going to
look at my schedule.
I'm gonna do the same thing oneday a week.

(57:16):
I can't do five, but if I cando one.
But you don't want to botherpeople, you don't want, as the
patient, I don't want to have tosay, dan, do you have time to
help me?
I don't want to do it becauseit's your fight, it's your
journey, it's where?
But you're right, when somebodycalls or sends the text, when's
your next appointment?
And I, you know, I hadpickleball people, I had

(57:42):
Coddington's, kathy Rowland, Ihad Rachel Hughes, I mean Betty
Blank, I mean I can go throughthe list of people that just
gave of their time just to driveme and that allowed me to rest.
It allowed me to.
If I needed to do some work inthe car, I could, but just
letting me sit there and restwhile they drove it's amazing it

(58:06):
is.

Speaker 3 (58:06):
It is so.
You get through thosetreatments.
Now what?

Speaker 5 (58:10):
The longest wait ever .
My last radiation treatment wasDecember 6th and March.
The end of March is when I hadmy PET scan.
So apparently radiation worksin your body three to six months
.
And so they still wanted it tosettle.
I was, I'm still taking theshots, I'm still taking the
pills, that all was stillhappening and but they ended up

(58:36):
having it at the end of Marchand my sister was with me and we
walked in and I, frankly, Ianticipated.
The one thing I didn't say aboutthis is it was in my rib.
They found cancer in my eighthrib.
They didn't know if it was inthe tissue or the bone because
it was so small.
And they all agreed we have tofocus on your lymph nodes first.
So let's do that and your pecmuscle and then we'll come back

(58:57):
and focus on the ribs.
So really, when my sister wentwith me and I thought we were
just going to hear, I felt goodabout the lymph nodes because
the swelling had gone down, Ifelt better, I wasn't in pain
like I was, but I really didn'tever pray about the rib or think

(59:18):
about the rib, because Iexpected her to say OK, we've
done this, now we're going tofocus on the rib.
That was the plan.
Well, so when she sat down andshe looked at me and my sister
and Tim was on the phone, hecouldn't be with us.
She said, well, I just I havegreat news.
She said everything's clear.
And I said the lymph nodes,right?
She said no, everything.
Are we the lymph nodes, right?

(59:43):
She said no, everything.
Are we sure been down this roadbefore?
Yeah, yeah, and she said sheturned the report back over to
me.
She's like that's what it says.
Okay, well, my sister is wayhigh, more hyper than I am, and
she's holding my hand and I'mlike how is that possible?
And she went what are youtalking about?
Like this is a miracle, what'swrong with you?
She's barking at me, but it I,you know, I didn't ask for the

(01:00:09):
rib, I didn't ask for healing inthe rib, I didn't ask.
So I was shown mercy and um,but it took me 24 hours because
I really did not believe it.
Because, you're right, I heardthis before and I've got side
effects.
You know I, my eye still isn'tnormal.
I'm worried about that.

(01:00:30):
Still, I have lymphedema.
I'm worried about that.
Still, this doesn't seem likethis is possible.
And it took over 24 hoursbefore I even posted anything on
Facebook.
I still worry, I still like isit possible?
But um, but it is.
I mean, the report is thereport.

Speaker 3 (01:00:49):
As strong as you are in your faith.
Why do you worry?

Speaker 5 (01:00:52):
I know right.

Speaker 3 (01:00:53):
What are you?

Speaker 5 (01:00:53):
afraid of.
I see you're going to make mefeel guilty and I'm going to
have to have my own altar callhere me feel guilty and I'm
going to have to have my ownaltar call here.
Thanks, dan, sorry, good Lord,oh, I know, and I feel bad about

(01:01:15):
it.
I mean, it's a circle of thankyou Jesus, thank you Lord.
Really, are you sure it's justa circle circle, and I, I think
it still comes back to um thatyou know, five years ago, six
years ago, and I think it's like, okay, I was told, but maybe
I'm not, and I still that 20 youknow it was 2 am in the bed and
I was looking up at the ceilingand I'm thinking, okay, what
other tests can we take?

