A Contagious Smile Podcast
A Contagious Smile is a powerful platform dedicated to uplifting and empowering special needs families and survivors of domestic violence. Through heartfelt stories, we shine a light on the journeys of extraordinary individuals who have overcome unimaginable challenges. Their triumphs serve as a testament to resilience and strength, inspiring others to rediscover their own inner light. Each episode features candid interviews with survivors, advocates, and experts who provide valuable resources and insights to support those on their own paths to healing and empowerment. Join us as we celebrate the power of resilience, the beauty of shared stories, and the unstoppable spirit of those who turn adversity into hope. Let us guide you in rekindling your spirit, because every smile tells a story of courage and transformation.
A Contagious Smile Podcast
Unpacking Podcasting Success: A Journey of Growth
Ready to take your podcasting journey to the next level? Join us as we unveil the strategies that have launched our show into the top 1% globally! This episode is packed with invaluable insights into niche selection, content creation, and behind-the-scenes looks at what it takes to grow an audience. Discover the tools that can streamline your production process, plus tips on how to connect with fellow podcasters and build a supportive community. We’re addressing common pitfalls and sharing how our very own Podcast Academy is designed to empower creators at every level. With personal anecdotes and practical advice, you’ll be inspired to elevate your podcasting game and create engaging content that resonates with listeners. Excited for your podcast’s future? Let’s dive in! Subscribe now and transform your journey today.
Good evening. Welcome to another episode of A Contagious Smile, unstoppable. I have my very handsome sexy husband, who's over here looking at me with that unbelievably sweet smile. Sorry, ladies, he is completely off the market. Hi, honey, howdy y'all, what's happening?
Speaker 2:Just you know, I was on the throne a while ago.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, here we go again.
Speaker 2:Flipping through flip. If I can say that Flipping through flip, right, it used to be TikTok. All men do it, just ask anybody.
Speaker 1:That's why y'all have hemorrhoids. It's from straining too hard on the toilet. We're not straining at all, because you are focused on the phone, not the toilet. And then phone, not the toilet and then y'all get strained.
Speaker 2:Now we should have, oh my god, no, no, will you silence your phone?
Speaker 1:no, I'm on air you're hilarious, oh you're hilarious rolling out the podcast academy.
Speaker 2:Here me here. My wife has diligently been going through a ton of graphics media. Her little right hand is wore out. It's a thousand miles an hour typing out these courses. She's got such professional courses in there. Y'all Don't be alarmed if they're like five thousand dollars.
Speaker 1:They probably won't be, but uh, they're not I want them to be economically available for all, because so many courses and classes people want to take and they're outrageously expensive and unattainable. So I want to make it where they can take these classes and learn. I mean, I can't even imagine the figure of how much I spent in classes and courses to figure out how to get us to the followers and numbers that we have. So I'm bringing my knowledge to our own podcast academy. Everybody can join free. Then they get access to a member portal where you can network and meet others. Then also there's a resource library. You've checked out the resource library. What do you think of it?
Speaker 2:It's phenomenal, just phenomenal.
Speaker 1:What's in there. Tell us about what's in there.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, there's so much I can't go through everything that's in there no, just summarize Like what did you see? It's extremely professional, it's eye-catching, it's not boring at all. It's set up similar to what you would expect the class to be set up. You know, like you know you want to take an? Online course, but it's different. I just think everything is very professional and easy for me to read and I'm not a very edumacated guy, oh Lord.
Speaker 1:But this is, the resource library feature is free for everybody who joins and you can go in there and it gives you unknown little tidbits, which is great. My husband was like these should be glasses, but they're out there for everybody, they're like little nuggets. And then I even have, um, or we have a discovery section which we put out a tip of the day, and it's really cool. Little nuggets of information, um, once you're a member you can come in there and put in a tip of the day too and leave information and words of wisdom kind of network once we get this up and going from all the other members, which is great. And then we're going to have a variety of classes. My hope is to launch and then have at least one new class a week is my hope. In adding Right now. I was hoping that when we went live we would have maybe eight classes, I think as of right now we're up to 12 or 13. Okay.
