Speaker 1: This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1: Chris Harrison coming to you from the friendly confines of Austin, Texas.
Speaker 1: Happy Labor Day to all of you. Glad you joined
Speaker 1: me on this Labor Day. I hope you've had an
Speaker 1: amazing weekend. I hope you're enjoying this national holiday and
Speaker 1: this day off. It is a national holiday, but what
Speaker 1: a weird one. I mean, of all the holidays we celebrate,
Speaker 1: of all the national holidays, it's just Labor Day. It's
Speaker 1: one of you know, Memorial Day, Labor Day, the two
Speaker 1: big holidays we think of that, you know, ones in
Speaker 1: the spring and then the other ones in the fall.
Speaker 1: Memorial Day obviously very understandable. I get meaningful for this country.
Speaker 1: The fact that Labor Day is a holiday rooted in
Speaker 1: the late nineteenth century when labor activists pushed for a
Speaker 1: federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made
Speaker 1: to America's strength, prosperity, and well being. That's Labor Day.
Speaker 1: That's still a holiday where we shut everything down. Half
Speaker 1: the country honestly is going dove hunting because usually September
Speaker 1: first is opening day of dove season and to all
Speaker 1: those headed out, be safe and enjoy. It was a
Speaker 1: big holiday or for me growing up in Dallas, Texas.
Speaker 1: But the fact that Labor Day is still still a
Speaker 1: thing is really bizarre to me because it's just something
Speaker 1: we do and it's something we say when I was
Speaker 1: a kid, and I'm sure many of you are doing
Speaker 1: this probably still today. On Monday. Labor Day is the
Speaker 1: sports tournaments if you have kids, the big Labor Day Tournament.
Speaker 1: I was a soccer player growing up in Dallas and
Speaker 1: we played in the big Plano Labor Day Tournament. I
Speaker 1: think it was in Plano, Texas. I don't know if
Speaker 1: that's still a thing, but I'm sure volleyball, basketball, baseball, soccer,
Speaker 1: football is starting. It's all going on, and so I'm
Speaker 1: sure for many of you maybe you're on the road
Speaker 1: and you're in it, and those for you know, I
Speaker 1: remember fondly. Really holidays were the time when we would
Speaker 1: be traveling. The Houston Thanksgiving soccer tournament, the Memorial Day Tournament,
Speaker 1: the Labor Day tournament, even Easter, a sacred religious holiday.
Speaker 1: Was the Dallas Cup, which is like the second largest
Speaker 1: youth tournament in the world, and it's a huge, huge event.
Speaker 1: To play in. It was a huge honor, but it
Speaker 1: was all of Easter week. So it's funny. I kind
Speaker 1: of marked my holidays as a kid as these tournaments
Speaker 1: went by, but it was time with my family, and
Speaker 1: it's you know, I remember, you know, those times of
Speaker 1: piling into a hotel room and running up and down
Speaker 1: the halls, and you know, swimming in those indoor pools,
Speaker 1: the bacteria domes that are just over chlorinated to death.
Speaker 1: But those were great times in my memory. And I
Speaker 1: had him with my own son when he was playing
Speaker 1: lacrosse or whatever sport, when we would travel, and I
Speaker 1: vividly remember his last lacrosse tournament when he was in
Speaker 1: high school. We were out in Palm Springs, and we
Speaker 1: always kind of made a tradition to swing by in
Speaker 1: and Out Burger on the way out of town and
Speaker 1: grab a burger and eat it on the way home.
Speaker 1: And I kind of welled up with tears as I
Speaker 1: looked in, you know, in the back seat, and I
Speaker 1: see this high school kid back there, this man now,
Speaker 1: and I realize, this is the last time we're probably
Speaker 1: piling in a hotel room together. It's the last time
Speaker 1: we're going to be on the road where I just
Speaker 1: sit for hours on end watching him play sports. And yeah,
Speaker 1: I was sunny and hot and all those things, and
Speaker 1: you're sometimes miserable. But at the same time I miss that.
