Tammy Peterson shares her journey of faith, family, and finding strength through prayer during life's most challenging moments, offering wisdom on navigating marriage, motherhood, and personal transformation.
• Beautiful prayers for Pope Francis and the cardinals selecting the next pope<
• Reflections on attending the Alberta Prayer Breakfast and supporting policies that help vulnerable populations
• Insights on the Self-Authoring Program and how writing can organize memories and create vision for the future
• Personal testimony of facing a terminal diagnosis and finding healing through prayer and novena to Saint Josemaria Escriva
• The story of finding her husband unconscious and how asking God for courage and strength carried her through
• Thoughts on modern motherhood and the profound responsibility of choosing to have children<br>• Practical advice for maintaining romance in marriage through regular negotiation and date nights
• Importance of telling the truth even when difficult, and limiting social media for healthier family life
• Reflections on losing her father the same day her granddaughter was born, showing how grief and joy often intertwine
• Traditional values balanced with hope for Canada's future despite currently living in the United States
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Further sources: articles written by Sheila Nonato about Tammy Peterson's conversion
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tammy Peterson (00:00):
I wrote a prayer , actually for the Pope.
I could read it yes, please,okay.
Heavenly Father, we come beforeyou with hearts full of
gratitude for the life andservice of Pope Francis.
We thank you for his commitmentto humility, compassion and the
(00:23):
message of love that hecourageously spread across the
world.
May your eternal light shineupon him and may he find peace
in your embrace, free from theburdens of earthly life.
We ask that he be rememberedfor his compassion and his
efforts to bring about unityamong your people.
(00:43):
Grant us the strength to carryforward the values he cherished,
that we may continue to buildyour kingdom here on earth.
Amen.
And then I also have a prayerfor the cardinals selecting the
next pope.
So that's just because that'swhat we're doing now.
Lord of wisdom and light, weimplore your guidance upon the
(01:07):
College of Cardinals as theygather to select the next leader
of your church.
Endow them with clarity of mindand purity of heart that they
may be open to your divine will.
Help them to discern wisely andto choose a shepherd who will
uphold the teachings of Christ,inspire the faithful and stand
(01:29):
as a beacon of hope and mercy tothe world.
Unite them in theirdeliberations, ensuring their
decisions reflect your boundlesslove.
May their choice honour thelegacy of those who came before
and lead your people withrighteousness and compassion.
Amen.
Sheila Nonato (01:48):
Happy Mother's Day, Sisters in Christ.
Thank you for joining us forPart Two, where Tammy Peterson
continues the conversation aboutfaith, family and motherhood,
and in this episode I begin theconversation with a question
about her daughter, Mikhaela,expecting a baby soon, and
congratulations in advance! Andtoday is actually a historic day
(02:09):
where the papal conclave ismeeting and they will be
selecting the next pope, and maywe implore the Holy Spirit to
guide the cardinals and that mayGod's Holy will be done in the
selection of our next pope.
Thank you and God bless andHappy, Blessed Mother's Day to
you all.
(02:29):
Your daughter, is she almost due?
Yes, she is, oh, wow.
Another month she's ready.
Oh my, oh my.
Tammy Peterson (02:38):
As you know, she's ready.
Sheila Nonato (02:40):
That's beautiful.
How many grandchildren That'llmake.
Six, six.
Tammy Peterson (02:44):
Wow.
Sheila Nonato (02:45):
And you are going to be there for that time?
Tammy Peterson (02:47):
I am going to be here at that time.
Sheila Nonato (02:53):
That is amazing.
I had read you had moved to theStates but you came back for
the Alberta Prayer Breakfast.
Tammy Peterson (03:01):
I did,
Sheila Nonato (03:01):
Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Tammy Peterson (03:05):
Oh, it was good.
I was supposed to go toEdmonton a few months before
that on our book tour but my sonand his wife were ready to have
their baby and they called mehome so I didn't go.
And it was funny because I wasgoing to reconnect with my
cousins who I have not seen fora number of years, but I didn't
go.
But then I got invited to go tothe prayer breakfast in
(03:26):
Edmonton just last week and Iwent.
My husband was supposed to comewith me but the tour was
rearranged and he ended uphaving to be on tour instead.
So I went alone and I contactedmy cousins and it was very nice
to contact them again and theywere happy to hear from me.
And it was very nice to contactthem again and they were happy
to hear from me.
One of them came for lunch andshe brought her son, who is now
(03:48):
grown and has done universityand he's working as the AV
specialist at the conventioncenter where the prayer
breakfast was being held.
So he came for lunch the nextmorning.
At six in the morning he cameand gave me a coffee and just
before we were settling down topray for our first prayer, my
(04:09):
cousins.
I turned around and both mycousins were standing there and
I was able to give them a hugand they went and sat down and
Premier Danielle Smith got up tospeak and I agreed with
everything she had to say.
She was talking about all of thepolicies that they're putting
in place.
They've put in place lawsagainst all of the
(04:34):
gender-bending ideas, that anykind of medication or surgery is
not allowed for minors, and Iagree with that completely.
Uh, she's also with the help ofone of her ministers named dan
williams.
Dan Williams was heading thischarge to get the homeless
(04:57):
people uh, help, and so that'swhat they're doing in Alberta is
they're not enabling their druguse by giving them what they
call safe what do they call that?
Safe injection sites.
Anyway, they're not doing that.
They've taken another turn,which is a much more
(05:20):
compassionate turn, which is toactually help them to find
sobriety again, and Dan Williamstold me that he thought this
was going to be very challengingand very difficult, but in fact
, they're so grateful, they'reso relieved to be able to think
clearly again and to be someonewho can be useful in society
(05:43):
again that it's mostly filledwith gratitude.
So I hope that that policyspreads across Canada like a
wildfire and brings help tothese people who are suffering.
Sheila Nonato (06:00):
So being at the Prayer Breakfast and your
podcast, is this part of yourcalling?
Tammy Peterson (06:06):
Yes, yes, it seems that way, and I have a
really good producer.
His name is Ian and he's ayoung fellow, I think he might
be 22.
So he started with me when hewas 19 years old.
Wow, and he does a good job.
And he has just done Jordan'sFuture Authoring Program and
(06:28):
this is a it's at selfauthoring.
com this program, and it's awriting program.
There's three parts to it.
You don't have to do all threeparts, but the first one is the
past authoring and it's anautobiography.
So for people who have theykeep having difficult memories
come back to them, the pastauthoring would be a really good
thing to do, because it will.
(06:48):
You'll write it all down, allin six epochs of your life.
You'll divide it up however yousee fit, and then you'll find
memories from those times andyou'll write them down.
And when you write them down,you help your brain to organize
itself so that those memoriesdon't come back to haunt you.
And so that's the pastauthoring.
(07:09):
And then the present authoringidentifies your virtues and your
faults.
So you write down your virtuesand your faults and then you
know what they are you well.
And then you know what they areand then you can take steps to
(07:32):
try to bring your faults intobetter alignment with what's
good.
And then the future authoring isa program about who you'd like
to be if you were taking care ofyourself in the best way
possible, with love andattention, who that person would
be and what you might be aimingat, and so it's a vision
program.
It's a vision writing so youthink about people that you
might admire, and so you thinkabout who those people are, why
(07:55):
you admire them, and you'regiven a few prompts like that.
And then you write for 15minutes without editing, just
write, just dream and write ofwho you could be If you were
loving yourself and you hadthese opportunities.
You know it's not a crazy ifyou do this with kids too young.
(08:15):
You know they end up wanting tobe an Olympic athlete in
something or you know justsomething that's not very
tangible.
But if you're old enough say 18or so for this program and and
older, at any time, I think,when there's a transition in
your life, if you're changingjobs or you've just got married
(08:35):
or you just had a baby orsomething, you can do this
exercise and it'll give you avision for the future again.
And then you write goals thatare daily goals, okay, and it's
a great program for people.
So that's another thing that Ithink is really helpful.
And Ian, my producer, starteddoing that and he just is so
(09:01):
excited.
He's so excited and he's gothimself a vision and he's taking
his own best interest in mindand he's focusing on that and
and giving that the light of day, and so that's exciting.
I think that's very exciting.
Sheila Nonato (09:21):
Awesome, awesome and, as you mentioned, very
exciting, awesome, awesome.
And, as you mentioned, thisprogram by your husband.
He's also written a new bookand the book tour.
You are on it and you've beenopening.
Can you tell us what?
What do you share with theaudience?
What do?
Tammy Peterson (09:36):
I share.
So, yeah, so it's over now.
It ended on the 17th of April,so that was nine months of
travel.
It was a long, it's a long timefive months before Christmas
before the book came out, andthen another four months
afterwards.
And, um, usually I would youknow, I'd ask Jordan what he was
(09:56):
going to talk about that day,and usually by dinnertime he
will tell me what it is and hemight be speaking about
voluntary sacrifice or he mightbe talking about, sometimes,
(10:17):
some psychological things.
He talked about psychopathologyand what it is and how we can
turn that around.
How does this theme play outfor me?
And then I would think upsomething, say about voluntary
(10:58):
sacrifice, think about what itis, first of all, and then think
about the opposite of that,which would be selfishness, and
anything that's thinking aboutmyself before others would be
(11:22):
the opposite of self-sacrifice.
And then I would share withpeople the benefits that I've
found by leading a life that wasbased on sacrifice, how it
would all come back again.
So you know, when just when amother has a baby, that's our
(11:45):
sacrifice.
You know, a man goes to war, aman goes to battle, that's his
sacrifice.
A woman has a baby?
That's our sacrifice it's ourbattle to undergo, and when we
do that, what do we get inreturn?
We get all this love back to usagain, you know, like it's just
love that you can never imagine.
That's what you get back toyourself when you, when you make
(12:07):
those sacrifices, and so it's.
It's easy to talk.
So I talk about I talk a littlebit probably about the time
when I was sick in 2019 and cameback after the doctor's
appointment, tell my son that Ionly had 10 months to live and
looked at him, and when helooked at me, I saw this
(12:27):
terrible grief in his eyes.
That was, I think, in comparisonto how much I loved him, and
I'd never seen that much love.
I'd never really seen that muchlove directed back to me in a
time of need where I reallyneeded that, and it just was so
(12:59):
obvious to me that it was timefor me to humble myself to God
and understand that it's not upto me what happens in my life.
It's up to God.
Only God knows when we're goingto die, no matter what a doctor
says, and that I could goforward from there in gratitude,
in service to my family and inservice to my son, and so that
(13:21):
was a very profound experienceof voluntary sacrifice and what
it means I mean to have you haveno idea.
Well, when you have a baby, youjust have no idea how profound
that relationship is between ababy and a mother.
(13:43):
It is life-giving.
It's a life-giving relationship, yeah.