Speaker 2:So our podcast has been in the as far as listing scores, as far as three podcast listing scores are, three have been in the top 5%, 3%, 2% and the top 1% globally of the most listened to podcast. Okay, why does your podcast suck? I'm asking you as the audience why does your podcast?
Speaker 1:say it sucks, no, and I wouldn't say it sucks, no, and I wouldn't say it sucks. I would say that maybe they have not learned. Why is it not growing? Because they haven't learned all the ins and outs and features that they can utilize that are out there.
Speaker 2:So a lot of these courses, a lot of these classes that my wife has put together are specifically geared towards podcasting.
Speaker 1:Or social media growth of your footprint, online branding.
Speaker 2:Increasing your following, your content, everything you do on there.
Speaker 1:And then I even did Facebook Mastery, which I'm going to get specific for each platform, and you can get on there. I did also create a course for WhatsApp app. What's up? What's up? It's WhatsApp, WhatsApp. See, I'm tired. Okay, hold on. I had an hour of sleep last night. You can go on there right now and it's WhatsApp is correct. But I have one hold on In my defense. I've had one hour of sleep. We're in a massive spring cleaning here and I have surgery in like 72 hours, so I have a lot going on. I apologize for the inaccurate name that I stated. My apologies.
Speaker 2:It's okay, I'll forgive you. Thank you, it's a reference off the movie screen.
Speaker 1:Which I've never seen.
Speaker 2:Of course you haven't, of course.
Speaker 1:I haven't, of course not.
Speaker 2:Still, that being said, y'all get ready to get on there and get some gold, get some nuggets.
Speaker 1:Everybody has said that I'm pricing it way too low.
Speaker 2:I think so. But if y'all don't get on there first off, uh, first off first off, then the prices only go up. Y'all know how inflation works.
Speaker 1:Right, but I want to make it economically feasible for everybody. I don't want somebody who really has their heart into it and can't afford it not to get that information. Because some now hold on some classes out there range from you know I've seen them anywhere from $500 to $7,000. And I was like what? And in all fairness, no disrespect to any of those course creators but like the ones that were several thousand dollars, I've never heard of them and that doesn't mean anything. I mean I'm just a drop in the bucket myself, but I'm just saying I never heard of them and they were charging seven thousand dollars and they didn't have a podcast.
Speaker 1:Where we do you know what I mean? Like I'm not tooting our horn, I'm saying this is not like I'm taking a class from ronald reagan on how to be a president, right, like I don't know who they are. I they they don't have a podcast in that top percent like we do, but we're doing it at like a fraction, and I mean a fraction. Some of the courses are, uh, like most of them are 24 um, there's like one or two. That's a little more than that, and the information alone is is worth 10 times that, if not more.
Speaker 2:So if Ronald Reagan was to give a class?
Speaker 1:I would want to take his class so fast. Be a president.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because he did it, he was successful at it, he was amazing.
Speaker 1:I think he was one of our best presidents.
Speaker 2:I know I'll get some crap for that, so folks, if y'all see our numbers, if you see our views, if you see our listens, our downloads, the numbers speak for themselves. Yeah, and they're actually.
Speaker 1:I have referenced a lot of our numbers, not trying, like I said, to toot our own horn, but when I have taken classes I have that reputation of that university or institution that makes me feel comfortable and successful, right, because I know I'm learning from, in that category, the best. So when I go in here and you pull up one of the courses, I show that we're not full of fluff, right. I show in there that we are in the top one percent globally. I show our numbers. I show that you know on average we get anywhere from two to four million, you know views on on things on TikTok, like. I show our numbers so that there's no question on where we are. Don't you think Ronald Reagan was one of the top five best presidents ever? Hell, yeah, I mean seriously, I like him and Nancy.
Speaker 1:Oh, she's one of my favorite first ladies we ever had in office. She was just like she'd be like a grandma you just want to sit with, you know? Yes, and they had the best love story, such a romantic love story they had Kind of like us, kind of like us. Yeah, we have a great love story, I know, and everybody loves our love story. Why? Because it is not. It is not. So let me ask you a question then you might want to go back to our love story here in a minute, do you? What are your thoughts on the fact that, what that it is?
