Dave Ryan's Christmas Wish - 2023 - #14 Brandi Kraus

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I believe in the magic of theholidays. Dave Ryan's Christmas Wish. Good
morning, Melissa, Thanks for beingon KDWB. You've been listening to KWDB
for a long time, right sinceI was a kid on a school bus?
Is that right when you were alittle kid on the school bus and
you were listening to KTWB And you'veheard Christmas wish. Probably we've been doing
Christmas Wish longer than you've been alive. No, okay, you pretty darn

(00:24):
close. Anyway, Christmas Wish thisyear. You hear it every year and
you never think, oh my gosh, I nobody ever occurs to me.
But this year when you heard aboutChristmas wish, right away, somebody came
to mind. And who came tomind right away? It's my best friend,
Brandy. And how long have youknown Brandy? Twenty five to thirty
years, since the eighth grade?Twenty five to thirty years. Wow,

(00:48):
And Brandy is somebody who's had atough year, and reading through the wish,
it's kind of been one thing afteranother. Correct, Yeah, Because
when it rains, it pours.Is looking for a light at the end
of the tunnel here and hopefully ifwe can't find that light at the end
of the tunnel right now, we'llat least find a little spot of light,
a little spot of hope, alittle spot of joy with Christmas wish.

(01:11):
And that's kind of what we dois let people know that, hey,
we're gonna take a little bit ofthe financial burden away from you,
a little bit of the shopping burdenedaway from you, but also show you
some love and show you some support. Let's make the phone call to Brandy,
but first we got to talk toour boy Brandon from College Muscle Movers.

(01:32):
And Brandon, what's really cool?Brandon, Jenny wrote a wrap for
you this morning, and Jimmy isgoing to rat No. Wait, I'm
sorry, I know it's no brandNo, Yeah, it just got can
Okay, just got canceled. Kay, turn the microphone off. Okay,
Brandon, I'm sorry about that.Was that was a bad idea? Brandon.
I'm glad we got to chuckle outof Brandon. He's like, God,
they got it the last day.Brandon. You don't want that to

(01:53):
happen. Brandon and all the crewat College Muscle Movers. Are you working
this weekend? Brandon? Are youmoving this weekend or you got the weekend
Christmas off I hope I have Christmasoff field. Okay. Yeah, Well
to all the men and women atCollege Muscle Movers, thanks for doing all
that you do. If you needto get a hold of anybody, if

(02:14):
you're moving next year and you wantto do the best and reliable and on
time and you know takes care ofall your stuff. College Muscle Movers.
How long you guys been around.You've been around for a while, right,
Brandon, since two thousand and eight. Okay, So if you want
to go with the best, gowith College Muscle Movers. And here's a
business. You always want to gowith businesses that get back to the community.

(02:35):
And so Brandon's been getting up early. He doesn't complain, He gets
in the truck and takes the wishesoff to this time. Where are you
this morning, Brandon? What cityare you in? Lake Elmo this morning?
Beautiful Lake Elmo? Okay, SoBrandon, thanks for doing all you
do. Happy holidays to you andyour family and everybody at College Muscle Movers,
and always stand by because we mightneed you. Hey, Brandon,

(03:00):
so good, Thank you, myfriend. Let's make the phone call to
Brandy right now, soulessa, youhave known Brandy for twenty five thirty years?
Or said, how did you guysmeet middle school bus love bus and
then friends of her cents and youguys go to high school and everything together?
We did? Yeah? Cool,we've lived together, everything together.

(03:22):
Oh my gosh, that's awesome tomeet halfway on our roller blades when we're
kids. Oh. Fun, yougot to teach Dave some rollerblade moves.
So then good luck. Okay,we're gonna hope she's gonna answer, but
don't worry. We have Brandon asa backup to go knock on the door
if she doesn't answer. We alwaystell people on Christmas wish, Hey,

(03:42):
you're gonna get a phone call.Make sure you answer it. Oh Hi,
I'm so glad you answered your phone. It's Dave Ryan over it,
Katie WB Is this Brandy? She'shere? Hold out? I sure will?
Yes? Is that mom? Okay, that's our ya. You don't
have to whisper, that's fine,you can talk out loud. Yeah,
it's fine. Hi Brandy, Brandy, hold on a second. Yeah,
sure was mom in on the whole. Hi, Brandy, Hi, Hey,