Sheila Nonato (13:51):
I just wanted to, since we just finished Lent and
we're into the Easter season,go back to the cross.
I hope that's okay.
You mentioned you had 10 monthsto live.
Queenie was there, taught youthe ros rosary was there with
you for five weeks and thenFather Eric Nicolai had given
you the Novena to SaintJosemaria Escriva.
(14:12):
And on the fifth day and theday that you said to your
husband, I'm going to be healed,you, the doctor said you're
fine to go home, when theycouldn't figure out what was
wrong with you.
Do you consider that a miracle?
Tammy Peterson (14:31):
I consider that a miracle.
I consider that unexplainable.
So if it's unexplainablemedically, you know, and it is
kind of explainable, you know,they had put a lot of dye into
my body to see if they couldfind the leak in my system and
then they used glue to try tostop it up and they couldn't.
(14:51):
Well, maybe they did stop it upwith glue because they
definitely tried hard to do that.
But the question is, why did ithappen on that day?
That's the question, and Ithink that was I was given that
opportunity, I think it was, somy husband could see that this
was possible because he couldn'texplain it
Sheila Nonato (15:17):
Have you had to use that Novena again since then
?
Tammy Peterson (15:19):
no, no, not yet.
Sheila Nonato (15:24):
Okay, hopefully you don't need to, but with
Saint Josem aria Escriva, fromwhat I know, is a saint who was
teaching people how to liveholiness in in their daily lives
, like mothers nursing theirchildren, doing the dishes, you
know all the things that, uh,the home life, mothers can
(15:46):
sanctify their work or anybodyeven, uh, wherever you work,
it's how do you, how do yousanctify the work that you're
doing now, the calling that youhave as in public life?
Tammy Peterson (16:00):
Well, I think about how unlikely it is and how
grateful I am for it, and sothat's something that I can
start each day with.
Really, how unlikely it is thatI wake up in the morning.
That's where I start.
I think, oh, look at that, I'malive, that's amazing.
And then, going on this tour, Imean it's so unlikely that
(16:25):
Jordan and that that either ofus especially me, really that I
get to go along and go out onstage, I mean that's so unlikely
and so different from who I was.
So you know, the trail that I'mon now doesn't resemble the
trail that I was on before.
It's a different mission.
(16:48):
It's definitely a differentmission, and as long as I can
see that it's going in a waythat seems like it's good for
other people, that they'rebenefiting, we'll continue to do
this.
Sheila Nonato (17:05):
Other people that they're benefiting will
continue to do this.
And as we were talking aboutagain the cross, you've had to
deal the cross of yourdaughter's illness for many
years, and then your husband hadalso been ill.
And I'm just very curious,since I did the interview with
you last year and we weren'table to finish the story that
you it was a sad time yourhusband, you had found him um, I
(17:28):
don't know if it was, he wasunconscious upstairs in your, in
your house.
I'm just very curious.
What happened?
Did the ambulance come?
Tammy Peterson (17:34):
Oh yeah, well, you know, it was very
interesting because, uh, we hada very good friend.
This is, uh, he was in ourwedding party.
It was.
It was Jordan's first friendwhen he left high school and
went off to university.
He was in our wedding party, Itwas, It was Jordan's first
friend when he left high schooland went off to college.
He was a young, he was an older, a few years older than him, so
I think it was like having anolder brother.
They shared an apartment inGrand Prairie, Alberta, while
(17:58):
they went to Grand PrairieCollege together and then they
ended up going to Edmontontogether and finishing their
degrees.
So this fellow was important toJordan and they ended up moving
back to Toronto because hiswife was from Toronto and then
we moved to Toronto.
So later in our marriages wereconnected again, but we still,
(18:21):
you know, we were kind of likemore like family.
We didn't see him very oftenbut when we did, it was good and
it was always.
It always seemed like wheneverwe were in need or they were in
need, we were around.
So you know, kind of likefamily.
(18:42):
And when George was so sick andhe had to walk all the time,
this friend named Morgan heshowed up and he showed up every
day for 10 months and walkedwith him 10 miles a day every
day, wow, all through the winter.
Yeah, it was really something,and he came all the time.
(19:03):
So this day he had shown upagain and he was sitting in my
kitchen and we were waiting forJordan because he was.
He knew that Morgan was there.
I'd gone up, I think, and, andasked and got him to wake up and
I heard him going to thebathroom and I was talking to
Morgan and I was standing up andI just got this idea in my head
(19:27):
, you know, like an intuition,or maybe well, an intuition
anyway that it had been longenough, that he had been in the
bathroom long enough and I neverbothered him in his work.
I never, ever, went in andopened the door to his office.
None of us did, and thebathroom also is a very private
(19:48):
place and we never bother eachother.
But I felt like there was some.
I thought there's something.
So I went upstairs and Iprobably knocked on the door,
although I don't remember If Idid knock on the door.
He didn't answer, and so I wentinto the bathroom because the
shower was on, and so I openedthe shower door and he was
(20:09):
laying in a curled up positionon the floor and I saw he was
bleeding and my intuition was tostop the bleeding.
So I leaned over to him to stopthe bleeding and he said don't
touch me.
And I thought you're alive,that's all.
(20:30):
I thought You're alive, I cansave you, you know.
And so I yelled to my friend inthe kitchen and I said call the
ambulance, which he did.
He called the ambulance andthen they came in and they took
him to the hospital.
And it was during COVID and Icouldn't go in the hospital.
So I stood outside and I calledall the people that I had a
(20:50):
spiritual relationship with tosupport me.
And then the next day I wasable to go in and see him.
And before I went in to see him, I called one of my friends and
she said what do you need fromGod right now before you go into
the ICU?
And I said I need courage andstrength.
And she said okay, keep thatforemost in your mind as you
(21:13):
walk into the room.
And so I did, and when I gotthere he was in a bed and he was
alive.
And I wasn't too traumatized byit, because I was asking God for
courage and strength.
And when you ask, you receiveit.
And so when I go on stage, Istill ask for courage and
(21:37):
strength to go out there,otherwise I wouldn't be able to
do it.
People say, how do you do that?
And I say I ask for courage andstrength.
Go out there, otherwise Iwouldn't be able to do it.
People say, how do you do that?
And I say I ask for courage andstrength, that's how I do it.
So it was the beginning.
That really was the beginningof a new way of life that my
illness and my husband's illness, you know it really did deepen
both of our devotions to eachother and to the Lord above, to
(22:05):
our families, to our societiesLike we're.
Yeah, it's very different.
Sheila Nonato (22:14):
So it must not be easy to be living such a public
life, these crosses that youboth went through, as you said,
it deepened your devotion toyour families, to each other, to
the Lord.
Was this sort of?
Was this what kept you going?
Even you know, I can imaginetouring, going on tour, going to
(22:34):
different cities can be verydifficult, especially if you're
going, you know, one day afterthe other, what keeps you both
going.
What keeps you going?
Tammy Peterson (22:44):
Well, you know, we have a really good group of
guys that travel with us.
They really make it as easy asit could be for us and I don't,
we couldn't do what we dowithout them.
We would have to do much less,many way fewer things, not so
many engagements and so they arevery helpful Our tour manager,
(23:07):
who takes us from theater totheater.
We just show up there andeverything is ready.
So we have a lot of help, andthat is definitely helping us to
carry on.
But, you know, there's theworld is in a is in need of
(23:32):
attention and, with the rightintention, the world is
definitely in need of the rightof meditating on what is the
right intention, and so really,I think that is what we're doing
is we're traveling around anddiscussing what is the right
(23:52):
intention and how can you goabout developing that?
Yeah, taking on yourresponsibility, as Jordan says,
but also, uh, telling the truth.
We talk about telling the truthand how.
Starting to tell the truth is agood practice, because it will
(24:14):
come in handy one day when youdon't want to tell the truth,
but you've already beenpracticing long enough that
you'll have the courage to saywhat is true, and there we have
seen how important that wasduring the pandemic, because
people were very likely not tosay what they thought and then
things got away on us.
(24:35):
So we have to, and there willbe more, so we have to practice.
It's very important that wetell the truth and that we take
on our responsibilities and nothide our light under a bushel,
but to realize that the truth isthe best answer, no matter what
.
It doesn't matter what youthink is the best answer.
(24:57):
The truth is the best answer,period think is the best answer.
The truth is the best answer,period, and so we
Sheila Nonato (25:10):
Our Holy Father has just recently died.
The church, you know the futureof the church sort of, I guess,
hangs in the balance.
And when I had asked you thefirst time why did you enter the
Catholic Church, you said thatyou felt we were in a time of
Noah and that we have to battendown the hatches.
Do you still feel that way?
And how do we prepare ourselvesinteriorly for whatever
challenges come our way?
Tammy Peterson (25:45):
Well, I think daily prayer is very helpful.
And what does prayer do for me?
You know it helps me to put myworries to rest.
If I'm obsessing aboutsomething, it puts that to rest.
About something, it puts thatto rest, so it stops me from
(26:07):
veering off in some directionthat's not helpful, and allows
me to be more present, so thatwhatever comes up when I start
my day I'm ready for and I canrespond in a thoughtful manner
rather than a reactive manner.
And so prayer is something andI think you know it's there
isn't anything grand that any ofus have to do because, well, we
(26:32):
don't know what those thingswould be.
So that isn't what's called for.
What's called for is what isright in front of our noses
paying attention and seeing whatbothers us.
If there's something that we'realways talking about with our
friends because it bothers us,well, that's our responsibility,
that's our calling.
It's something to answer to andto see what's there and
(26:55):
investigate and deepen ourunderstanding of, because maybe
there's something we can doabout it to make it better.
Prayer and paying attention towhat bothers us that's another
one that's very, very helpful.
(27:16):
You know, we get, we can, wecan get confused by all the
social media, all of the peoplewho are telling you what you
should think and what you shouldsay, where you should be, all
(27:36):
of these things and spend sometime in quiet.
And I think that's way moreimportant than it used to be,
because it's very hard to findquiet now if you don't impose it
.
It used to be normal to haveyour life was quiet, but now
it's practically unheard ofunless you make that choice to
(28:02):
make it quiet.
So I would definitely limityour time on the computer and on
social media and don't give itto your children if they're
under 18.
Once they're 18, they're adults, they can make their own
decisions and by then they willhave experienced their childhood
so they'll understand what itmeans to have had time together.
(28:23):
Um, I think that young women,probably from the time they're
about 15, they should startthinking about the fact is
they're going to be married andstart thinking about who they
want for their husband and howthey're going to prepare
(28:44):
themselves to be someone that aman would like to marry.
And so you know, we've, we'vebeen taught that we have to
prepare for our career, that wehave to find out who we are as
individuals, but really there'sthe reason we can't define what
a woman is is because the womanthat was defined first was the
(29:06):
Virgin Mary with Jesus.
