March 18, 2025 • 55 mins
In this heartfelt episode, It's a colorful tapestry woven from laughter, memories, and the anticipation of what lies ahead.
We discuss the nuances of gifting experiences over material items and reflect on what it means to prioritize relationships and shared moments. We also introduce an upcoming Podcast-a-thon aimed at supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing joy to children facing life-threatening illnesses, and provide insights into the transformative Give Kids the World charity.
Unpacking the significance of faith in our lives, we celebrate her inspiring journey, remarkable achievements, and how her resilience stirs hope within our community. Join our discussion as we focus on embracing life, encouraging each other to pursue our dreams, and the profound impact of giving back to those in need.
Tune in for a rich conversation that will uplift your heart and inspire action. We encourage you to find joy in the little things while making a difference for loved ones and families in need. Embrace the journey with us, subscribe, share, and become part of our mission to make dreams come true!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
hello, hello, hello.
It is dana diaz with mybeautiful red-headed sister from
another, mr dr victoria, withher beautiful red glasses that
I'm envious of.
I need a pair of those.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I have pink glasses somewhere I don't know so many
pair to try to find and I waslike I told my husband I want to
put on a pair of glasses andhave you go.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Oh, that's it no those are, honestly, they look
amazing on you.
They look amazing.
Like I said, red is my favoritecolor anyway, but it looks like
just stunning with your eyesand your hair and your lights.
You just look.
You just look fabulous.
My green eyes just pop they pop.
They really do, honestly.
But I mean, and your hair?
(00:42):
I mean, if people don'tunderstand what your red hair
looks like, it's just beautiful.
I mean, I love it.
I wish I had something moreexciting than brown hair.
But in the summer I get thehighlights.
I get the natural highlights soI don't have to go dye my hair,
and so it kind of hides thegrays when I have some blonde
(01:03):
highlights hair, and so it kindof hides the grays when I have
some blonde highlights in there.
Oh no, I'm getting gray.
It's so sad.
And every once in a while I getlike that Italian grandma chin
hair that I yeah, doug willstart laughing at me.
And then I run for the tweezers.
I'm like, oh my god, and it'slike an inch long hanging from
my chin like a little goatee.
Jesus Christ, it's awful aging.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I don't recommend it but it's better than the
alternative ah, what's thatdying, or yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, I mean it's a slow death life, but you know so
we're gonna talk today a littledifferent.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Today's episode is gonna be a little different, um,
because we have so muchexciting things to talk about.
Number one what happens today?
What's coming out today, whatis it?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
It's my husband's 60th birthday today.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Oh Drew.
Happy birthday, dougie.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yes he's old.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
What are you giving him?
Keep it PG rated.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Don't put this on air .
I didn't get him I don't know,michael.
No, no, no.
It's not that we're having abig party for him on Saturday,
but I mean, he's one of thesepeople who has everything.
He has everything he needs andif he wants something, he goes
and buys it.
There is nothing you can.
(02:24):
And when I try to buy him stuff, he's just like, oh okay,
thanks, and then it just sitsthere until I sell it on
Facebook marketplace orsomething.
I can't do that anymore, but no, honestly, or I give the stuff
away.
It's ridiculous.
So I love him very much andthat is my gift to him today and
dinner and the party hey, itsounds good to me.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
What else is today?
Speaker 1 (02:56):
crickets, crickets.
No, my third book is beingreleased today that's very
exciting my third book is beingreleased today.
Oh, the one that I got beforeeverybody else, the one that you
got first, though You're theonly person yet who has read it
outside of well, Doug has readthe first part of it.
He has not read the second partyet, but yeah, you are the one
(03:20):
and only I know.
Yeah, I went through it.
I was able to read it in anentire day but, granted, I was
sick that day when I was doingmy final reread.
But it is.
It's the shortest book I'vewritten yet, which it you know.
I was pretty proud of thatbecause I've been uh, the
publisher has been on my assabout my books are too long.
(03:41):
Keep it to 90,000 words andunder and I go giving them like
220,000 words and 160,000 wordsand you know, none of the other
two were like oh my god, this isjust dragging none of them.
I I think maybe the second one.
For me it dragged a little bitand there were parts that I'm
like why, why is this even inhere?
(04:02):
But but they wanted those partsin, so we left them and that
book I was just kind of like Ididn't even want to write it.
To be honest with you, it waskind of icky.
It was about my childhood, soit's just that icky stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It's so informative Like it really tells you more.
It explains more of the story,explains more of the background?
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I think it does, and people, if you read the second
book, the impact of the thirdbook will be felt that much more
because you'll understand whereI'm coming from as far as
family and that kind of stuff.
But yes, I'm very excited aboutthat because this third book is
(04:38):
actually the one that mostpeople have been on my butt to
write since the first book cameout.
Everyone wanted to know whathappened next, like the next
season on the show on Netflixwhat happened next, and so I
gave them what happened next andit's still happening, but you
know you got to end the booksomewhere, so we did, and it's
coming out today and I purposelyput it out today because it was
(05:01):
Doug's 60th birthday today andI wanted it to be momentous.
I like having release dates formy books.
That means something like myfirst book, which was about my
first marriage, was released onmy ex's birthday and I said it's
my rebirth day, yes, Releasingthis book.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
So you know that's a nice gift for Doug, like that's
a gift right there.
Hey, I wrote a book.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
And I dedicated the book to him.
So that was kind of my thing,yeah.
So I mean, you know who getsthat on their 60th birthday?
Right, we're gonna go with it,we're gonna go with it, and I am
not a bad wife.
For the record, I have takenhim on tropical trips on his
birthday.
I have taken him to the Daytona500 very you know what was it
fourth or fifth row.
I have taken him on trips outof the country.
(05:51):
I have taken, I have.
He has had some interestingexperiences with me, but
everybody gets it.
I'm at a loss because it's likewhat else do you get a man when
he has everything Right?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
a feisty Puerto Rican .
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah, that's going to be the gift today.
So what else is going on today?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
So I have a couple of announcements and I have not
put out anywhere, but we'regoing to do it here.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yay.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
First of all, our podcast-a-thon will be released
on March 15th and all proceedsgo to give kids the world.
We are working with give kidsthe world because we are
arranging a time for myself andfaith and michael to go down
there and do some live videoingand also do some recording with
the families and make somememories for them where they can
(06:45):
take um an episode home andalways have that to remember,
because a lot of these familieshave either chronic or terminal
children, and that's the pointof going to give kids the world.
You either have to be chronic orterminal to be with them, and
it's a make a wish, uh, which acontagious smile is partnered
with, is make a wish, and so, um, we're gonna do that and that
(07:09):
launches.
And then I got the coolestcoolest and this has not been
told anywhere, so big, you know,breaking news.
Um, we have been asked toparticipate as not only an
alumni for the regional make awish, which is going to be huge
(07:30):
we're talking like ridiculous umbut also we are going to be on
the forefront with, like, all ofthe celebrities and oh, my
goodness we're not only analumni family, but we're going
to be out there doing giveawaysand bringing light to this.
(07:51):
So in the podcast academy that Ihave created, I have also
created a section just foreither special needs families or
survivors of domestic violenceand narcissism, and we're going
to have classes in there.
We're going to have resourcesin there.
We can actually do lives whereyou and I can come in and you
(08:13):
can come in and talk and we canput stuff up there, like where
your books are and how to getthem and also which is like
super, super cool is we arecreating, which I think this is
adorable I've never announcedthis to anyone is going to be.
When we go out there, we aregoing to put all of the kids,
whether they are the Make-A-Wishrecipients, alumni or siblings
(08:35):
of.
We're going to have cardscreated, like I did for you
about the police.
Yeah, we are going to make themVIP members of the stucco squad
.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Oh, I love that.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And who doesn't love a dog?
That?
And who doesn't love a dog?
Right, who doesn't love a dogand a service dog or just a dog
in general, is the one bestfriend who wants nothing but
unconditional love from you.
Right, they are going to bethere with you through the ups
and downs.
They go with you to everymedical doctor's appointment.
They get to go with you tox-ray and MRI and CAT scan.
They go everywhere except theOR.
(09:12):
They can go and stay with youwhen you're in the hospital.
They stay with you.
And so we are making the wholething Like.
I've already created a bookyears ago about stucco it was
about two years ago and it's astucco activity book and we're
going to give those out to thekids and then we're going to
(09:34):
give them the promo uh card thattells them that they're now vip
of the stucco squad and theyare going to get to join up and
take classes from stucco andthey're going to get activity
sheets from stucco and it'sgoing to be where they can get
birthday cards and holiday cardsfrom stucco and they're going
to get activity sheets fromstucco and it's going to be
where they can get birthdaycards and holiday cards from
stucco and it's going to beamazing.
(09:55):
And then we are offering forthe make-a-wish ball, which is
just insane.
Uh, five or six years ago wewere asked to attend and it's
ridiculous to get a parkingspace and it's ridiculous to get
a parking space for the ball is25 grand, like something
(10:16):
ridiculous.
Right, heavy heavy hitters, andwe are going to offer, we're
going to offer to have um faithcome on stage for the ball,
which she's already.
Like I have to wear an eveninggown.
Like I have to be able todesign it and I'm thinking, oh
my God, I got to get dressed upand wait, my husband has to get
(10:36):
dressed up.
Who on our first wedding I hadto get into?
Like you have to wear shoes.
Like he wanted to get married inblue jeans and you know, and I
was like you're wearing boots,like you're going to put boots
on your feet, and so we're goingto offer for a raffling to be
(10:56):
on with Faith who is?
a Wish alumni and a successfulpodcaster and we're going to put
that out there and the highestbidder gets to do that.
And we're going to put that outthere and the highest bidder
gets to do that and we're goingto offer that.
So I actually have a meetingwith the Make-A-Wish team on
Friday.
And they were so funny becausethey were like, oh, can you meet
(11:17):
with us Thursday?
And I'm like I can't, I havesurgery.
And they're like oh, and I waslike no, it's fine, I can meet
with you Friday.
And they're like how?
Speaker 1 (11:24):
And I'm like no, no, it's fine, I'll meet you, no,
because it's you, because you'rethe only person in this entire
universe that's just like yeah,it's just another day, it's just
the day after surgery, no bigdeal.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
So yeah, we're meeting on Friday and we are
going to be discussing all ofthese amazing things.
And then last night my husbandwent to bed at 8 pm, go figure.
And he woke up at midnight andhe was like, what have you been
doing?
I'm like, oh, I've created theplatform for Powerhouse and I've
created the platform for StuccoSquad and I've already had
(11:59):
Faith help me.
We've written another bookabout you know, being a kid.
That doesn't.
You don't want to be ordinarywhen you're extraordinary, and
it's amazing.
And I just got to finish a fewlittle things and then we're
gonna get the book out there.
And he's like you guys wrote abook and you've done all that in
four hours.
And I was like, yeah, like what, what?
So this is what we've beendoing and it's gonna get.
(12:20):
Um, every time we talk aboutpodcast-a-thon or, uh, make a
wish, um, they're going topromote it on all of their sites
, so that's so super exciting.
So this episode, they're goingto promote it on all of their
sites.
So that's so super exciting.
So this episode, we're going tokeep it a little cleaner today
because it's going to bepublished on Make-A-Wish, it's
going to be published on GiveKids the World, it's going to be
published on all these othersites.
(12:41):
And so here I am saying to theparents, the moms especially,
please, for the love, I haveread, read and I'm a special
needs mom.
I'm a special needs personmyself.
I have read every one of dana'sbooks and I would say this and
have said this when I'veinterviewed other people or been
interviewed myself without danaanywhere around and she didn't
know that her books are a mustread.
(13:03):
They really, really are, and sogo get them.
I'm thrilled that her third onehas come out today.