Speaker 1:Now certain states in our country allow children and I say that children to start taking hormone blockers and to stop puberty if they want to transition from one gender to another. Now forget the fact for just a minute that Trump signed into law that we only recognize two genders male and female. So that's into law. Of course, people are now stating well, he said male and female, and a boy and a girl really aren't there. Because they're not, they're pre-besant, so because they haven't been through puberty. That doesn't categorize as right.
Speaker 1:Of course, somebody is going to come out of that with their words out their ass, but what I'm saying is how do you feel about a child going through and the parents saying, okay, let's go get you know hormone blockers, let's stop your puberty, let's do this to help you trans over? Or, even worse, that if it's a girl and they say, hey, I'll go let you get your breast cut off, I'll go let you get a castration to help you genderize over to the other side? I mean, how do you feel about the fact that these kids are given that kind of power with the consent of their parent and doctor? Now?
Speaker 2:I'm not that, as I put it earlier, hedgerom kidded, so I don't know the scientific ins and outs of puberty. You know as far as what constitutes puberty Hair, facial hair, body hair, changing of your voice, or born with chromosomes right, bigger lumps on your chest.
Speaker 1:I mean you're born either one-way chromosomes or the other-way chromosomes right and you can take all the beta blockers. I mean beta blockers. You can take all the chromosome blockers you want. You can have transgender surgery, you can have radical surgery done on your body, but at the end of the day, a man can't become a woman. Like you know. You can do things that make your voice higher, you can dress as a woman. You know you could do these things. But can you give birth? No, you know. And transgender people are saying well, I get PMS, men get PMS. It is medically proven that men get PMS. They get moody, I get.
Speaker 1:PMS when you wake me up early but what I'm saying is you know you cannot give birth. You cannot give birth if you trans into a woman. So you know. And then the argument back has been like well, you know, I, I just have the right to be who I want to be. Absolutely you do.
Speaker 1:But the fact that we're so cautious over offending somebody with saying their wrong pronoun versus the fact that we are mentally disrupting the growth of a child, which is going to be harmful because this stuff is irreversible down the road, why are we more concerned about hurting their feelings by saying I meant to call you, they, them. There's one of you. I'm not seeing double. I don't need to get my eyes checked. You know I have no problem and everybody who knows me knows I strongly support the LGBTQ community. I mean we have family that's in that community. We have friends that are in that community. But I don't agree and a lot of people I know that's in the community also don't agree with the whole pronoun thing. I mean, you know that's kind of like they, them.
Speaker 1:How do you say that respectfully? Like hey, how are they doing? And you're looking at one person, right, I mean. So if I wanted to put on like a blonde wig and a sombrero. Am I? Can I say that I'm now of the mexican culture? Can I say that with authenticity? Can I say I identify now is a latino? Can I get away with that? So how can you put on a dress and all of a sudden demand that you with a penis can go into a locker room with our kids and get undressed in front of our kids before these kids have even had the talk or know what it is, and then think that that's okay? I mean, kids now are sexually active in fifth grade and middle school kids are being treated for STDs. I must be like the biggest prude. I went through all my school without giving it up and that's personal preference. That's my choice. I'm just saying my husband's giving me this look.
Speaker 2:I'm just saying so let me put it in a different perspective. Sure, if you don't mind, this is redneck, okay. Okay, a lot of y'all know that I was. I was a law enforcement for 13 and a half years.
Speaker 2:Okay, I pulled over multiple civilians that claim to be of the sovereign nation okay, yeah if, if you are a sovereign, sovereign citizen, then in in your community, in your, in your mind, in your preaching doctrine, whatever you see that it is not a need for you as a sovereign citizen to have or to obtain a state driver's license. Okay, because it is so-called your God-given right to drive anywhere and you don't have to be documented and have a license. So you see how that correlates with transgender or whatever. Sure, yeah, just because in your mind you think you don't have to have this doesn't mean it's it's not against the law, right that it's not right. I, I have to go get my driver's license so that I don't go to jail, so that if, god forbid, there was an accident happen, they can have my license and, uh, you and all the documented information, and that our insurance companies can take care of things. If I don't have a license, I can't get insurance. So it's just not right.
