1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,200 Hello, my name is Leslie Cain and I am the host of the Why Not Today podcast. 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,440 This podcast is to celebrate people have done or have been courageous and said, why not today? 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:18,320 I started this podcast in honor of my father, Patrick Cain, who often said, why not today? 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:23,560 I'm based in Reston, Virginia, a planned community right out of D.C., Washington, D.C. and thanks 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:25,400 for joining us today. 6 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:27,520 So I am excited. 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:29,760 This is our ninth episode. 8 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:30,760 Wow. 9 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:35,480 I know and I'm excited to have a friend of mine, Teresa Lemieux. 10 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:37,680 And I'm actually at her house now. 11 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:38,880 She's upstairs downstairs. 12 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:47,880 But we have known each other for, gosh, 20 some 22 years, I think, work together and she 13 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:49,200 is going to be my guest today. 14 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:54,320 But before we hear from Teresa, I always like to talk about connection and you never know 15 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:59,160 where you're going to meet someone, where it'll lead and how they'll connect in your life. 16 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:05,240 And Tracy and I met through work years ago or if we're both entrepreneurs. 17 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:10,160 But kind of an interesting, fun story today is Facebook actually reached out to me to 18 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,760 do a survey about Facebook groups. 19 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,120 So of course, in talking to it, the girl asked me a little about me and what I did and she 20 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,840 was familiar with Mary Kay, which of those you guys follow podcast know that's my real 21 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,120 job. 22 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:28,160 And by the end of the conversation, she liked my to join my Facebook group. 23 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:29,160 She needs products. 24 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:30,520 So there's my phone. 25 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,400 And so you just never know where those connections are going to come from. 26 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,960 You just got to be nice to people and be friendly. 27 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:40,640 So I'm super excited to have Theresa on here. 28 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:43,760 And she's going to share her story. 29 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,720 And it's kind of a story that I think people need to hear. 30 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,640 And I think this is the first time you've shared this story publicly, because who knows 31 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,680 where this podcast will go. 32 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:57,040 So why don't you introduce yourself tells a little about you, Theresa, and a fun fact 33 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,120 that people might not know. 34 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:00,120 Sure. 35 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:04,440 So Leslie is one of my dear, dear friends. 36 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,040 And like she said, we met over 20 years ago. 37 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,120 I now live in upstate New York when we met. 38 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:11,600 I was living in Virginia. 39 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:12,960 I have two kids. 40 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,520 They're 18 and 16 now, a boy and a girl. 41 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:17,520 They were babies. 42 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,400 Well, I was pregnant when Leslie first, when we first met. 43 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,120 You weren't even married, by the way. 44 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:25,120 You're right. 45 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,840 I was a baby. 46 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,480 I'm married to an amazing man. 47 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,480 And I love food. 48 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:35,800 Leslie can attest to that. 49 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,400 I love being outside. 50 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:40,880 I love sunshine. 51 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:46,040 And I think one thing, a fun fact about me, and I think it's fun because no one believes 52 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:47,800 me. 53 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,440 No one believes me that everyone thinks I'm an extrovert. 54 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:53,440 You're not. 55 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:57,280 And the truth is, I am very much an introvert. 56 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:58,280 Yes you are. 57 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:00,480 I know that for a fact. 58 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:04,720 That is a fun fact just because no one, people are always like, no, you're not an introvert. 59 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:06,160 And I'm like, yes, I am. 60 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:07,160 So yeah. 61 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,560 So I'm excited to have you on and talk about your courageous story. 62 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,120 But before we go into that, share with everybody. 63 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,680 What does courage mean to you? 64 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,520 So I love that word courage. 65 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:25,520 And when I think of courage, it makes me think of an affirmation that I've been using for 66 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,840 quite a while now, the saying I have, which is, I can do hard things. 67 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:31,960 I can do hard things. 68 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:38,880 And when I think about courage and that I can do hard things, it's like a lot of times 69 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:43,960 it takes courage because what we're trying to do is unknown, or we have fear, or it's 70 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,120 new, or there's uncertainty. 71 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:48,760 And all those things are hard. 72 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:58,560 And so for me, it means knowing that you can do the hard thing and that you're not going 73 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:04,360 to allow those other things to hold you back from whatever it might be. 74 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,680 So I can do hard things. 75 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:07,680 Courage. 76 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:08,680 Love that. 77 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:09,680 And that's so true. 78 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:10,680 All right. 79 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:12,640 So we're breaking up a little bit. 80 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:23,840 So hopefully our internet will not go out and you know, it's definitely a God like thing 81 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:29,600 that there was somebody else that was lined up to be my guest for this week's episode. 