I'm privileged to say that I'veread it ahead of time.
I'm very comfortable in sayingit's very informative and it's
amazing.
It really does reflect and helpyou really open your eyes to a
lot of things you might not havehad clarity on before.
And so we're going to bringDana into the world of
(13:27):
Make-A-Wish and Give Kids theWorld, apparently, today.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
I love that and you know it's funny because I always
loved the Make-A-WishFoundation.
I even remember, like in gradeschool and high school, you know
, every once in a while there'ssome project in some class and
(14:01):
you know we're always somebodythat's worse off than me.
I hate using the word normal,but forgive me without the.
I'm not trying to offend, butyou know I'm able to function as
a person is able to function,you know fully, and that's not
to say that anybody elsecouldn't, but without any
(14:22):
modifications.
And I I just always kind ofkept that in the back of my head
, like how lucky am I?
Like yeah, I go through stuff.
Who the hell hasn't gonethrough stuff?
We've all been through stuff.
But for those people who maynot have a tomorrow, those kids
that were my age but weresuffering some horrible,
(14:43):
terrible illness, I just wantedto be able.
You know, I just love the ideaof being able to give back to
them and say you know, I justlove the idea of being able to
give back to them and say youknow, here's something, here's
the highlight of your life,here's something.
Nobody else will have totreasure this memory except for
you.
And how amazing that is thatpeople are continuing to do that
(15:04):
to this day.
So I love that, I love being apart of it and I thank you for
bringing me on and for the nicewords about my books, because
you have written many, many abook too, my dear, and they are
well Narc Narc, the one rightbehind you there, narc Narc,
who's there?
That one is fantastic and youwant to talk about a book that
really opens your eyes.
(15:25):
Because what's different betweenour books?
I tell the stories.
You're telling a story, butyou're providing the actual.
I mean you have the actualemails, text messages,
screenshots, pictures, and it's.
It's almost like a like.
You feel like you're a privateinvestigator, like on a stakeout
, like you're turning the page,like what's this guy going to do
(15:47):
next?
Like, and you're predicting andwaiting, and you're turning the
page like what's this guy goingto do next, like, and you're
predicting and waiting andyou're searching the pictures
for the clues and it's.
It's interesting to go througha book in that way, instead of
being told what the story is,which is, you know, my way of
doing it.
But gosh, it's, it's anadventure and there are parts of
it that you're just like.
(16:08):
I can't believe this, but I socan believe it, because this is
a typical narcissist, you know.
But it's still, it's amazingthe things they do that are all
so very much the same, yet theystill we look at it like, really
, really, you did that.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Oh, it's just shocking but what's more amazing
about about it and not pleasantamazing is the fact that, like
when we were on our Make-A-Wishtrip, my sperm donor called and
asked us to cancel or come homeearly from the trip because he
needed help, because his wifeand son were on a cruise and he
was fending for himself and hecan't boil water, he couldn't
(16:49):
make toast.
So he was like I need you tocome back early because I can't
do anything.
I was like why don't you getthe ship to turn around because
I am not giving up my child'sonce in a lifetime opportunity
right for make a wish.
Are you kidding me?
People apply and we didn'tapply.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
A doctor did behind our back, not telling us
anything, and then we gotnotification that we were
granted and I was like that isso typical of a narcissist right
that they literally they wantto kind of minimize these
humongous things like I mean toto be selected for make a wish.
I mean I've never, but it is ahuge from what I hear.
(17:29):
It is a huge, not just an honorbut a huge undertaking you know
, to even go through the process.
So his attempt to minimize itand ruin it.
I mean, it's a typical thingNarcissists love to ruin your
birthday and Christmas, anyspecial day, any special event.
The spotlight cannot be on youand God forbid his granddaughter
(17:54):
.
It's got to be about him,because you know he can't pick
up the phone and order a pizzaor take out or whatever.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
But he could have got one of these girls Right?
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah, well it's.
You know, I've seen thesenarcissists.
I know a few of them in reallife, just a few.
And you know there was one thatI remember years ago that
decided to start havingrelations with the 18 year old
live in babysitter.
That was like five years olderthan his kid and I just remember
looking at him and being like,do you really think she's going
(18:28):
to wipe your butt when you're 80?
And she's, you know, 30 orwhatever, 40, running around
being cute and whatever.
But hey, she's still drivingaround in her Mercedes, from
what I see on social media, andliving this good life that he's
able to provide her.
She's probably hoping he kicksthe bucket sooner than later.
And but I don't know what thesemen think that you know they
(18:50):
don't.
These women are supposed toserve them and when nobody's
around to provide, you know,service to them, they call
somebody else, thinking thatyou're going to come running.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
But what an idiot but the thing is like every year,
you know, faith has donefundraisers since she was four
and we've even failed make awishet, because a lot of people
don't understand that it takesso many months to get a wish
granted Because they have to gothrough and get authorization
from the doctors.
They need to make sure thatthey are okay enough to do these
(19:22):
wishes and some of them aren't.
And then, for instance, if they, if the child, god forbid
doesn't make it to their wish,then Make-A-Wish also like, has
this closet metaphorically, andthey give stuff out of the
closet to the families and thesiblings and the Make-A-Wish
child and that's, that's just.
It is the fact that, like, wedid a lot of fundraising and we
(19:44):
would fill their closet as well.
And you know, when we went togive kids the world, it was so
amazing because I was at a lossand it was because you know,
like, as a police officer,you're, you're on high alert at
all times when you're going intoa domestic cause.
It's the most dangerous call togo on when you have a child
that codes or aspirates at thedrop of anything and doesn't do
(20:06):
the universal I'm choking,choking sign or she's not hooked
up to a pulse ox, or she's noton an apnea and all of a sudden
she stops breathing.
You know, you're always on highalert, and so when you get
ready to go down to give kidsthe world, they're like tell us
everything you need.
You know medically what kind offormula, what kind of g-tube?
What's the backup g-tube?
(20:26):
What kind of you know medicalequipment?
What kind of medical-tube,what's the backup g-tube?
What kind of you know medicalequipment?
What kind of medical supplies?
And I'm like what?
And they're like we got.
We got it.
Well, I'm always prepared, andso I had an emergency bag and
everything else when we gotthere to give kids the role.
Dana, first of all you, it'slike fort knox, which I love,
because what you don't realizeis there's one of the highest
divorce rates are amongstspecial needs families, because
(20:50):
and I hate to say it, and I'mnot, you know, putting into one
category, but most of the timeand it's factually based it is
the man who leaves, he doesn'twant to deal with the
responsibility.
And so then the kids like theyhave protocols, and I had to use
the protocols when Faith was inthe hospital, where they have
like all these different ways toto protect the family in case
(21:11):
the other party aka dad or spermdonor tries to show up.
And so, when you get to givekids the world, you come into
this beautiful gate and there'ssomebody there and you have to
get registered.
And then, once they know whoyou are, every time you come by
it's welcome home and it's thesweetest thing ever.
And you drive up and you comeinto one of the cottages that's
(21:32):
yours and when you walk in,everything you need medically is
there and it's set up andthey've had it shipped in for
you.
And then, like, you don't makeyour bed, you don't go.
When you go to the most amazingplace to eat, they have
volunteers that come and takethe tray for you and they're
(21:53):
like you don't lift anythingwhile you're here.
We take care of you and I'mlike but it's her wish, and
they're like but you need to betaken care of too, and you're
just like what?
And it's amazing?
And they, they take care of thefamily, like.
They're like hey, do you want,you know, a tattoo while you're
here?
and they do like the temporarytattoos of mayor Clayton who is
a, you know, a rabbit, and it'stheir mayor, it's their mascot,
or his wife or you know, andthey have a little beauty shop
(22:15):
for the kids and they get theirnails done and they can, you
know, get all pretty andpampered and then they have,
like the most amazing, it's 89acres and it's absolutely
flawless and it's amazing.
And you go there and itliterally will change your life.
People, flawless and it'samazing, and and you go there
and it literally will changeyour life.
People don't understand, itwill change your life.
So we're gonna go down when itgets cooler and I'm going to
(22:36):
literally walk and show you it.
Like, if you've never had towalk these paths, then you don't
understand and I hope thatpeople never have to.
But you know, you never know.
I never thought I'd be thebattered wife.
I never thought I'd be thebattered wife, I never thought
I'd be well into over 100surgeries, but you don't know.
And to know that this could beyou, god forbid.
And you see the joy and there'snot one kid walking around with
(22:57):
a frown on their face.
Nothing else matters.
Outside of those gates, like,everybody is so happy.
The kids are happy, the parentsare happy, they're making
memories that they will never,ever, ever get get to make again
and it is so criticallyimportant For families to have
that time.
Or it's not medical and so manyof the siblings have animosity
towards that kid because theyfeel like Everything is focused
(23:20):
on that child Right, and so theydon't get that time and love
and understanding that the otherchild does, because that child
has all this medical requirementand the other kids get hostile.
But this place treats everybodyequally and they make memories
and they bring the familiescloser together and I can't
speak enough about like this ismy favorite place in the world
to go.
(23:40):
If anywhere I've ever been, thisis it.
And I never thought that SanFrancisco would get beaten, but
it did, and this is just amazingand I love it.
And to even be allowed becauseit's not an offer I'm being
allowed to be a part of this islife changing and I'm beyond
honored to be able to be a partof it.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
That's so amazing.
I'm so happy for you guys andI'm happy that I mean I know you
would love you.
As you know, everyone who'slistening knows you sort of kind
of too, but I think that theygot really lucky having you on
their side and having you be apart of this, and I I think that
a foundation like that, anorganization like that, that
(24:23):
really you just pulls togetherall the right people for the
right reasons, I mean you can'tgo wrong.
There is nothing that anybodycan take issue with.
When it comes down to, you knowa child and a family that just
need some good memories, somepositivity, something to look
forward to, something toremember, you know, to hold on
(24:46):
to that.
So I love that, I loveeverything that you just said
and I, I I just can't wait tosee and hear, and you know all
the things that you share withus, so I'm bringing it with me.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
but like you know we one of her wishes.
Her wish was harry potter and Iwas so behind because I hadn't
seen or really focused on themovie and when we got there,
they were like, okay, do not geta wand, do not get this, do not
get that.
And they're like telling us I'mlike, okay, and they have a
building at universal that it'sonly for make-a-wish kids.
(25:18):
You cannot get into thisbuilding unless you're a
make-a-wish kid.
And we get in there and we'resupposed to be there at a
certain time, and we get likethe like.
First of all, you get to go goin front of everybody of your
own entrance into every singleride at Disney and Universal and
Epcot.
Like, and people are startingto like, why do they get to cut
in line?
And the attendees are like youdon't want to go through what
they've been through to be ableto have that ability.
(25:40):
And so we, we did all the ridesin the elevators and all that
stuff at Harry Potter and all ofa sudden, like we're doing all
these things, and then they takeus to this building and they're
like, okay, stay right here forjust a minute.
And then we walk down and as wewalk down, you've seen Harry
Potter, right, okay, so as we'rewalking down, there's all like
(26:02):
we're in a library and we'regoing through and every aisle
where there's books is a memberof the Harry Potter school or
whatever, and they're bowing tofaith as we walk down the
corridor and we walk down, andwe walk down, and we walk down
and like it gets so dark andwe're like, what are we doing?
(26:22):
And they're like get the cameraready.
Well, they also.
I had a photographer with us.
And they're like, just get it.
And so I have no, no, none, noneidea of what's going on.
And and she's so cute, and allof a sudden the light comes on
and the wand maker from everysingle movie of Harry Potter was
(26:43):
in front of us and she's like,and he says it's time for you to
.
You know, the wand picks you.
You don't pick the wand, and soI'm like looking over and I'm
like what?
