WEBVTT - Most Difficult Day 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:05.560 Ladies and gentlemen, this um this day has been uh 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:10.320 one of the most difficult days in recent memory for me, 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:17.000 because I've known this moment was coming in the program today. 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:22.720 I'm sure that you all know by now. I really 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:28.960 don't like talking about myself and I don't like making 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:36.800 things about me other than in the usual satirical, periodic 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:44.159 joking way. I like this program to be about you 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:47.680 and the things that mattered all of us. And I've 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:51.440 I've I've mentioned to you that this program is in 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:57.960 this job is what has provided me the greatest satisfaction 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:04.800 and happiness that I've ever experienced, more than I ever 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:11.240 thought that I would experience. So I have to tell 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:13.360 you something today, but I wish I didn't have to 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:20.679 tell you. And it's it's a struggle for me because 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:25.360 I I had to inform my staff earlier. Today I 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:28.240 can't escape even though telling people are telling me it's 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:30.920 it's not the way to look at it. I can't 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.640 help but feel that I'm letting everybody down with this. 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:38.600 With this, this was a day that I will never forget. 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:41.640 Certainly none of us who have worked with Russia Land 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:45.880 Law will I ever forget. I was on my way 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:49.200 to work when I got the call there was going 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:54.840 to be a meeting, and instantly butterflies in the stomach. 0:01:55.960 --> 0:02:00.160 We never have meetings. Maybe two over the last US 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:04.880 thirty years, maybe two Rush wants to meet with the staff. 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:17.400 We knew. I knew something was wrong something. Whether you 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:19.480 listened every day, you are at the E I B 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:22.800 Network and the Russia Limpball program heard on over six 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.800 hundred great radio stations where every now and then nation's 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:28.840 leading radio talk show, the most eagerly intersepted program in 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:31.720 America are the stories you've never heard from the people 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:34.919 behind the scenes who knew him best and loved him most. 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:37.880 Rushman Ball having more funds to the human being, it 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.800 could be allowed to hear Rush Limbaugh, the man behind 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:46.040 the Golden e IP microphone, hosted by James Golden, The 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:49.880 Tunnel to Towers Foundation has been supporting America's heroes since 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:55.040 nine eleven, on America's darkest day, so many people gave 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:59.680 their lives for us. The foundation carries forward a legacy 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:05.120 of courage and heroism by honoring first responder and military heroes, 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:10.680 great Americans who protect our communities and our freedom, and 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:15.440 they're willing to die for you and me. When these 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:17.880 heroes are killed in the line of duty and young 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:22.080 children are left behind, Tunnel to Towers pays off their 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:27.160 mortgage to lift the financial burden and bring these families 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:32.520 much needed stability. For catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:36.800 Tunnel to Towers builds mortgage free smart homes. It gives 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:41.480 them back their independence. America's heroes and their families need 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:45.600 your help. Join Tunnel to Towers on their mission to 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:50.120 do good in their honor. Donate eleven dollars a month 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:53.400 by going to t to t dot org. That's t 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:58.520 the number two t dot org. You are the most 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:03.080 generous audience there is and we thank you for your support. 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.160 So I get to work and we go back to 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:11.120 the media room, which is in the back of the 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:15.920 Southern Command complex. This was an all hands meeting and 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:21.960 later talking to everyone, we all knew something was wrong. Rush. 