Speaker 2:You throw on a sombrero, you throw on a dress or a wig. You said a blonde wig. My wife's a gorgeous redhead, by the way. If she went blonde, I'd think I'd just move to Florida. I don't know. No, I wouldn't leave her.
Speaker 1:You would move to Florida.
Speaker 2:No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1:You told me you were never, ever going back to Florida again.
Speaker 2:Calm down, florida we do have a situation in Florida.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we can talk about that in a minute. Come on why we have a stalker or another stalker. We have a few, yeah, and that needs clarity anyway, that needs clarity anyway, go ahead For the cyber stalker out there, if you're listening. Which we know they are.
Speaker 2:See, I did the thing. You do not need to come to me and apologize to me first I like to talk about that because I'm getting the ridicule me that you hurt and offended first, it's these two lovely, lovely red-headed ladies here, and our child is a lady.
Speaker 1:But it's being put out there that it's on me. How do you feel about that?
Speaker 2:I'll forget about that yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, so how do you feel about that?
Speaker 2:You know how I feel about that.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing you have a gorgeous girl who literally was at death's door, right, we were told they could make her comfortable and she could pass. Everybody knew. Your little cyber stalker knew, my cyber stalker knew, and, yeah, I don't care if they put it out on their social media. Okay, I don't care if they put it out on their social media. Okay, I don't care if they blow smoke signals out of their anal cavity, right? Neither one reached out to us about their grandchild on full life support.
Speaker 2:That's not being very specific.
Speaker 1:I can be a whole lot more specific On life support, organ failure, coding. We and you and I are such big-hearted, open people when it comes to that. Nobody reached out in a text or an email or anything like that, like I don't care if they didn't reach out. When I became amputated, I know you were pissed victoria was the information put out there.
Speaker 1:Yes, it was On many, many, many places. I did daily posts, y'all. I don't care that they didn't reach out when I became amputated, but the smart mouth of saying, oh well, they didn't call me either, they could have used their one hand is, you know, a little ridiculous. But it's not about me, it's about our beautiful daughter. The fact that nobody reached out about that right, and the fact that when another member of the family got hurt, we were like, what do you need? We were sending stuff down, you know everything else, and it's not about a comparison, it's not that at all. But this person is older in age and cussed out our kid and everything in the text messages is showing extreme narcissistic behavior. You yourself said that and the fact it's all. I forgive me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. It's all about them. But not once in any of the text messages and you pointed that out was there anything about I'm so glad Faith is doing well, or you know, I wonder how they would feel if I reached out. Would it be okay? Or you know, all this has happened to that beautiful little girl. I need to make things right. Or congratulations on making the adoption formal and official.
Speaker 1:None of that was said. Everything was pity. Party here Me. I did this, I did this. I'm the victim. This is victim blaming, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right. And what's ironic is I even said on air that I would never tell you not to speak to these people. Right, right, and I wouldn't, I wouldn't. You know me, I'm not going to say that Now. Faith, on the other hand, is like spitfire, pissed justifiably.
Speaker 2:She has a right to be, she has every right to be, every right, y'all fail to understand the fight in this girl and what she went through, what she had to endure. I mean, there was, there was so many damn doctors come in there and they just kept taking. You know a femur here, a ligament here. You know half a brain here I didn't get a brain oh, she has a brain, don't tell her. I said that.
Speaker 1:She didn't take after your mother.
Speaker 2:But what I'm saying is at one point she said how much more do I have? To give.
Speaker 1:And how much more can I take?
Speaker 2:Right, and I mean folks they took out a lot of her insides, just so that she could survive and live and they left her wide open for the longest time.
Speaker 1:She was so weak they couldn't take her down to the OR.
Speaker 2:They had to do it at bedside and we were recording this after 11, 11 codes. Okay, right, if?
Speaker 1:you don't know what codes means. Look it up. She stopped breathing. She had to be resuscitated. She was on full life support. She had pic lines and barbiac lines. She had central lines. She had I think at one time we counted over 50 different IVs and tubes connected to her, including ventilator, including dialysis, everything.
Speaker 1:We were starting the process for organ transplant, for me to donate my kidney I mean this is where it was, and I mean you and I cried multiple times every day.