Speaker 1 (26:56):
And I have no clue.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
And so they try to give her a couple of wands and
they teach her a couple.
He teaches her some potion orwhatever, yeah, and like all of
a sudden, she makes everythingfall off the wall.
And then, you know, he's like,oh aha, I got it, and it was
like the third or fourth wand.
And all of a sudden, like thelights come on and wind and all
of her hair is like whoosh, andyou know it's just amazing.
(27:20):
And then he's teaching herthese words to say and
everything she is being taughtis happening.
And then he spends like half aday with us and he's like okay,
when you see this and this andthis, do it.
So when we're walking around, wehad to like sign all this.
I signed all this stuff.
We got Harry Potter's wand fromthe second movie and then or
(27:42):
one of the wands he used, andthen we got the cloak of
Hermione for her to wear whilewe're walking around and a map,
and so we walk out and she usesthis little phrase and then a
frog starts spitting water outof his mouth and we go to these
places and then we have a guidewith us and he's telling her to
no right here, do it.
And then, like all of a sudden,this one person disappears and
(28:04):
she's like ha ha ha, like she'sall you know, and this goes
through the whole day.
And then we had um shaggy andscooby escort us around and oh
cool that was so incredibly cool.
And then betty boop comes up tous and she's looking at me like
who is this?
Like she's no idea who bettyboop is.
And then one of the mummieslike he was like eight feet tall
(28:27):
looks down on her.
That scared the bejeebies outof her and she tried everything
to wand him away.
It didn't work.
Yeah, so I mean, this went onand on.
And then another part of herwish I don't know if you ever
saw dolphin tail but I didthat's.
That's an old one, but yeah Itook her to see that in the
movie and she looks at me andgoes I get it.
Winter has no tail, I have notongue, and I'm sitting there
(28:50):
bawling in a movie and she'slike Winter can swim and I can
speak and I was just.
So we went to swim with Winteras well on our trip and Winter
gave Faith her favorite stuffedanimal and I have pictures of
them playing together and havingso much fun.
(29:11):
And Winter was Winter haspassed away since but just
amazing, oh amazing.
So she was in love with thiswhole concept.
So I got a tattoo of Winter onmy arm and because I have so
many scars, I didn't want to seethem and so I've tattooed our
journey to kind of cover up alot of the scars.
So part of our make-a-wish tripcame from there but to see
(29:35):
these and we were just walkingwith a whole bunch of other
make-a-wish kids and everybodywas happy.
And I know this is not thepremise of the show and I
apologize for that, but you knowthe thing is is that everybody
listens to us, has been throughheroic, horrific things, and
they are heroes now becausethey've come out on the other
side.
We were torn to pieces and wecame out on top, and that's what
(29:56):
the same is for these kids andthat's why I, you know, I say
I'm sorry because normally we'reso on topic, but in a way we
still are, because these kidshad their own fight and they're
still fighting, but they'rehappy and they have a smile and
there's so much we can learnfrom them and it's a really big
deal.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
I think that's it's a huge deal.
I think that that's actuallyperfect how you said that?
Because I think people forgethealing journey, whether it's a
physical healing or a mentaljourney of healing.
You honestly cannot evenconceive of having anything good
(30:37):
happen to you ever again.
Right, you lose hope.
I'm laughing because I laughwhen I'm nervous, because I
remember feeling like this is it?
I'm just going to die one day?
And that was it.
Like what a waste of a life.
And you know, hopefully one dayeverybody wakes up or somebody
else opens your eyes to whatlife can be.
(31:02):
If you look to see that thatside of it and for these kids
they're, they're experiencingthings they could have never
even imagined in their wildestdreams, or it's their wildest
dreams coming true, which is thepremise of the foundation.
But I think we forget that wetoo have that power, even if
you've never been throughanything horrific.
(31:23):
But if you have and you've lostthat hope and you've lost sight
of who you are and what youwant in life, you just have to
think it up.
Think it up and I think that wethink that we're asking too
much or we feel selfish, thatwell, it would be selfish for me
to make a decision that's goodfor me or that has anything to
(31:45):
do with anything that I want inlife.
God forbid.
I follow my heart, follow mydreams, do something I want to
do, especially when some of ushave been in situations,
especially when there isdomestic violence involved.
I mean, you're afraid to evenlook at somebody the wrong way,
you're afraid to wear something,whether it be lipstick, a
(32:06):
certain shirt, a dress, you'reafraid what you're going to cook
for dinner, and it's so scarythat you just the idea that I
can have a dream, I can dosomething that I would like to
do, I can have something thatI've always wanted actually come
to fruition.
We lose that and I think partof finding ourselves again is, I
(32:30):
say, like indulging indulgingyourself.
You know, I remember for me itwas the simplest thing.
I didn't have make a wish fornarcissistic abuse, but I
remember the first night my exwas not living under the same
roof as me.
I was like, oh my gosh, for howmany years dinner had to be a
meat and two sides.
But I couldn't have the samemeat two consecutive nights and
(32:54):
the sides couldn't be like twocarbs or two starches or
whatever.
And there had to be two.
There had to be two, god forbid.
I made like one side.
It was so stringent and I waslike, oh my gosh, I I don't know
what to make for dinner.
And then I was like veggieplate, but I can have what I
want for dinner.
(33:14):
And you know what I had?
I had a pint of butter pecanice cream, cause I said F it,
that's what I want.
That's what I want and it'ssuch a simple thing.
And somebody's going to say, oh, butter pecan ice cream for
dinner is nothing compared to achild who's terminally ill at
Make-A-Wish.
But at the same thing, isn'tthat kind of like your own
little Make-A-Wish?
(33:35):
You know, the little indulgencesthat we don't allow ourselves,
the things we don't give ourpermission ourselves permission
to experience, because, oh, wedon't want to upset anyone, we
don't want to upset the peace.
We don't want to, you know,don't want to upset the peace.
We don't want to, you know, goacross any boundaries that have
been set for us, as if we're adog in a yard with an invisible
(33:56):
fence, because if you cross thatline, you know you're going to
get shocked.
There's consequences.
So I think it's completelyappropriate and completely
related if people are open tolooking at that way, and I would
even challenge them it's.
I actually put something out onInstagram today about the same
subject, just saying do you dareto do something for you?
(34:17):
Do you dare to make thatdecision for yourself that will
possibly open up everythingyou've ever wanted in your life?
Because that's the key, and weall have it in ourselves.
Kids don't.
So kids need a little help,like foundations, like
Make-A-Wish, and from peoplelike you, you know, that are
helping and facilitating thesethings to happen.
(34:39):
But we as people in you knoweveryday life.
We have the power to.
We have the power to giveourselves our own wishes and
make our own dreams come true.
And there is nothing.
That's that you know.
You want to be an actor in amovie.
Go, start being an actor.
Go start auditioning.
There's ways you can do that.
(34:59):
Be be a behind the scenesperson, you know.
Be in the crowd of a hundredthat they pick.
Go, do something, take thosebaby steps, because once you
know what you want, it's hard tounsee it and it's hard to let
go of it and that's just it.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
I mean you, you, you absolutely said it because you
go in there and first of all,for me, I never, ever, took
faith out of the like one mileradius of the hospital, yet
alone on an airplane to adifferent state.
You know, and I'm thinking, oh,my God, how I mean.
I was asking a millionquestions how close is the
closest hospital?
We have a helicopter if we needto.
(35:36):
And I'm like, okay, what if didit?
You know, and I'm like askingevery single question and I was
physically trained in likeeverything under the sun before,
way before any of this.
And when we get there, it waslike under the sun before, way
before any of this.
And when we get there, it waslike wow.
And then you just go back andthink about how many people
you've heard complain I couldn'tget my kid to cheerleading and
(35:56):
soccer and I have no time for me.
And you're just like, really,take a day, take one day and and
live in this life.
Like you know, these kids don'tcomplain, they don't take
anything for granted.
Right?
They came up to to faith andasked her to be the emcee of the
parade, and here she is.
They send a horse-drawncarriage to pick her up.
(36:18):
Oh, my gosh, and we are, andit's a pajama party.
So we're in our pajamas and weget in the horse-drawn carriage
and we stop at a certainlocation and they say okay, mom,
because at this point it wasjust her and I on the
make-a-wish trip.
And they said okay, mom, um,we'll see you at the starting
line I'm like wait what, what,what, what, no, no, are you
(36:40):
kidding?
no, who's gonna be with her?
Are you kidding me like?
I'm like no, and they're likewe got her, it's fine, she's
gonna be fine, and I'm like I'mnot gonna be fine, you know, and
, and I was like no, no, no.
And I was like, can I see her?
Will I be able to see her?
No, she'll be around in about10 minutes.
And I'm like, because you know,I'm thinking all that can
transpire in a 10 minute periodof time with faith yeah and so
(37:02):
next thing, I know about 10minutes, 12 seconds later, you
know, because I'm like that'sthe longest 10 minutes of my
life because I've never beenaway from her at all, ever you
know she's in the hospital, Istay with her, I go home, she
goes home and all of a sudden Isee this beautiful firecracker
walking down, leading the parade, holding Santa Claus's hand and
(37:24):
I'm videoing it and she'swaving at everybody and there's
the gingerbread man behind herand there's elves behind her and
there's all these magicalcharacters behind her.
And she thinks she's the cat'smeow.
And she is.
And she is just walking around,happy and scooting her little
tushy.
And she gets on stage and Santais on there and he's like okay,
(37:46):
I'm going to have you dosomething Now we are in Florida.
And he goes okay, I want you tocount to three and I want you to
say make it snow.
And she's like, okay, and backthen she had really bad apraxia
and people had such a hard timedistinguishing what she was
(38:06):
saying.
And so she goes.
One, I have it on video, I'mgoing to send it to you.
Two, and she's looking allaround with her eyes, looking
around everywhere, and she'slooking up like I don't see
anything.
And then she goes three andthen four.
All you see is snow everywhere,coming out of everywhere, and
and she goes, make it snow andlike snow is everywhere,
(38:29):
everybody's dancing, she'sdancing and she's dancing with
Santa and I'm on, I'm in thefront line, and you don't
remember a doggone thing aboutanything medical at that point.
You're not thinking about thatfeeding tube or seizures.
You're not thinking aboutanything.
Tube or seizures.
You're not thinking aboutanything.
You're watching that gorgeouschild just laugh, belly laugh,
(38:49):
being so happy and full of lifeand love and happiness.
And I look to my left and Ilook to my right and there's
kids there in wheelchairs.
There's kids there hooked up toIVs and every single one of
them has the biggest smile ontheir face.
They are so happy.
There are kids leaning backlike wanting to feel the snow on
(39:11):
their face.
They are dancing around.
Here comes the gingerbread mandancing with the kids.
Here comes mayor claytondancing with the kids and his
wife, and everybody is justdancing around having a good
time and and no one is thinkingabout their next operation or
their their next chemo treatmentor their next transplant or
(39:33):
whatever it is.
And it's so amazing to have thepower to give that to a family,
and that's what they do, andit's so amazing.
And then, like, if they, if theycan't sleep, you can go to the
carousel and nobody's on it andit's 10 o'clock at night and you
know what they're going to.
Let you get on it and they'regoing to run it for you.
And that is what is so amazing.
They have wheelchairs at thepool that are water resistant,
(39:57):
so you can safely get in.
I don't know how they do it andthey can get submerged into the
water not over their head oranything.
And then they have putt-putt,where you go in there and like
the little ball pops out so youdon't have to worry about how
you can't play.
This is all made so thateverybody can experience it, and
they have some of the ridesthat Disney and Universal have
(40:20):
and you can get on them in awheelchair.
You know you can go, and everynight is a different party.
They have a different themedparty every single night.
