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Speaker 1: What's up, guys. Welcome to the Grangersmith Podcast, Episode twenty nine.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, Thanks for watching on YouTube. I'm sitting

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Speaker 1: here in the parking lot backseat of Wildflower my bus.

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Speaker 1: We're in Wisconsin, huge festival coming. I could see people

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Speaker 1: bringing their launcheers in. This is going to be crazy.

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Speaker 1: It's only eleven am and there's already a massive front

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Speaker 1: row and we start at seven pm tonight. This is

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Speaker 1: going to be one of the biggest never mind, I forgot.

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Speaker 1: We're in the shutdown. I'm here at my house. No touring,

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Speaker 1: no word about touring, no word when touring might even

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Speaker 1: come back. So, by the way, if you hear someone

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Speaker 1: talk about I hear concerts aren't going to come back

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Speaker 1: until whenever. Just remember, no one knows. Everything you hear

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Speaker 1: is speculation right now, So if someone tells you they

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Speaker 1: heard a rumor that concerts are not coming until X

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Speaker 1: amount of time, that's just somebody guessing. That's maybe a promoter,

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Speaker 1: or maybe a musician or somebody. They're all just guessing.

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Speaker 1: We don't know. Now. My thought is I would like

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Speaker 1: to think here I go. Now I'm doing exactly what

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Speaker 1: I just told you not to listen to I'm guessing

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Speaker 1: here that we're going to be touring sometime in June,

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Speaker 1: and I would suspect that it's going to be somewhere

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Speaker 1: in the Midwest, maybe one of the states that never

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Speaker 1: closed down, which is like Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota,

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Speaker 1: I believe, Utah, or there's a bunch there's like eight

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Speaker 1: states that haven't closed. I'm guessing it's one of those

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Speaker 1: kind of states. Everyone six feet apart wearing masks, and

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Speaker 1: that I imagine that first show we go back me

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Speaker 1: taking a picture from the stage and it looking like

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Speaker 1: the apocalypse. But the good news is any day now

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Speaker 1: we're gonna have ye mask coming into the store, so

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Speaker 1: at least will all be uniformed, and at least the

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Speaker 1: crowd will be wearing a yee, a black with white

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Speaker 1: ye yee across the mask. What a time to be alive.

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Speaker 1: Other than that, you know, I've kind of just come

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Speaker 1: to I've come to grips with the reality of where

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Speaker 1: we are and what we're doing. I'm past the shock of,

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Speaker 1: oh my god, we're not touring. When are we going

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Speaker 1: to tour? Is it two weeks? Is it three weeks?

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Speaker 1: Is it four weeks is it two months? I'm past

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Speaker 1: all that. I'm more accepting that this is a time

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Speaker 1: to grow my faith. This is a time to grow

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Speaker 1: my YouTube channels. This is the time to build a

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Speaker 1: relationship with the listeners and the viewers and provide some

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Speaker 1: kind of value to you. It's also time to write songs.

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Speaker 1: It's also time to produce songs. I'm making a few

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Speaker 1: brand new songs right now, whether or not i'm writing

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Speaker 1: them or I have some I've already written that are

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Speaker 1: being produced by band members, and we're all doing it virtually,

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Speaker 1: which is what I've always done anyway. I've always saying

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Speaker 1: things here, I'll email the tracks, somebody will in their

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Speaker 1: in their home studio, they'll put on the drums, they'll

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Speaker 1: email it to a bass player, you know. So I've

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Speaker 1: always done that. I've done that since two thousand and seven.

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Speaker 1: That's nothing new, Uh, But I just want to I

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Speaker 1: just want to say that, you know, and before I

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Speaker 1: move on. Spending time with family, that's been something I'm

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Speaker 1: really trying to focus on and something that is rare

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Speaker 1: for me to be home every night. I've been reading

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Speaker 1: stories to London every night. We've been reading right now

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Speaker 1: We've been reading Where the Red Fern Grows, and with

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Speaker 1: Lincoln we talk about fighting and battles and superheroes and

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Speaker 1: really into the Avengers. Right now, we went from Star

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Speaker 1: Wars to the Avengers. So all this this is on

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Speaker 1: the Disney app, which I'm I'm not trying to sponsor here,

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Speaker 1: but we're looked. We're hooked on that Disney app because

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Speaker 1: it has Marvel, it has Star Wars. So that's kind

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Speaker 1: of where we are, and we all just need to

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Speaker 1: take a deep breath every once in a while and

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Speaker 1: kind of focus in on where we are today and

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Speaker 1: remember to reject the idea of a new normal. Stop

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Speaker 1: listening to that. Guys. If someone says this is the

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Speaker 1: new normal or we're working our way towards the new normal,

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Speaker 1: reject that idea. It's crap. I don't want to hear

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Speaker 1: any about a new normal. This is very rare. We're

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Speaker 1: living in history right now. We're living a historic time

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Speaker 1: that we'll be remembered. We'll be looked back on this

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Speaker 1: and we'll think how crazy it is. But it's not

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Speaker 1: the new normal. It's not the beginning of a new normal.