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:30.320 His demeanor was normal. You couldn't see any anxiety. He 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:35.640 started off the conversation. The first few words normal, I 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:38.560 asked you all to come today, something to that effect, 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:45.320 and quickly we learned the truth. The upshot is that 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:52.680 I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, advanced lung cancer, 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:59.679 and it was confirmed, got a second opinion, the second 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:03.159 depinion and verified what was on the first opinion that 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:12.200 it was indeed advanced, and then Rush being Rushed apologized 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:22.800 to us. He said, I'm sorry I let you down, 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:34.880 and I let out an involuntary, involuntary scream. No, you 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:41.400 can't apologize to us, because I was mortified that he 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:46.360 would actually in this what had to be the worst 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:51.480 moment of our broadcast lives together as a team, as 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:55.919 a as a group of people. He was apologizing to 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.560 us on what had to be the worst, one of 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:02.880 the worst days of his life. And he said that, um, 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.880 he was obviously gonna seek treatment, seek the best treatment 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:10.120 that there was for it. And whatever else he told 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:14.360 us in that meeting, I don't remember because I just 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:22.799 felt numb. It's in shock, and I didn't know quite 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:28.280 what else to think. Then Rush being Rush thanked everybody 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:35.560 for coming together and turned and walked down that hallway 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:39.279 back into his broadcast studio. I wish I didn't have 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.640 to tell you this, and I thought about not telling anybody. 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:47.960 I thought about trying to do this without anybody knowing 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:52.320 because I don't like making things about me, but there 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:54.480 are going to be days that I'm not going to 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:59.560 be able to be here because I'm undergoing treatment or 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:04.600 I m hm, reacting to treat I walked down that 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:10.920 hall after him and opened the door and went into 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:19.040 his his studio. He was standing, and I went over 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:20.720 to him and gave him a hug, and I told 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:27.760 him that I loved him and that everything was gonna 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:31.200 be okay, and that um I felt confident in it. 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:39.400 What what I have not revealed publicly until now was 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:43.200 that I had just finished my own boat with cancer. 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:52.560 I had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and it was 0:07:53.960 --> 0:08:02.160 typical of Rush, and the organization Craig Julie Talbot, who 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:06.520 runs Premier Networks, and Brian Johnson and our engineers on 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:11.160 the West Coast did extraordinary things to allow me to 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:15.000 continue working in Maryland, where I moved to for almost 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:18.840 half a year while I was being treated. No one 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:24.800 knew because I kept working in My work days were 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:28.000 kind of normal. I had my treatment early in the 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:31.960 morning and would just go to work. And so I 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.559 said to myself, well, you know, Russia's gonna beat this. 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:41.160 Russia can beat anything. I had the feeling that Russia 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:49.000 was invincible, but at the same time that word advanced, advanced, 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:57.040 that was a bothersome word. Um, it is what it is. 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:00.760 And you know me, I'm the mayor of Realville. So 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:07.360 this has happened, and my intention is to come here 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:10.920 every day I can and to do this program as 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:15.920 normally and as competently and as expertly as I do 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:20.520 each and every day, because that is the source of 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:28.440 my greatest satisfaction professionally, um personally, I've had so much 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:35.920 support from family and friends during this that it's it's 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:40.960 just it's it's been tremendous. Shortly after that, it was showtime. 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:45.840 Along comes the theme to the show. Rush opens the 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:50.000 show I couldn't tell. I couldn't tell anything was wrong, 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:57.400 typical day show open, strong Rushed, leading off with stories 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.840 of the day. During the next two hours and forty 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:03.480 five minutes, the show proceeds along like any day on 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:07.600 the Russian Bulls Show, Rush cracking jokes, Rush being funny, 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:10.600 Rush going through a detailed analysis of the news. All 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:14.040 of us, four of us are in the control room 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:20.800 at that point. Dawn is the officials demographer. She's taking 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:25.800 in Real time transcribing what Russia is saying and what 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.880 the callers are saying, what the sound bites are. Brian 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:35.400 Johnson is there. We have a video monitor of our 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:39.320 New York crew, Mike Mamone in the studio in New York. 