And then all of a sudden, yousee characters walking around
like from Disney and Universalthat maybe the kids couldn't get
to because they weren't feelingso good that day.
But you don't know that,because these kids have this
huge smile on their face and itis the most amazing experience
(40:43):
you could ever have in your life.
And I just cannot say it enoughbecause you know nothing else
matters at the end of the day.
You know, jobs come and go,people who really don't
authentically mean to be in yourlife for whatever reason they
come and go.
(41:03):
But your heart, when you're atrue, authentic parent and
you're truly loving your child,then that is your life, that is
your child.
And when you see that childlook up into the sky and their
face has literally little snowflurries coming down on them and
they're laughing so hard thatthey're holding their belly
(41:23):
because they can't stop laughingand they're dancing around in
circles, it is the most warming,heart filling moment of your
life.
Because normally you're like Idon't want him to get another,
another stick, I don't wantanother IV.
You know how much more can theytake.
They're little kids, it's notfair, but they don't think about
(41:44):
any of that.
You know Faith said something tome that blew my mind.
She said you had a life beforeme and now you have a totally
different life because of me andthat's not fair for you.
And I was like Are you crazy.
You gave me my life, you mademe who I am.
You make me want to be a betterperson because you're so
amazing.
Your heart is so big that Iwant to be you Because of how
(42:09):
amazing you are.
I mean, she'll come out ofsurgery and We'll come out of
day surgery and she'll see kidsand they're all scared and sad
and she'll be like, can I talkto him For a minute?
And she, like I just had surgery, you're gonna be fine, and
she'll cheer him up and that'sjust her heart.
And that's where these kids andit makes you really think about
the pettiness of people who are, I mean, even grown adults, who
(42:31):
are so methodical about it'sall gotta be about me you know
that you will go to that pointwhere you take away from that
child, where that child has notasked to be sick, that child has
not asked to be ignored by you.
I mean, like when Faith was,you know, a year ago, and in on
life support and everything wasagainst her.
(42:51):
None of the grandparents oneither side, you know well, his
dad did, but other than his daddidn't reach out and they knew.
They knew what was going on andhow you do that as a human
being and put your head on apillow is beyond my recognition.
I cannot fathom or figure outhow you can do that to an
(43:11):
individual that has done nothingand the only thing they're
guilty of is innocence.
That's what they're guilty ofis innocence.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
Everything else.
You know what?
Is it really innocence?
Or is it that life just makesus all jaded?
Because what strikes me ofeverything that you're saying is
basically, these children arebeing put in situations where
everything that they have maybebeen made to believe or been
told is not possible is nowpossible, and when?
(43:42):
At what point do we stop?
You know, because we're told oh, that's not real, stop thinking
about that, it'll never happen.
All these disparaging thingsthat we're told from the time
we're little and all through ourlife.
And mainly because people don'twant to believe, people limit
themselves.
But when they limit themselves,they don't want you to have
(44:02):
anything that they don't haveeither.
So they start limiting you andthen you start internalizing
this stuff like you're trying to.
You know, I am imagining take,make a wish out of it.
If I'm in Florida and somebodysays, oh, make it snow, santa, I
can already hear a gazillionpeople that I know snow in
Florida and making these snideremarks.
(44:25):
You know, I have family inFlorida for a very long time and
you know what?
Every once in a darn while itdoes actually snow not certainly
like it did on command for thekids, but that's the whole thing
is these self-limiting beliefs,and I think that that's at
least I'll speak for myself, butI think it happens for a lot of
(44:45):
people, particularly in adultromantic toxic relationships,
where we develop theseself-limiting beliefs about what
we deserve or what we have, orthe possibility that things can
be different or that maybe, youknow, I'm not worthy of having
somebody that loves me the way aperson should be loved.
(45:06):
Be you know, I'm not worthy ofhaving somebody that loves me
the way a person should be loved, whatever it is.
And so I mean I'm literallygetting chills when you're
telling these stories about youand your, your daughter, your
family, being down there andexperiencing these things,
because I love the idea thatthings are possible, I love the
idea that these kids areforgetting everything that
(45:30):
they've been told is workingagainst them because it doesn't
matter.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Yeah, they're not a diagnosis, Doesn't mean anything
unless they make it meananything Exactly.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
Do you know how many people I, and I'm sure everybody
, knows that?
That friend or that relativethat was told they can't have
children and now they have threehealthy, beautiful children?
The person that I?
I know somebody who had aspecial needs daughter that they
were told, oh, she'll never,you know, achieve anything,
she'll never have a job, she'llnever drive.
(46:03):
She'll well, guess what she gother drive.
Well, guess what she got herdriver's license.
And guess what she has a job,and guess what?
She has her own apartment.
Does she need some assistance?
My God, she doesn't needassistance.
Exactly that I would love, wouldhave loved to have had from a
parent or a friend or anybody.
But when people are constantlythis world is constantly telling
(46:26):
us what we can't, or they'reshowing us images of women in
bikinis on beaches and you'relooking at your body like I
guess I can't wear a bikiniwe're constantly being told we
can't, we shouldn't, we won't,we'll never.
God love the Make-A-WishFoundation that they can show
these kids.
Screw it all.
(46:48):
You can, you can be whateveryou want to be.
You can be a princess, you canbe Harry Potter, you can be a
magician, you can make peopledisappear.
You can make it snow in a placethat it shouldn't snow.
I love this.
I love this.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
I love the three-year-old who cut my hair
and they dressed up.
She was like I can't say whatit is, I can't pronounce it, but
I am, whatever is killing meand she's like and I'm winning.
And you know, for the peoplewho think that some of these
kids don't amount to anything,I'm going to be just for a
minute.
I'm going to close us off withthis because I have a final
announcement.
Have a final announcement, um,but I want to just for a moment,
(47:28):
because I've had the privilegeand honor of working with so
many families over the last 19years and I have stayed very
close to many, many of them, andthe thing is is that I can't
speak on a half of a lot of themfor reasons and things of that
nature, but I can tell you faith, who was never supposed to make
it, is a five-time book author.
She's a six one on the way.
She has won an Emmy.
(47:48):
She had was.
She's gonna kick my tail forsaying that, but that's okay.
She's been interviewed onnational TV.
She's been interviewed on localtelevision.
She's been on radio.
She's been on everything.
And let's not forget that shehas a podcast that's in the top
1% globally.
She has millions of followers.
This kid was getting blood drawnat the hospital and they
recognized her voice and askedfor her autograph and she just
(48:10):
was like what they recognized.
She said my kids are obsessedwith you and she was like huh.
And I said you know, sorry, youknow, and the thing is is that
she doesn't want the fame.
She doesn't want therecognition, she wants to help
people.
That the fame.
She doesn't want therecognition, she wants to help
people.
That's all she wants.
The platform for this kid wastold she would never speak.
I have audio of her speakingconstantly throughout the course
(48:31):
of her life, because withapraxia you can't pronounce.
You know b's, p's and m's.
And then, on top of it, she hasa non-functioning, basically
non-existing tongue that's onlya couple millimeters wide, her
entire mouth anatomy isdifferent than yours and mine,
and yet she can say things likelemon lazy lollipop.
How do you do that without atongue?
Cause I don't know, but she cancome in here and say it better
(48:51):
than you and I.
You know she comes in here andshe's fluent in sign language.
Yes, she's special needs.
She has frontal, you know lobesituation and executive function
situations going on, but thiskid will come in here and light
up your life.
Give you the fight to drive,make you realize that you're
worth fighting for, and she willabsolutely light up a room just
(49:13):
by walking in it.
And if people, including thosein the family that had their
heads somewhere else and didn'teven realize that they had that
when they had her in her life,that's your loss, because that
kid is remarkable, she's amazing, and my greatest honor in life
is being her mom and I learnevery single day from her how to
(49:34):
be a better person, how to be abetter friend, how to be a
better human being.
And it's because of her.
And she doesn't quit.
She says I've danced with theReaper so many times and he's
not going to get me down.
And you know what I want topromise our listeners that I'm
going to do my very best, withmy bestie over here to do
(49:54):
another recording this weekbecause we are way off of our
normal radioing work that we do.
But I'm going to make thisannouncement and Dana had no
idea.
But again I want tocongratulate her on her release
of her book.
Go Run and Get it.
It's amazing.
Where is it?
Speaker 1 (50:14):
Well, I don't know.
I don't even know if we'vepushed the button yet at the
publishers.
It's called Rising from theAshes Breaking the Cycle of
Narcissistic Abuse.
But thank you.
Anywhere, books are sold online, but if you go to my website,
danasdscom, all three books arethere.
Click the link.
I think it takes you to Amazon.
(50:35):
You can get the e-book or theregular book either way, but
thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
And, of course, I want to thank Podcastathon and I
want to thank Make-A-Wish.
Thank Podcast-a-thon, and Iwant to thank Make-A-Wish and I
want to thank Give Kids theWorld.
And, like I said, dana and Iwill do everything we can.
This week I'll put out a secondepisode to replace this one,
but I want to surprise Dana,because I did not tell her I was
doing this.
I'm not deceitful, I just havea little, you know, I have a
little faith in me.
Like I have a little faith inme, I want to thank you, dana,
(51:01):
for helping me complete thepodcast-a-thon episode that I
will be airing on behalf ofMake-A-Wish and behalf of
podcast-a-thon.
That will be put out globallyto bring awareness to these
amazing organizations, and so Iwant to thank you for doing that
with me today.
Speaker 1 (51:17):
Well, there is no need to thank me.
You know I adore you and I'm inthis with you, and you know
it's just funny divineintervention sometimes brings
people together that would havenever met before, and we were
very fortunate that I wrote abook and you had a podcast and
there we met and it's just been.
(51:39):
I mean literally.
You guys are like family to me,and I'm just going to say one
thing in response to everythingyou said about your daughter.
She may not want fame or bedoing this for any personal
reasons, but the thing is whatshe represents to other kids,
the things that they relate toabout her, the fact that she
(52:00):
does what she has been told shewould never do.
They hold on to that hopebecause they want that for
themselves.
And don't we all, don't we alland that kid also?
You know I'm pretty well healedstill have some way to go, like
we all do?
But every single day, everysingle day, I'm going to cry.
(52:24):
Now day I'm going to cry nowthat little girl text, messages
me and asks how I'm doing andwhat I'm doing and might share
something with me.
And I don't have family thatreaches out.
I don't have too many people inmy life because I have been
ostracized for speaking outabout abuse.
(52:46):
But that little girl reachesout to me every single day and
makes me feel like I matter andI know that's not her intent and
I'm sorry.
Now we're both blubbering andcrying, but all right, that's
all right.
He is leaving such a huge impactin this world, and so I applaud
(53:07):
you as her mother, not just forcreating her, bringing her into
this world, but for making herthe I mean, there are no words
for what kind of a human beingthat little girl is, and so I
think, both of you and just forallowing me to be in your lives
oh, look at us.
We're a mess now.
I love you both and we're justsharing the love with everybody
(53:31):
now.
Speaker 2 (53:31):
And we love you and you're stuck with us and she
loves her aunt Dana Like shecherishes and worships her aunt
Dana and I can't thank youenough for being that person for
her, because she needs it andshe loves it and she means so
much to me and she means a lotto a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (53:49):
And if people have not yet gone and gotten her book
I am kitten or listen to herpodcast or gone anywhere.
You have to somehow find faith.
I mean, it's kind of you haveto find faith, it's kind of
symbolic, but you, you have toget a little faith in your life
(54:09):
because, boy, she touches,everything she touches is just,
it turns into pure love and andjust pure everything and she's
amazing.
So thank you all and thank youall for listening and and you
know, witnessing this, thismoment we were having.
Speaker 2 (54:26):
And we love you all and please support Make-A-Wish
support.