82 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,800 And she went on vacation and brought home with her souvenir, which a lot of people are 83 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,160 bringing home these days, which was COVID. 84 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,440 And she thought it'd be okay, but she's coughing so much. 85 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:38,600 She's like, I can't do it. 86 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,360 So I'm here at Theresa's house for the week and upstate New York. 87 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:46,600 And if you know me, you know, when I travel and you never know where, I need that picture 88 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:47,600 that you have. 89 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:49,600 She's going places or she is somewhere. 90 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,320 She is somewhere. 91 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:57,280 And so when I got that email yesterday and Theresa was talking, she's like, I could be 92 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:01,080 on your podcast and I'm like, okay, would you do courageous? 93 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,960 And I think part of the story she's going to share is part of your courage, Theresa, 94 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:10,800 but I think sharing your story publicly and sharing it on a podcast for the first time 95 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:15,280 and really, because I didn't even know the full extent of it till we talked last night 96 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:18,840 and Tracy and our really good friends, but she went through a hard time in life. 97 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:21,480 So she's going to kind of share the story. 98 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:27,600 So share with us what you've done that took courage and why do you think other people 99 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:28,920 need to hear the story? 100 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:29,920 You ready? 101 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:35,600 So, right, like you said, I think there's two parts of the courage story here. 102 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:43,080 The first one is how I got here, which was I found myself in a situation where on and 103 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:49,240 off for about 10 years, I was on and off heavy duty opioids. 104 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,360 And then I think it was 2019. 105 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:54,600 And why were you, let's go backwards. 106 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:55,600 Why was I on them? 107 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,760 Oh, just like a drug addict or that we got to clarify this. 108 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,120 Why were you taking pain medicine? 109 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:03,120 Right. 110 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:09,840 So I moved to New York and my body just decided to break in every way possible. 111 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:11,280 And it was crazy stuff. 112 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:13,440 Like it was a bug bite that turned into cellulitis. 113 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:18,880 It was, you know, needing to have carpal tunnel surgery. 114 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,840 It was some kind of digestion thing. 115 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:23,720 And then it was carpal tunnel. 116 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,840 I mean, it was just bam, bam, bam, bam. 117 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:31,400 And in between, of course, I wouldn't be on medicine and I would go off and there are 118 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,680 a couple of times in there that it was pretty long lived. 119 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,040 And when I stopped, it was, it was difficult. 120 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:39,040 It was hard. 121 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:46,760 There was a little bit of withdrawal, but what really sent me into my body becoming completely 122 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,960 addicted was a surgery that I had. 123 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:52,440 And I think it was in 2019. 124 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,320 It was pre COVID. 125 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:56,120 It was a jaw surgery. 126 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,200 And the jaw surgery went very bad. 127 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:06,600 And what proceeded was two years of basically just horrible. 128 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:09,760 And I had eight surgeries over those two years. 129 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,360 My jaw was wired shut twice. 130 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:20,360 And over the course of that time, what happens is your body becomes accustomed to whatever 131 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,000 level of pain medicine you're receiving. 132 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:28,960 And so to have pain management, you continue to need more and more and more and more. 133 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:36,040 And I found myself in a place that even to this day, like it's hard for me to say, but 134 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:44,360 I know, I know that I have to admit that I, my body had become addicted to opioids. 135 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:50,000 And in going through that and going through this process, it's just all the time in my 136 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:55,360 face, what an epidemic this is and how bad it is and what our children are facing. 137 00:07:55,360 --> 00:08:03,480 And I know that my story, that I guess that's the second part was the courage to share my 138 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:05,240 story. 139 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:07,920 And it goes right along with your saying, why not today? 140 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:13,000 You know, I have thought for a while now, I need to use this story like this has been 141 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:17,600 really, really, really hard, but there's got to be good that comes out of it. 142 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:23,480 And so I think this is a big moment of courage for me because I feel the story is needed 143 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:24,640 to be heard. 144 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:30,200 I think there's a lot of people who don't look like they're addicted to drugs, who don't 145 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:35,440 go through daily life looking like they're addicted to drugs and or opioids or whatever 146 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:37,160 that vice might be. 147 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:43,920 But I think especially even more so after COVID, the numbers are really high. 148 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:46,120 Yeah, absolutely. 149 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:50,400 And talking about this last night, we actually, somebody who told me, my friend Julia, who 150 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:57,280 was on the podcast before had mentioned, I guess it was a series on Hulu that was called 151 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:02,440 dope sick and somebody she knows and it's actually ironic that it was filmed in Roanoke 152 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:08,120 and a lot of it took place in Southwest Virginia, or actually have some customers and team members. 153 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:12,760 But just talking about, we only watched two episodes last night, but just talking about 154 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:20,000 how we got here and and the craziness of the government and we're not going there. 155 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:27,840 But just how this drug, OxyCotin, got into the hands of people and it was actually the 156 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:28,840 drug company. 