And so a woman is, has a baby.
A woman has a baby.
That's when you have grownresponsibility, you know.
When a man goes out and finds ajob and he brings home his pay
to his family, then he's also aman, and we've forgotten exactly
(29:28):
what that is, because we don'thave our eyes on the family
anymore.
But really it's your family.
You know it.
It has.
No, when you're down and out,you don't think about how many
days of work you missed.
You think about who you'll miss, because you love them and they
love you.
So those are some of the things.
(29:52):
I wrote a prayer, actually forthe Pope.
I could read it
Sheila Nonato (30:00):
Yes, please.
Tammy Peterson (30:01):
Okay.
Heavenly Father, we come beforeyou with hearts full of
gratitude for the life andservice of Pope Francis.
We thank you for his commitmentto humility, compassion and the
message of love that hecourageously spread across the
world.
May your eternal light shineupon him and may he find peace
(30:24):
in your embrace, free from theburdens of earthly life.
We ask that he be rememberedfor his compassion and his
efforts to bring about unityamong your people.
Grant us the strength to carryforward the values he cherished,
that we may continue to buildyour kingdom here on earth.
Amen.
(30:47):
And then I also have a prayerfor the cardinals selecting the
next pope.
So that's just because that'swhat we're doing now.
Lord of wisdom and light, weimplore your guidance upon the
College of Cardinals as theygather to select the next leader
of your church.
Endow them with clarity of mindand purity of heart.
(31:08):
That they may be open to yourdivine will Help them to discern
wisely and to choose a shepherdwho will uphold the teachings
of Christ, inspire the and standas a beacon of hope and mercy
to the world.
Unite them in theirdeliberations, ensuring their
decisions reflect your boundlesslove.
(31:30):
May their choice honor thelegacy of those who came before
and lead your people withrighteousness and compassion.
Amen.
Sheila Nonato (31:40):
Amen.
Those are very beautifulprayers.
Were you surprised that thePope died on Easter Monday
Tammy Peterson (31:47):
, isn't that something?
I never really thought of it asa surprise, it just was what
happened.
But yeah, that's meaningful.
Sheila Nonato (31:58):
I guess he gave.
He gave to the last drop, tothe very end.
I yeah, that's what.
I heard that he was had asermon the day before, so wow,
yeah, and he had seen a vicepresident, jd Vance, and his
family.
Yeah, he gave everything.
Tammy Peterson (32:14):
It's a great witness.
Sheila Nonato (32:15):
Yeah, Isn't that something that to the end your
life is still worth worth living, yeah he wanted to wanted to
express that love of christ.
I think the doctors told him youhave to wait a couple of months
, but he, um, he felt compelledby the Holy Spirit to to be
there.
So, yeah, yeah, um, and I justbefore I forget your father had
(32:42):
passed away last year the sameday that your, your grandson,
had been born, so it was sort ofa bittersweet day for you, and
now you're awaiting the birth ofanother grandchild, sort of the
season of Lent and Easter, sortof the life and death,
Resurrection.
All of these themes, they'revery practical as well, in that
(33:08):
they're not just a theory.
You know that Jesus came and heshowed us what love is, and
love is sacrifice, and I thinkthat is one of the themes that
your husband had also mentionedin his book.
Oh yeah, he wrestled with God.
As you had mentioned,motherhood it seems like it is
an act of courage.
Nowadays, because nobody wantsto have children, you seem to be
a burden.
Tammy Peterson (33:29):
We didn't have a choice before.
Now we have.
We have birth control.
So it is up to us to make thatchoice, and that's a lot of
responsibility.
That was never part of ourresponsibility, because if we
loved our husbands, we'd be and,God willing, we had a baby.
That's just what happened.
But now we have birth control,so it's up to us to decide and
(33:55):
that is a very profoundresponsibility that women have
now and I applaud all women whomake that choice because it is
(34:15):
not a given anymore.
But there is nothing moreprofound than becoming a mother.
There's nothing that will youcan keep your head high about
than being a mother.
Sheila Nonato (34:35):
Well, why?
Why do young women seem tothink it's very, very difficult?
I just thinking last week therewas an American singer I don't
know if you heard about this,but Chappell Roan, I believe her
name is and she was on apodcast interview and she said
all her friends, they're allbecause they have young children
(34:56):
.
So she thought, from theirexperience, "motherhood is hell.
So those are her exact words.
But are we making motherhoodtoo hard?
Are we taking on too much?
We want to do everything.
The girl boss, mom, boss,whatever, I know do everything.
You know the woman has to.
You know, go to work and thencome home and, you know, fix
(35:18):
dinner.
Are we making it too hard onourselves that?
You know, mother, now you knownobody wants to do that anymore.
Tammy Peterson (35:25):
Yeah, well, I think that you know, the one
thing that a woman can do is shecan think about what does she
have to offer her husband, whatdoes she have to offer her
friends and and her, her babies,and what does she have to offer
her husband?
And you got to think reallyclearly about what it was, what
it is that you can offer himthat would be good for him, that
(35:47):
would encourage him, that wouldbring him a sense of being
worthwhile, and I think that wehave forgotten how important it
is to share in theresponsibility of being a mother
(36:10):
and a parent and a partner.
So we take the easy way out bygoing to work every day and not
not getting married, of thinkingthat, you know, in snow white
let's talk about snow white fora minute, because I went to the
(36:31):
new snow white it was a feminist.
It was a feminist movie.
Absolutely there was no princein it it was a film, yeah, okay
she went to the queen and it washer.
She brought herself back to thecastle to have a confrontation
with the queen.
It wasn't the prince, now,there was a bandit, there was a
(36:52):
bandit and he played kind of alittle bit of a prince-like role
.
But that wasn't the onlyproblem.
The seven dwarfs they weren'tgoing to have any dwarfs in the
snow white.
No, they weren't going to haveany dwarfs.
And then they decided to havedwarfs.
But there's a very famous dwarfwho's a actor.
I can't remember his name buteverybody knows who he was
(37:14):
because he was in game ofThrones, but I can't remember
his name.
Anyway, he complained thatthere would be dwarfs playing
dwarfs.
So they made them out of CGIand so they didn't employ any
dwarfs, which sounds like youknow, if you think about it,
that's not exactly probably whathe had in mind, but anyway.
But these dwarfs in their rolethey were not like they were in
(37:40):
the Grimm's fairy tales.
So in the Grimm's fairy talesthe dwarves are, they're all the
same, virtually.
They're not individuals, theyare.
They are good men, broadlyspeaking.
They go to work in the ground,they bring what is, they bring
treasure from within the groundand they keep a very clean house
(38:04):
In this movie.
Their house was a mess and SnowWhite had to inspire them how
to clean it, and so there wasthe first thing that women had
to show these men.
But actually what happened wasin the Grimm's fairy tale is
Snow White went from the hunterwho was supposed to kill her,
(38:28):
she went to the dwarves and totheir house and served them,
served the common man.
That's what her job was to do.
Now, when the queen decided tokill her, the first thing she
did was she put on a bodice onher that was too tight, so she
(38:48):
was restricting her physicalityand going to kill her, and the
dwarves saved her from that.
So serving the common man savedher from that.
And then she also had a poisoncomb, which would be narcissism,
like paying way too muchattention to yourself and the
dwarves saved her from that.
But then she dressed up as anevil witch and she came and she
(39:12):
gave her a poisoned apple.
And the dwarves, they couldn'tsave her from that, so they put
her in a glass case and theydidn't leave her, they just
stayed around her and the princecame through the forest and he
came upon this absolutelybeautiful princess that was in
(39:32):
this glass case.
She was so beautiful, it washer beauty.
She was so beautiful that hetook her with him.
And when he did, he jostled theglass case and the apple came
out of her throat and she wokeup and he married her and they
lived happily ever after.
Well, that's all.
All that is to say is that menneed to pursue beauty.
(39:56):
That's what they do.
They pursue beauty, they pursueadventure and they need a
battle.
And I read that in a bookcalled Wild at Heart.
Wild at Heart, it's quite agood book, and he wrote another
book about women.
I haven't read it yet.
I bought it but I haven't readit.
And let's see what's his name?
(40:16):
Wild at Heart.
I should know that.
But in the Snow White storythere's a bandit, and his merry
men are a diverse group ofpeople no Asians.
No Asians, though for somereason I don't know what that's
all about, but couldn't have anyAsians in that he goes back to
(40:39):
the castle with Snow White, buthe isn't instrumental in freeing
her from the queen's clutches.
Snow White does that on her ownand then at the end they dance
on tables and they're kind ofdressed in white and there's
some flowers, so it'sreminiscent of marriage, but
(41:00):
they don't mention marriage atall.
Yeah, it's, it's brutal.
The difference between theGrimm's fairy tale and the uh,
new one, it's, it's.
It's doing terribly.
And there's a reason it's doingterribly because it doesn't
give men the place in the story,a proper place for men in the
story.
It's a feminist idea, very,very bad
Sheila Nonato (41:25):
Since mother's day is coming up, would you have
a message?
What would you say to youngwomen and to the mothers who who
chose to stay at home and arewondering did I do the right
thing?
Yes, this is hard.
This is hard, yeah right, it'shard.
Tammy Peterson (41:41):
There's definitely true, I'm not saying
it's easy.
This book, Wild at Heart, waswritten by John Eldridge, okay,
just in case anybody wants toknow.
Okay, um, so let's see, go backto when I was first married and
wondering what I was doing,because every young mother
(42:03):
wonders what she's doing andbecause we've never done it
before.
But we find out that if we arein it for the right reasons, you
know, if we are in it to loveour children, to love our babies
and to give ourselves inservice to our families and to
(42:27):
our husbands, if we're in it forthe right reasons, then if we
can communicate that to ourhusbands and then they can
meditate on what they're doingthere, if they're there to be in
service to their wives andtheir children, then negotiation
(42:50):
is a big deal in marriage.
And how do you know when you'venegotiated properly?
You've negotiated with yourhusband until you feel a sense
that you're on a balancedplaying field at the end.
So you have a feeling of playat the end.
Then you know you've.
You know if one of you is goingaway and saying, well, I guess,
(43:13):
oh, that's not good enough,that's not good enough, that's
not negotiation.
You know at work, when younegotiate at work, that you have
to negotiate so that the personyou're talking to is satisfied
and you're satisfied, then youknow that you've negotiated a
proper, balanced deal.
It's the same thing at homewith your husband and you have
to be aware that every week it'sgoing to take about 90 minutes
(43:37):
to negotiate with your husbandon the workings of the house and
the family.
And when you don't take thattime, if you try to have some
romantic time, those things youhaven't discussed will come up
first and then your husband willbe like oh no, we're not going
to have a date because all youwant to do is talk about how the
(43:58):
car needs to be fixed.