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Speaker 1: We're not going to never shake hands again. We're not

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Speaker 1: going to wear masks everywhere we go, We're not going

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Speaker 1: to social distance all the time. We're not gonna keep

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Speaker 1: taking checks from the government. What. No, it's not new normal.

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Speaker 1: This is a crazy reality of living and that's what

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Speaker 1: it is. So just beware everybody, beware of what you're hearing.

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Speaker 1: And also remember, just as I said with touring, how

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Speaker 1: no one knows when we're gonna start touring. Guess what,

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Speaker 1: no one knows about this virus either. No one knows

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Speaker 1: the infection rate, no one knows the death rate. We

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Speaker 1: just know there's all kinds of speculations about the deaths

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Speaker 1: and the pre existing conditions. And guess what I heard

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Speaker 1: from my bus driver Butch. Yesterday a reputable article came

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Speaker 1: out talking about the testing, talking about these tests and

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Speaker 1: a massive amount of tests that went out from the

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Speaker 1: CDC that were tainted with the virus on the test.

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Speaker 1: What seriously, I read it myself, I saw it my

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Speaker 1: own eyes. Reputable. Now is it fake news? I don't know, maybe,

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Speaker 1: but it's out there. That information is out there, and

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Speaker 1: there was quoting sources on how they found the CDC

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Speaker 1: was sending out test tainted with the virus itself. Just

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Speaker 1: because I'm talking about this means this podcast probably will

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Speaker 1: not be heard. It's going to get sucked into a

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Speaker 1: vortex wormhole and spit out, and my algorithm's going to

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Speaker 1: die and no one's actually going to hear it except

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Speaker 1: for the hardcore fans. Because that's also the thing that's

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Speaker 1: happening is our social media is being monitored, cell phones

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Speaker 1: are being monitored. It's not the new normal, guys. Let

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Speaker 1: me get on task here. I want to talk to

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Speaker 1: you about the sponsor of this podcast, episode twenty nine,

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Speaker 1: Yee Yee Apparel, which, by the way, we have a

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Speaker 1: new web address. It's yee dot com, so you could

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Speaker 1: find this stuff at grangersmith dot com, earldiblis Junior dot com,

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Speaker 1: eee apparel dot com, and now ye Ye dot com.

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Speaker 1: Y e e y e e dot com makes it

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Speaker 1: super simple. It took us several years to acquire that email,

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Speaker 1: that website address because it was it was owned by

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Speaker 1: some dude. He's he's owned it for you know, ten

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Speaker 1: or twelve years or something like that. So we we've

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Speaker 1: been on him trying to negotiate how we can finally

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Speaker 1: take a hold of that u ur L and we

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Speaker 1: got it so ye dot com. It's it's easy to remember.

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Speaker 1: It's also just gonna shoot you over to ee apparel

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Speaker 1: dot com right now if you go there, if you

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Speaker 1: go to EG dot com, if you look at some

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Speaker 1: of our apparel, I will admit that right now, currently

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Speaker 1: it appears like we are sold out of almost everything.

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Speaker 1: We have a bunch of hats, but if you're looking

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Speaker 1: for shirts, it looks like we're almost sold out of

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Speaker 1: everything that is actually by design. This is a new

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Speaker 1: business mind that were that we have been doing, my brothers,

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Speaker 1: Tyler and Parker and I. It is extremely expensive and

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Speaker 1: very difficult to keep a whole bunch of stuff constantly

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Speaker 1: stocked on the shelves. And our business manager, our accountant

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Speaker 1: was would always freak out because throughout the year three

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Speaker 1: hundred and sixty five days, we would have shelves that

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Speaker 1: were really stocked with triple X, double x, XL, large, medium, small, extra, small, kids, youth,

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Speaker 1: whatever and everything, and we would we would make a

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Speaker 1: conscious effort to keep it stocked, keep it stopped, keep it,

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Speaker 1: you know, keep new new sizes coming in, new new

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Speaker 1: designs coming in. And it was really it was really difficult,

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Speaker 1: and it spread us really thin, and it was stressful,

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Speaker 1: and and you imagine if you're trying to act like

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Speaker 1: your Walmart and keeping your your shelves stocked, it's just

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Speaker 1: not a good business model. So we switched to a

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Speaker 1: new business model, which a lot of you have probably noticed.