157 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:30,960 And as I said, we're only watching two parts. 158 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:36,160 We don't know what happens, but the drug company actually got FDA approval and a relabeling 159 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:42,960 of this drug to say only 1% of people were addicted, which is so untrue. 160 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,000 And they made billions because of it. 161 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,800 And you know, a lot of people have become addicted. 162 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:53,800 And Theresa, you went down a route that I mean, we're great friends and there was months 163 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,160 and months that we didn't talk. 164 00:09:56,160 --> 00:10:01,400 I actually came to visit her in the hospital December of 2019. 165 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,240 And then till a couple of weeks ago, she didn't even know it with somebody her mother-in-law 166 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,560 said, yeah, Leslie was here and didn't remember. 167 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:10,720 So she was just not there. 168 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:14,560 I remember one time coming to visit you and talk about this last night, you were just 169 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:19,680 obsessive about decorating your house and doing these little things and like, because 170 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:21,240 I guess that's what you can control. 171 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:23,440 And you were just not you. 172 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:26,040 So you finally started to get healthy. 173 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:27,040 Yeah. 174 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:33,080 And your mouth and stop having surgeries. 175 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:37,440 But I think it was a couple of times you tried to get off the drugs more than once. 176 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:43,680 Well, yeah, I mean, I did not want to be on them, but clearly my body had become addicted. 177 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:48,080 And I felt like I would start to wean off and then I would need another surgery or I'd 178 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:54,880 start to wean off and I had an infection and it was just so, so hard. 179 00:10:54,880 --> 00:11:00,120 So yeah, it, it, and then there had to become, there had to come a day. 180 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,040 I had to make a decision. 181 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:07,920 Well first there was an intervention and treatment and then there was a decision. 182 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:08,920 Yeah. 183 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:13,520 And I think that's the thing we talk about here on this podcast is was it a moment that 184 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:18,200 you said, all right, enough is enough, or was it an ongoing thing? 185 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,920 There was something that happened in your life that triggered you that you're missing 186 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,960 out or I mean, you've got two kids that are teenagers. 187 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:29,920 I mean, I can't imagine how hard that was for them and your husband and your family 188 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:30,920 to live through. 189 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:33,440 Plus you still were running a business somehow. 190 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:34,440 Right. 191 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:35,440 Somehow. 192 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:36,440 Exactly. 193 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:43,280 And just like you said, there that moment, right? 194 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:49,720 So the first, the first part, the intervention happened because, you know, I was, I, when 195 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:55,000 you, if you could only see what I was on, it would kill the average person and the reality 196 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:56,000 person. 197 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:04,040 Well, yeah, no, and I had gotten really, really small down to 99 pounds because of all the 198 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:06,520 surgeries and I couldn't eat. 199 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:13,160 They have a way in my mouth shut, but I think the real, my husband knew that this was a 200 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,800 breaking point and it needed to get better. 201 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:20,840 And him and my doctor had had conversations, but I think the breaking point for him was 202 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:26,040 when he went to CVS to pick up my prescriptions. 203 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:30,280 And this chokes me up because it's like so hard to believe, but the pharmacist came to 204 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,440 him and said, we're going to give you Narcan. 205 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:37,480 We're really concerned about the amount of medication your wife is. 206 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:42,800 I don't want to interrupt, but a lot of people might not know what Narcan is. 207 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:44,440 So I don't fully understand either. 208 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:49,640 All I know is that when people overdose and they stop breathing, it's like adrenaline 209 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,520 and it brings people back. 210 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:56,680 So when police arrive and there's an overdose, that's what they try. 211 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:00,040 They try to give you Narcan and you can administer. 212 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:04,400 I think it was, I don't even know if it was a nose spray or like, I don't know. 213 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:10,880 I don't want to say, but so yeah, that was, that was hard. 214 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:11,880 Yeah. 215 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:16,840 I'm sure it was scary for Darcy to, to see that. 216 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:18,160 So I kind of interrupted your story. 217 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,560 So were you going somewhere else or I'm just. 218 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:26,480 No, I was just going to say that that's when he had the conversation with my doctor and 219 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:35,320 they decided that I was going to go on a medical, a medicine assisted treatment, which they 220 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:44,040 give to a lot of, which many addicts attempt heroin addicts, opioid addicts. 221 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:50,800 And what it does, it's made up of two medicines and it's meant to block the effects of the 222 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:54,880 opioids, you feeling them. 223 00:13:54,880 --> 00:14:00,240 So in tricking your body, so there's still a little bit in it so that you don't go into 224 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:04,880 full withdrawal because withdrawal is hell. 225 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:07,240 And so they prescribed that. 226 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:15,120 And the outlook was you will be on this until they like to keep most addicts on it. 227 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:16,400 I did not want to stand it. 228 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,560 And I kept saying, I'm not, I didn't choose to be an addict. 