Speaker 1:We didn't leave her side and not to even say anything about that. That to me and I'm not saying it just about your cyber stalker, I'm saying it in general and you know it's going to come back that I said this specifically about your cyber stalker and I'm not saying it about that in general, I'm saying it overall any person, place or thing that can know that a child is laying in the ICU having surgery at bedside because they're too fragile to go down to the OR in the hospital, they're in on multi-organ failure, kidney dialysis, thinking of having to go down to the OR in the hospital, they're in on multi-organ failure, kidney dialysis, thinking of having to go to a transplant, all of these other factors coding daily, having all of this done, being in a medical coma, being on a ventilator and being part of your family, and you can't say a word, you can't send a text, nothing. That that to me. What does that make that to you?
Speaker 2:well, let me tell you this this little girl of ours y'all know we're speaking about our daughter fate even though things like this have happened and it seems like it's continued to happen she still has the biggest heart and reaches out to family members trying to get them to come back in her life, because, Not all family members Not all.
Speaker 1:She's not reaching out to all. I said some Okay.
Speaker 2:You know she wants that needed family member that she never had. You know, just like me, in her life you know she'd never had a.
Speaker 1:But what do you think of someone who just can't even reach out when it's a child involved? And this is where they are. How do you summarize that person?
Speaker 2:They just need to get their head out of their ass. You know, are you looking at yourself too much? Are you not looking at, uh, your other family members? You know, there's more than just those that live around you right.
Speaker 1:But see, the whole thing is, is that high insight? You know, I I have talked to somebody about this and what's so funny is is that this cyber person did a podcast with me and I did not release it because of the sheer fact that she trampled all over one of your exes. She trampled our other two kids. She was heartless and I didn't put it out because I don't, even though they'd be furious with her. I don't want to hurt other people. I don't want to hurt even though it's your ex. I don't want to hurt her because they're the biological mother. I don't want to hurt those kids. I love those kids, you know I love those kids. So I can't do it. I cannot do it. I won't do it.
Speaker 1:Right, when somebody made a phone call and then accused us of making that phone call, you know and won't take accountability, but then has them come down as much as she talks about not only the mother but bad mouth to her own grandkids. It's ridiculous. And at the end of the day, she blames us and says we're the ones who did it and we're not right and I have the proof. But I won't do it because I cannot. And you heard it, you actually heard it? You actually heard the podcast where she admits all this? And still we're the ones put through the mud. I mean, that just blows my mind Right. And at the end of the day, we're the ones being put to blame to everybody else when we didn't do anything.
Speaker 2:As y'all already surmised, we are the black sheep.
Speaker 1:Amen, but that's what you know, and she's going around blaming it all on me. I mean, she even went so far as to post that she wished your first one was your current one. Sorry, did I read that? Yeah, I showed it to you. You told me you wanted to vomit, remember? You're like, I'm going to throw up my dinner, it's probably why you had that nightmare.
Speaker 1:Don't even talk about that. That was that Seriously, that was disgusting. And you know the thing is is that when I found out about your first, I immediately ended our relationship because I didn't know about her and it was just out of a respectful thing. But I'm the bad one because I'm the mistress. But I wasn't the mistress because the mistress has knowledge that they are the other woman and I did not know. But portrayed as I did, no, that was my fault.
Speaker 1:And I'm just saying it's not fair that we are like how do you describe that? Like they're throwing all of it on us so that they stay clean and we're the, you know, the patsy. Yes, thank you, and it's like it's not right, it's all right. We got us. I'm happy with our little quietness, no frills family.
Speaker 2:Y'all are going to find this funny or sad. I really don't care which one, but our Christmas dinner, oh it was fabulous. It was myself, my gorgeous redheaded sexy wife, my sassy, saucy daughter and Waffle House. That's right, folks, waffle House. We went to good old American fashion, waffle House.
Speaker 1:Yep, I think I just know I was. I was post-op from surgery, go figure, something new, right? And you didn't want to do a big thing. We did a pretty big dinner for us, three of us, for Thanksgiving, because I was pre-op at that point. And so you decided, hey, you know we. We told Faith, hey, what do you want to do? And she's like I want Waffle House. So, first time I've ever had Christmas at Waffle House. But we did it. It was packed. It was packed, come on now. It was.