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.320 It's a normal day. All of us are trying to 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:46.040 keep composure. We just kept looking at each other and 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:48.520 trying not to cry and trying not to just just 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:51.920 just hold on. You know, Rush is on. We have 0:10:52.120 --> 0:11:03.040 to we have to give our usual to Rush. We 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:08.480 have to look and and and be engaged in the show. 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.360 He can't look in there and see us crying. He 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:14.520 can't look in there and see us upset. We have 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:18.920 to have when when when something's funny, yeah, we we're 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.000 gonna react with the laughter and the smiles. And when 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:25.200 he's you know, talking about a news story that's particularly interesting, 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:29.160 We're we're there. I'm screening calls as usual, Dawn's doing 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:32.960 her job as usual. Brian is all of us are 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:41.080 doing our jobs. But we have this dread. Dread we 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:49.960 know it's coming. After the forty three break little Inside Radio, 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:56.719 there Rush comes back, and that's when he told you 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:00.880 the media, the rest of the world what was going on, 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:07.400 and it sounded just is horrific to us hearing it 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:09.960 again as it did that morning. And I told the 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:15.720 staff today that I have a deeply personal relationship with 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:21.520 God that I do not proselytize about, but I do, 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:29.400 and I have been working that relationship tremendously. Um, which 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.200 I do regularly anyway, but I've I've been focused on 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:35.640 intensely for the past couple of weeks. I know there 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:38.760 are many of you in this audience who have experienced this, 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:44.439 who are going through it yourselves at the same time, 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:50.160 I am, at the moment experiencing zero symptoms other than 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:52.440 I don't look. I don't want to get too detailed 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:54.720 in this. What what led to shortness of breath that 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:58.480 I thought might have been asthma or um. You know, 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:00.240 I'm sixty and I could have been my heart. My 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:05.120 heart's in great shape, taking away fine, squeezing and pumping great. 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:12.760 It was not that it was a pulimentary problem involving malignancy. 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.240 So I'm going to be gone the next couple of 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:21.199 days as we figure out the treatment, uh course of action, 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:28.000 and have further testing done. But as I said, I'm 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.760 gonna I'm gonna be here as often as I can. 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:35.160 And as is the case with everybody who finds themselves 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:37.599 in a circumstance, you just want to You want to 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:39.600 push your head and try to keep everything as normal 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:43.680 as you can, which is something that I'm going to 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:45.880 try to do. But at least now we didn't have 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:56.600 to pretend to feel anything other than extreme anxiety, sadness, hopefulness, 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:03.000 being prayerful, trying to do our best to give what 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:09.319 little we can to rush during those moments. Within five 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:13.800 or six minutes of the announcement, the first breaking news 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:18.640 story shows up on television, and we knew from there 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:23.000 the life was never going to be the same, and 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:26.040 it wasn't. Over the years, a lot of people have 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:30.440 been very nice telling me how much this program is 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.360 meant to them. But whatever that is, it pales in 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:36.640 comparison to what you all have meant to me. And 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:39.280 I can't I can't describe this, but I know you're 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:42.520 there every day, I can see you. It's it's strange 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:45.480 how I but I know you're there. I know you're 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:48.920 there in great numbers, and I know that you understand 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:51.400 everything I say. The