(01:01:36):
Well, the blood work shows, I'mfine, pet scan shows, I'm fine.
So what else you get?
An mri is not going to showanything.
The pet skin's the best thingfor cancer to look at.
I'm like, okay, what else?
And I just in my own guilt, or avoice in my own head, or the
lord, whatever, however it was.
It was like, if you can'tbelieve that the machine, you

(01:01:57):
can't believe the test, then youneed to trust in God.
Like this is another gift,accept it.
So you're right.
I mean, as strong as my faithis, I'm still in this cycle of
like is it real?
Is it real?
Is it real?
Is it real?
My dad and if dad watches this,he'll be yelling at the screen,
probably to say you're supposedto believe, believe, accept it.

(01:02:19):
It's the healing.

Speaker 3 (01:02:20):
You're human yeah it is.

Speaker 5 (01:02:24):
But it's another opportunity God's given me and I
know that I'm not done.
I think you know my scripture,dad.
Two things dad told me when Istarted the journey.
The first time was journal,journal, journal whatever.
If it's anger, if it's scare,if it's fear, whatever it is,
you journal it, raw feelings,and then find one scripture

(01:02:47):
that's your scripture that youhold on to.
And mine was jeremiah.
Jeremiah 29 11, for I know theplans I have for you.
Right, I'm not going to harmyou, um but I'm going to take
care of you.
And so I hold on.
I held onto that scripture andthat is my that.

(01:03:07):
It's Angela McDaniel.
She is a friend of ours and sheher son went through is is
still going through, someillness, but she had that on a
board and she delivered it to usand on the back of it it has.
That was his and she passed iton to me and I'll be passing it
on to somebody else someday, butright now I'm still holding it.

(01:03:27):
It's still in my bedroom.

Speaker 4 (01:03:31):
That's pretty cool.
That's your scripture, and andyou know when you're, when
you're there with your mom andyou're breaking down on the
recliner and your dad's friendcalls you and prays for you what
do you tell you about the plan?
God's not done with you yetGod's not done with you, so I
have a plan for you.
Then that's your scripture.
That's just beautiful it is.

Speaker 5 (01:03:52):
I'm still here.
I'm still kicking.
Maybe not as energy level, itmight not be as strong as it has
been in the past, but we'restill here and I'm grateful for
the opportunity to still be here.

Speaker 3 (01:04:03):
Yes, yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:04:07):
What are you afraid of?
I'm not afraid of dying.
I mean, I've been faced withthis, you know.
I'm not afraid of dying, I'mafraid of not being with Tim, my
husband.
That's a.
I know that's weird for me, Imean, but that day we had our
very heart to heart conversationin that living room and it is

(01:04:29):
just the two of us.
It's like I don't, I'm notready to let you go yet.
I'm not ready.
He, his words, were if this isGod's way and you need to go, I
understand it's not that I'mready for it, but if this is
what needs to happen, Iunderstand.
For me, I'm not there yet.
I still look at him every dayand I want to be with him.

(01:04:51):
And when I was chasing himaround the IU East campus and he
wasn't wanting me to chase himanywhere it was really about I
can't see my.
You know, look down the road.
I can't see my life with himnot in it, and that, for me, is
a big deal.
So it's like, okay, I still,I'm 53.
He's 61.

(01:05:13):
There's still time.
But I don't see my life withouthim in it.
And our marriage is muchdifferent now than it was.
You know, when you first getmarried, you're all excited and
your heart goes pitter patter,pitter patter and in mine does,
it just goes slow or pitterpatter.
So we're in a stage where he'smy best friend and and we do

(01:05:35):
life together.
So that's what I'm afraid of.
I wasn't ready, I'm not readyto let him go and I'm afraid
that that time had come and Idon't want it to be here.
Um, so that yeah if that's whatI'm, nothing else really scares
me.