But the thing is you have totake that 90 minutes every week
to discuss those things or theywill come up and but you know,
if you can just listen, usuallyfor about a half an hour, if
you're keeping up with eachother, maybe there's about a
half an hour of talk between thetwo of you before you can
settle into a romantic evening.
(44:21):
And it's really important thatyou maintain romance in your
marriage.
You know you have to rememberwho you married and why you
married them.
You have to remember that andkeep that memory alive by having
dates and you can talk to yourwife about that.
(44:45):
You can ask you know, istonight a good night?
No, I'm tired tonight.
Well, how about tomorrow?
Okay, I'll have a rest tomorrowand then that's a good night.
And then honor that.
So honor that.
You can't say at the end oftomorrow night I didn't have
time to rest.
It's like, well, you had achoice, you had a choice, you
make your choices.
So just admit that.
(45:05):
You made your choice.
Have a rest, spend some timewith your husband.
That's what marriage is about.
It's about spending time withyour husband so that there is
love and attention in yourmarriage.
Right, so that's superimportant.
And the more you do that, sayyou can negotiate how many times
(45:27):
a week you want to meet.
Like the first time Jordan andI met, I think we had a nap.
We were pretty tired because wehad a little baby, so we just
had a nap.
But that's okay, that's goodenough.
As long as you're spending ittogether, as long as you're not
opening the door or looking atyour phone, so you're not
letting anything interfere, thenyou're doing what you have to
(45:48):
do and that's the thing is,you'll start to negotiate.
If you take that time with oneanother, you'll start to
negotiate and you'll start tobring up things that maybe
bother you.
You know, when you wash thedishes you don't clean out the
sink.
You know it bugs me.
It bugs me.
I just had to tell you that it'slike OK, now you've told him
(46:10):
that and and hopefully he'slistened, and then the next time
you get together well, you knowhis socks are always Tucked
together but thrown in thecorner instead of put in the
laundry bin.
But you've got to talk aboutthese things and you've got to
express what you need so thatyou can be grateful to be with
(46:31):
one another.
It's really there's a lot ofnegotiation that goes on to
having a happy marriage and itnever ends.
It never ends.
You'll be married for 40 yearsand you still have to negotiate.
You still have to find out whatyou need and you have to say it
(46:52):
, because he's not going to knowit unless you say it.
So you have to tell him what'son your mind.
So you have to trust yourhusband to listen.
But you can train him a littleat a time and he can train you a
little at a time about givingup control, so that you tell him
(47:13):
what's on your mind.
Once that is there, then you'rethere to be in service to one
another and have some fun withit.
You know, have some fun with it.
You know, have some fun with it.
Sheila Nonato (47:25):
How many years have you been married?
Tammy Peterson (47:27):
36.
36
Sheila Nonato (47:29):
.
So the courtship continues.
Tammy Peterson (47:31):
So the courtship continues.
You still do the date nights?
We still do the date nightsDancing.
We're still negotiating thosedate nights.
Do you still dance?
We still dance.
Yeah, and actually you know,all those years, years, we've
gotten to be pretty good dancers.
Took a long time.
Took a long time ballroomdancing, um, or, yes, it is
(47:55):
ballroom dancing.
You know, he knows how to twirlme now in different ways and
and we experiment with it andit's lots of fun and is this at
home or is this at the studio?
Sheila Nonato (48:06):
This is at home At home.
Tammy Peterson (48:08):
Yep, it's at home.
Okay Okay, you know, and wedidn't have any help when we had
our babies, so we had dates inthe living room at home, okay
yeah.
Sheila Nonato (48:18):
Okay, and just one more thing before I forget.
Um the um, when your father haddied, there was a celebration
of life.
Was it in British Columbia?
Tammy Peterson (48:27):
Yes, it was, and my sister actually died in
December this year.
So we're having anothercelebration this summer and
Jordan's mother and father havedied, so we're having another
celebration for Jordan's father.
Yeah, it's been a lot of loss.
It's been a lot of loss, but itbrings together a lot of family
(48:48):
and so that's good.
And also, I think it implores,it teaches us to pay more
attention to each other, becausewe do have the time to be
together now.
So actually do it and payattention and be grateful that
you have the time together now,because it doesn't last.
Sheila Nonato (49:11):
Yeah and so in the summer for your father.
How, how was the celebration oflife at that time?
Was your sister able to bethere for that?
Um, we brought her out of thehospital.
Tammy Peterson (49:21):
Yeah, yeah, she was able to be there for that,
um, we brought her out of thehospital, yeah, yeah, she was
able to be there, yeah, andeveryone saw her.
I saw her only weeks before shedied, wow.
And she lives all like onvancouver island, which is kind
of tricky to get to, it's not,it's about as remote as northern
(49:41):
alberta, you know.
It's just so far removed.
There's no, uh, there's nodirect flight to vancouver, so
you have to really go out ofyour way to go.
And I'd only just seen herweeks before she died, and so
did her children.
She has two girls and they bothsaw her.
My sister who took care of her.
She's a palliative care nurse.
She's very good at saying whenwe had months to see her and
(50:06):
weeks to see her and days to seeher, and so she was very or
hours to see her.
She's very good at being ableto help us define those moments
so that we could take advantageof the opportunities that were
at hand.
Sheila Nonato (50:23):
How did these losses affect your faith?
Did it affect it?
Tammy Peterson (50:28):
You know, when my dad died I was there with him
.
Thank the Lord.
I was there and Michaela wasabout to have a baby.
She still had a month to gowith her pregnancy, so I wasn't
concerned that it was imminent.
But it turned out it wasbecause the day he died we
called her and she had had herbaby.
(50:50):
So he died in the morning andthe baby was born in the
afternoon.
But my husband's father wasailing and so he went back to
Northern Alberta and I came tovisit Michaela because she had a
new baby.
But when I got here the babywas premature and she was just
staying in her bedroom.
So I didn't see her at all andI was lonely.
(51:12):
I was lonely and I was grievingand I was alone and I was going
for walks every day and I waspraying and I was trying to deal
with my grief.
But when it came to Thursdayand I was going to meet with
Father Turrone for my Catechism,I admitted to him I'd been
resentful that week and he saiddid you take that to prayer?
(51:35):
And I said I did.
But when I reflected I thought,I thought did I really?
And it was the opportunity toshare that with someone that
made it really happen.
(51:56):
So I shared it with FatherTurrone a new impulse to share
my father's story and my brotherhad sent the obituary, so I
sent it everywhere for him.
I sent it to all the people onFacebook that I knew would have
(52:17):
known my Dad.
I sent it everywhere and it wasa very good feeling.
It was a good evening and I wasthen able to celebrate my dad's
life instead of be in mourning.
So it really moved me along inmy process of mourning and I
(52:41):
think it was the practice ofprayer and also my association.
If I'd gone to church, samesort of thing would have
happened, but I actually had theopportunity to speak with a
priest and that really moved mygrief along to the next level.
Sheila Nonato (53:03):
Have you spoken to Father Turrone or Queenie
recently?
Tammy Peterson (53:06):
I've emailed with them.
I thought I was going home in afew days, but it turns out we
have to stay in the States for awhile longer because we just
moved here.
We have to spend more time herethan than we thought.
Sheila Nonato (53:19):
What would it take for you to come back?
Tammy Peterson (53:23):
Well to come back, and live there?
Sheila Nonato (53:27):
Yeah, would you consider running for office?
Tammy Peterson (53:31):
We're not coming back to live in Canada?
No, I don't think so.
My son is there, so we'll goback for short periods of time,
definitely to see him yeah andand we have a summer place that
we still own that we can go andvisit, and he has a place nearby
(53:52):
, so we'll share that time withhim okay but other than that,
we're not going to be comingback.
Sheila Nonato (53:57):
No, no, no well, canada is poorer for you not
being here.
Tammy Peterson (54:03):
Well, Jordan is still doing his work for Canada.
We haven't forgot the peoplethat are there and how important
it is to us, that country, andso we're hoping that you know
that Canadians make the rightchoice and elect a leader who
has, you know, good traditionalvalues and also a vision for the
(54:29):
future, realizing that we haveour natural resources and that
we can share them with the restof the country as well as the
world.
And that's good, because thiswhole idea of climate change is
such a bogus idea.
It's not true, and anybody whothinks that climate change is
(54:52):
something that we should focuson has a lot of work to do in
finding out what's true becauseit's not true.
So I think Canadians, if youngmen vote, I think that the
Conservatives will win, becauseI think young men realize the
(55:14):
necessity for common sense.
So I've had hope for Canada thewhole time.
I think that the Conserv ativesare going to win and I I really,
um, I believe in our youngpeople.
You know it's the older peoplewho are thinking that Carney's a
(55:38):
good idea and he's not.
He's a.
He's a wolf in sheep's clothingidea and he's not.
He's a, He's a wolf in sheep'sclothing.
You know, he looks the part,but he's not.
He's not going to bring uhabundance to our country, so
it's the wrong choice well, Iguess we'll.
Sheila Nonato (55:54):
We will find out on Monday, we will very soon.
And lastly, so your story isreally a story of hope,
transformation, love.
Have you felt the weight of somuch attention being put on you
since your conversion?
Tammy Peterson (56:12):
No, I don't feel it.
I feel like I have anopportunity, hopefully, to share
something that's meaningful andI'm grateful for it.
So it's unlikely and I'm awareof that, but I'm willing to go
along with it.
Sheila Nonato (56:34):
Was there anything else you wanted to add?
No, I think that was reallygood.
Tammy Peterson (56:39):
It's nice to talk to you again.
Thank you, yeah, it was greatto see you.
Sheila Nonato (56:43):
Thank you very much.
It's always a gift for me andfor my family.
Did you want to close with aprayer?
Tammy Peterson (56:48):
Sure, yeah, do you want me to pray?
Yes, please, okay, okay, dearHeavenly Father, thank you for
this opportunity to speak withSheila again, and please bring
grace upon her family and uponCanadians and support them to
(57:15):
make a choice that will bringabundance to the country.
May your will be done.
Sheila Nonato (57:29):
Amen, amen.
Well, thank you so much, Mrs.
Peterson.
Tammy, I'm just used to doingthat Nice to see your kids.
Tammy Peterson (57:42):
Thank you for bringing them on.
Sheila Nonato (57:46):
They ask me here and there, like, "ow's mrs
peterson?
Oh, that's, I'd say, " thinkshe's doing well.
I see things written about herand her husband and and then she
was at the prayer breakfast andbut then when I told them, oh
they, they left canada.
They're like, oh, they were sad, but uh, you're on to bigger
and better things and, um, yeah,I really appreciate your time
(58:08):
and thank you again, um, andit's so exciting for you to have
another grandchild.