Give Kids the World.
We're gonna link our fundraiserlink to this in the show notes
so that you can even $5 helpsbecause they run off of
donations and to go in and dowhat they do is amazing and we
wanna be able to have that forevery single child because they
(54:47):
deserve it.
So I want to thank you againand surprise I'm sorry I threw
this at you as a surprise at thevery end.
No, this is great good news um,thank you guys for listening and
we will be with you guys againsoon peace out.
hello, hello, hello.
It is dana diaz with mybeautiful red-headed sister from
another, mr dr victoria, withher beautiful red glasses that
I'm envious of.
I need a pair of those.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I have pink glasses somewhere I don't know so many
pair to try to find and I waslike I told my husband I want to
put on a pair of glasses andhave you go.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Oh, that's it no those are, honestly, they look
amazing on you.
They look amazing.
Like I said, red is my favoritecolor anyway, but it looks like
just stunning with your eyesand your hair and your lights.
You just look.
You just look fabulous.
My green eyes just pop they pop.
They really do, honestly.
But I mean, and your hair?
(00:42):
I mean, if people don'tunderstand what your red hair
looks like, it's just beautiful.
I mean, I love it.
I wish I had something moreexciting than brown hair.
But in the summer I get thehighlights.
I get the natural highlights soI don't have to go dye my hair,
and so it kind of hides thegrays when I have some blonde
(01:03):
highlights hair, and so it kindof hides the grays when I have
some blonde highlights in there.
Oh no, I'm getting gray.
It's so sad.
And every once in a while I getlike that Italian grandma chin
hair that I yeah, doug willstart laughing at me.
And then I run for the tweezers.
I'm like, oh my god, and it'slike an inch long hanging from
my chin like a little goatee.
Jesus Christ, it's awful aging.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I don't recommend it but it's better than the
alternative ah, what's thatdying, or yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, I mean it's a slow death life, but you know so
we're gonna talk today a littledifferent.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Today's episode is gonna be a little different, um,
because we have so muchexciting things to talk about.
Number one what happens today?
What's coming out today, whatis it?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
It's my husband's 60th birthday today.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Oh Drew.
Happy birthday, dougie.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yes he's old.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
What are you giving him?
Keep it PG rated.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Don't put this on air .
I didn't get him I don't know,michael.
No, no, no.
It's not that we're having abig party for him on Saturday,
but I mean, he's one of thesepeople who has everything.
He has everything he needs andif he wants something, he goes
and buys it.
There is nothing you can.
(02:24):
And when I try to buy him stuff, he's just like, oh okay,
thanks, and then it just sitsthere until I sell it on
Facebook marketplace orsomething.
I can't do that anymore, but no, honestly, or I give the stuff
away.
It's ridiculous.
So I love him very much andthat is my gift to him today and
dinner and the party hey, itsounds good to me.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
What else is today?
Speaker 1 (02:56):
crickets, crickets.
No, my third book is beingreleased today that's very
exciting my third book is beingreleased today.
Oh, the one that I got beforeeverybody else, the one that you
got first, though You're theonly person yet who has read it
outside of well, Doug has readthe first part of it.
He has not read the second partyet, but yeah, you are the one
(03:20):
and only I know.
Yeah, I went through it.
I was able to read it in anentire day but, granted, I was
sick that day when I was doingmy final reread.
But it is.
It's the shortest book I'vewritten yet, which it you know.
I was pretty proud of thatbecause I've been uh, the
publisher has been on my assabout my books are too long.
(03:41):
Keep it to 90,000 words andunder and I go giving them like
220,000 words and 160,000 wordsand you know, none of the other
two were like oh my god, this isjust dragging none of them.
I I think maybe the second one.
For me it dragged a little bitand there were parts that I'm
like why, why is this even inhere?
(04:02):
But but they wanted those partsin, so we left them and that
book I was just kind of like Ididn't even want to write it.
To be honest with you, it waskind of icky.
It was about my childhood, soit's just that icky stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It's so informative Like it really tells you more.
It explains more of the story,explains more of the background?
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I think it does, and people, if you read the second
book, the impact of the thirdbook will be felt that much more
because you'll understand whereI'm coming from as far as
family and that kind of stuff.
But yes, I'm very excited aboutthat because this third book is
(04:38):
actually the one that mostpeople have been on my butt to
write since the first book cameout.
Everyone wanted to know whathappened next, like the next
season on the show on Netflixwhat happened next, and so I
gave them what happened next andit's still happening, but you
know you got to end the booksomewhere, so we did, and it's
coming out today and I purposelyput it out today because it was
(05:01):
Doug's 60th birthday today andI wanted it to be momentous.
I like having release dates formy books.
That means something like myfirst book, which was about my
first marriage, was released onmy ex's birthday and I said it's
my rebirth day, yes, Releasingthis book.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
So you know that's a nice gift for Doug, like that's
a gift right there.
Hey, I wrote a book.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
And I dedicated the book to him.
So that was kind of my thing,yeah.
So I mean, you know who getsthat on their 60th birthday?
Right, we're gonna go with it,we're gonna go with it, and I am
not a bad wife.
For the record, I have takenhim on tropical trips on his
birthday.
I have taken him to the Daytona500 very you know what was it
fourth or fifth row.
I have taken him on trips outof the country.
(05:51):
I have taken, I have.
He has had some interestingexperiences with me, but
everybody gets it.
I'm at a loss because it's likewhat else do you get a man when
he has everything Right?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
a feisty Puerto Rican .
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah, that's going to be the gift today.
So what else is going on today?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
So I have a couple of announcements and I have not
put out anywhere, but we'regoing to do it here.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yay.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
First of all, our podcast-a-thon will be released
on March 15th and all proceedsgo to give kids the world.
We are working with give kidsthe world because we are
arranging a time for myself andfaith and michael to go down
there and do some live videoingand also do some recording with
the families and make somememories for them where they can
(06:45):
take um an episode home andalways have that to remember,
because a lot of these familieshave either chronic or terminal
children, and that's the pointof going to give kids the world.
You either have to be chronic orterminal to be with them, and
it's a make a wish, uh, which acontagious smile is partnered
with, is make a wish, and so, um, we're gonna do that and that
(07:09):
launches.
And then I got the coolestcoolest and this has not been
told anywhere, so big, you know,breaking news.
Um, we have been asked toparticipate as not only an
alumni for the regional make awish, which is going to be huge
(07:30):
we're talking like ridiculous umbut also we are going to be on
the forefront with, like, all ofthe celebrities and oh, my
goodness we're not only analumni family, but we're going
to be out there doing giveawaysand bringing light to this.
(07:51):
So in the podcast academy that Ihave created, I have also
created a section just foreither special needs families or
survivors of domestic violenceand narcissism, and we're going
to have classes in there.
We're going to have resourcesin there.
We can actually do lives whereyou and I can come in and you
(08:13):
can come in and talk and we canput stuff up there, like where
your books are and how to getthem and also which is like
super, super cool is we arecreating, which I think this is
adorable I've never announcedthis to anyone is going to be.
When we go out there, we aregoing to put all of the kids,
whether they are the Make-A-Wishrecipients, alumni or siblings
(08:35):
of.
We're going to have cardscreated, like I did for you
about the police.
Yeah, we are going to make themVIP members of the stucco squad
.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Oh, I love that.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And who doesn't love a dog?
That?
And who doesn't love a dog?
Right, who doesn't love a dogand a service dog or just a dog
in general, is the one bestfriend who wants nothing but
unconditional love from you.
Right, they are going to bethere with you through the ups
and downs.
They go with you to everymedical doctor's appointment.
They get to go with you tox-ray and MRI and CAT scan.
They go everywhere except theOR.
(09:12):
They can go and stay with youwhen you're in the hospital.
They stay with you.
And so we are making the wholething Like.
I've already created a bookyears ago about stucco it was
about two years ago and it's astucco activity book and we're
going to give those out to thekids and then we're going to
(09:34):
give them the promo uh card thattells them that they're now vip
of the stucco squad and theyare going to get to join up and
take classes from stucco andthey're going to get activity
sheets from stucco and it'sgoing to be where they can get
birthday cards and holiday cardsfrom stucco and they're going
to get activity sheets fromstucco and it's going to be
where they can get birthdaycards and holiday cards from
stucco and it's going to beamazing.
(09:55):
And then we are offering forthe make-a-wish ball, which is
just insane.
Uh, five or six years ago wewere asked to attend and it's
ridiculous to get a parkingspace and it's ridiculous to get
a parking space for the ball is25 grand, like something
(10:16):
ridiculous.
Right, heavy heavy hitters, andwe are going to offer, we're
going to offer to have um faithcome on stage for the ball,
which she's already.
Like I have to wear an eveninggown.
Like I have to be able todesign it and I'm thinking, oh
my God, I got to get dressed upand wait, my husband has to get
(10:36):
dressed up.
Who on our first wedding I hadto get into?
Like you have to wear shoes.
Like he wanted to get married inblue jeans and you know, and I
was like you're wearing boots,like you're going to put boots
on your feet, and so we're goingto offer for a raffling to be
(10:56):
on with Faith who is?
a Wish alumni and a successfulpodcaster and we're going to put
that out there and the highestbidder gets to do that.
And we're going to put that outthere and the highest bidder
gets to do that and we're goingto offer that.
So I actually have a meetingwith the Make-A-Wish team on
Friday.
And they were so funny becausethey were like, oh, can you meet
(11:17):
with us Thursday?
And I'm like I can't, I havesurgery.
And they're like oh, and I waslike no, it's fine, I can meet
with you Friday.
And they're like how?
Speaker 1 (11:24):
And I'm like no, no, it's fine, I'll meet you, no,
because it's you, because you'rethe only person in this entire
universe that's just like yeah,it's just another day, it's just
the day after surgery, no bigdeal.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
So yeah, we're meeting on Friday and we are
going to be discussing all ofthese amazing things.
And then last night my husbandwent to bed at 8 pm, go figure.
And he woke up at midnight andhe was like, what have you been
doing?
I'm like, oh, I've created theplatform for Powerhouse and I've
created the platform for StuccoSquad and I've already had
(11:59):
Faith help me.
We've written another bookabout you know, being a kid.
That doesn't.
You don't want to be ordinarywhen you're extraordinary, and
it's amazing.
And I just got to finish a fewlittle things and then we're
gonna get the book out there.
And he's like you guys wrote abook and you've done all that in
four hours.
And I was like, yeah, like what, what?
So this is what we've beendoing and it's gonna get.
(12:20):
Um, every time we talk aboutpodcast-a-thon or, uh, make a
wish, um, they're going topromote it on all of their sites
, so that's so super exciting.
So this episode, they're goingto promote it on all of their
sites.
So that's so super exciting.
So this episode, we're going tokeep it a little cleaner today
because it's going to bepublished on Make-A-Wish, it's
going to be published on GiveKids the World, it's going to be
published on all these othersites.
(12:41):
And so here I am saying to theparents, the moms especially,
please, for the love, I haveread, read and I'm a special
needs mom.
I'm a special needs personmyself.
I have read every one of dana'sbooks and I would say this and
have said this when I'veinterviewed other people or been
interviewed myself without danaanywhere around and she didn't
know that her books are a mustread.
(13:03):
They really, really are, and sogo get them.
I'm thrilled that her third onehas come out today.
I'm privileged to say that I'veread it ahead of time.
I'm very comfortable in sayingit's very informative and it's
amazing.
It really does reflect and helpyou really open your eyes to a
lot of things you might not havehad clarity on before.
And so we're going to bringDana into the world of
(13:27):
Make-A-Wish and Give Kids theWorld, apparently, today.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
I love that and you know it's funny because I always
loved the Make-A-WishFoundation.