Speaker 3 (01:05:53):
That's powerful.
It's a true love story.
I mean really.
You know everybody's.
When you think of a love story,you think of this just
beautiful, everything's perfect,but it's not, you know you're
chasing him around at IU, right?
He finally slows down and andand he falls in love, and you

(01:06:14):
fall in love.
You get to where the challengesof not being able to have
children, yeah all in love.
You get to where the challengesof not being able to have
children, all the differentchallenges I mean, even though
they were good opportunities toswitch those jobs, there's still
challenges right, it changesyour life.
You get the cancer diagnosisfor the first time.
You're clear, or you're toldyou're clear, and then you get

(01:06:40):
it again and what do you saythrough the whole thing, you're
not afraid of dying, you'reafraid of leaving your house I
know where I.

Speaker 5 (01:06:49):
I mean I'm with the lord, I mean he's my savior, and
I mean this earth isn't thefunnest place to be in sometimes
right, you're.
I mean, this doesn't give ustheir joy is a choice.
Happiness is a choice.
Those are choices, and wakingup out of the bed every day is a
choice.
Like I'm getting out of bed,okay.

(01:07:09):
Um, here we go.
I'm reading the book.
Let them have you read that.
Yet it's a.
It's a newer book that's outright now, and one of the things
that she talked about theauthors that she struggled at
their most difficult time intheir life, financially, just to
get out of bed, and she startedthis routine of five, four,
three, two, one go.
You know that's how she wouldget herself out of bed every day

(01:07:33):
.
So I mean, but yeah, I, if it'smy time to be with the Lord, I
am good.
But you're right, I'm just notready to leave Tim yet.

Speaker 3 (01:07:44):
That's pretty awesome .
All right, we're going to tryto land this plane.

Speaker 5 (01:07:47):
You land it, you land it.
It's been great to be with youguys.

Speaker 3 (01:07:51):
It's been great, but I got two final questions.

Speaker 5 (01:07:53):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (01:07:54):
If you could sit on a park bench and have a
conversation with someone livingor deceased who would it be and
why?

Speaker 5 (01:08:00):
Thanks for giving me a heads up on this, because I
think in different phases ofyour life it would be a
different person.
Right now, where I'm at, is mygreat grandmother First female
to be licensed to be a preacherin the UPC church, had breast
cancer and survived in a timethat.
I don't know how she survived,but she did, and she was a

(01:08:25):
prayer warrior.
Like I would come home fromschool.
That's where we'd go, was herhouse and she was on the floor
on her face and that's how sheprayed and you would hear out
loud.
So I think I would love to sitdown with her and talk about her
adversities, her challenges,because I know she had faith
challenges too.

(01:08:45):
So how did she get?
She was just my great grandmathen, but now I'd really want to
dig into all that with her.
So that's where I would betoday.

Speaker 3 (01:08:55):
That's a great answer .
You've already given us a bibleverse, but maybe is there
another bible verse or a quote.
When you're just down and out,when you're you're questioning
god, when you're questioningeverything that's going on the
doctors and nurses and all thosethings, those challenges that
you face, is there a bible verse, is there a quote that you lean
on?

Speaker 5 (01:09:15):
well, the bible verse I still lean on is jeremiah 29,
11.
But I I would.
So I'm a visual person.
It has, everything has to bevisual.
I mean I have to have it goalson a chart in my office.
I have to.
You know, pictures help me.
And that visual for me is stillrunning to him, like running to

(01:09:36):
him not away but to, and evenin my prayer time.
Okay, god, I'm running to him,not away but to, and even in my
prayer to him.
Okay, god, I'm running to you.
You're going to have to lift meup, pull me across, and you've
heard, you know the footprintsof you know I've I carried you
the whole way.
You look back and you see twofootprints and those are mine.
I'm carrying you and so I thinkthat that's where I have to see

(01:09:59):
it.
That's where I have tovisualize that every day I'm not
alone.
There's people around me.
But for my walk with the Lordand owning that relationship now
is it's all about me and him.

Speaker 3 (01:10:14):
Amazing.

Speaker 4 (01:10:16):
Ben, you got anything to add?
No, I just keep.
I don't know.
This whole thing was justamazing.
I mean your faith.
I feel like the people that arelistening that maybe you know
aren't strong in their faith ormaybe don't know where to start.
I feel like, wherever we are,we always get back to the same
thing of you know, you feel thatdoubt and you know in the Bible
he talks about I forget what,you know what scripture it is,

(01:10:36):
but they talk about that doubtthat you have where he's like.
Well, if you believe, and wellwait, can you feel my unbelief?
Right, jesus, can you feel my?