Speaker 2:So we might make that our tradition.
Speaker 1:That was hilarious, I mean, and it was fun. And then we came back and we no mess, no cleanup, no drama. And then we came back and we, we don't have drama, in all fairness, we don't have drama amongst us, in our family, we don't. And it's wonderful.
Speaker 1:that's your dog, that ain't my dog, he's uh, anybody want a dog, a dog, but I mean it's so nice. Would you rather have a? It's not even really a family. Would you rather have bodies and lots of numbers of bodies, or a family of unconditional love and respect? And it's, you know, the quantity, not quality. I mean it's the quality, not quantity. I'm tired it, I see that. But I mean where you know you have someone you can depend on and count on and not have to worry about. I mean there's a lot to be said for that. I mean we came home and I think we played either Uno or y'all played War. I'm trying to remember. We played games and we had hot chocolate and we played with Christmas presents and it was the best. You know we're simple folks. We don't need to go out and, you know, spend bukus of money and impress people. I mean it's just not us, that's not who we are, and I love it.
Speaker 2:So, having said that and y'all hear how we talk on our podcast get on these courses as soon as they're released. Okay, the wife's going to put them on where. Where are you going to list them?
Speaker 1:They have their own website, but I mean they're going to be out on everything, including in these show notes. I'll put the link. So I'm just saying I thank you for talking about that and bringing that up, because the my husband and I have no secrets from each other. We literally will say here what are you laughing at?
Speaker 2:we have no secrets, we don't no, that's right, go ahead.
Speaker 1:So why are you laughing? What's funny about no secrets? No, because you'll forget I won't forget what.
Speaker 2:Is it still trapped?
Speaker 1:no, I remember everything.
Speaker 2:No what so, guys, how many of y'all can give your phone to your wife, to your girlfriend, your fiance, and say have at it, hoss.
Speaker 1:But so many times I'll be like babe, your phone's going off, he'll go check it. I don't want to check it Right, like I don't care.
Speaker 2:Point in question the other day.
Speaker 1:Oh, is that where you were going? That was hilarious. That was hilarious. And I said, babe, can you grab that? I was like, no, I don't want to. And you're like, babe, please, I was driving, you were driving, and so I said, okay, fine, and it was, I really miss you. It was a text, right. And so I was like I started laughing and I was like, oh, this is going to be good. And Faye's address social security number blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, like she was cracking her knuckles in the back seat. That was hilarious. And you're like, have at it, babe, have a good time. And I'm like, and I was just like, who do you think this is? Was I worried?
Speaker 2:No, did I snatch the phone away from you?
Speaker 1:No, but that's not the point, Ding. But I mean, that's the point. Like you know, even Faith will say Dad just picked up your phone, Okay, I don't care, we have each other's passwords for everything. We have each other's passwords for the phone. We don't hide anything from one another at all. And so she'll be like Dad's got your phone, Okay, what's your point? Like I don't care. You know, we hide nothing from one another. And there's such a sense of of what am I looking for here? It's like happiness and love and security.
Speaker 2:Understanding of each other, that that you know, that I know that you know that, I know that we're not going to cheat, turn our back on each other or go behind each other's back or, you know, disrespect the other or go behind each other's back or, you know, disrespect the other.
Speaker 1:It's a sense of almost security.
Speaker 2:You know to know that it's, uh, yeah, something that you know it's like ironclad right it's set in stone with us right.
Speaker 1:And then you know I'm like here, but then, like you get a text message and you're like, guess who messaged me? And okay. And then you tell message and you're like, guess who messaged me? And okay. And then you tell me and you're so funny about it. You're like she said she wasn't going to write me again. I'm like, oh, we know that ain't going to happen.
Speaker 1:But that's the whole premise of it is. Like you know, in other relationships that you and I have both had, we've always been like we have this other person somewhere else, outside of the actual relationship who is trying to demise the relationship from afar. Right, and we have both been guilty of allowing outside parties not with you and I, but with previous, previous relationships before us to allow that communication from outside of the relationship to dent and destroy. But you and I I mean, how do you like now? We don't allow it. There's like this the great wall of china ain't got nothing like it's. You know, like we have this wonderful wall that's wrapped around the three of us and that the negativity that is dispersed from others' holes under their nose, it's just like a waste of oxygen. We've been through enough. We know that we're each other's everything and soulmate. And you know I still get excited when he comes home and can't wait for him to get here, and he is like, oh, I can't wait to get home to my family I love being home, I do.