I even remember, like in gradeschool and high school, you know
, every once in a while there'ssome project in some class and
(14:01):
you know we're always somebodythat's worse off than me.
I hate using the word normal,but forgive me without the.
I'm not trying to offend, butyou know I'm able to function as
a person is able to function,you know fully, and that's not
to say that anybody elsecouldn't, but without any
(14:22):
modifications.
And I I just always kind ofkept that in the back of my head
, like how lucky am I?
Like yeah, I go through stuff.
Who the hell hasn't gonethrough stuff?
We've all been through stuff.
But for those people who maynot have a tomorrow, those kids
that were my age but weresuffering some horrible,
(14:43):
terrible illness, I just wantedto be able.
You know, I just love the ideaof being able to give back to
them and say you know, I justlove the idea of being able to
give back to them and say youknow, here's something, here's
the highlight of your life,here's something.
Nobody else will have totreasure this memory except for
you.
And how amazing that is thatpeople are continuing to do that
(15:04):
to this day.
So I love that, I love being apart of it and I thank you for
bringing me on and for the nicewords about my books, because
you have written many, many abook too, my dear, and they are
well Narc Narc, the one rightbehind you there, narc Narc,
who's there?
That one is fantastic and youwant to talk about a book that
really opens your eyes.
(15:25):
Because what's different betweenour books?
I tell the stories.
You're telling a story, butyou're providing the actual.
I mean you have the actualemails, text messages,
screenshots, pictures, and it's.
It's almost like a like.
You feel like you're a privateinvestigator, like on a stakeout
, like you're turning the page,like what's this guy going to do
(15:47):
next?
Like, and you're predicting andwaiting, and you're turning the
page like what's this guy goingto do next, like, and you're
predicting and waiting andyou're searching the pictures
for the clues and it's.
It's interesting to go througha book in that way, instead of
being told what the story is,which is, you know, my way of
doing it.
But gosh, it's, it's anadventure and there are parts of
it that you're just like.
(16:08):
I can't believe this, but I socan believe it, because this is
a typical narcissist, you know.
But it's still, it's amazingthe things they do that are all
so very much the same, yet theystill we look at it like, really
, really, you did that.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Oh, it's just shocking but what's more amazing
about about it and not pleasantamazing is the fact that, like
when we were on our Make-A-Wishtrip, my sperm donor called and
asked us to cancel or come homeearly from the trip because he
needed help, because his wifeand son were on a cruise and he
was fending for himself and hecan't boil water, he couldn't
(16:49):
make toast.
So he was like I need you tocome back early because I can't
do anything.
I was like why don't you getthe ship to turn around because
I am not giving up my child'sonce in a lifetime opportunity
right for make a wish.
Are you kidding me?
People apply and we didn'tapply.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
A doctor did behind our back, not telling us
anything, and then we gotnotification that we were
granted and I was like that isso typical of a narcissist right
that they literally they wantto kind of minimize these
humongous things like I mean toto be selected for make a wish.
I mean I've never, but it is ahuge from what I hear.
(17:29):
It is a huge, not just an honorbut a huge undertaking you know
, to even go through the process.
So his attempt to minimize itand ruin it.
I mean, it's a typical thingNarcissists love to ruin your
birthday and Christmas, anyspecial day, any special event.
The spotlight cannot be on youand God forbid his granddaughter
(17:54):
.
It's got to be about him,because you know he can't pick
up the phone and order a pizzaor take out or whatever.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
But he could have got one of these girls Right?
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah, well it's.
You know, I've seen thesenarcissists.
I know a few of them in reallife, just a few.
And you know there was one thatI remember years ago that
decided to start havingrelations with the 18 year old
live in babysitter.
That was like five years olderthan his kid and I just remember
looking at him and being like,do you really think she's going
(18:28):
to wipe your butt when you're 80?
And she's, you know, 30 orwhatever, 40, running around
being cute and whatever.
But hey, she's still drivingaround in her Mercedes, from
what I see on social media, andliving this good life that he's
able to provide her.
She's probably hoping he kicksthe bucket sooner than later.
And but I don't know what thesemen think that you know they
(18:50):
don't.
These women are supposed toserve them and when nobody's
around to provide, you know,service to them, they call
somebody else, thinking thatyou're going to come running.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
But what an idiot but the thing is like every year,
you know, faith has donefundraisers since she was four
and we've even failed make awishet, because a lot of people
don't understand that it takesso many months to get a wish
granted Because they have to gothrough and get authorization
from the doctors.
They need to make sure thatthey are okay enough to do these
(19:22):
wishes and some of them aren't.
And then, for instance, if they, if the child, god forbid
doesn't make it to their wish,then Make-A-Wish also like, has
this closet metaphorically, andthey give stuff out of the
closet to the families and thesiblings and the Make-A-Wish
child and that's, that's just.
It is the fact that, like, wedid a lot of fundraising and we
(19:44):
would fill their closet as well.
And you know, when we went togive kids the world, it was so
amazing because I was at a lossand it was because you know,
like, as a police officer,you're, you're on high alert at
all times when you're going intoa domestic cause.
It's the most dangerous call togo on when you have a child
that codes or aspirates at thedrop of anything and doesn't do
(20:06):
the universal I'm choking,choking sign or she's not hooked
up to a pulse ox, or she's noton an apnea and all of a sudden
she stops breathing.
You know, you're always on highalert, and so when you get
ready to go down to give kidsthe world, they're like tell us
everything you need.
You know medically what kind offormula, what kind of g-tube?
What's the backup g-tube?
(20:26):
What kind of you know medicalequipment?
What kind of medical-tube,what's the backup g-tube?
What kind of you know medicalequipment?
What kind of medical supplies?
And I'm like what?
And they're like we got.
We got it.
Well, I'm always prepared, andso I had an emergency bag and
everything else when we gotthere to give kids the role.
Dana, first of all you, it'slike fort knox, which I love,
because what you don't realizeis there's one of the highest
divorce rates are amongstspecial needs families, because
(20:50):
and I hate to say it, and I'mnot, you know, putting into one
category, but most of the timeand it's factually based it is
the man who leaves, he doesn'twant to deal with the
responsibility.
And so then the kids like theyhave protocols, and I had to use
the protocols when Faith was inthe hospital, where they have
like all these different ways toto protect the family in case
(21:11):
the other party aka dad or spermdonor tries to show up.
And so, when you get to givekids the world, you come into
this beautiful gate and there'ssomebody there and you have to
get registered.
And then, once they know whoyou are, every time you come by
it's welcome home and it's thesweetest thing ever.
And you drive up and you comeinto one of the cottages that's
(21:32):
yours and when you walk in,everything you need medically is
there and it's set up andthey've had it shipped in for
you.
And then, like, you don't makeyour bed, you don't go.
When you go to the most amazingplace to eat, they have
volunteers that come and takethe tray for you and they're
(21:53):
like you don't lift anythingwhile you're here.
We take care of you and I'mlike but it's her wish, and
they're like but you need to betaken care of too, and you're
just like what?
And it's amazing?
And they, they take care of thefamily, like.
They're like hey, do you want,you know, a tattoo while you're
here?
and they do like the temporarytattoos of mayor Clayton who is
a, you know, a rabbit, and it'stheir mayor, it's their mascot,
or his wife or you know, andthey have a little beauty shop
(22:15):
for the kids and they get theirnails done and they can, you
know, get all pretty andpampered and then they have,
like the most amazing, it's 89acres and it's absolutely
flawless and it's amazing.
And you go there and itliterally will change your life.
People, flawless and it'samazing, and and you go there
and it literally will changeyour life.
People don't understand, itwill change your life.
So we're gonna go down when itgets cooler and I'm going to
(22:36):
literally walk and show you it.
Like, if you've never had towalk these paths, then you don't
understand and I hope thatpeople never have to.
But you know, you never know.
I never thought I'd be thebattered wife.
I never thought I'd be thebattered wife, I never thought
I'd be well into over 100surgeries, but you don't know.
And to know that this could beyou, god forbid.
And you see the joy and there'snot one kid walking around with
(22:57):
a frown on their face.
Nothing else matters.
Outside of those gates, like,everybody is so happy.
The kids are happy, the parentsare happy, they're making
memories that they will never,ever, ever get get to make again
and it is so criticallyimportant For families to have
that time.
Or it's not medical and so manyof the siblings have animosity
towards that kid because theyfeel like Everything is focused
(23:20):
on that child Right, and so theydon't get that time and love
and understanding that the otherchild does, because that child
has all this medical requirementand the other kids get hostile.
But this place treats everybodyequally and they make memories
and they bring the familiescloser together and I can't
speak enough about like this ismy favorite place in the world
to go.
(23:40):
If anywhere I've ever been, thisis it.
And I never thought that SanFrancisco would get beaten, but
it did, and this is just amazingand I love it.
And to even be allowed becauseit's not an offer I'm being
allowed to be a part of this islife changing and I'm beyond
honored to be able to be a partof it.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
That's so amazing.
I'm so happy for you guys andI'm happy that I mean I know you
would love you.
As you know, everyone who'slistening knows you sort of kind
of too, but I think that theygot really lucky having you on
their side and having you be apart of this, and I I think that
a foundation like that, anorganization like that, that
(24:23):
really you just pulls togetherall the right people for the
right reasons, I mean you can'tgo wrong.
There is nothing that anybodycan take issue with.
When it comes down to, you knowa child and a family that just
need some good memories, somepositivity, something to look
forward to, something toremember, you know, to hold on
(24:46):
to that.
So I love that, I loveeverything that you just said
and I, I I just can't wait tosee and hear, and you know all
the things that you share withus, so I'm bringing it with me.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
but like you know we one of her wishes.
Her wish was harry potter and Iwas so behind because I hadn't
seen or really focused on themovie and when we got there,
they were like, okay, do not geta wand, do not get this, do not
get that.
And they're like telling us I'mlike, okay, and they have a
building at universal that it'sonly for make-a-wish kids.
(25:18):
You cannot get into thisbuilding unless you're a
make-a-wish kid.
And we get in there and we'resupposed to be there at a
certain time, and we get likethe like.
First of all, you get to go goin front of everybody of your
own entrance into every singleride at Disney and Universal and
Epcot.
Like, and people are startingto like, why do they get to cut
in line?
And the attendees are like youdon't want to go through what
they've been through to be ableto have that ability.
(25:40):
And so we, we did all the ridesin the elevators and all that
stuff at Harry Potter and all ofa sudden, like we're doing all
these things, and then they takeus to this building and they're
like, okay, stay right here forjust a minute.
And then we walk down and as wewalk down, you've seen Harry
Potter, right, okay, so as we'rewalking down, there's all like
(26:02):
we're in a library and we'regoing through and every aisle
where there's books is a memberof the Harry Potter school or
whatever, and they're bowing tofaith as we walk down the
corridor and we walk down, andwe walk down, and we walk down
and like it gets so dark andwe're like, what are we doing?
(26:22):
And they're like get the cameraready.
Well, they also.
I had a photographer with us.
And they're like, just get it.
And so I have no, no, none, noneidea of what's going on.
And and she's so cute, and allof a sudden the light comes on
and the wand maker from everysingle movie of Harry Potter was
(26:43):
in front of us and she's like,and he says it's time for you to
.
You know, the wand picks you.
You don't pick the wand, and soI'm like looking over and I'm
like what?
Speaker 1 (26:56):
And I have no clue.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
And so they try to give her a couple of wands and
they teach her a couple.
He teaches her some potion orwhatever, yeah, and like all of
a sudden, she makes everythingfall off the wall.
And then, you know, he's like,oh aha, I got it, and it was
like the third or fourth wand.
And all of a sudden, like thelights come on and wind and all
of her hair is like whoosh, andyou know it's just amazing.