rest of the world may not 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:54.160 when they hear it express a different way, but I 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:55.960 know that you do. You've been one of the greatest 0:14:56.080 --> 0:15:02.480 sources of confidence that I've had in my life. So 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:07.040 I hope I will be talking about this as little 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:12.640 as necessary in the coming days. But we've got a 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:16.040 great bunch of doctors, a great team assembled. We're at 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.200 full speed ahead on this and it's just now a 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:23.760 matter of implementing what we are going to be told 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:25.680 later this week. So I'll be back here. I hope 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.200 to be back on Thursday. If not, it'll be as 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:31.760 soon as I can. And know that every day I'm 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:34.280 not here be thinking about you and missing you. Thank 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:39.160 you very much. Nothing was ever the same after that announcement. 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:43.960 Nothing would ever be the same again. So after the 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:51.440 show that day, that big announcement, brush was off. He 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:57.920 and Catherine went to the airport where I assume the 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:02.320 IB one was waiting, and Off went to begin his treatment. 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:07.680 The stunning part of it was, okay, so so now 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:12.280 you're dealing I'm we're all dealing with this emotional this 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:25.800 emotional weight that felt like suffocation. It consumed your thoughts 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:30.160 from the moment you woke up to the moment you 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:35.120 went to sleep. You know, it was always there, even 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:39.320 when you're working on other things or living your life, 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:45.920 it's always nagging at you. Ruscious got advanced cancer. This 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:51.520 isn't good. And there were plenty of tears among us 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:59.080 the staff, and again also trying to encourage each other 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:03.360 to be hopeful, because after all, this was rushed. This 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:08.120 is a guy who had gone completely deaf, which would 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:10.840 have been a career ender for almost anyone else. I'm 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:15.479 deaf and I can only hear bionically with these very 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:17.960 quickly human here has thirty five thousand hair cells each. 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:21.159 They determined the frequency and the sensitivity of the human eerie. 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:23.639 I don't have it minor dead. They laid down and 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:28.720 died autoimmune. So I have eight man made biological electrodes. 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:32.919 Are bionic electrodes that that try to do what hair 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:36.280 cells do. And yet he came back and produced and 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:41.000 produced and produced and never stopped producing excellent work. Even 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:44.240 when he was a hundred percent death. He managed to 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:49.640 get in there and do great shows. This is rush. 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:56.560 He can do anything. So now you have guest hosts 0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:04.320 coming in. They're stunned. And the emotion that Mark and 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:10.320 Ken and Todd brought to the show was so genuine 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:16.320 and so real. Their admiration and love for Rush it 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:26.320 was so touching, and their kindness was just unbelievably touching 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:34.280 to all of us. During the course of this series, 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:37.360 we'll be hearing from some of Russia's friends, family members, 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:42.320 and influential leaders from the political and media worlds. Back 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:46.840 in when the Russia Limbaugh program was originating from New 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:52.480 York City, Rush met Rudy Giuliani. They became close friends. 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:55.160 Of course, Rudy would go on to become the Mayor 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:58.320 of New York City for eight years. Even after Rush 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:01.920 left New York for Florida, the two states connected, always 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:05.440 in the same forceome at charity golf events. They also 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:09.640 worked together with Marvin Shanklin of Cigar Aficionado to raise 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:14.159 millions of dollars for prostate cancer research. The Life of 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:19.320 Rush Limbaugh Chapter one, narrated by America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani. 