Yeah, I'm pretty excited aboutthat okay.
Well, all the best, God bless.
Tammy Peterson (58:17):
God bless.
Thank you so much
Sheila Nonato (58:19):
Take care.
Tammy Peterson (58:20):
Bye-bye, bye-bye .
Sheila Nonato (58:34):
Thank you for
listening to
the Veil and Armour podcast.
I invite you to share this withanother Catholic mom today.
Please subscribe to our podcastand YouTube channel and please
spread the word.
Let's Be Brave, let's Be Boldand Be Blessed together.
I wrote a prayer , actually for the Pope.
I could read it yes, please,okay.
Heavenly Father, we come beforeyou with hearts full of
gratitude for the life andservice of Pope Francis.
We thank you for his commitmentto humility, compassion and the
(00:23):
message of love that hecourageously spread across the
world.
May your eternal light shineupon him and may he find peace
in your embrace, free from theburdens of earthly life.
We ask that he be rememberedfor his compassion and his
efforts to bring about unityamong your people.
(00:43):
Grant us the strength to carryforward the values he cherished,
that we may continue to buildyour kingdom here on earth.
Amen.
And then I also have a prayerfor the cardinals selecting the
next pope.
So that's just because that'swhat we're doing now.
Lord of wisdom and light, weimplore your guidance upon the
(01:07):
College of Cardinals as theygather to select the next leader
of your church.
Endow them with clarity of mindand purity of heart that they
may be open to your divine will.
Help them to discern wisely andto choose a shepherd who will
uphold the teachings of Christ,inspire the faithful and stand
(01:29):
as a beacon of hope and mercy tothe world.
Unite them in theirdeliberations, ensuring their
decisions reflect your boundlesslove.
May their choice honour thelegacy of those who came before
and lead your people withrighteousness and compassion.
Amen.
Sheila Nonato (01:48):
Happy Mother's Day, Sisters in Christ.
Thank you for joining us forPart Two, where Tammy Peterson
continues the conversation aboutfaith, family and motherhood,
and in this episode I begin theconversation with a question
about her daughter, Mikhaela,expecting a baby soon, and
congratulations in advance! Andtoday is actually a historic day
(02:09):
where the papal conclave ismeeting and they will be
selecting the next pope, and maywe implore the Holy Spirit to
guide the cardinals and that mayGod's Holy will be done in the
selection of our next pope.
Thank you and God bless andHappy, Blessed Mother's Day to
you all.
(02:29):
Your daughter, is she almost due?
Yes, she is, oh, wow.
Another month she's ready.
Oh my, oh my.
Tammy Peterson (02:38):
As you know, she's ready.
Sheila Nonato (02:40):
That's beautiful.
How many grandchildren That'llmake.
Six, six.
Tammy Peterson (02:44):
Wow.
Sheila Nonato (02:45):
And you are going to be there for that time?
Tammy Peterson (02:47):
I am going to be here at that time.
Sheila Nonato (02:53):
That is amazing.
I had read you had moved to theStates but you came back for
the Alberta Prayer Breakfast.
Tammy Peterson (03:01):
I did,
Sheila Nonato (03:01):
Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Tammy Peterson (03:05):
Oh, it was good.
I was supposed to go toEdmonton a few months before
that on our book tour but my sonand his wife were ready to have
their baby and they called mehome so I didn't go.
And it was funny because I wasgoing to reconnect with my
cousins who I have not seen fora number of years, but I didn't
go.
But then I got invited to go tothe prayer breakfast in
(03:26):
Edmonton just last week and Iwent.
My husband was supposed to comewith me but the tour was
rearranged and he ended uphaving to be on tour instead.
So I went alone and I contactedmy cousins and it was very nice
to contact them again and theywere happy to hear from me.
And it was very nice to contactthem again and they were happy
to hear from me.
One of them came for lunch andshe brought her son, who is now
(03:48):
grown and has done universityand he's working as the AV
specialist at the conventioncenter where the prayer
breakfast was being held.
So he came for lunch the nextmorning.
At six in the morning he cameand gave me a coffee and just
before we were settling down topray for our first prayer, my
(04:09):
cousins.
I turned around and both mycousins were standing there and
I was able to give them a hugand they went and sat down and
Premier Danielle Smith got up tospeak and I agreed with
everything she had to say.
She was talking about all of thepolicies that they're putting
in place.
They've put in place lawsagainst all of the
(04:34):
gender-bending ideas, that anykind of medication or surgery is
not allowed for minors, and Iagree with that completely.
Uh, she's also with the help ofone of her ministers named dan
williams.
Dan Williams was heading thischarge to get the homeless
(04:57):
people uh, help, and so that'swhat they're doing in Alberta is
they're not enabling their druguse by giving them what they
call safe what do they call that?
Safe injection sites.
Anyway, they're not doing that.
They've taken another turn,which is a much more
(05:20):
compassionate turn, which is toactually help them to find
sobriety again, and Dan Williamstold me that he thought this
was going to be very challengingand very difficult, but in fact
, they're so grateful, they'reso relieved to be able to think
clearly again and to be someonewho can be useful in society
(05:43):
again that it's mostly filledwith gratitude.
So I hope that that policyspreads across Canada like a
wildfire and brings help tothese people who are suffering.
Sheila Nonato (06:00):
So being at the Prayer Breakfast and your
podcast, is this part of yourcalling?
Tammy Peterson (06:06):
Yes, yes, it seems that way, and I have a
really good producer.
His name is Ian and he's ayoung fellow, I think he might
be 22.
So he started with me when hewas 19 years old.
Wow, and he does a good job.
And he has just done Jordan'sFuture Authoring Program and
(06:28):
this is a it's at selfauthoring.
com this program, and it's awriting program.
There's three parts to it.
You don't have to do all threeparts, but the first one is the
past authoring and it's anautobiography.
So for people who have theykeep having difficult memories
come back to them, the pastauthoring would be a really good
thing to do, because it will.
(06:48):
You'll write it all down, allin six epochs of your life.
You'll divide it up however yousee fit, and then you'll find
memories from those times andyou'll write them down.
And when you write them down,you help your brain to organize
itself so that those memoriesdon't come back to haunt you.
And so that's the pastauthoring.
(07:09):
And then the present authoringidentifies your virtues and your
faults.
So you write down your virtuesand your faults and then you
know what they are you well.
And then you know what they areand then you can take steps to
(07:32):
try to bring your faults intobetter alignment with what's
good.
And then the future authoring isa program about who you'd like
to be if you were taking care ofyourself in the best way
possible, with love andattention, who that person would
be and what you might be aimingat, and so it's a vision
program.
It's a vision writing so youthink about people that you
might admire, and so you thinkabout who those people are, why
(07:55):
you admire them, and you'regiven a few prompts like that.
And then you write for 15minutes without editing, just
write, just dream and write ofwho you could be If you were
loving yourself and you hadthese opportunities.
You know it's not a crazy ifyou do this with kids too young.
(08:15):
You know they end up wanting tobe an Olympic athlete in
something or you know justsomething that's not very
tangible.
But if you're old enough say 18or so for this program and and
older, at any time, I think,when there's a transition in
your life, if you're changingjobs or you've just got married
(08:35):
or you just had a baby orsomething, you can do this
exercise and it'll give you avision for the future again.
And then you write goals thatare daily goals, okay, and it's
a great program for people.
So that's another thing that Ithink is really helpful.
And Ian, my producer, starteddoing that and he just is so
(09:01):
excited.
He's so excited and he's gothimself a vision and he's taking
his own best interest in mindand he's focusing on that and
and giving that the light of day, and so that's exciting.
I think that's very exciting.
Sheila Nonato (09:21):
Awesome, awesome and, as you mentioned, very
exciting, awesome, awesome.
And, as you mentioned, thisprogram by your husband.
He's also written a new bookand the book tour.
You are on it and you've beenopening.
Can you tell us what?
What do you share with theaudience?
What do?
Tammy Peterson (09:36):
I share.
So, yeah, so it's over now.
It ended on the 17th of April,so that was nine months of
travel.
It was a long, it's a long timefive months before Christmas
before the book came out, andthen another four months
afterwards.
And, um, usually I would youknow, I'd ask Jordan what he was
(09:56):
going to talk about that day,and usually by dinnertime he
will tell me what it is and hemight be speaking about
voluntary sacrifice or he mightbe talking about, sometimes,
(10:17):
some psychological things.
He talked about psychopathologyand what it is and how we can
turn that around.
How does this theme play outfor me?
And then I would think upsomething, say about voluntary
(10:58):
sacrifice, think about what itis, first of all, and then think
about the opposite of that,which would be selfishness, and
anything that's thinking aboutmyself before others would be
(11:22):
the opposite of self-sacrifice.
And then I would share withpeople the benefits that I've
found by leading a life that wasbased on sacrifice, how it
would all come back again.
So you know, when just when amother has a baby, that's our
(11:45):
sacrifice.
You know, a man goes to war, aman goes to battle, that's his
sacrifice.
A woman has a baby?
That's our sacrifice it's ourbattle to undergo, and when we
do that, what do we get inreturn?
We get all this love back to usagain, you know, like it's just
love that you can never imagine.
That's what you get back toyourself when you, when you make
(12:07):
those sacrifices, and so it's.
It's easy to talk.
So I talk about I talk a littlebit probably about the time
when I was sick in 2019 and cameback after the doctor's
appointment, tell my son that Ionly had 10 months to live and
looked at him, and when helooked at me, I saw this
(12:27):
terrible grief in his eyes.
That was, I think, in comparisonto how much I loved him, and
I'd never seen that much love.
I'd never really seen that muchlove directed back to me in a
time of need where I reallyneeded that, and it just was so
(12:59):
obvious to me that it was timefor me to humble myself to God
and understand that it's not upto me what happens in my life.
It's up to God.
Only God knows when we're goingto die, no matter what a doctor
says, and that I could goforward from there in gratitude,
in service to my family and inservice to my son, and so that
(13:21):
was a very profound experienceof voluntary sacrifice and what
it means I mean to have you haveno idea.
Well, when you have a baby, youjust have no idea how profound
that relationship is between ababy and a mother.
(13:43):
It is life-giving.
It's a life-giving relationship, yeah.
Sheila Nonato (13:51):
I just wanted to, since we just finished Lent and
we're into the Easter season,go back to the cross.
I hope that's okay.
You mentioned you had 10 monthsto live.
Queenie was there, taught youthe ros rosary was there with
you for five weeks and thenFather Eric Nicolai had given
you the Novena to SaintJosemaria Escriva.
(14:12):
And on the fifth day and theday that you said to your
husband, I'm going to be healed,you, the doctor said you're
fine to go home, when theycouldn't figure out what was
wrong with you.
Do you consider that a miracle?