(27:20):
And then he's teaching herthese words to say and
everything she is being taughtis happening.
And then he spends like half aday with us and he's like okay,
when you see this and this andthis, do it.
So when we're walking around, wehad to like sign all this.
I signed all this stuff.
We got Harry Potter's wand fromthe second movie and then or
(27:42):
one of the wands he used, andthen we got the cloak of
Hermione for her to wear whilewe're walking around and a map,
and so we walk out and she usesthis little phrase and then a
frog starts spitting water outof his mouth and we go to these
places and then we have a guidewith us and he's telling her to
no right here, do it.
And then, like all of a sudden,this one person disappears and
(28:04):
she's like ha ha ha, like she'sall you know, and this goes
through the whole day.
And then we had um shaggy andscooby escort us around and oh
cool that was so incredibly cool.
And then betty boop comes up tous and she's looking at me like
who is this?
Like she's no idea who bettyboop is.
And then one of the mummieslike he was like eight feet tall
(28:27):
looks down on her.
That scared the bejeebies outof her and she tried everything
to wand him away.
It didn't work.
Yeah, so I mean, this went onand on.
And then another part of herwish I don't know if you ever
saw dolphin tail but I didthat's.
That's an old one, but yeah Itook her to see that in the
movie and she looks at me andgoes I get it.
Winter has no tail, I have notongue, and I'm sitting there
(28:50):
bawling in a movie and she'slike Winter can swim and I can
speak and I was just.
So we went to swim with Winteras well on our trip and Winter
gave Faith her favorite stuffedanimal and I have pictures of
them playing together and havingso much fun.
(29:11):
And Winter was Winter haspassed away since but just
amazing, oh amazing.
So she was in love with thiswhole concept.
So I got a tattoo of Winter onmy arm and because I have so
many scars, I didn't want to seethem and so I've tattooed our
journey to kind of cover up alot of the scars.
So part of our make-a-wish tripcame from there but to see
(29:35):
these and we were just walkingwith a whole bunch of other
make-a-wish kids and everybodywas happy.
And I know this is not thepremise of the show and I
apologize for that, but you knowthe thing is is that everybody
listens to us, has been throughheroic, horrific things, and
they are heroes now becausethey've come out on the other
side.
We were torn to pieces and wecame out on top, and that's what
(29:56):
the same is for these kids andthat's why I, you know, I say
I'm sorry because normally we'reso on topic, but in a way we
still are, because these kidshad their own fight and they're
still fighting, but they'rehappy and they have a smile and
there's so much we can learnfrom them and it's a really big
deal.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
I think that's it's a huge deal.
I think that that's actuallyperfect how you said that?
Because I think people forgethealing journey, whether it's a
physical healing or a mentaljourney of healing.
You honestly cannot evenconceive of having anything good
(30:37):
happen to you ever again.
Right, you lose hope.
I'm laughing because I laughwhen I'm nervous, because I
remember feeling like this is it?
I'm just going to die one day?
And that was it.
Like what a waste of a life.
And you know, hopefully one dayeverybody wakes up or somebody
else opens your eyes to whatlife can be.
(31:02):
If you look to see that thatside of it and for these kids
they're, they're experiencingthings they could have never
even imagined in their wildestdreams, or it's their wildest
dreams coming true, which is thepremise of the foundation.
But I think we forget that wetoo have that power, even if
you've never been throughanything horrific.
(31:23):
But if you have and you've lostthat hope and you've lost sight
of who you are and what youwant in life, you just have to
think it up.
Think it up and I think that wethink that we're asking too
much or we feel selfish, thatwell, it would be selfish for me
to make a decision that's goodfor me or that has anything to
(31:45):
do with anything that I want inlife.
God forbid.
I follow my heart, follow mydreams, do something I want to
do, especially when some of ushave been in situations,
especially when there isdomestic violence involved.
I mean, you're afraid to evenlook at somebody the wrong way,
you're afraid to wear something,whether it be lipstick, a
(32:06):
certain shirt, a dress, you'reafraid what you're going to cook
for dinner, and it's so scarythat you just the idea that I
can have a dream, I can dosomething that I would like to
do, I can have something thatI've always wanted actually come
to fruition.
We lose that and I think partof finding ourselves again is, I
(32:30):
say, like indulging indulgingyourself.
You know, I remember for me itwas the simplest thing.
I didn't have make a wish fornarcissistic abuse, but I
remember the first night my exwas not living under the same
roof as me.
I was like, oh my gosh, for howmany years dinner had to be a
meat and two sides.
But I couldn't have the samemeat two consecutive nights and
(32:54):
the sides couldn't be like twocarbs or two starches or
whatever.
And there had to be two.
There had to be two, god forbid.
I made like one side.
It was so stringent and I waslike, oh my gosh, I I don't know
what to make for dinner.
And then I was like veggieplate, but I can have what I
want for dinner.
(33:14):
And you know what I had?
I had a pint of butter pecanice cream, cause I said F it,
that's what I want.
That's what I want and it'ssuch a simple thing.
And somebody's going to say, oh, butter pecan ice cream for
dinner is nothing compared to achild who's terminally ill at
Make-A-Wish.
But at the same thing, isn'tthat kind of like your own
little Make-A-Wish?
(33:35):
You know, the little indulgencesthat we don't allow ourselves,
the things we don't give ourpermission ourselves permission
to experience, because, oh, wedon't want to upset anyone, we
don't want to upset the peace.
We don't want to, you know,don't want to upset the peace.
We don't want to, you know, goacross any boundaries that have
been set for us, as if we're adog in a yard with an invisible
(33:56):
fence, because if you cross thatline, you know you're going to
get shocked.
There's consequences.
So I think it's completelyappropriate and completely
related if people are open tolooking at that way, and I would
even challenge them it's.
I actually put something out onInstagram today about the same
subject, just saying do you dareto do something for you?
(34:17):
Do you dare to make thatdecision for yourself that will
possibly open up everythingyou've ever wanted in your life?
Because that's the key, and weall have it in ourselves.
Kids don't.
So kids need a little help,like foundations, like
Make-A-Wish, and from peoplelike you, you know, that are
helping and facilitating thesethings to happen.
(34:39):
But we as people in you knoweveryday life.
We have the power to.
We have the power to giveourselves our own wishes and
make our own dreams come true.
And there is nothing.
That's that you know.
You want to be an actor in amovie.
Go, start being an actor.
Go start auditioning.
There's ways you can do that.
(34:59):
Be be a behind the scenesperson, you know.
Be in the crowd of a hundredthat they pick.
Go, do something, take thosebaby steps, because once you
know what you want, it's hard tounsee it and it's hard to let
go of it and that's just it.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
I mean you, you, you absolutely said it because you
go in there and first of all,for me, I never, ever, took
faith out of the like one mileradius of the hospital, yet
alone on an airplane to adifferent state.
You know, and I'm thinking, oh,my God, how I mean.
I was asking a millionquestions how close is the
closest hospital?
We have a helicopter if we needto.
(35:36):
And I'm like, okay, what if didit?
You know, and I'm like askingevery single question and I was
physically trained in likeeverything under the sun before,
way before any of this.
And when we get there, it waslike under the sun before, way
before any of this.
And when we get there, it waslike wow.
And then you just go back andthink about how many people
you've heard complain I couldn'tget my kid to cheerleading and
(35:56):
soccer and I have no time for me.
And you're just like, really,take a day, take one day and and
live in this life.
Like you know, these kids don'tcomplain, they don't take
anything for granted.
Right?
They came up to to faith andasked her to be the emcee of the
parade, and here she is.
They send a horse-drawncarriage to pick her up.
(36:18):
Oh, my gosh, and we are, andit's a pajama party.
So we're in our pajamas and weget in the horse-drawn carriage
and we stop at a certainlocation and they say okay, mom,
because at this point it wasjust her and I on the
make-a-wish trip.
And they said okay, mom, um,we'll see you at the starting
line I'm like wait what, what,what, what, no, no, are you
(36:40):
kidding?
no, who's gonna be with her?
Are you kidding me like?
I'm like no, and they're likewe got her, it's fine, she's
gonna be fine, and I'm like I'mnot gonna be fine, you know, and
, and I was like no, no, no.
And I was like, can I see her?
Will I be able to see her?
No, she'll be around in about10 minutes.
And I'm like, because you know,I'm thinking all that can
transpire in a 10 minute periodof time with faith yeah and so
(37:02):
next thing, I know about 10minutes, 12 seconds later, you
know, because I'm like that'sthe longest 10 minutes of my
life because I've never beenaway from her at all, ever you
know she's in the hospital, Istay with her, I go home, she
goes home and all of a sudden Isee this beautiful firecracker
walking down, leading the parade, holding Santa Claus's hand and
(37:24):
I'm videoing it and she'swaving at everybody and there's
the gingerbread man behind herand there's elves behind her and
there's all these magicalcharacters behind her.
And she thinks she's the cat'smeow.
And she is.
And she is just walking around,happy and scooting her little
tushy.
And she gets on stage and Santais on there and he's like okay,
(37:46):
I'm going to have you dosomething Now we are in Florida.
And he goes okay, I want you tocount to three and I want you to
say make it snow.
And she's like, okay, and backthen she had really bad apraxia
and people had such a hard timedistinguishing what she was
(38:06):
saying.
And so she goes.
One, I have it on video, I'mgoing to send it to you.
Two, and she's looking allaround with her eyes, looking
around everywhere, and she'slooking up like I don't see
anything.
And then she goes three andthen four.
All you see is snow everywhere,coming out of everywhere, and
and she goes, make it snow andlike snow is everywhere,
(38:29):
everybody's dancing, she'sdancing and she's dancing with
Santa and I'm on, I'm in thefront line, and you don't
remember a doggone thing aboutanything medical at that point.
You're not thinking about thatfeeding tube or seizures.
You're not thinking aboutanything.
Tube or seizures.
You're not thinking aboutanything.
You're watching that gorgeouschild just laugh, belly laugh,
(38:49):
being so happy and full of lifeand love and happiness.
And I look to my left and Ilook to my right and there's
kids there in wheelchairs.
There's kids there hooked up toIVs and every single one of
them has the biggest smile ontheir face.
They are so happy.
There are kids leaning backlike wanting to feel the snow on
(39:11):
their face.
They are dancing around.
Here comes the gingerbread mandancing with the kids.
Here comes mayor claytondancing with the kids and his
wife, and everybody is justdancing around having a good
time and and no one is thinkingabout their next operation or
their their next chemo treatmentor their next transplant or
(39:33):
whatever it is.
And it's so amazing to have thepower to give that to a family,
and that's what they do, andit's so amazing.
And then, like, if they, if theycan't sleep, you can go to the
carousel and nobody's on it andit's 10 o'clock at night and you
know what they're going to.
Let you get on it and they'regoing to run it for you.
And that is what is so amazing.
They have wheelchairs at thepool that are water resistant,
(39:57):
so you can safely get in.
I don't know how they do it andthey can get submerged into the
water not over their head oranything.
And then they have putt-putt,where you go in there and like
the little ball pops out so youdon't have to worry about how
you can't play.
This is all made so thateverybody can experience it, and
they have some of the ridesthat Disney and Universal have
(40:20):
and you can get on them in awheelchair.
You know you can go, and everynight is a different party.
They have a different themedparty every single night.
And then all of a sudden, yousee characters walking around
like from Disney and Universalthat maybe the kids couldn't get
to because they weren't feelingso good that day.
But you don't know that,because these kids have this
huge smile on their face and itis the most amazing experience
(40:43):
you could ever have in your life.
And I just cannot say it enoughbecause you know nothing else
matters at the end of the day.
You know, jobs come and go,people who really don't
authentically mean to be in yourlife for whatever reason they
come and go.