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:23.679 I knew what I wanted to do when I was 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:27.960 eight years old. How did I know? Well, you know 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:31.479 the story. I hated school. It was prison, I just 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:34.280 hated it. You know, I'm locked in this place. I'm 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.719 having to learn about. Whatever you learn about in first grade, 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:40.399 you know how to pace things instead of the last 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:43.560 place I wanted to be. So every morning, getting ready 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:47.080 to go to this prison, this school, my mother had 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:49.600 the radio on and she's listening to the guy, a 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:52.480 local jock. And this guy sounds like he's having fun 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:56.959 doing whatever he's doing. He's playing records, he's doing commentary, 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.359 little weather forecast. It sounds like he's having fun. As 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:01.560 a deats how I want my day to be. I 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.040 don't want to begin my day in drudgery and something 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:06.399 I don't want to do, but I have no choice. 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:08.720 You have to go to school. If ever a man 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:13.080 was born for radio, it was Rush Hudson Limbaugh the Third. 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:17.119 He entered this world in January of n right in 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:21.800 the heartland of America, Cape Gherardo, Missouri. He was born 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:25.600 into a family of lawyers who enjoyed success at nearly 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:29.320 every level, and he almost seemed destined to be the same. 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:33.479 His paternal grandfather, Rush Hudson Limbaugh the First, served as 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:37.600 a United States ambassador. His father, Rush Hudson Limbaugh the Second, 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:40.800 was a lawyer, as was his uncle, and even his 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:43.600 younger brother David was also since gone on to becoming 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:49.000 a bestselling author, but no Rush had different plans. As 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:52.720 you can imagine, a deviation from the family business wasn't 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:55.320 received all two Well, even Rush would have said later, 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:59.040 there's no way my dad could have anticipated that Rush 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:02.600 would break all and being phenomenally successful, not going the 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:05.560 conventional route. So in the end it just worked out 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:08.639 for the best. So Russia's family initially frowned upon his 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:11.919 aspirations for a career in radio, they didn't completely ignore 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:15.960 his passion for broadcasting. The age of nine, Rushwood broadcast 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:19.760 from his own bedroom using a toy radio given to 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:23.879 him by his parents that could only transmit throughout his house. 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:28.040 There was a device called a Rimco carat Velle, and 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:31.280 it was the most amazing thing. My parents got it 0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:34.520 for me for Christmas one year, and my mother actually 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:38.560 dutifully put a radio on her lap and I would 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:41.760 go upstairs where the bedroom was, and I would have 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:45.600 my phone. And you had to have an external microphone 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:47.960 to put into the speaker of the phonograph that you 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:50.640 were playing records on. You had to move the microphone 0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:53.560 to your mouth when you were doing DJ stuff, and 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:55.800 then you'd hould the microphone near the speaker for the 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:58.840 phonograph to play the record, and my mother would dutifully 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:01.399 sit down there and listen to this, and that the 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:05.720 quality was just was was horrible, but it allowed me 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:12.880 to get started on on living out my my dreams. 0:22:14.680 --> 0:22:17.439 As time passed, Rush came to believe that his family 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.640 had a change of heart about his pursuit of broadcasting. 0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:24.679 Even though the family didn't understand it, the fact that 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:27.680 I hadn't quit it was enough for them to encourage 0:22:27.720 --> 0:22:32.600 me to stay in it. And I did, and all 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:37.119 that happened happened, and it's it's been so rewarding. It 0:22:37.119 --> 0:22:41.040 has been so so meaningful to me, and there have 0:22:41.080 --> 0:22:43.399 been so many people that have made it possible, among 0:22:43.480 --> 0:22:47.479 them all of you, thankfully for the rest of us, 0:22:47.920 --> 0:22:51.640 My friend Rush Hudson Limbo the Third spent the next 0:22:51.640 --> 0:22:56.679 seven decades in his relentless pursuit of broadcast excellent, and 0:22:56.800 --> 0:23:01.119 he set the standard that will be very very hard 0:23:01.320 --> 0:23:07.760 to beat. Not long ago, Mike Lindell, the inventor of 0:23:07.840 --> 0:23:11.200 My Pillow, and his team fit me for my very 0:23:11.359 --> 0:23:14.880 own my pillow. 