229 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:21,200 I didn't, you know, I didn't want this. 230 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:28,200 So I, I stayed on it for, for a while, but then knew, I knew. 231 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,000 I just wanted to be off it. 232 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,280 I wanted my life back. 233 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,400 I wanted to put this behind me. 234 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:38,840 I wanted to be present for my kids and rebuild the relationships in my life. 235 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:44,760 And it just felt like a block to me while I was still on the, the treatment. 236 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,040 So what was, I know, say Darcy talked to the doctor. 237 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:50,920 So what was, what were the steps to get you? 238 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,760 And this is good knowledge for anybody listening that maybe in this situation, like, what does 239 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:56,160 it require? 240 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:59,640 Or if you have a loved one that is going through this and you're watching them, like, what 241 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:04,800 are the next steps and how was it and obviously you're on the other side of it? 242 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:06,400 I think that's such a great question. 243 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:11,200 Because I think there are a lot of people out there who either struggle with this themselves 244 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:16,840 or have a loved one, a child, a sister, a mother, whatever, like so many of us are touched 245 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,120 by this and just don't know how to help. 246 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:20,120 Right. 247 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:27,440 So the medical, the medicine assisted treatment is available. 248 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:33,520 And it actually, there's been increases in people using the medicine I was on which was 249 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:34,520 Suboxone. 250 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:40,920 And so the process was the doctor and him deciding, okay, there's not much more we can 251 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:41,920 do. 252 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:46,240 The pain she's having is going to be the pain she's going to probably live with. 253 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:48,360 But openly, I still do a weird thing. 254 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:54,160 They actually after a while, your pain just keeps increasing or you feel like your pain 255 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:55,160 is increasing. 256 00:15:55,160 --> 00:16:00,680 And the only way you know what pain you really have is if you get off the drugs, right? 257 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:12,600 So the doctor contacted a Suboxone center in Rochester and we got the referral. 258 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:15,920 You got the question? 259 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:19,480 Is this insurance covered or like a person that's, I mean, with the show we watched last 260 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:21,360 night, people were losing everything. 261 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:23,880 And when you're an addict looking for drugs, the money is not there. 262 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:25,680 You had a business. 263 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:33,520 But is there other options for people to get help? 264 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:34,520 Right. 265 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,840 So that's a really good point. 266 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:39,640 So a lot of people, you're right, do crazy things to get drugs. 267 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:44,920 Those were all prescriptions for me that were at that point insurance covered the treatment. 268 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,680 There was a co-pay for it. 269 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:54,760 And I do think there's ways that they work with people to get them into treatment. 270 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:59,600 However, I did look into, because I knew how difficult it was going to be having had little 271 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:01,400 bouts with it. 272 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,560 And I really didn't want my family to have to see it. 273 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:09,440 So I looked into going into a rehab center. 274 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,280 And it's the first of all, there's waiting lists. 275 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:13,680 You can't even get into them. 276 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,880 And even if you do, it's like $20,000 or more out of pocket. 277 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:23,840 And so that wasn't, it was kind of heartbreaking that that wasn't an option. 278 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:27,960 It probably, they probably would have had tools that would have made it a lot easier. 279 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:28,960 Yeah. 280 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:29,960 All right. 281 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:30,960 So back to your story. 282 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:32,960 So you're working with this clinic? 283 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:33,960 What is that? 284 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:34,960 Right. 285 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:40,160 And part of the treatment plan is you must go into counseling, which I think is brilliant, 286 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:41,160 right? 287 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:43,640 That's a good, because you got to be healing all the things. 288 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,920 You're going to be physically healing, emotionally healing, all those things. 289 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:55,000 So when I finally decided, I was like, I just don't want to be tied to this little thing 290 00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:01,920 that felt like it had so much control over who I felt I was as a person. 291 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:06,280 I picked a date and I just said, that's going to be it. 292 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,520 I have to stop and it's going to be hard. 293 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:16,600 And we sat the kids down and they're old enough, obviously, as teenagers to understand and 294 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:17,920 see what's happening. 295 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:20,600 We explained to them what was going to happen. 296 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:24,280 And then I cleared my calendar. 297 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:26,040 I absolutely cleared my calendar. 298 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:31,440 My husband, I'm blessed Leslie in that I have a husband who works from home. 299 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:33,160 He was completely available. 300 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:34,800 He does a lot around the house. 301 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,400 He cooks, he cleans. 302 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,880 I really have a heart now for people who struggle with addiction who don't have support because 303 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:47,920 I don't know how you get through this without a ton of love and support. 304 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:49,920 And it takes a long time. 305 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:51,880 It's not an overnight process. 306 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:52,880 Right. 307 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:59,080 So, all right, so share the story just so people know what is involved if you don't mind, 308 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:00,240 like you shared with me last night. 