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Speaker 1: And what that is, what that has meant for us

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Speaker 1: is that we're going to do major launches with new

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Speaker 1: apparel and new lines about five times a year. So

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Speaker 1: for instance, we just did Ye Day, and we just

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Speaker 1: did the spring launch before that, and then before that

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Speaker 1: is was probably I think we did like a twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty New Year blowout, and then before that, of course

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Speaker 1: is Black Friday. And then so coming up, we have

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Speaker 1: our next big release is June the twelfth. That's our

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Speaker 1: summer release. So if you mark that on your calendar,

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Speaker 1: if you're a fan of Yee Apparel, then mark June

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Speaker 1: the twelfth on your calendar, and that is going to

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Speaker 1: be the next big release with all new items. That's

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Speaker 1: when Amber has a bunch of new items and we

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Speaker 1: have a bunch of men's stuff, a bunch of youth stuff,

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Speaker 1: and we will launch that. So what we do our

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Speaker 1: business model is we launch it all on June twelfth

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Speaker 1: and try to pick a number that we could sell

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Speaker 1: everything we have. And now that number floats and we

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Speaker 1: try to make it up as we go. But as

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Speaker 1: you saw from Yee Day and we just did we

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Speaker 1: just did that launch. We sold out of almost everything

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Speaker 1: in like five minutes of the launch. We launched at

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Speaker 1: ten am on June seventeenth, or excuse me, April seventeenth,

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Speaker 1: and we sold out of almost everything in about five minutes. Now,

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Speaker 1: we didn't expect to sell out that soon. We were

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Speaker 1: hoping it would sell out in like a week. So

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Speaker 1: what that means for us is we just need to

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Speaker 1: raise the inventory a little bit, or raise what we order,

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Speaker 1: and hopefully on June the twelfth, you'll be able to

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Speaker 1: get in that day ee dot com, find what you

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Speaker 1: want in the size that you want, and you'll you

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Speaker 1: could get it like in a course of about five days.

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Speaker 1: If you order within like five day window, you'll get it.

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Speaker 1: That being said, I would highly encourage on June the twelfth,

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Speaker 1: you go pretty early. Knowing the fans that we have

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Speaker 1: Ye Nation is unbelievable. But I'm trying to explain if

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Speaker 1: you've been following us for a long time, that's why

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Speaker 1: you go to the store now and everything looks sold out,

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Speaker 1: and it's a little frustrating, but at the same time

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Speaker 1: it really helps us to drive everything in big spurts

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Speaker 1: and then sell out and then we're not holding on

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Speaker 1: to cash inventory on our shelves and we're able to

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Speaker 1: use that instead to go back into new designs. So

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Speaker 1: what you can do in the meantime the most impactful

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Speaker 1: thing you could do to support us, or if you're

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Speaker 1: just if you love the brand, you could join our

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Speaker 1: Shirt of the Month club. It's like twenty bucks a

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Speaker 1: month something like that, and you tell us your size,

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Speaker 1: and then every month, at the first of the month,

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Speaker 1: we ship out your brand new shirt that is not

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Speaker 1: for Stelle on the store, it's not for sale anywhere else.

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Speaker 1: It's exclusive to the Shirt of the Month club. So

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Speaker 1: we work really hard on those designs. We go through

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Speaker 1: these designs and and kind of hand pick what we

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Speaker 1: think is the best for that month. And then one

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Speaker 1: day you're gonna go out to your mailbox. You're gonna

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Speaker 1: open up the box and there's your new, brand new

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Speaker 1: shirt of the month in your size. And I think

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Speaker 1: it's really awesome. It's gone over really well. I love

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Speaker 1: all of the shirts, and it's great for this new

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Speaker 1: business model where most of the things are going to

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Speaker 1: stay sold out. You are going to get your own

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Speaker 1: shirt every month no matter what. You don't even have

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Speaker 1: to look it up. So the other thing I need

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Speaker 1: to say. The last thing I'll say about EE a

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Speaker 1: Peril is that the EE Day sale went so fast

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Speaker 1: on April seventeenth that sold out in five minutes. So

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Speaker 1: we are because that was our mistake. We didn't have

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Speaker 1: enough inventory. Then what we are going to do is

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Speaker 1: we are restocking some of the fastest sellers from that

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Speaker 1: day any day now. So on EE dot com any

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Speaker 1: day now from when you hear this or watch this podcast,

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Speaker 1: be checking on that site, and suddenly those fastest sellers

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Speaker 1: are going to pop back up in stock again. So

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Speaker 1: all that being said, thank you so much for the support.

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Speaker 1: We're so grateful during this crazy time that we have

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Speaker 1: this apparel company that me and my brothers started from scratch,

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Speaker 1: and it's we're so passionate about it. And what we

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Speaker 1: always try to preach is that we're selling a lifestyle

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Speaker 1: and it is something that has become bigger than any

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Speaker 1: of one of us individually, or the music or any videos.