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You'll 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:53.240 see offers up to sixty six percent off on products 0:23:53.280 --> 0:23:57.280 like their pillows, mattress topper, and Geeza sheets as well 0:23:57.880 --> 0:24:02.000 or new products like their slippers, weighted blankets, robes and 0:24:02.119 --> 0:24:05.479 waffle blankets. All My Pillow products come with a sixty 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:09.480 day money back guarantee ENTO promo code icon that's I 0:24:09.720 --> 0:24:16.960 c O N. The next time we saw a rush, 0:24:17.040 --> 0:24:21.200 everything was different. It had to be different. We were 0:24:21.240 --> 0:24:25.199 in a pandemic. This was COVID. Russia's got advanced lung cancer. 0:24:25.520 --> 0:24:27.919 He's gonna be going through treatment that will compromise his 0:24:27.960 --> 0:24:34.240 immune system and knee germ that touches him could be fatal. 0:24:35.359 --> 0:24:41.600 So not only were we masked, but there was no 0:24:41.680 --> 0:24:47.120 more contact. That control room was off when rush came 0:24:47.160 --> 0:24:49.399 out of the control room during the breaks to go 0:24:49.480 --> 0:24:52.960 to the kitchen. Nobody could go. We couldn't have physical 0:24:53.080 --> 0:24:56.120 contact with him at all. We had to keep our 0:24:56.280 --> 0:25:00.159 distance because no one could take the chance during this 0:25:00.280 --> 0:25:06.320 pandemic that a sneeze, a cough, anything could come near 0:25:07.400 --> 0:25:12.680 him for fear that it would complicate, perhaps fatally, his 0:25:12.920 --> 0:25:17.520 already precarious position. And for us, that's that's that's a 0:25:17.520 --> 0:25:21.399 hardship because we were also used to I'd go into 0:25:21.440 --> 0:25:26.080 the studio every single day before the show. I mean 0:25:26.119 --> 0:25:28.479 it's part of it. I'd go in there. We talked 0:25:28.520 --> 0:25:32.800 for a few minutes sometimes, I just you know, if 0:25:32.840 --> 0:25:35.240 he looked like he was really having, ah, you know, 0:25:35.400 --> 0:25:39.840 a stressful kind of morning, I just maybe just rub 0:25:39.880 --> 0:25:42.159 his shoulders a little bit. Hey, let me give you 0:25:42.160 --> 0:25:44.320 a little bit of you know, a shoulder up. See 0:25:44.359 --> 0:25:48.040 whether you know whatever it was, it was, and it 0:25:48.119 --> 0:25:53.639 was it's hard to explain. We all have those of 0:25:53.720 --> 0:25:57.720 us that were with Rush every day, Brian, Dawn and myself, 0:25:58.280 --> 0:26:02.760 it's we were own family. I mean we saw each 0:26:02.800 --> 0:26:04.760 other to spent more time with each other than we 0:26:04.880 --> 0:26:09.000 practically did with anyone else for decades. Right, So we're 0:26:09.040 --> 0:26:11.919 we're our own family. We all had our different you know. 0:26:12.240 --> 0:26:16.600 Rushwood asked Brian to take care of certain things, especially 0:26:17.359 --> 0:26:22.040 um iPhone giveaways, iPad giveaways. Brian was always the point 0:26:22.040 --> 0:26:24.800 man to get stuff out the door for Rush and 0:26:24.800 --> 0:26:29.400 and to do other things. Um, I had different responsibilities. 0:26:29.480 --> 0:26:33.640 Dawn had an ongoing communication with Rush that that that 0:26:33.640 --> 0:26:36.760 that frankly, Brian and I didn't have. She was, as 0:26:36.760 --> 0:26:40.639 she would say, I'm the girl and I'm the boss. 0:26:41.680 --> 0:26:48.359 So her, her, Dawns a communication with Rush was different 0:26:48.359 --> 0:26:53.240 than anyone else's. And ever because she had a different 0:26:53.320 --> 0:26:58.880 kind of bond with him, and and and and it 0:26:58.920 --> 0:27:05.080 was it was infects just to watch sometimes you know. Um, 0:27:05.240 --> 0:27:07.960 she would say things and I'd say, I know, she 0:27:08.119 --> 0:27:14.800 just didn't say that, Yes she did. Um. And And 0:27:14.840 --> 0:27:16.440 like I said, we were all kind of our own 0:27:16.480 --> 0:27:19.760 little family in there. And we never had many visitors. 0:27:19.800 --> 0:27:22.280 I mean, we did have visitors occasionally, you know, people 0:27:22.280 --> 0:27:26.320 would come in, Um the great work that Catherine and 0:27:26.400 --> 0:27:30.720 Rush did for for charity. Once in a while someone 0:27:30.760 --> 0:27:33.440 would come in with with regard to that, the great 0:27:33.480 --> 0:27:36.520 work on the books. Uh. They did contest and so 0:27:36.600 --> 0:27:39.240 we'd have some of the contest winners come in and 0:27:39.359 --> 0:27:42.359 join us for a day. Um, some of Russia's close 0:27:42.480 --> 0:27:46.120 friends as golf buddies or or like Gay and Stanley 0:27:46.200 --> 0:27:49.840 Gaines would would stop in every maybe once a year, 0:27:50.000 --> 0:27:53.320 maybe once every two years. But for the most part 0:27:53.640 --> 0:28:01.359 we were in there by ourselves doing that show. And 0:28:03.920 --> 0:28:06.359 now to not be able to have any contact with Rush, 0:28:06.800 --> 0:28:12.639 physical contact. I don't want to sound selfish, because of 0:28:12.680 --> 0:28:15.280 course we we wanted. We we were praying and hoping 0:28:15.280 --> 0:28:19.119 that Rush would get better. But I think that was 0:28:19.200 --> 0:28:21.560 difficult on all of us because we were just so 0:28:21.760 --> 0:28:25.280 used to being, you know, so open with him, and 0:28:25.320 --> 0:28:31.520 now we were just also worried. And so the treatment 0:28:32.359 --> 0:28:36.560 started and for the first few weeks it seemed like 0:28:36.680 --> 0:28:41.520 everything was going well, and then the side effects came in. 0:28:42.480 --> 0:28:45.560 And Rush always from day one said he didn't want 0:28:45.560 --> 0:28:48.080 to be that cancer patient on the air. He didn't 0:28:48.120 --> 0:28:53.040 want want to live his life letting the cancer define him, 0:28:53.080 --> 0:28:56.680 and so this was key. I think most of us, 0:28:57.280 --> 0:28:59.720 or some of us, if we got a diagnosis like that, 0:28:59.760 --> 0:29:04.000 would just say, Okay, thank you, had a great run 0:29:04.000 --> 0:29:08.320 at this career. It's been wonderful. Bubbye. I'm gonna do 0:29:08.440 --> 0:29:13.560 my bucket list. I'm going to, you know, enjoy myself. 0:29:13.800 --> 0:29:16.280 I'm going to see places in the world that I 0:29:16.280 --> 0:29:18.640 haven't seen while I still have the energy to do it. 0:29:19.000 --> 0:29:22.080 I'm gonna spend the time that I want hanging out 0:29:22.120 --> 0:29:25.800 with just the people I want to um and UM 0:29:26.200 --> 0:29:29.120 guess what. That's what Rush did. He spent time with 0:29:29.160 --> 0:29:34.040 the people that he wanted to his audience. Russia's bucket 0:29:34.080 --> 0:29:39.560 list was to give everything that he could to the 0:29:39.600 --> 0:29:44.960 audience out of a sense of gratitude and thankfulness and 0:29:45.080 --> 0:29:49.520 appreciation for the wonderful life that this audience had provided 0:29:49.520 --> 0:29:54.520 for him. And he said those words so eloquently at times. 0:29:55.000 --> 0:29:59.320 I understand now what Luke Garrick meant, because I certainly 0:29:59.320 --> 0:30:05.600