Tammy Peterson (14:31):
I consider that a miracle.
I consider that unexplainable.
So if it's unexplainablemedically, you know, and it is
kind of explainable, you know,they had put a lot of dye into
my body to see if they couldfind the leak in my system and
then they used glue to try tostop it up and they couldn't.
(14:51):
Well, maybe they did stop it upwith glue because they
definitely tried hard to do that.
But the question is, why did ithappen on that day?
That's the question, and Ithink that was I was given that
opportunity, I think it was, somy husband could see that this
was possible because he couldn'texplain it
Sheila Nonato (15:17):
Have you had to use that Novena again since then
?
Tammy Peterson (15:19):
no, no, not yet.
Sheila Nonato (15:24):
Okay, hopefully you don't need to, but with
Saint Josem aria Escriva, fromwhat I know, is a saint who was
teaching people how to liveholiness in in their daily lives
, like mothers nursing theirchildren, doing the dishes, you
know all the things that, uh,the home life, mothers can
(15:46):
sanctify their work or anybodyeven, uh, wherever you work,
it's how do you, how do yousanctify the work that you're
doing now, the calling that youhave as in public life?
Tammy Peterson (16:00):
Well, I think about how unlikely it is and how
grateful I am for it, and sothat's something that I can
start each day with.
Really, how unlikely it is thatI wake up in the morning.
That's where I start.
I think, oh, look at that, I'malive, that's amazing.
And then, going on this tour, Imean it's so unlikely that
(16:25):
Jordan and that that either ofus especially me, really that I
get to go along and go out onstage, I mean that's so unlikely
and so different from who I was.
So you know, the trail that I'mon now doesn't resemble the
trail that I was on before.
It's a different mission.
(16:48):
It's definitely a differentmission, and as long as I can
see that it's going in a waythat seems like it's good for
other people, that they'rebenefiting, we'll continue to do
this.
Sheila Nonato (17:05):
Other people that they're benefiting will
continue to do this.
And as we were talking aboutagain the cross, you've had to
deal the cross of yourdaughter's illness for many
years, and then your husband hadalso been ill.
And I'm just very curious,since I did the interview with
you last year and we weren'table to finish the story that
you it was a sad time yourhusband, you had found him um, I
(17:28):
don't know if it was, he wasunconscious upstairs in your, in
your house.
I'm just very curious.
What happened?
Did the ambulance come?
Tammy Peterson (17:34):
Oh yeah, well, you know, it was very
interesting because, uh, we hada very good friend.
This is, uh, he was in ourwedding party.
It was.
It was Jordan's first friendwhen he left high school and
went off to university.
He was in our wedding party, Itwas, It was Jordan's first
friend when he left high schooland went off to college.
He was a young, he was an older, a few years older than him, so
I think it was like having anolder brother.
They shared an apartment inGrand Prairie, Alberta, while
(17:58):
they went to Grand PrairieCollege together and then they
ended up going to Edmontontogether and finishing their
degrees.
So this fellow was important toJordan and they ended up moving
back to Toronto because hiswife was from Toronto and then
we moved to Toronto.
So later in our marriages wereconnected again, but we still,
(18:21):
you know, we were kind of likemore like family.
We didn't see him very oftenbut when we did, it was good and
it was always.
It always seemed like wheneverwe were in need or they were in
need, we were around.
So you know, kind of likefamily.
(18:42):
And when George was so sick andhe had to walk all the time,
this friend named Morgan heshowed up and he showed up every
day for 10 months and walkedwith him 10 miles a day every
day, wow, all through the winter.
Yeah, it was really something,and he came all the time.
(19:03):
So this day he had shown upagain and he was sitting in my
kitchen and we were waiting forJordan because he was.
He knew that Morgan was there.
I'd gone up, I think, and, andasked and got him to wake up and
I heard him going to thebathroom and I was talking to
Morgan and I was standing up andI just got this idea in my head
(19:27):
, you know, like an intuition,or maybe well, an intuition
anyway that it had been longenough, that he had been in the
bathroom long enough and I neverbothered him in his work.
I never, ever, went in andopened the door to his office.
None of us did, and thebathroom also is a very private
(19:48):
place and we never bother eachother.
But I felt like there was some.
I thought there's something.
So I went upstairs and Iprobably knocked on the door,
although I don't remember If Idid knock on the door.
He didn't answer, and so I wentinto the bathroom because the
shower was on, and so I openedthe shower door and he was
(20:09):
laying in a curled up positionon the floor and I saw he was
bleeding and my intuition was tostop the bleeding.
So I leaned over to him to stopthe bleeding and he said don't
touch me.
And I thought you're alive,that's all.
(20:30):
I thought You're alive, I cansave you, you know.
And so I yelled to my friend inthe kitchen and I said call the
ambulance, which he did.
He called the ambulance andthen they came in and they took
him to the hospital.
And it was during COVID and Icouldn't go in the hospital.
So I stood outside and I calledall the people that I had a
(20:50):
spiritual relationship with tosupport me.
And then the next day I wasable to go in and see him.
And before I went in to see him, I called one of my friends and
she said what do you need fromGod right now before you go into
the ICU?
And I said I need courage andstrength.
And she said okay, keep thatforemost in your mind as you
(21:13):
walk into the room.
And so I did, and when I gotthere he was in a bed and he was
alive.
And I wasn't too traumatized byit, because I was asking God for
courage and strength.
And when you ask, you receiveit.
And so when I go on stage, Istill ask for courage and
(21:37):
strength to go out there,otherwise I wouldn't be able to
do it.
People say, how do you do that?
And I say I ask for courage andstrength.
Go out there, otherwise Iwouldn't be able to do it.
People say, how do you do that?
And I say I ask for courage andstrength, that's how I do it.
So it was the beginning.
That really was the beginningof a new way of life that my
illness and my husband's illness, you know it really did deepen
both of our devotions to eachother and to the Lord above, to
(22:05):
our families, to our societiesLike we're.
Yeah, it's very different.
Sheila Nonato (22:14):
So it must not be easy to be living such a public
life, these crosses that youboth went through, as you said,
it deepened your devotion toyour families, to each other, to
the Lord.
Was this sort of?
Was this what kept you going?
Even you know, I can imaginetouring, going on tour, going to
(22:34):
different cities can be verydifficult, especially if you're
going, you know, one day afterthe other, what keeps you both
going.
What keeps you going?
Tammy Peterson (22:44):
Well, you know, we have a really good group of
guys that travel with us.
They really make it as easy asit could be for us and I don't,
we couldn't do what we dowithout them.
We would have to do much less,many way fewer things, not so
many engagements and so they arevery helpful Our tour manager,
(23:07):
who takes us from theater totheater.
We just show up there andeverything is ready.
So we have a lot of help, andthat is definitely helping us to
carry on.
But, you know, there's theworld is in a is in need of
(23:32):
attention and, with the rightintention, the world is
definitely in need of the rightof meditating on what is the
right intention, and so really,I think that is what we're doing
is we're traveling around anddiscussing what is the right
(23:52):
intention and how can you goabout developing that?
Yeah, taking on yourresponsibility, as Jordan says,
but also, uh, telling the truth.
We talk about telling the truthand how.
Starting to tell the truth is agood practice, because it will
(24:14):
come in handy one day when youdon't want to tell the truth,
but you've already beenpracticing long enough that
you'll have the courage to saywhat is true, and there we have
seen how important that wasduring the pandemic, because
people were very likely not tosay what they thought and then
things got away on us.
(24:35):
So we have to, and there willbe more, so we have to practice.
It's very important that wetell the truth and that we take
on our responsibilities and nothide our light under a bushel,
but to realize that the truth isthe best answer, no matter what
.
It doesn't matter what youthink is the best answer.
(24:57):
The truth is the best answer,period think is the best answer.
The truth is the best answer,period, and so we
Sheila Nonato (25:10):
Our Holy Father has just recently died.
The church, you know the futureof the church sort of, I guess,
hangs in the balance.
And when I had asked you thefirst time why did you enter the
Catholic Church, you said thatyou felt we were in a time of
Noah and that we have to battendown the hatches.
Do you still feel that way?
And how do we prepare ourselvesinteriorly for whatever
challenges come our way?
Tammy Peterson (25:45):
Well, I think daily prayer is very helpful.
And what does prayer do for me?
You know it helps me to put myworries to rest.
If I'm obsessing aboutsomething, it puts that to rest.
About something, it puts thatto rest, so it stops me from
(26:07):
veering off in some directionthat's not helpful, and allows
me to be more present, so thatwhatever comes up when I start
my day I'm ready for and I canrespond in a thoughtful manner
rather than a reactive manner.
And so prayer is something andI think you know it's there
isn't anything grand that any ofus have to do because, well, we
(26:32):
don't know what those thingswould be.
So that isn't what's called for.
What's called for is what isright in front of our noses
paying attention and seeing whatbothers us.
If there's something that we'realways talking about with our
friends because it bothers us,well, that's our responsibility,
that's our calling.
It's something to answer to andto see what's there and
(26:55):
investigate and deepen ourunderstanding of, because maybe
there's something we can doabout it to make it better.
Prayer and paying attention towhat bothers us that's another
one that's very, very helpful.
(27:16):
You know, we get, we can, wecan get confused by all the
social media, all of the peoplewho are telling you what you
should think and what you shouldsay, where you should be, all
(27:36):
of these things and spend sometime in quiet.
And I think that's way moreimportant than it used to be,
because it's very hard to findquiet now if you don't impose it
.
It used to be normal to haveyour life was quiet, but now
it's practically unheard ofunless you make that choice to
(28:02):
make it quiet.
So I would definitely limityour time on the computer and on
social media and don't give itto your children if they're
under 18.
Once they're 18, they're adults, they can make their own
decisions and by then they willhave experienced their childhood
so they'll understand what itmeans to have had time together.
(28:23):
Um, I think that young women,probably from the time they're
about 15, they should startthinking about the fact is
they're going to be married andstart thinking about who they
want for their husband and howthey're going to prepare
(28:44):
themselves to be someone that aman would like to marry.
And so you know, we've, we'vebeen taught that we have to
prepare for our career, that wehave to find out who we are as
individuals, but really there'sthe reason we can't define what
a woman is is because the womanthat was defined first was the
(29:06):
Virgin Mary with Jesus.
And so a woman is, has a baby.
A woman has a baby.
That's when you have grownresponsibility, you know.
When a man goes out and finds ajob and he brings home his pay
to his family, then he's also aman, and we've forgotten exactly
(29:28):
what that is, because we don'thave our eyes on the family
anymore.
But really it's your family.
You know it.
It has.
No, when you're down and out,you don't think about how many
days of work you missed.
You think about who you'll miss, because you love them and they
love you.
So those are some of the things.
(29:52):
I wrote a prayer, actually forthe Pope.