Speaker 1: I really relish those times, and I kind of I
Speaker 1: am envious of friends that have younger kids and like you,
Speaker 1: I'm like, what are you doing this weekend? Like, oh,
Speaker 1: we're you know, Alexa has a volleyball tournament. We're going
Speaker 1: to watch her play five hundred volleyball games. And I
Speaker 1: envy that because I really enjoyed that time of watching
Speaker 1: my kids compete and watching them win and lose and
Speaker 1: how they took it, and the camaraderie and the friendships
Speaker 1: and the pizza parties and you know, all the goofy
Speaker 1: stuff as well. So if that's what you did this weekend,
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you are recovering
Speaker 1: from your sunburn and you have a chance to rehydrate.
Speaker 1: For many of us, it was just a day off
Speaker 1: for me, very different labor day now that there are
Speaker 1: no sports. I had a house full of college kids.
Speaker 1: Luckily the kids are only you know, two and a
Speaker 1: half three hours away up there in Fort Worth at TCU,
Speaker 1: so instead of staying home for their first home game,
Speaker 1: TCU football and college football is on the air. It
Speaker 1: started this weekend. If your alma mater was playing, I
Speaker 1: hope it went well. We were rooting for the Frogs.
Speaker 1: Of course, TCU played Colorado and all of the kids,
Speaker 1: my son and his roommates, my daughter, her roommate, they
Speaker 1: all came into town. So five kids piled in. It's
Speaker 1: amazing how small the house can feel, how quickly, but
Speaker 1: it's a good kind of noise, and it was awesome
Speaker 1: to have them all here and to see your kids
Speaker 1: growing in that way. It's a different time. You know,
Speaker 1: they go off and do their own thing now and
Speaker 1: they go out, but to hear their conversations, to hear
Speaker 1: how they're doing and see how they're doing, it's a
Speaker 1: sense of pride. It's fun. And every stage, you know,
Speaker 1: I have friends who have young kids, and I have
Speaker 1: friends who have older kids, and I'm of course in
Speaker 1: that stage as an empty nester, as LZ and I
Speaker 1: are with the kids in college. Every stage is phenomenal.
Speaker 1: When you see them start to walk, when you see
Speaker 1: them start to talk, when you see them start playing
Speaker 1: sports or start theater, whatever stage that you are in,
Speaker 1: it's fantastic and drink it in. And I am doing that.
Speaker 1: I'm drinking it in as much as possible because I
Speaker 1: also know, like every other window and every other stage,
Speaker 1: it closes and they move on to the next. And
Speaker 1: you know, this is senior year, so it is the
Speaker 1: last labor day where my boy will come home from school.
Speaker 1: He's done. My daughter still has a couple more years left.
Speaker 1: But I really try to soak up these moments as
Speaker 1: much as I possibly can. And this weekend was one
Speaker 1: of those where you know, five college kids eating me
Speaker 1: out a house at home and you know, pool towels
Speaker 1: and you name it, constantly washing everything and picking things
Speaker 1: up when they break. But it's so good and it's
Speaker 1: so wonderful to have that, and I hope you have
Speaker 1: had that as well and had a chance to barbecue
Speaker 1: and cook out. This is you know, I go into
Speaker 1: full dad mode, where go shopping before they ever get there,
Speaker 1: over by over purchase barbecue and everything because I know
Speaker 1: these kids, you know, are going to come in and
Speaker 1: absolutely crush it. It's also, by the way, about that
Speaker 1: time and you think this is over right when your
Speaker 1: kids go to kindergarten, they're five years old, six years old, whatever,
Speaker 1: first grade, kindergarten. It really goes all the way through
Speaker 1: elementary school. You know, parents, I'm talking to you that
Speaker 1: first week, you are a test tube. You are an incubator.
Speaker 1: The kids have gotten sick. Everybody has gotten back to school.
Speaker 1: There is a you know, herd mentality of getting sick.