Speaker 2:I drop my bag down and walk past my daughter, my dogs and go straight to my wife and give her a kiss on the lips and the forehead.
Speaker 1:And a good old hug, yes, but I remember years and years and years ago when we were only friends and you would call me and be like I don't. I got you know two minutes and and you were so depressed and your voice it just it broke my heart as your friend to hear you like so unhappy and and I love that I was able to be there for you, for you, to vent about that it broke my heart a that I wasn't with you and be that you were treated so ridiculously by many people, not just your ex is exes. So I mean it's tough when you love someone because you don't when you really love someone, I mean, and it doesn't have to be a spouse, if you love someone, whether it's a friend, a sister, a brother, no matter who, but you have genuine care and concern and unconditional respect for that person. You never want to see that person hurt. You don't want to see that person unhappy. You want the best for that person.
Speaker 1:But in today's time people drop like a freaking dime and they don't care. Oh, this will be better for me and in my benefit. To hell with them. Here we go, like that's the mentality overall. I mean, even professionally, we've been dealing, you know with a couple of people who have been that way. Oh, go ahead and and say it.
Speaker 1:it's just all over your face, go ahead, no you're just gorgeous, whatever, whatever whatever, so my husband's being amazing because we are getting ready to um get married again yes, no, it's not. We've done this so many times. Okay, for the last time and this time it will be recorded I planned our last wedding based on your 50th birthday Did you have to say that out loud 50th? And we got married on your birthday together, and I even had family here for it. So, yeah, this time it's on you, not me Just saying.
Speaker 2:You see, we got married by a creek one time A creek A creek, a waterfall. Okay.
Speaker 1:Where you had your damn phone. You pulled that phone out and I thought oh my God, here's Stucco.
Speaker 2:That was hilarious.
Speaker 1:It was, it was now, wasn't then?
Speaker 2:it wasn't then. No, y'all should have seen her face mama got mad.
Speaker 1:The minister's getting ready to angela was like he's like wait, wait, and I'm, I'm going. What is he doing? This woman, blah, blah, blah and you know, here's the ring and all this and and then he reaches in his back pocket for his phone while we're standing at the waterfall at like sunset and he's reaching for his foot. He's like I gotta do this. Hold on a second. And I'm like.
Speaker 1:I looked at him I said I'm gonna throw that phone in the water jaws drop y'all well, mine's metal, it doesn't just drop, it just kind of erupting a ceremony yeah, and then I just shook my head because I should have known. Should have known. I should have known, yeah, but our daughter was ready to take the phone and you and put it in the water, which was great. Yes, we've got married in our home in front of a stump one time yes, yeah, we'll call it a stop. Sure, make front of the amput time. Yes, we'll call it a stump. Sure, make front of the amputation, no problem.
Speaker 2:I was referring to the great oak tree.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay.
Speaker 2:I seen it. They had it marked. I think they're going to cut it down. Uh-uh, maybe go get a piece of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Carve it out of a heart. Yeah, there you go. That there you go. That's some mushy shit. What that ruined?
Speaker 1:it Ruined, it Ruined it Ruined it, yes, so yeah, I also wish that some people in the Like this is a great topic.
Speaker 1:I wish some people in the medical industry would take into consideration for a minute that I know it's practicing medicine right, I get that.
Speaker 1:But if you are, let's say, a veteran who has legitimate PTSD or you have God forbid cancer and you see an oncologist, or if you're an amputee, right, and your doctor does not actually know what you're physically going through, that maybe a little slack should be given to patients, because some doctors these days treat patients like it's a windmill of patients because they just want to get them in and out, in and out, and you know they get a kickback from the pharmaceutical companies and you know not all, but some, and they just you know it's like okay, like people will say here, here's the best thing.