Speaker 5 (01:10:45):
unbelief.

Speaker 4 (01:10:45):
Yeah, exactly, and and and help me in that way.
And what happened?
He still healed him, right.
So I feel like we all have thatunbelief and stuff sometimes,
but you just ask God to help uswith that and I just feel like
it's so beautiful.
You know you're, you're raisedin faith, but you still, you
know, when you start goingthrough those challenges, you,
you grow stronger in therelationships, right, like we
can know the stories, know allthis, but it's our stories, like

(01:11:07):
we are that testimony, likeeach one of us has a testimony,
the whole point of our, ourpodcast and just your testimony
is so powerful and and you know

Speaker 5 (01:11:20):
the relationship with Jesus and your faith is just.
It's awesome.
Well it's.
I don't want anybody to have togo through what I went through,
and maybe I'm just hardheadedand God had to catch my
attention in a different waythan others.
I don't know, but it's stillabout you have to.
It has to be real for you andit has to your walk.
You've gone through that.
Both of you have have whereit's yours.

(01:11:40):
I mean you have to, it has tobe yours and whatever what life
brings to us, you know we'll getthrough it.
Yeah, I appreciate.
I appreciate this.
I appreciate the opportunityfor you to let me share I
appreciate you being vulnerable,yeah well, I'm definitely
vulnerable today and what'd yousay?

Speaker 3 (01:11:58):
you came in here.
I don't have a story.

Speaker 5 (01:12:00):
I know I've watched all your podcasts.
I'm like I told my husband lastnight oh my Lord, I am not one
of these people.
But if it'll help somebody,hopefully it helps somebody
today 100%.

Speaker 3 (01:12:11):
Well, misty, we thank you for sharing your incredible
journey.
Battles you've faced, but thelight you continue to shine
through your service, yourleadership and your faith.
Your story is a reminder thateven in life's darkest moments,
we can rise, we can serve and wecan lead with purpose.
On behalf of Ben and I andKevin here, with Be Tempered and

(01:12:32):
everyone listening, I thank youfor the impact you've made and
continue to make in thiscommunity.
We're better because of peoplelike you.

Speaker 5 (01:12:39):
Thank you guys.
I appreciate y'all.
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:12:41):
If somebody wants to connect with you social media
website, how can they get intouch with you?
All those good things.

Speaker 5 (01:12:48):
Yeah, Um well, I work at the Y, so they're welcome to
call there.
But um, mistyhollis at yahoocomis my email.
You can reach out to me thatway too.

Speaker 3 (01:13:04):
I'm on.
I'm on Misty D's Hollis onFacebook Instagram.
There you go, absolutely thereyou go.
I would encourage you to reachout to Misty.
She's as you've heard.
Uh, you still got that Southerntwang.

Speaker 5 (01:13:09):
A little bit, a little bit.

Speaker 3 (01:13:12):
What an awesome story there's.
There's someone out there thatneeds to hear this.
There's one person there's morethan one person out there that
needs to hear this.
There's one person, there'smore than one person out there,
but there's so many that aregoing to be impacted by your
story.
So everybody continue to likeand to share.
We appreciate all the love andsupport that we continue to get
with the podcast and we'll keepthis thing rolling into year
number two.
Go out and be tempered.

Speaker 1 (01:13:34):
Hi, my name is Allie Schmidt.
This is my dad, Dan.
He owns Catron's Glass.

Speaker 2 (01:13:39):
Thanks, Allie.
Things like doors and windowsgo into making a house, but when
it's your home you expect morelike the great service and
selection you'll get fromCatron's Glass Final replacement
.
Windows from Catron's come witha lifetime warranty, including
accidental glass breakagereplacement.
Also ask for custom showerdoors and many other products
and services.
Call 962-1636.
Locally owned, with localemployees for nearly 30 years.

(01:14:00):
Kitchen's Plus, the clearchoice.