(41:03):
But your heart, when you're atrue, authentic parent and
you're truly loving your child,then that is your life, that is
your child.
And when you see that childlook up into the sky and their
face has literally little snowflurries coming down on them and
they're laughing so hard thatthey're holding their belly
(41:23):
because they can't stop laughingand they're dancing around in
circles, it is the most warming,heart filling moment of your
life.
Because normally you're like Idon't want him to get another,
another stick, I don't wantanother IV.
You know how much more can theytake.
They're little kids, it's notfair, but they don't think about
(41:44):
any of that.
You know Faith said something tome that blew my mind.
She said you had a life beforeme and now you have a totally
different life because of me andthat's not fair for you.
And I was like Are you crazy.
You gave me my life, you mademe who I am.
You make me want to be a betterperson because you're so
amazing.
Your heart is so big that Iwant to be you Because of how
(42:09):
amazing you are.
I mean, she'll come out ofsurgery and We'll come out of
day surgery and she'll see kidsand they're all scared and sad
and she'll be like, can I talkto him For a minute?
And she, like I just had surgery, you're gonna be fine, and
she'll cheer him up and that'sjust her heart.
And that's where these kids andit makes you really think about
the pettiness of people who are, I mean, even grown adults, who
(42:31):
are so methodical about it'sall gotta be about me you know
that you will go to that pointwhere you take away from that
child, where that child has notasked to be sick, that child has
not asked to be ignored by you.
I mean, like when Faith was,you know, a year ago, and in on
life support and everything wasagainst her.
(42:51):
None of the grandparents oneither side, you know well, his
dad did, but other than his daddidn't reach out and they knew.
They knew what was going on andhow you do that as a human
being and put your head on apillow is beyond my recognition.
I cannot fathom or figure outhow you can do that to an
(43:11):
individual that has done nothingand the only thing they're
guilty of is innocence.
That's what they're guilty ofis innocence.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
Everything else.
You know what?
Is it really innocence?
Or is it that life just makesus all jaded?
Because what strikes me ofeverything that you're saying is
basically, these children arebeing put in situations where
everything that they have maybebeen made to believe or been
told is not possible is nowpossible, and when?
(43:42):
At what point do we stop?
You know, because we're told oh, that's not real, stop thinking
about that, it'll never happen.
All these disparaging thingsthat we're told from the time
we're little and all through ourlife.
And mainly because people don'twant to believe, people limit
themselves.
But when they limit themselves,they don't want you to have
(44:02):
anything that they don't haveeither.
So they start limiting you andthen you start internalizing
this stuff like you're trying to.
You know, I am imagining take,make a wish out of it.
If I'm in Florida and somebodysays, oh, make it snow, santa, I
can already hear a gazillionpeople that I know snow in
Florida and making these snideremarks.
(44:25):
You know, I have family inFlorida for a very long time and
you know what?
Every once in a darn while itdoes actually snow not certainly
like it did on command for thekids, but that's the whole thing
is these self-limiting beliefs,and I think that that's at
least I'll speak for myself, butI think it happens for a lot of
(44:45):
people, particularly in adultromantic toxic relationships,
where we develop theseself-limiting beliefs about what
we deserve or what we have, orthe possibility that things can
be different or that maybe, youknow, I'm not worthy of having
somebody that loves me the way aperson should be loved.
(45:06):
Be you know, I'm not worthy ofhaving somebody that loves me
the way a person should be loved, whatever it is.
And so I mean I'm literallygetting chills when you're
telling these stories about youand your, your daughter, your
family, being down there andexperiencing these things,
because I love the idea thatthings are possible, I love the
idea that these kids areforgetting everything that
(45:30):
they've been told is workingagainst them because it doesn't
matter.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Yeah, they're not a diagnosis, Doesn't mean anything
unless they make it meananything Exactly.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
Do you know how many people I, and I'm sure everybody
, knows that?
That friend or that relativethat was told they can't have
children and now they have threehealthy, beautiful children?
The person that I?
I know somebody who had aspecial needs daughter that they
were told, oh, she'll never,you know, achieve anything,
she'll never have a job, she'llnever drive.
(46:03):
She'll well, guess what she gother drive.
Well, guess what she got herdriver's license.
And guess what she has a job,and guess what?
She has her own apartment.
Does she need some assistance?
My God, she doesn't needassistance.
Exactly that I would love, wouldhave loved to have had from a
parent or a friend or anybody.
But when people are constantlythis world is constantly telling
(46:26):
us what we can't, or they'reshowing us images of women in
bikinis on beaches and you'relooking at your body like I
guess I can't wear a bikiniwe're constantly being told we
can't, we shouldn't, we won't,we'll never.
God love the Make-A-WishFoundation that they can show
these kids.
Screw it all.
(46:48):
You can, you can be whateveryou want to be.
You can be a princess, you canbe Harry Potter, you can be a
magician, you can make peopledisappear.
You can make it snow in a placethat it shouldn't snow.
I love this.
I love this.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
I love the three-year-old who cut my hair
and they dressed up.
She was like I can't say whatit is, I can't pronounce it, but
I am, whatever is killing meand she's like and I'm winning.
And you know, for the peoplewho think that some of these
kids don't amount to anything,I'm going to be just for a
minute.
I'm going to close us off withthis because I have a final
announcement.
Have a final announcement, um,but I want to just for a moment,
(47:28):
because I've had the privilegeand honor of working with so
many families over the last 19years and I have stayed very
close to many, many of them, andthe thing is is that I can't
speak on a half of a lot of themfor reasons and things of that
nature, but I can tell you faith, who was never supposed to make
it, is a five-time book author.
She's a six one on the way.
She has won an Emmy.
(47:48):
She had was.
She's gonna kick my tail forsaying that, but that's okay.
She's been interviewed onnational TV.
She's been interviewed on localtelevision.
She's been on radio.
She's been on everything.
And let's not forget that shehas a podcast that's in the top
1% globally.
She has millions of followers.
This kid was getting blood drawnat the hospital and they
recognized her voice and askedfor her autograph and she just
(48:10):
was like what they recognized.
She said my kids are obsessedwith you and she was like huh.
And I said you know, sorry, youknow, and the thing is is that
she doesn't want the fame.
She doesn't want therecognition, she wants to help
people.
That the fame.
She doesn't want therecognition, she wants to help
people.
That's all she wants.
The platform for this kid wastold she would never speak.
I have audio of her speakingconstantly throughout the course
(48:31):
of her life, because withapraxia you can't pronounce.
You know b's, p's and m's.
And then, on top of it, she hasa non-functioning, basically
non-existing tongue that's onlya couple millimeters wide, her
entire mouth anatomy isdifferent than yours and mine,
and yet she can say things likelemon lazy lollipop.
How do you do that without atongue?
Cause I don't know, but she cancome in here and say it better
(48:51):
than you and I.
You know she comes in here andshe's fluent in sign language.
Yes, she's special needs.
She has frontal, you know lobesituation and executive function
situations going on, but thiskid will come in here and light
up your life.
Give you the fight to drive,make you realize that you're
worth fighting for, and she willabsolutely light up a room just
(49:13):
by walking in it.
And if people, including thosein the family that had their
heads somewhere else and didn'teven realize that they had that
when they had her in her life,that's your loss, because that
kid is remarkable, she's amazing, and my greatest honor in life
is being her mom and I learnevery single day from her how to
(49:34):
be a better person, how to be abetter friend, how to be a
better human being.
And it's because of her.
And she doesn't quit.
She says I've danced with theReaper so many times and he's
not going to get me down.
And you know what I want topromise our listeners that I'm
going to do my very best, withmy bestie over here to do
(49:54):
another recording this weekbecause we are way off of our
normal radioing work that we do.
But I'm going to make thisannouncement and Dana had no
idea.
But again I want tocongratulate her on her release
of her book.
Go Run and Get it.
It's amazing.
Where is it?
Speaker 1 (50:14):
Well, I don't know.
I don't even know if we'vepushed the button yet at the
publishers.
It's called Rising from theAshes Breaking the Cycle of
Narcissistic Abuse.
But thank you.
Anywhere, books are sold online, but if you go to my website,
danasdscom, all three books arethere.
Click the link.
I think it takes you to Amazon.
(50:35):
You can get the e-book or theregular book either way, but
thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
And, of course, I want to thank Podcastathon and I
want to thank Make-A-Wish.
Thank Podcast-a-thon, and Iwant to thank Make-A-Wish and I
want to thank Give Kids theWorld.
And, like I said, dana and Iwill do everything we can.
This week I'll put out a secondepisode to replace this one,
but I want to surprise Dana,because I did not tell her I was
doing this.
I'm not deceitful, I just havea little, you know, I have a
little faith in me.
Like I have a little faith inme, I want to thank you, dana,
(51:01):
for helping me complete thepodcast-a-thon episode that I
will be airing on behalf ofMake-A-Wish and behalf of
podcast-a-thon.
That will be put out globallyto bring awareness to these
amazing organizations, and so Iwant to thank you for doing that
with me today.
Speaker 1 (51:17):
Well, there is no need to thank me.
You know I adore you and I'm inthis with you, and you know
it's just funny divineintervention sometimes brings
people together that would havenever met before, and we were
very fortunate that I wrote abook and you had a podcast and
there we met and it's just been.
(51:39):
I mean literally.
You guys are like family to me,and I'm just going to say one
thing in response to everythingyou said about your daughter.
She may not want fame or bedoing this for any personal
reasons, but the thing is whatshe represents to other kids,
the things that they relate toabout her, the fact that she
(52:00):
does what she has been told shewould never do.
They hold on to that hopebecause they want that for
themselves.
And don't we all, don't we alland that kid also?
You know I'm pretty well healedstill have some way to go, like
we all do?
But every single day, everysingle day, I'm going to cry.
(52:24):
Now day I'm going to cry nowthat little girl text, messages
me and asks how I'm doing andwhat I'm doing and might share
something with me.
And I don't have family thatreaches out.
I don't have too many people inmy life because I have been
ostracized for speaking outabout abuse.
(52:46):
But that little girl reachesout to me every single day and
makes me feel like I matter andI know that's not her intent and
I'm sorry.
Now we're both blubbering andcrying, but all right, that's
all right.
He is leaving such a huge impactin this world, and so I applaud
(53:07):
you as her mother, not just forcreating her, bringing her into
this world, but for making herthe I mean, there are no words
for what kind of a human beingthat little girl is, and so I
think, both of you and just forallowing me to be in your lives
oh, look at us.
We're a mess now.
I love you both and we're justsharing the love with everybody
(53:31):
now.
Speaker 2 (53:31):
And we love you and you're stuck with us and she
loves her aunt Dana Like shecherishes and worships her aunt
Dana and I can't thank youenough for being that person for
her, because she needs it andshe loves it and she means so
much to me and she means a lotto a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (53:49):
And if people have not yet gone and gotten her book
I am kitten or listen to herpodcast or gone anywhere.
You have to somehow find faith.
I mean, it's kind of you haveto find faith, it's kind of
symbolic, but you, you have toget a little faith in your life
(54:09):
because, boy, she touches,everything she touches is just,
it turns into pure love and andjust pure everything and she's
amazing.
So thank you all and thank youall for listening and and you
know, witnessing this, thismoment we were having.
Speaker 2 (54:26):
And we love you all and please support Make-A-Wish
support.
Give Kids the World.
We're gonna link our fundraiserlink to this in the show notes
so that you can even $5 helpsbecause they run off of
donations and to go in and dowhat they do is amazing and we
wanna be able to have that forevery single child because they
(54:47):
deserve it.
So I want to thank you againand surprise I'm sorry I threw
this at you as a surprise at thevery end.
No, this is great good news um,thank you guys for listening and
we will be with you guys againsoon peace out.
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