(04:09):
it's Dave Ryan over at KTWDB andI'm calling with your friend, your
best friend since middle school, MelissaOlsen. Oh my gosh, Melissa,
say hi, Hey, Brandy?Hi? What is what in the world
is going on? I'm sorry there'sno breakfast delivery this morning. That was

(04:30):
a big lie. Oh you brat. Yeah. She had to make sure
that you were there and you wouldanswer the phone because we are doing a
KDWB Christmas wish for you and yourfamily. Brandy. Have you heard of
Christmas wish before? Thy king?Y? Yeah? I mean, I
guess you used to listen to KTWBwhen you were a kid, or on

(04:53):
the bus or whatever, and youprobably heard Christmas wishes for years. This
year, Melissa nominated you, Brandyfor Christmas wish because we've heard a little
bit about your year and we justwanted to have a little bright spot in
your christ So here is Melissa andMelissa, she's already tearing up a little
bit. It's okay. Here.We probably all will tell us Melissa when

(05:17):
you're ready read the letter that youwrote to nominate Brandy for Christmas wish.
All right, we'll try to getto this the best I can. Okay,
Sure, all right, dear Katie, do we be? My wish
request is from my best friend Brandyand her entire family. Brannie I have
been best of friends since the eighthgrade, more than twenty five years.
Branny is like a sister to meand we have shared in so many memories

(05:41):
over the years. We say we'reeach other's person, like Meredith and Christina
on Gray's Anatomy because of our closebond. Her family is just like my
own. Branny has chronic kidney diseaseand desperately needs a new kidney. She
has been sick for many years andhas fought off so many very scary situations.
A few years ago, Brandy wasso sick that she was in a

(06:04):
coma on life support with a lifesaving echmo bypass machine. Doctors were not
hopeful that she would come out ofit, but with continued prayers, patience,
and healing, she fought through it. Brandy was fortunate enough to find
a donor match with her brother,Scott, but just as last summer,
Scott found out that he had abrain aneurysm and could no longer donate.

(06:25):
Brandy has been unable to get onthe donor list because of repeated infections Brandi
spends several hours every other day ina clinic getting dialysis just to keep her
alive. She has been on dialysisfor three years now and it's and is
completely exhausted. Brandy has been inthe hospital several times this year because of
her fluid retention. When the fluidbuilds up, she can't breathe as it

(06:46):
builds around her lungs. She hasbeen rushed by ambulance each time and put
on a ventilator. After Brandy's lasthospital stayed just a couple of weeks ago,
actually over Thanksgiving, and then againshe fell down it home and broke
her hip. At age forty two, She's received a partial hit replacement.
Doctors did not want to operate dueto the risk of her infection, but

(07:06):
had no other choice of the waise, Brandy would not be able to walk.
Now we wait for her to heal. She must heal without any infections
because of her low immune system.Brannie's a single mom and unable to work
due to illness. Branny and herdaughter, Kyla moved home with her parents.
Kayla is Brandy's daughter and is fourteenyears old. Kayla is the sweetest,

(07:26):
kindest, smartest girl. I knowKyla is a little bookworm. She's
quirky, creative, and unique.Kayla's had a rough fear dealing with bullies
because kids don't know how to handlesuch a sweet, unique girl. Kyla
is so strong and has dealt withso much. She has seen her mom
very sick, rushed to the hotrushed by ambulance from her house, and
has been without her mom for dayson end while mom's been in the hospital.

(07:47):
Branny's mom and dad, Tammy andTerror angels for all that they do
for Brandy and Kayla. They haveselfishly stepped in to take care of Brandy
when she is sick, driven toher dialysis appointments, and most incredibly,
stepping up and taking care of kidwhen Brandy couldnt. Tammy has had her
own unfortunate event when she was attackedby a dog while riding bikes with Kayla,
and has postponed her own surgeries becauseof Brandy's owness. This holiday season,

(08:11):
I'm hoping to bring a little morelate to Brandy and her family.
I pray that my best friend willone day find a kidney because they selfishly
need her for the rest of mylife. Thank you for taking the time
to read my letter and thank youfor all that you do with Christmas wish
Wow so much there. You sometimesget the idea, Brandy, do you

(08:31):
get the idea once in a whilethere's like a gray cloud that just kind
of won't stop hanging above you.Yes, I literally just said that day,
like I can't do it anymore.You have gotten more than your share
of bad news and bad circumstances andbad things. I mean most of us.