309 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,680 So they had to go off all the drugs. 310 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:03,680 Yeah. 311 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:04,680 So you go to the crawls. 312 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:05,680 Right. 313 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:09,920 So you go walk in, you got to, you got to, you're in with, you have to be in withdrawal 314 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:15,080 when they administer the Suboxone, which is just, it can come in, I think pill form or 315 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:18,960 mine was a dissolvable strip that would go under my tongue. 316 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,840 So when we walk, I don't even remember what the place looked like. 317 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:30,360 I just remember going in with my hot pink bag of crazy amount of opioids, valium, Xanax, 318 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:37,000 like all the things and being like afraid to get, to give it to them. 319 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:38,840 But I was already starting with jaw. 320 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:44,800 I was sweating and shaking and nauseous and throwing up and just freezing cold. 321 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:49,800 It was, I think it was spring and they administer it. 322 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:56,160 And what's crazy is with this treatment, they're watching to see your symptoms stop. 323 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:02,240 And within hour, my body stopped that withdrawal process. 324 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,840 So it is an incredible medicine. 325 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:10,480 And I think for a lot of people, if they have to stay on it for the rest of their lives 326 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:15,680 versus going back to heroin or something, I think, I think it can be an amazing treatment. 327 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:17,840 Just for me, I didn't want to stay on it. 328 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,440 Like I always had the goal to not stay on it. 329 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:22,440 Yeah. 330 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:27,560 And you said, even by the time you walked back in the house, it was like you were back. 331 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:28,720 My sister was here. 332 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:29,800 I walked back in. 333 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:33,040 I remember everything coming to life again. 334 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:35,040 Like everything seemed brighter. 335 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:39,720 My sister cried because she was so worried about me. 336 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:41,800 She's like, oh my gosh, you're back. 337 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,680 You are back. 338 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:48,200 And I did feel significantly better. 339 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:54,120 It was unbelievable to me too, the difference between being on all the medicine to just 340 00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:57,800 being on that treatment. 341 00:20:57,800 --> 00:20:58,800 It was a miracle. 342 00:20:58,800 --> 00:20:59,800 It was magic. 343 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:00,800 It was, yeah. 344 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:01,800 So, yeah. 345 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,640 So, but your journey wasn't over or your courage wasn't over because you had to get it. 346 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:07,960 So you are no longer taking that at all. 347 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,680 So what was the process of stopping that completely? 348 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:16,080 So that was the mother of courage, this decision and a day that you made a decision, right? 349 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,080 You said, why not today? 350 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:23,960 Yeah, that one took a little bit of time to come to because I knew what I was preparing 351 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,240 for kind of. 352 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:31,840 And I had been following a YouTube video of a person who had done it. 353 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:36,040 So I kind of knew what to expect and he was giving tips and things. 354 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:45,840 And so that day came and took me to the darkest place I've ever been in my life where I actually 355 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,680 did not want to live anymore. 356 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:55,480 And I felt this is what happens when people become to that low point, you know, when people 357 00:21:55,480 --> 00:22:01,520 choose suicide, I believe, you know, what I was feeling with everybody else would be 358 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:02,720 better off without me. 359 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:04,440 My husband would be better off without me. 360 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,400 My kids would be better off without me. 361 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:12,840 I was not being a mom, a wife, a friend, anything. 362 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:19,160 So luckily I had, you know, counseling and support around me and people to watch me all 363 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,000 the time and not a means to do that. 364 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,880 But yeah, the withdrawal process is horrible. 365 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:32,360 You lose, you know, you can't sleep for months or at least for me, I couldn't sleep for months, 366 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:35,960 which was like torture, your body shapes are like twitching off. 367 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,080 It's like horrible. 368 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:41,640 You can't eat. 369 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:46,400 And you do you wane yourself to a teeny tiny bit and that teeny tiny bit cause that much 370 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:47,400 havoc on your body. 371 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:53,640 Yeah, I was down to the point where I could not take any smaller, like it was like a piece 372 00:22:53,640 --> 00:23:00,760 I was just barely taking, but it was enough to keep my, my body from going into full withdrawal. 373 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:06,280 So within a few hours, well, really for me by that point was within 12 hours I started 374 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:12,960 to feel the withdrawal by day two and three, I thought I was literally going to die. 375 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:20,120 That my body was just not going to be able to do it. 376 00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:28,680 But I knew that there's only one way through withdrawal and yeah, bridge and break. 377 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,160 Okay. 378 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,600 Yeah. 379 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:39,240 We are glad you are here and grateful that you had the courage and you had the support 380 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:49,040 and you know, you just end you live in suburban New York neighborhood, perfect little family, 381 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:54,320 anybody looking from the outside in would have no idea what was going on. 382 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,040 And I think that goes on a lot in this world. 383 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:00,280 And somebody else we were talking about yesterday that I'm going to share on the podcast at 384 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:07,000 some point too, as somebody else I know that was so addicted to heroin and ended up the 385 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:11,360 only reason she is here today is she was dealing in the cops were watching her and she OD and 386 00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:13,120 they gave her Narcam. 