Speaker 1: You know, the first colds that pass around and it
Speaker 1: goes from kid to kid to kids. So you got
Speaker 1: the snotty nose kids that are coming home from school,
Speaker 1: and of course they get over it in like two
Speaker 1: or three days. You get it, you go down for
Speaker 1: a week or two. It absolutely kicks your butt. That
Speaker 1: definitely happens when the kids are going off to school
Speaker 1: for the first time in elementary school, because let's be honest,
Speaker 1: kids aren't that clean. We can use all the sanitizer
Speaker 1: we want, but unless you're wrapping them up in Sarana wrap,
Speaker 1: that's just kids being kids. So they all come home,
Speaker 1: they've you know, given you their colds, you've been wearing
Speaker 1: it out. Well, that doesn't change because now kids go
Speaker 1: to college and the first couple of weeks, they don't sleep,
Speaker 1: they're not eating right, all of a sudden, they're away
Speaker 1: from you, and their nutrition goes to hell, and so
Speaker 1: does everything else and their sleep patterns, and so you know,
Speaker 1: they call it the dorm cough or the dorm cold.
Speaker 1: You know, they blame it on you know, faulty or
Speaker 1: bad ventilation, but let's be honest, we know where it
Speaker 1: comes from. And so you think you outgrow it, but
Speaker 1: you don't. So you know already both my kids have
Speaker 1: fallen prey to it. I'm hoping that you know it's over,
Speaker 1: but no doubt, probably this week I'm expecting to come
Speaker 1: down with it as well. So if your college kids
Speaker 1: are home as well, I'm in the same boat. They
Speaker 1: probably were just as sick as your kindergarteners were. And
Speaker 1: if you have kindergarteners, just know that's coming. It doesn't change.
Speaker 1: Kids grow up, but they're still kids. But it's a
Speaker 1: beautiful thing. And I hope that they can stay kids
Speaker 1: as long as possible, because Lord knows, the real world
Speaker 1: is coming, and there is enough time to be an adult.
Speaker 1: There's enough time for those life changing decisions and moments
Speaker 1: in your life that will rock you and shake you.
Speaker 1: So the longer you can keep them a child and
Speaker 1: a kid. We all try to do that. I hope
Speaker 1: you had a great Labor Day. I certainly did. Elz
Speaker 1: is on the road visiting family, so unfortunately she's not
Speaker 1: here to regale us with her Labor day, but I
Speaker 1: know it was a good one because she was with
Speaker 1: the people that she loves very much and they love her,
Speaker 1: and so I guess that goes to show too, you're
Speaker 1: never too old on Labor Day to go back home
Speaker 1: and go visit mom. So happy Labor Day to LZ,
Speaker 1: her mom, Donna, and her family, and to you. I
Speaker 1: hope you had a great one. And if nothing else,
Speaker 1: I hope you just took a break whatever you did today,
Speaker 1: and you just shut down. You turned on a podcast,
Speaker 1: which I'm very thankful for because I do appreciate the
Speaker 1: time that we get to spend together. I love the interviews.
Speaker 1: I love last week and if you didn't listen about
Speaker 1: l Z's experience at Experience Camp, a camp for grieving children.
Speaker 1: It was a camp for kids who have lost a
Speaker 1: significant someone in their life, a parent, a caretaker, brothers, sister, Lauren,
Speaker 1: God bless her. You know. Only this woman found this
Speaker 1: camp and it went from I'm going to go visit
Speaker 1: for a day to I'm going to go be a
Speaker 1: counselor and really dive in. And of course, only in
Speaker 1: true Lauren fashion, she becomes Barbie at the camp and
Speaker 1: is you know, the town favorite. And all of the counselors.
Speaker 1: It's not just Lauren. There were some magnificent counselors. And
Speaker 1: we talked to another one, Jesse, who was on the show,
Speaker 1: and Lauren and her. I kind of just tried to
Speaker 1: stay out of the way. I tried to ask a
Speaker 1: few poignant questions, but I really wanted to listen to
Speaker 1: them talk and share their experience at this camp because
Speaker 1: it really changed them as much as it did the kids.