(08:52):
You know, you might fall andbreak your hip, but then you
know this is good. But thenI hear everything from the infection, the
kidney, the infection, kaylebn bulliedmom getting attacked by a dog while out
for a walk. It's like whenwill it stop? You must think that
sometimes. Oh yeah, say thatagain into the microphone, said Brandy.

(09:16):
Also had a host fare about fiveyears ago too, So yeah, and
a house fire. Yeah, Brandy, I want to listen to her laughing.
This is one of one of theinterestings that when we talked to brand
when she answered the phone, shewas like up tempo, like, you
know, happy despite all of thethings that are going on. And I
know, and I know you gotto do that for Kayla. And it's

(09:37):
the better if you're gonna choose tobe either positive or negative. It's always
a better idea to be positive inspite of all these things. And I
want to tell you, you knowwhat, I hope that the fact that
we chose you for Christmas wish andthat we heard from your friend is maybe
the turning of the corner, aparting of the clouds a little bit,
because good news seems to come instreaks, as does bad news. So

(10:01):
maybe soon you'll get news that thereis a kidney available. Maybe you'll get
I mean that would be that wouldbe the best news, right, Yes,
I think one of the things thatyou've worried about is finances this time
of the year for Christmas and makingsure that Kayla and of course mom and

(10:22):
dad and everybody in the family hasa good Christmas. And I'm going to
guess you've been a little bit concernedabout that. Oh yeah, for sure.
Well it's me and I feel likeI sometimes I feel like a burden,
but I know, keep done.I'm not. But you know what,
as a parent, I'm going totell you something. As a parent,
I get a kid about your age. The last thing I would help

(10:45):
my kids anytime, and The lastthing I'd ever want them to think is
they're a burden. So as aparent of somebody your age, I'm going
to say, you're not a burden. It's a blessing that they can take
care of you. It's a blessingthat you have a place to go where
you're safe and warm and loved.But I want you to feel a little
bit more love. So we're goingto do the Christmas wish for you.

(11:07):
Add Mom and Dad, Terry andTammy. Right yep, Okay, was
that Tammy that answered the phone aminute ago? Yeah? Okay, Well,
good morning to Tammy and Terry isyeah, like, what is a
radio station calling? But good morningTammy. Is Kayla with you right now?

(11:28):
Kila? She's actually still sleeping becauseshe's she's going in Late Today show
as an appointment. Okay, wellyou can tell her the good news later.
She's fourteen. The sleep until fouro'clock in the afternoon if you let
them. But here's what we gotfor Mom and Dad, for Tammy and
Terry for part of your Christmas wish. We got some stuff, some comfortable
stuff. First of all, wegot everything from like a pajama set and

(11:50):
bathrobe and memory foam slippers and everybodyloves candles. We got a Doctor Teal's
bath set. But a very coolthing for Grandpa is a two hundred dollars
Cabela's gift card. So if hewants to go about and buy any sporting
goods whatever at Cabella's, he's gotthat and you can give it to him
now, or give it to himfor Christmas, whatever you want to do.

(12:13):
Let's talk about Kayla. What isKayla into? Caila is an amazing
artist. She sketches, she draws, she's amazing at it. She's into
that, and of course she's intolike her Hot Topic and you know,
all the teenage some of the stuffI don't quite understand. Yeah, well

(12:37):
it's funny that you bring that up. If she's into hot Topic, we're
gonna give her a two hundred dollarsHot Topic gift card so she can run
into Hot Topic at the mall andshe can buy something at Hot Topic for
two hundred dollars. We know thatshe loves to draw. We've got a
set of sketch books with a bigartistic pencil set. We've got comic book

(12:58):
drawing pens for she's into anime.Maybe that's what that will help out.
Oh my god. So there'll besome things under the tree for Kayla.
Pajama said, A cozy bathrobe Atwo. She's a reader also, right,
Oh yeah, We've got a twohundred dollars Barnes and Noble gift card
for your daughter, Kayla. Soshe is going to do quite well with

(13:22):
that one. Let's talk about you, Brandy and the and the family.
And I know sometimes you said youfeel like a burden, which again is
a parent if you have an opportunityto take care of your child who needs
that, even if they're forty oneyears old, it's a blessing, not
a burden. So we're going tolessen your idea that it's a burden with
some things that all of you canshare. Let's stalk the fridge with a