Speaker 1:I had to meet with another member of one of my teams I had not met with before, who had a video chat with me and said you don't look like you're in pain, and I literally was blown away by this individual making that statement, because I explained to her that you know, over all of my surgeries that I've had, and my amputation being one, and you know several others. I have never been in as much pain as I'm in right now. But a when you're a wife and a mother especially, especially a special needs mom, we we hold all that in because a complaining about it doesn't do a doggone thing right, and it's in my records everywhere that I have not, nor do not, take any pain meds.
Speaker 2:You can say to that better than anybody so that must mean you're not in pain right, right, wrong, wrong. So there was reasons you didn't take any pain meds or anesthetic back then, and not that you build up a tolerance to pain, but you have a higher threshold and redheads do okay from the jump already. No different than than getting in a ring with mike tyson they bite my ear off.
Speaker 2:You're gonna get the crap knocked out of you Really, and then you're going to build up a tolerance. Thank you, I was watching Mike Tyson the other day.
Speaker 1:So getting the crap knocked out of you. Even though we advocate for domestic violence and I survived it, we're not on that subject. Poor choice of words, but I'm just saying I mean they expect it, right, okay, but like you have never seen me take a, say it, say it, say it. Say the word opioid or narcotic say narcotic, narcotic, you almost said narc narc narcotic yes okay, n-o-r-c-k-e-s what, what, what, what.
Speaker 1:But he's always like will you please take something? No, please, no, please, no. And the thing is is that people just assume by looking at you that, oh, you must not be hurting that badly. Um, my husband will sit there and be like your arms having a like convulsion. Like you know, your arm is blood cold, your arm is really hot. Oh, like last night, yeah, last night.
Speaker 2:We're walking around and my shrinker was cutting off the circulation literally because my arm had swollen up so badly and people just assume, oh, okay, well, you know, you must not be in pain with tears watch her with tears come down her, you know her cheeks and her arms just spasming and I know she's in a great deal of pain when she's not up here on this computer for 21 hours a day and she goes lazy, you know, gets into bed because she's trying to get comfortable.
Speaker 2:She's in so much pain you know that's a bad day she already told y'all she was up at what 3, 30, 3 o'clock this morning, an hour sleep and had went to bed at what 1, 30 something like that, something like that. Um, this is ridiculous. So some things I wish I could change and take away. Anybody got a time machine. What would you change? Oh man, I'll tell you what. I'd go all the way back to high school. As much as I hated high school, I'd go back. Why? Because I'd get my edumacation your edumacation.
Speaker 1:Why don't you just start after high school?
Speaker 2:hell. No, I'll go back in the air force.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how would we have met after I got out and retired that would have been less time I had with you. No, it's about the same no, we'd have more.
Speaker 2:How do you? That would have been less time I had with you. No, it was about the same. No, we'd have more. How do you?
Speaker 1:figure. I would have retired at 45. But we wouldn't have had more. I had four and a half years with you before I wouldn't have met you. I had four and a half years with you before. I've had more time with you now. You would change after high school. Would I change with you?
Speaker 2:now you would change after high school, would I change?
Speaker 1:I'm the same person, you would change nothing. Oh, hell yeah I would change, I'd change a lot okay.
Speaker 1:But you know people don't understand the paths that you're on and why you are meant to put on that specific path. But I knew, the minute I locked eyes with you, that you were it. I knew it, no question, and faith knew it for you because she's always like. My mom told me that there was only one person who could ever be my dad and it was stucco. And I know, and I know, and I know, and I know, and you're on the birth certificate her dad now.
Speaker 2:I'll always be her dad you've always been her dad.
Speaker 1:I mean, you saw her in the NICU and you texted me oh my god, I wasn't prepared for her to be as beautiful as her mother. I'll be right back. And then you gave me the emoji of a little shit. I have it. I still have it. Of course you do. Of course I do. I even have the pen where you wrote I love you for the first time back in the day, that sentimental sweetness that my grandparents instilled in me.
Speaker 2:You're a romantic, I am, but I suppress a lot of it because you're not, I'm not, you're not. Would you like to go get romantic? Oh, close us out thank you all for listening to another episode of the same smile podcast here with victoria michael. Bye, hurry go. Click, click, click.