Speaker 1: But it is so beautiful that stuff like this exists.
Speaker 1: And Lord and I talked about charities and God bless
Speaker 1: you if you are involved in one, and whatever cause
Speaker 1: it is, you know, it's tragic that there are causes
Speaker 1: that are near and dear to our heart because it
Speaker 1: means that you have probably been shaken like that, whether
Speaker 1: it's cancer, youth mental health, which Laura and I are
Speaker 1: very involved with, in youth's suicide, which is something that
Speaker 1: is near and dear to our heart. And thank God,
Speaker 1: there are people who have been shaken by things and
Speaker 1: then take that and do something with it and try
Speaker 1: to change the world and make things better. And Lauren
Speaker 1: is one of those people, as are all these counselors
Speaker 1: and the people that have been running these experience camps
Speaker 1: for so long. So if you have a chance, if
Speaker 1: you're in the mood today and you're just hanging out,
Speaker 1: you're like, hey, I got more time. Go back and
Speaker 1: listen to that episode last week with Jesse and Lauren
Speaker 1: and I talking about experience camps and if you want
Speaker 1: good experience camps dot org. It really it was moving,
Speaker 1: and so I'm glad Lauren's off with her family, getting
Speaker 1: a little break and obviously probably a break for me,
Speaker 1: which is never a bad thing, but I'm glad you
Speaker 1: didn't take a break for me. I'm glad you are
Speaker 1: here for the most dramatic podcast ever, as you always are.
Speaker 1: We have some great, great interviews coming up this week.
Speaker 1: Super chef Tyler Florence is going to join me. He
Speaker 1: is phenomenal, this guy. I tell you, you know, I had
Speaker 1: known of him and I'm a huge fan. I'm a
Speaker 1: huge fan of chefs. You guys, probably if you've listened
Speaker 1: to me. You know, I love to cook. I love
Speaker 1: to experience cooking. I love to try new things. So
Speaker 1: I watch a lot of Food Network, and I watch
Speaker 1: Tyler's show, The Food Truck Race, which is so fun
Speaker 1: and so awesome and it's been such a huge success.
Speaker 1: So I wanted to talk to Tyler about Food Network
Speaker 1: how he's crushing it, but also all his restaurants, and
Speaker 1: I went to visit one up in San Francisco and
Speaker 1: it was spectacular, and he took the time to grace
Speaker 1: us with his presence and you know, de bone our
Speaker 1: dover soul and deliver our steak and his passion and
Speaker 1: you'll feel it in the podcast. You will feel like,
Speaker 1: I want to go cook man, I want to do this.
Speaker 1: He is so into everything, and we even got off
Speaker 1: on like coffee and just really got into this, got
Speaker 1: into the weeds. You can't help it with him because
Speaker 1: everything he talks about he is so knowledgeable, and so
Speaker 1: it's a really fun conversation about life, love, food and
Speaker 1: everything in between. So give that a listen. That's coming
Speaker 1: out later this week. But thank you for your time today,
Speaker 1: thank you for celebrating Labor Day with me. I mean, hey,
Speaker 1: if we started this in the late nineteenth century, you know,
Speaker 1: when labor activists were pushing for a federal holiday. I'm
Speaker 1: sure we were all just doing the same thing of like, hey,
Speaker 1: can we just have a day off. Well, thank you
Speaker 1: for all those labor activists that gave us this federal
Speaker 1: holiday and gave us a time out. Truly appreciated and
Speaker 1: thank you for your support. It means the world to me.
Speaker 1: I love talking to you, I love sharing our stories,
Speaker 1: and we will do it again because we have a
Speaker 1: lot more to talk about. Thanks for listening. Follow us
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Speaker 1: sure to write us a review and leave us five stars.
Speaker 1: I'll talk to you next time.