(13:45):
five hundred dollars cub Foods gift card. Good, so that will go a
long way. Three hundred dollars Targetgift card. You can send dad or
mom or you down to down toTarget to pick out whatever, whether it's
tied or toothbrushes, they can pickit up down at Target. We've got
a two hundred dollars visa gift cardthat spends like cash wherever they take visa,

(14:09):
which is virtually everywhere. We gottasend the family out to dinner with
a two hundred dollars Let's Eat giftcard which is Panera Cheesecake Factory, Chili's
and that can be used a littlebit at a time or all at the
same time. Good luck eating twohundred dollars worth of food. But you
know what, you got to havea goal in life. Yeah, two

(14:31):
hundred dollars Holiday station gas card thanksto Holiday gift card to go to the
movies at AMC six. But yeah, there's more, but there's still more.
Everything from who's into gardening? Isthat mom? Who's into gardening?
Is that you us? Okay,we got some gardening stuff. We've got

(14:52):
we're gonna load up with boring householdessentials, everything from detergent to toilet paper
to dove soap. We're gonna loadsup with that too, because it's bor
but it's necessary. And the YMCAheard about the wish, so they've offered
a six month ymc A membership passedfor the family. When you feel up
to it, or mom and dad, or when Kayla wants to go down

(15:13):
to the y. They're there,you're in for free, and some other
fun stuff just to make life everythingfrom like slippers and cozy bathrobe, PJS
and some other cool stuff too.There was one other big thing that we
missed earlier, a five hundred dollarsGreat Wolf Lodge gift cards, so you
can take the whole family. It'sa Great Wolf Lodge. And then also

(15:35):
Treasure Island has something they added inthere too. I love this. We
are piloting it on for you guys. So yeah, five hundred dollars Great
Wolf We used to call it waterPark of America, but it's Great Wolf
Lodge. Now you can take thefamily down there. Kayla can take a
bunch of her obnoxious friends down therefor a night or something like that.
Okay, she loves yea. Doesshe love water parks? We love water

(15:56):
parks. Yeah, now escape fivehundred dollars Great wolfs Lage card. Oh
my god, are you she likecheering up? It does happen. And
then a Treasure Island is our bigpartner on Christmas Wish. It's called the
Double the Fun Package. And again, when you get a chance and you
feel up to it, it's aone Night's Day at the Wolf Tower and

(16:17):
then got everything from bowling to passesto the Lagoon water Park and food vouchers
and some other cool stuff. BecauseTreasure Island heard about your wish and your
situation. I'm going to tell yousomething. You are a very strong person
to go through the fire, togo through the kid waiting for a kidney.
You thought the kidney was going tobe there, and then your brother

(16:40):
had a brain aneurysm was unable todonate. Then you fell and broke your
hip. It's like, God isup there going how can I test her?
What war can I do? Youget that idea? Sometimes? Yes,
like every day, well something likeI can't if I before you to

(17:00):
even like get out of bed,Like what's going to happen today? You
got some good news and hopefully youknow, hopefully today is the first day
of a lot more good news.And maybe that kidney will come before you
know it. Maybe the phone callwill come sooner than you expect. I
hope it does. Brandy and Tammyand Terry and Kayla. I hope you

(17:23):
have the best possible Christmas. Andthere's a lot of love and there's a
lot of support from people who don'teven know you, and all of us
here at Katie WB and people listeningto thank you very so so so so
so so much you don't even know. You're more than welcome. That was

(17:45):
Kayla, That was that, Kayla. Yeah, hey girl, Hi honey.
I'm happy you're home to hear this. I love you, guys,
I love you. You know.It's isn't it interesting how we can't imagine

(18:07):
the impact that would make because mostof us are not in that situation.
But here's a family that this reallymade an impact and you can tell how
happy they are. And fourteen yearolds getting emotional. They don't do that.
I mean about dumb things they do, but about Kyla. I'm giving
you a hard time, but Kayla, I'm so glad that you got that.
You're going to hot top of You'vegot two hundred dollars and you got
a bunch of art stuff too,So Kayla, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.

(18:30):
I'm gonna let you guys say goodbyeand then we're gonna we're gonna be
all finished this year for Christmas.Wish bye. Brandy. I love you
very much, Thanks love, Ilove you. I'll talk to you later.