387 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:16,280 And she went to prison and had her first child in prison. 388 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,280 And thank goodness her life turned around and she's doing amazing. 389 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:20,800 So proud of her. 390 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:26,960 But again, from Northern Virginia, a nice family, you just never know. 391 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:32,760 And yours came from, you know, just physical issues that one doctor gave you a little bit 392 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:35,920 and another gave you more and they kept giving it to you. 393 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:39,040 And from what we were watching last night and I'm a little naive on this, I'm learning 394 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,320 more, but thank goodness. 395 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:47,840 But you know, the drugs make you want more and you need more and they were taught they 396 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:52,320 came up with this thing and they were talking about breakthrough pain, which just meant medicine 397 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:55,000 was supposed to be time released, which it really wasn't. 398 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,960 And you had breakthrough pain and people kept needing more and in the middle of the night 399 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:00,960 and yeah, scary. 400 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:07,360 So how do you feel now after saying why not today? 401 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:08,720 How is your life now? 402 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:14,560 I'm sure you're fearful that you don't want to go like me personally, I would say I would 403 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,560 be afraid of Advil. 404 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,080 Right, right. 405 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:19,960 Well, that's such a great question too. 406 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:33,440 I think how I feel today is I recognize healing is a very, very long process, but I think 407 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:41,520 I, you know, the courage part was like you said, and it's true, most people, no one knows 408 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:45,680 this story outside of my family. 409 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:46,680 And I had to wait. 410 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:48,680 It's been, it's been nearly a year now. 411 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,280 Like, you know, we, I've always learned like you don't talk about your stuff till you're 412 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,600 through your stuff. 413 00:25:54,600 --> 00:26:00,960 So I know that I'm through it, but the emotional healing continues, the relationship healing 414 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,800 continues, and there always is that fear. 415 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:09,600 Like I was saying I had to have a tooth pulled, which was still the result of some, you know, 416 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,480 just it being damaged through all the, all the work they did. 417 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:18,120 And I was scared to death and they immediately wanted to offer me medicine, you know, opioids 418 00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:20,000 and I, we were clear with the doctor. 419 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:25,000 We said, I will not be taking anything like I will take Tylenol. 420 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:26,200 And that is it. 421 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:31,440 I had to go back in because it got, this never happens to people, but my, when they pulled 422 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:33,440 the tooth, mine didn't seal. 423 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:35,880 And so they were, they had to go in and pack it. 424 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:42,040 And again, it was painful, but I knew what I kept saying to myself, what would be worse, 425 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:47,120 this pain in this moment, or going back down that, that road of hell. 426 00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:50,120 And I just said, no, no, I'm not doing it. 427 00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:51,120 I'm not doing it. 428 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:58,200 And I think what fears me the most now, Leslie is how available this drug is. 429 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:00,560 Like you were saying how many people have injuries. 430 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:05,680 I think it's something like, it's a very high percentage of people, the people who become 431 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:14,480 addicted to opioids started because of a prescription from the redacted, that it's like 75%, I think 432 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:18,400 that led then to the opioid addiction. 433 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:19,400 That is scary. 434 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:24,520 And the other thing that scares me is the exposure to our kids. 435 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:26,020 It is everywhere. 436 00:27:26,020 --> 00:27:29,600 They've seen the pills, they've been offered the pills. 437 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,720 I don't know if everybody can parent out their nose and just talking about it with their 438 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:39,640 kids, like really talking about how this could destroy their life. 439 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:45,280 And there are kids or teenagers who even after a couple times, just a couple pills become 440 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,640 addicted because your body crazes. 441 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,120 Well the person I was just talking about when I asked her how she got there, she goes, my 442 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:55,520 self-esteem was really low and a cute boy paid attention to me and we started doing marijuana 443 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,080 and that went down the route. 444 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:03,160 And one of my passions with my Merikay business is to help women and girls with self-esteem. 445 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:07,240 And they say girls' self-esteem is highest at age, or women's self-esteem is highest 446 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:08,560 at age 10. 447 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:14,520 So whatever we can do to help get people, I mean not just girls but boys too, but that's 448 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:20,400 the kind of the world I work in, but to help people with that and just give people confidence 449 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,280 and support and not judge and you just never know. 450 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:29,280 And where you'd thank goodness you didn't go, but I actually, a friend of mine, I was 451 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:34,280 sharing your story and I was worried about you and he said, is she addicted to heroin? 452 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:38,000 Because once you can't get prescription drugs, I don't know if it's good or bad that the 453 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:42,200 doctor kept giving them to you, but once you can't, then people get desperate and then 454 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:46,840 do all kinds of heroin's the next step to help lead that. 455 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:51,240 And what's going on is, and I have a good friend that was died because unfortunately 456 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:56,520 he was doing it and it's laced with fentanyl sometimes and that kills you really fast. 457 00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:58,640 So let's just escape the thing. 