I could read it
Sheila Nonato (30:00):
Yes, please.
Tammy Peterson (30:01):
Okay.
Heavenly Father, we come beforeyou with hearts full of
gratitude for the life andservice of Pope Francis.
We thank you for his commitmentto humility, compassion and the
message of love that hecourageously spread across the
world.
May your eternal light shineupon him and may he find peace
(30:24):
in your embrace, free from theburdens of earthly life.
We ask that he be rememberedfor his compassion and his
efforts to bring about unityamong your people.
Grant us the strength to carryforward the values he cherished,
that we may continue to buildyour kingdom here on earth.
Amen.
(30:47):
And then I also have a prayerfor the cardinals selecting the
next pope.
So that's just because that'swhat we're doing now.
Lord of wisdom and light, weimplore your guidance upon the
College of Cardinals as theygather to select the next leader
of your church.
Endow them with clarity of mindand purity of heart.
(31:08):
That they may be open to yourdivine will Help them to discern
wisely and to choose a shepherdwho will uphold the teachings
of Christ, inspire the and standas a beacon of hope and mercy
to the world.
Unite them in theirdeliberations, ensuring their
decisions reflect your boundlesslove.
(31:30):
May their choice honor thelegacy of those who came before
and lead your people withrighteousness and compassion.
Amen.
Sheila Nonato (31:40):
Amen.
Those are very beautifulprayers.
Were you surprised that thePope died on Easter Monday
Tammy Peterson (31:47):
, isn't that something?
I never really thought of it asa surprise, it just was what
happened.
But yeah, that's meaningful.
Sheila Nonato (31:58):
I guess he gave.
He gave to the last drop, tothe very end.
I yeah, that's what.
I heard that he was had asermon the day before, so wow,
yeah, and he had seen a vicepresident, jd Vance, and his
family.
Yeah, he gave everything.
Tammy Peterson (32:14):
It's a great witness.
Sheila Nonato (32:15):
Yeah, Isn't that something that to the end your
life is still worth worth living, yeah he wanted to wanted to
express that love of christ.
I think the doctors told him youhave to wait a couple of months
, but he, um, he felt compelledby the Holy Spirit to to be
there.
So, yeah, yeah, um, and I justbefore I forget your father had
(32:42):
passed away last year the sameday that your, your grandson,
had been born, so it was sort ofa bittersweet day for you, and
now you're awaiting the birth ofanother grandchild, sort of the
season of Lent and Easter, sortof the life and death,
Resurrection.
All of these themes, they'revery practical as well, in that
(33:08):
they're not just a theory.
You know that Jesus came and heshowed us what love is, and
love is sacrifice, and I thinkthat is one of the themes that
your husband had also mentionedin his book.
Oh yeah, he wrestled with God.
As you had mentioned,motherhood it seems like it is
an act of courage.
Nowadays, because nobody wantsto have children, you seem to be
a burden.
Tammy Peterson (33:29):
We didn't have a choice before.
Now we have.
We have birth control.
So it is up to us to make thatchoice, and that's a lot of
responsibility.
That was never part of ourresponsibility, because if we
loved our husbands, we'd be and,God willing, we had a baby.
That's just what happened.
But now we have birth control,so it's up to us to decide and
(33:55):
that is a very profoundresponsibility that women have
now and I applaud all women whomake that choice because it is
(34:15):
not a given anymore.
But there is nothing moreprofound than becoming a mother.
There's nothing that will youcan keep your head high about
than being a mother.
Sheila Nonato (34:35):
Well, why?
Why do young women seem tothink it's very, very difficult?
I just thinking last week therewas an American singer I don't
know if you heard about this,but Chappell Roan, I believe her
name is and she was on apodcast interview and she said
all her friends, they're allbecause they have young children
(34:56):
.
So she thought, from theirexperience, "motherhood is hell.
So those are her exact words.
But are we making motherhoodtoo hard?
Are we taking on too much?
We want to do everything.
The girl boss, mom, boss,whatever, I know do everything.
You know the woman has to.
You know, go to work and thencome home and, you know, fix
(35:18):
dinner.
Are we making it too hard onourselves that?
You know, mother, now you knownobody wants to do that anymore.
Tammy Peterson (35:25):
Yeah, well, I think that you know, the one
thing that a woman can do is shecan think about what does she
have to offer her husband, whatdoes she have to offer her
friends and and her, her babies,and what does she have to offer
her husband?
And you got to think reallyclearly about what it was, what
it is that you can offer himthat would be good for him, that
(35:47):
would encourage him, that wouldbring him a sense of being
worthwhile, and I think that wehave forgotten how important it
is to share in theresponsibility of being a mother
(36:10):
and a parent and a partner.
So we take the easy way out bygoing to work every day and not
not getting married, of thinkingthat, you know, in snow white
let's talk about snow white fora minute, because I went to the
(36:31):
new snow white it was a feminist.
It was a feminist movie.
Absolutely there was no princein it it was a film, yeah, okay
she went to the queen and it washer.
She brought herself back to thecastle to have a confrontation
with the queen.
It wasn't the prince, now,there was a bandit, there was a
(36:52):
bandit and he played kind of alittle bit of a prince-like role
.
But that wasn't the onlyproblem.
The seven dwarfs they weren'tgoing to have any dwarfs in the
snow white.
No, they weren't going to haveany dwarfs.
And then they decided to havedwarfs.
But there's a very famous dwarfwho's a actor.
I can't remember his name buteverybody knows who he was
(37:14):
because he was in game ofThrones, but I can't remember
his name.
Anyway, he complained thatthere would be dwarfs playing
dwarfs.
So they made them out of CGIand so they didn't employ any
dwarfs, which sounds like youknow, if you think about it,
that's not exactly probably whathe had in mind, but anyway.
But these dwarfs in their rolethey were not like they were in
(37:40):
the Grimm's fairy tales.
So in the Grimm's fairy talesthe dwarves are, they're all the
same, virtually.
They're not individuals, theyare.
They are good men, broadlyspeaking.
They go to work in the ground,they bring what is, they bring
treasure from within the groundand they keep a very clean house
(38:04):
In this movie.
Their house was a mess and SnowWhite had to inspire them how
to clean it, and so there wasthe first thing that women had
to show these men.
But actually what happened wasin the Grimm's fairy tale is
Snow White went from the hunterwho was supposed to kill her,
(38:28):
she went to the dwarves and totheir house and served them,
served the common man.
That's what her job was to do.
Now, when the queen decided tokill her, the first thing she
did was she put on a bodice onher that was too tight, so she
(38:48):
was restricting her physicalityand going to kill her, and the
dwarves saved her from that.
So serving the common man savedher from that.
And then she also had a poisoncomb, which would be narcissism,
like paying way too muchattention to yourself and the
dwarves saved her from that.
But then she dressed up as anevil witch and she came and she
(39:12):
gave her a poisoned apple.
And the dwarves, they couldn'tsave her from that, so they put
her in a glass case and theydidn't leave her, they just
stayed around her and the princecame through the forest and he
came upon this absolutelybeautiful princess that was in
(39:32):
this glass case.
She was so beautiful, it washer beauty.
She was so beautiful that hetook her with him.
And when he did, he jostled theglass case and the apple came
out of her throat and she wokeup and he married her and they
lived happily ever after.
Well, that's all.
All that is to say is that menneed to pursue beauty.
(39:56):
That's what they do.
They pursue beauty, they pursueadventure and they need a
battle.
And I read that in a bookcalled Wild at Heart.
Wild at Heart, it's quite agood book, and he wrote another
book about women.
I haven't read it yet.
I bought it but I haven't readit.
And let's see what's his name?
(40:16):
Wild at Heart.
I should know that.
But in the Snow White storythere's a bandit, and his merry
men are a diverse group ofpeople no Asians.
No Asians, though for somereason I don't know what that's
all about, but couldn't have anyAsians in that he goes back to
(40:39):
the castle with Snow White, buthe isn't instrumental in freeing
her from the queen's clutches.
Snow White does that on her ownand then at the end they dance
on tables and they're kind ofdressed in white and there's
some flowers, so it'sreminiscent of marriage, but
(41:00):
they don't mention marriage atall.
Yeah, it's, it's brutal.
The difference between theGrimm's fairy tale and the uh,
new one, it's, it's.
It's doing terribly.
And there's a reason it's doingterribly because it doesn't
give men the place in the story,a proper place for men in the
story.
It's a feminist idea, very,very bad
Sheila Nonato (41:25):
Since mother's day is coming up, would you have
a message?
What would you say to youngwomen and to the mothers who who
chose to stay at home and arewondering did I do the right
thing?
Yes, this is hard.
This is hard, yeah right, it'shard.
Tammy Peterson (41:41):
There's definitely true, I'm not saying
it's easy.
This book, Wild at Heart, waswritten by John Eldridge, okay,
just in case anybody wants toknow.
Okay, um, so let's see, go backto when I was first married and
wondering what I was doing,because every young mother
(42:03):
wonders what she's doing andbecause we've never done it
before.
But we find out that if we arein it for the right reasons, you
know, if we are in it to loveour children, to love our babies
and to give ourselves inservice to our families and to
(42:27):
our husbands, if we're in it forthe right reasons, then if we
can communicate that to ourhusbands and then they can
meditate on what they're doingthere, if they're there to be in
service to their wives andtheir children, then negotiation
(42:50):
is a big deal in marriage.
And how do you know when you'venegotiated properly?
You've negotiated with yourhusband until you feel a sense
that you're on a balancedplaying field at the end.
So you have a feeling of playat the end.
Then you know you've.
You know if one of you is goingaway and saying, well, I guess,
(43:13):
oh, that's not good enough,that's not good enough, that's
not negotiation.
You know at work, when younegotiate at work, that you have
to negotiate so that the personyou're talking to is satisfied
and you're satisfied, then youknow that you've negotiated a
proper, balanced deal.
It's the same thing at homewith your husband and you have
to be aware that every week it'sgoing to take about 90 minutes
(43:37):
to negotiate with your husbandon the workings of the house and
the family.
And when you don't take thattime, if you try to have some
romantic time, those things youhaven't discussed will come up
first and then your husband willbe like oh no, we're not going
to have a date because all youwant to do is talk about how the
(43:58):
car needs to be fixed.
But the thing is you have totake that 90 minutes every week
to discuss those things or theywill come up and but you know,
if you can just listen, usuallyfor about a half an hour, if
you're keeping up with eachother, maybe there's about a
half an hour of talk between thetwo of you before you can
settle into a romantic evening.
(44:21):
And it's really important thatyou maintain romance in your
marriage.
You know you have to rememberwho you married and why you
married them.
You have to remember that andkeep that memory alive by having
dates and you can talk to yourwife about that.