458 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,600 So I'm grateful that you had the courage to share your story. 459 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:08,560 And in the theme of why not today, I know we talked yesterday that, you know, in the 460 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:13,680 recovery process for alcoholics, anonymous and narcotics, anonymous, whatever is one 461 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:15,400 day at a time. 462 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:21,080 And you know, so my why not today is kind of a twist on it, like let's do the good things, 463 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:26,960 but sometimes it's like why not today stop, or I know, share the story about like day 464 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,840 two, day three, like you're not going back. 465 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,840 Or you just saw yesterday. 466 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:41,720 Um, that as you know, I, I knew that it was going to be a process and I had to get up 467 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:46,240 every single day and just say, okay, I'm going to go one more day, one more day and 468 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:52,560 just keep going knowing that each day, you know, each day I knew my body was becoming 469 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:57,960 less dependent and in, you know, forgetting that medicine, but I don't know what else 470 00:29:57,960 --> 00:29:59,680 I might have said to you about it. 471 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,480 I think that was just it that like you're like a day three or like I'm never going back 472 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:04,480 to day two. 473 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:05,480 So I'm going to keep going. 474 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:06,480 Exactly. 475 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:12,520 We reached a really low point where my husband and this was, I mean, he said, do you think 476 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:18,960 we, you should, you know, just take a little bit and just try to do this, give it longer. 477 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:24,960 And Leslie, that is why not today because what is that going to do to weigh the process? 478 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:29,800 And I think a lot of addicts don't, don't recognize that there, no matter when you do 479 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:35,120 this, no matter when you make that decision, it's going to be how, so how much of your 480 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:39,080 life do you want stolen and robbed and taken from you? 481 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,880 How many relationships do you want ruined? 482 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:46,480 How much do you want to lose in your life before you say today? 483 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:47,760 Yeah. 484 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:51,800 And thank goodness you did because your kids are getting older and you know, you didn't 485 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:54,320 want to miss that time with them. 486 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:56,800 I just applaud you for sharing your story. 487 00:30:56,800 --> 00:31:00,480 I know this is not easy and we're going to go celebrate and go out to a nice dinner on 488 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,400 the lake when we're finished. 489 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:03,520 Yay. 490 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:08,880 But what would you, what encouragement will you give to somebody else to say why not today 491 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:11,680 and be courageous? 492 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:13,680 In any situation? 493 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:14,680 Yeah. 494 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:15,680 Yeah. 495 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:22,200 I think I go back to I can do hard things. 496 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,800 And tomorrow is never better than today. 497 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,360 Today is always best. 498 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:36,200 And the longer we wait, you know, that, that can just make, make more things more fear, 499 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,320 more discouragement, more all of it. 500 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:44,240 So I think it's tell yourself, get up today and say, I can do hard things. 501 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:45,760 Let that be your courage. 502 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:48,760 Find support around you. 503 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:50,160 And you're still going through counseling. 504 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:51,160 It's not over. 505 00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:53,960 No, it is absolutely not over. 506 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,720 And you know, I remember even in the beginning going through, I was too sick to even pray 507 00:31:57,720 --> 00:31:59,520 was I was too sick to even pray. 508 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:04,800 So what I did was I found a playlist, a healing Christian playlist. 509 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,680 And when I was too sick to pray, I would just listen to it when I couldn't sleep in the 510 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,720 middle of the night and I was laying in the bathtub while everybody else was sleeping, 511 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:12,720 wanting to die. 512 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:13,720 I would play it. 513 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:18,160 So, you know, like for addicts, I had to prepare. 514 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:20,920 I had to prepare for the day. 515 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:28,200 And so, you know, prepare if you need to, but don't delay. 516 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:29,720 Don't put off today. 517 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:31,080 Don't put off today. 518 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,280 And one thing you said to me the other day, and it says nothing in relationship to what 519 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:36,960 we're talking about, but it still is applying. 520 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:38,760 I was texting you as I was getting ready to leave. 521 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:43,240 I'm like, this is the part I hate of going out of town is the packing, getting ready. 522 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:46,440 And you're like, just think of the end game, think of pulling into the driveway. 523 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:48,760 And so, you know, you're doing hard things. 524 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:50,200 You got to think of the end game. 525 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:54,080 You got to think of where you're going to be. 526 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:55,440 Thank you for sharing your story. 527 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:59,800 And I know it's not easy and I hope and I know it will affect other people's lives and 528 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:00,800 touch other people's lives. 529 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,600 And so, if you're listening to this as a guest, you know, somebody share it. 530 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:08,800 But I always share because this podcast was started in honor of my father and I would 531 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:10,480 share a connection to my dad. 532 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:15,640 So, Trace did know my father and these are the kind, Trace is the kind of friend that 533 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:16,640 every girl needs. 534 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:20,080 And I have tons of them, but we have those special friends. 535 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:26,360 And so, probably my most cherished memory of you, Trace, was when my dad passed away 536 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:30,840 and you and your family, your husband and your two kids were here already, you're coming 537 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:37,360 well here to Northern Virginia coming, but you packed up your family and in a moment's 538 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:41,000 notice and came to Northern Virginia and were there for me. 539 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,880 And I'll never forget like, okay, what are you going to wear to our funeral? 540 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:46,000 And I remember you said, I got it. 541 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,520 So I actually walked into a store and you and your husband were there and had already 542 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:53,760 been there ahead of me and had all the clothes lined up and I walked in and people like, 543 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,360 oh, you're Leslie will help you. 544 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,800 And you were just there for whatever I needed. 545 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:03,760 And I do remember, you know, the support you gave me when I was sad and I didn't want to 546 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,920 work and I would call and you're like, you don't have to work. 547 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:10,640 That's why you do what you do to be able to have these times. 548 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:16,720 So, you know, it's the relationships and the friendships you have that so glad that I met 549 00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:21,960 you so many years ago and we didn't start on the most positive way, but full circle. 550 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:28,520 We did have a full circle moment this week when Trace's daughter Ella was born a preemie. 551 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:30,240 I went to the hospital was there. 552 00:34:30,240 --> 00:34:34,080 I think lots of us were there supporting us, but lots of days the hospital and Ella basically 553 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:35,080 fit in my hand. 554 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:39,320 She was that little and I sat in the backseat yesterday of her driving a car. 555 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:43,840 I'm like, oh my goodness, how did we get here? 556 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:46,400 So, but how do I find this? 557 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:48,840 I just want to say this though. 558 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:53,240 I knew the special relationship you had with your dad. 559 00:34:53,240 --> 00:34:55,440 He was very much a part of everything. 560 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:56,680 You're breaking up. 561 00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:57,680 Oh, okay. 562 00:34:57,680 --> 00:34:59,200 It's going to come back. 563 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:00,200 It's going to come back. 564 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:01,680 Is it coming back? 565 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:03,520 All right, you're breaking up. 566 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,240 So you got to all right now try again. 567 00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:06,240 Okay. 568 00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:10,280 I'm going to say I knew the special, the very special relationship you had with your dad. 569 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:12,400 And I want to say this because not everybody has this. 570 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:18,360 And even then everything about you, what you did, you honored your dad. 571 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,320 And I know how proud of you he was and his funeral. 572 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:23,520 I remember it was so inspiring. 573 00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:29,400 There were so many people and the stories and just the love. 574 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:37,520 And so I am so glad that you have taken, you've stepped out encouraged to do why not today. 575 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:39,000 I love everything about it. 576 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,160 I know it's how your dad lived. 577 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:45,440 And I know he must be smiling down so incredibly proud of you. 578 00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:46,920 Well, thank you. 579 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:49,560 So thank you for sharing your story. 580 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:51,760 Thank you for everybody listening. 581 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:56,600 We this, a why not today podcast is on Spotify and iTunes. 582 00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,920 I have a Facebook page of an Instagram. 583 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:00,440 I am working on some branding. 584 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:03,880 We will have a website going soon. 585 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:04,880 And kind of fun. 586 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:06,400 We're starting to get some merchandise. 587 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:08,480 So I do have some stuff and promoting. 588 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:11,360 I have why not today cups. 589 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:14,520 I have why not today t-shirts and kind of a fun story. 590 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:17,960 I know we're a little longer, but a fun story about the t-shirt is I posted a picture of 591 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:23,960 one the other day and my dad's best friend in high school in California, his son and 592 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:25,680 I have connected on Facebook. 593 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:26,680 And I had the picture. 594 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:28,360 I said, does anybody want to why not today t-shirt? 595 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:30,400 And he said, yes, explanation point. 596 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:32,640 And I said, you know the logo. 597 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:36,480 And for those of you listening and not seeing because we're doing video and audio, but the 598 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:39,680 logo is my dad's logo, which is an eye patch and a handle ball mustache. 599 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:40,680 It's like a little face. 600 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,280 We call it flat pat because that was his name was Pat. 601 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:48,000 But Michael's like, of course, I know that logo reminds me of your dad and my dad and 602 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,000 your dad sharing stories by the pool of their high school days. 603 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:56,720 So it's kind of fun to see why not today starting to get a movement and just say why 604 00:36:56,720 --> 00:37:00,320 not today because you just never know where that's going to lead you. 605 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:02,080 So Theresa, thank you. 606 00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:04,520 We are going to head off to dinner and celebrate. 607 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:05,640 And I'm so proud of you. 608 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:09,120 And again, I hope this touched somebody's heart and made a difference in your life. 609 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:12,480 And if you know somebody that has a story, I'm looking for people to interview. 610 00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:28,520 So thanks and we'll suggest the say why not today.