(44:45):
You can ask you know, istonight a good night?
No, I'm tired tonight.
Well, how about tomorrow?
Okay, I'll have a rest tomorrowand then that's a good night.
And then honor that.
So honor that.
You can't say at the end oftomorrow night I didn't have
time to rest.
It's like, well, you had achoice, you had a choice, you
make your choices.
So just admit that.
(45:05):
You made your choice.
Have a rest, spend some timewith your husband.
That's what marriage is about.
It's about spending time withyour husband so that there is
love and attention in yourmarriage.
Right, so that's superimportant.
And the more you do that, sayyou can negotiate how many times
(45:27):
a week you want to meet.
Like the first time Jordan andI met, I think we had a nap.
We were pretty tired because wehad a little baby, so we just
had a nap.
But that's okay, that's goodenough.
As long as you're spending ittogether, as long as you're not
opening the door or looking atyour phone, so you're not
letting anything interfere, thenyou're doing what you have to
(45:48):
do and that's the thing is,you'll start to negotiate.
If you take that time with oneanother, you'll start to
negotiate and you'll start tobring up things that maybe
bother you.
You know, when you wash thedishes you don't clean out the
sink.
You know it bugs me.
It bugs me.
I just had to tell you that it'slike OK, now you've told him
(46:10):
that and and hopefully he'slistened, and then the next time
you get together well, you knowhis socks are always Tucked
together but thrown in thecorner instead of put in the
laundry bin.
But you've got to talk aboutthese things and you've got to
express what you need so thatyou can be grateful to be with
(46:31):
one another.
It's really there's a lot ofnegotiation that goes on to
having a happy marriage and itnever ends.
It never ends.
You'll be married for 40 yearsand you still have to negotiate.
You still have to find out whatyou need and you have to say it
(46:52):
, because he's not going to knowit unless you say it.
So you have to tell him what'son your mind.
So you have to trust yourhusband to listen.
But you can train him a littleat a time and he can train you a
little at a time about givingup control, so that you tell him
(47:13):
what's on your mind.
Once that is there, then you'rethere to be in service to one
another and have some fun withit.
You know, have some fun with it.
You know, have some fun with it.
Sheila Nonato (47:25):
How many years have you been married?
Tammy Peterson (47:27):
36.
36
Sheila Nonato (47:29):
.
So the courtship continues.
Tammy Peterson (47:31):
So the courtship continues.
You still do the date nights?
We still do the date nightsDancing.
We're still negotiating thosedate nights.
Do you still dance?
We still dance.
Yeah, and actually you know,all those years, years, we've
gotten to be pretty good dancers.
Took a long time.
Took a long time ballroomdancing, um, or, yes, it is
(47:55):
ballroom dancing.
You know, he knows how to twirlme now in different ways and
and we experiment with it andit's lots of fun and is this at
home or is this at the studio?
Sheila Nonato (48:06):
This is at home At home.
Tammy Peterson (48:08):
Yep, it's at home.
Okay Okay, you know, and wedidn't have any help when we had
our babies, so we had dates inthe living room at home, okay
yeah.
Sheila Nonato (48:18):
Okay, and just one more thing before I forget.
Um the um, when your father haddied, there was a celebration
of life.
Was it in British Columbia?
Tammy Peterson (48:27):
Yes, it was, and my sister actually died in
December this year.
So we're having anothercelebration this summer and
Jordan's mother and father havedied, so we're having another
celebration for Jordan's father.
Yeah, it's been a lot of loss.
It's been a lot of loss, but itbrings together a lot of family
(48:48):
and so that's good.
And also, I think it implores,it teaches us to pay more
attention to each other, becausewe do have the time to be
together now.
So actually do it and payattention and be grateful that
you have the time together now,because it doesn't last.
Sheila Nonato (49:11):
Yeah and so in the summer for your father.
How, how was the celebration oflife at that time?
Was your sister able to bethere for that?
Um, we brought her out of thehospital.
Tammy Peterson (49:21):
Yeah, yeah, she was able to be there for that,
um, we brought her out of thehospital, yeah, yeah, she was
able to be there, yeah, andeveryone saw her.
I saw her only weeks before shedied, wow.
And she lives all like onvancouver island, which is kind
of tricky to get to, it's not,it's about as remote as northern
(49:41):
alberta, you know.
It's just so far removed.
There's no, uh, there's nodirect flight to vancouver, so
you have to really go out ofyour way to go.
And I'd only just seen herweeks before she died, and so
did her children.
She has two girls and they bothsaw her.
My sister who took care of her.
She's a palliative care nurse.
She's very good at saying whenwe had months to see her and
(50:06):
weeks to see her and days to seeher, and so she was very or
hours to see her.
She's very good at being ableto help us define those moments
so that we could take advantageof the opportunities that were
at hand.
Sheila Nonato (50:23):
How did these losses affect your faith?
Did it affect it?
Tammy Peterson (50:28):
You know, when my dad died I was there with him
.
Thank the Lord.
I was there and Michaela wasabout to have a baby.
She still had a month to gowith her pregnancy, so I wasn't
concerned that it was imminent.
But it turned out it wasbecause the day he died we
called her and she had had herbaby.
(50:50):
So he died in the morning andthe baby was born in the
afternoon.
But my husband's father wasailing and so he went back to
Northern Alberta and I came tovisit Michaela because she had a
new baby.
But when I got here the babywas premature and she was just
staying in her bedroom.
So I didn't see her at all andI was lonely.
(51:12):
I was lonely and I was grievingand I was alone and I was going
for walks every day and I waspraying and I was trying to deal
with my grief.
But when it came to Thursdayand I was going to meet with
Father Turrone for my Catechism,I admitted to him I'd been
resentful that week and he saiddid you take that to prayer?
(51:35):
And I said I did.
But when I reflected I thought,I thought did I really?
And it was the opportunity toshare that with someone that
made it really happen.
(51:56):
So I shared it with FatherTurrone a new impulse to share
my father's story and my brotherhad sent the obituary, so I
sent it everywhere for him.
I sent it to all the people onFacebook that I knew would have
(52:17):
known my Dad.
I sent it everywhere and it wasa very good feeling.
It was a good evening and I wasthen able to celebrate my dad's
life instead of be in mourning.
So it really moved me along inmy process of mourning and I
(52:41):
think it was the practice ofprayer and also my association.
If I'd gone to church, samesort of thing would have
happened, but I actually had theopportunity to speak with a
priest and that really moved mygrief along to the next level.
Sheila Nonato (53:03):
Have you spoken to Father Turrone or Queenie
recently?
Tammy Peterson (53:06):
I've emailed with them.
I thought I was going home in afew days, but it turns out we
have to stay in the States for awhile longer because we just
moved here.
We have to spend more time herethan than we thought.
Sheila Nonato (53:19):
What would it take for you to come back?
Tammy Peterson (53:23):
Well to come back, and live there?
Sheila Nonato (53:27):
Yeah, would you consider running for office?
Tammy Peterson (53:31):
We're not coming back to live in Canada?
No, I don't think so.
My son is there, so we'll goback for short periods of time,
definitely to see him yeah andand we have a summer place that
we still own that we can go andvisit, and he has a place nearby
(53:52):
, so we'll share that time withhim okay but other than that,
we're not going to be comingback.
Sheila Nonato (53:57):
No, no, no well, canada is poorer for you not
being here.
Tammy Peterson (54:03):
Well, Jordan is still doing his work for Canada.
We haven't forgot the peoplethat are there and how important
it is to us, that country, andso we're hoping that you know
that Canadians make the rightchoice and elect a leader who
has, you know, good traditionalvalues and also a vision for the
(54:29):
future, realizing that we haveour natural resources and that
we can share them with the restof the country as well as the
world.
And that's good, because thiswhole idea of climate change is
such a bogus idea.
It's not true, and anybody whothinks that climate change is
(54:52):
something that we should focuson has a lot of work to do in
finding out what's true becauseit's not true.
So I think Canadians, if youngmen vote, I think that the
Conservatives will win, becauseI think young men realize the
(55:14):
necessity for common sense.
So I've had hope for Canada thewhole time.
I think that the Conserv ativesare going to win and I I really,
um, I believe in our youngpeople.
You know it's the older peoplewho are thinking that Carney's a
(55:38):
good idea and he's not.
He's a.
He's a wolf in sheep's clothingidea and he's not.
He's a, He's a wolf in sheep'sclothing.
You know, he looks the part,but he's not.
He's not going to bring uhabundance to our country, so
it's the wrong choice well, Iguess we'll.
Sheila Nonato (55:54):
We will find out on Monday, we will very soon.
And lastly, so your story isreally a story of hope,
transformation, love.
Have you felt the weight of somuch attention being put on you
since your conversion?
Tammy Peterson (56:12):
No, I don't feel it.
I feel like I have anopportunity, hopefully, to share
something that's meaningful andI'm grateful for it.
So it's unlikely and I'm awareof that, but I'm willing to go
along with it.
Sheila Nonato (56:34):
Was there anything else you wanted to add?
No, I think that was reallygood.
Tammy Peterson (56:39):
It's nice to talk to you again.
Thank you, yeah, it was greatto see you.
Sheila Nonato (56:43):
Thank you very much.
It's always a gift for me andfor my family.
Did you want to close with aprayer?
Tammy Peterson (56:48):
Sure, yeah, do you want me to pray?
Yes, please, okay, okay, dearHeavenly Father, thank you for
this opportunity to speak withSheila again, and please bring
grace upon her family and uponCanadians and support them to
(57:15):
make a choice that will bringabundance to the country.
May your will be done.
Sheila Nonato (57:29):
Amen, amen.
Well, thank you so much, Mrs.
Peterson.
Tammy, I'm just used to doingthat Nice to see your kids.
Tammy Peterson (57:42):
Thank you for bringing them on.
Sheila Nonato (57:46):
They ask me here and there, like, "ow's mrs
peterson?
Oh, that's, I'd say, " thinkshe's doing well.
I see things written about herand her husband and and then she
was at the prayer breakfast andbut then when I told them, oh
they, they left canada.
They're like, oh, they were sad, but uh, you're on to bigger
and better things and, um, yeah,I really appreciate your time
(58:08):
and thank you again, um, andit's so exciting for you to have
another grandchild.
Yeah, I'm pretty excited aboutthat okay.
Well, all the best, God bless.
Tammy Peterson (58:17):
God bless.
Thank you so much
Sheila Nonato (58:19):
Take care.
Tammy Peterson (58:20):
Bye-bye, bye-bye .
Sheila Nonato (58:34):
Thank you for
listening to
the Veil and Armour podcast.
I invite you to share this withanother Catholic mom today.
Please subscribe to our podcastand YouTube channel and please
spread the word.
Let's Be Brave, let's Be Boldand Be Blessed together.
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