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Speaker 1: It's it truly is Ye Nation, and it truly is

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Speaker 1: a group of like minded people that love to live

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Speaker 1: life to the fullest. And to me, that's always what

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Speaker 1: it's really been about. I'm excited about this podcast today,

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Speaker 1: episode twenty nine. I'm bringing the special guests who most

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Speaker 1: of you know, Amber, my wife, and I was just

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Speaker 1: thinking about it last night. I was like, what should

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Speaker 1: I talk about on the podcast? And I thought, you know,

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Speaker 1: we have several stories in our lives about signs from above,

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Speaker 1: talking signs, spiritual signs from heaven, whether it's an answered prayer,

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Speaker 1: whether it's an absolute surprise, a reminder, a memory, a dream.

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Speaker 1: But I believe these things are very real and we

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Speaker 1: have we have a couple of stories I'd love to

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Speaker 1: share with you. So that's what we're gonna do. I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna get Amber in here. Welcome to the Granger Smith Podcast.

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Speaker 1: All right. I got Amber with me and we were

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Speaker 1: together a lot on The Smiths, So we got to

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Speaker 1: make it different. If people watch us the smith you

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Speaker 1: got to make it different. Thanks for having me. Oh

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Speaker 1: you're welcome, young guests. So I was thinking last night

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Speaker 1: what should we do for this podcast? And I think like,

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Speaker 1: one of the cool things that we have a lot

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Speaker 1: of it in our story is these signs that we

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Speaker 1: see from above, signs from above, and I don't write

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Speaker 1: them down. Do you write? You write about got a journal,

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Speaker 1: and so I brought you because I could tell a

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Speaker 1: couple and you could tell a couple and you could

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Speaker 1: help me remember mine. So do you want to go

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Speaker 1: first for me? Let's do it? Well, you can start

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Speaker 1: so so as you're listening to these guys also, and

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Speaker 1: I kind of grew up here in these My mom

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Speaker 1: is very, very spiritual, So she has a ton of

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Speaker 1: these kind of stories and so I've heard them my

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Speaker 1: whole life, and she's she's so spiritually connected that she

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Speaker 1: has a story after story that will just blow you away.

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Speaker 1: It's like, how does a human even do that? But

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Speaker 1: I think we all have that capability to be to

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Speaker 1: hear God's voice and or angels or however you want

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Speaker 1: to look at it. But I feel like if you're

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Speaker 1: not if you're not aware of it, if you're not

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Speaker 1: listening for it, if you're not paying attention, then it's impossible.

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Speaker 1: It's the same with remembering dreams. Some people can remember

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Speaker 1: their dreams really, really well. And some people are like,

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Speaker 1: I don't even dream, Well, you just have to kind

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Speaker 1: of be connected to that, be aware. So what I

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Speaker 1: was going to say is, if you're listening to this

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Speaker 1: or watching this and you have your own stories, comment

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Speaker 1: below and I'd love to hear your stories too. Sorry

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Speaker 1: about roomy. Yeah, and be and also being open to it.

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Speaker 1: I think just having your heart and your eyes and

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Speaker 1: your ears and your mind open to receiving those signs

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Speaker 1: is kind of a big step too. So do you

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Speaker 1: want to start with your signs? Yeah? You want to

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Speaker 1: start with or are we talking about signs all in general?

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Speaker 1: Like your dad? Yeah, it's like what mom says or

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Speaker 1: you know, there's no such thing as coincident those kind

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Speaker 1: of signs, only appointments. Yeah, So we have about twenty

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Speaker 1: five minutes and I will start. I guess I'll tell

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Speaker 1: the story about one of them was really meaningful from

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Speaker 1: my dad. And I was on tour and I was

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Speaker 1: went to a meet and greet and I met a family,

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Speaker 1: and I meet a lot of families that have lost somebody,

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Speaker 1: and this always happened, and it's always just as impactful

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Speaker 1: for me to meet these families and hear their stories

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Speaker 1: and I've got to the point where I could recognize

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Speaker 1: them when they walk in. I could just know. I

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Speaker 1: know the look on a family's face when they're walking

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Speaker 1: in and they're about to tell me that they lost

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Speaker 1: someone and they're coming to the concert to celebrate their life,

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Speaker 1: either because they love they love getting out and celebrating

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Speaker 1: with country music, or specifically because that person loved my

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Speaker 1: band and we are now a living embodiment of their passion.

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Speaker 1: Ye ye, So I see that a lot. And this

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Speaker 1: one particular time, I saw the family come in, and

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Speaker 1: this was a young girl that died in a car accident,

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Speaker 1: and I actually knew her. She was a fan. She'd

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Speaker 1: been to mini meet and greets, and they brought they

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Speaker 1: brought their daughter, the girl's daughter, and she was like

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Speaker 1: like a three four And I went through the meet

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Speaker 1: and greet and the little girl had a little sign

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Speaker 1: for me that said, my mommy was a fan, now

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Speaker 1: I'm the fan. And it was just hitting me so hard,

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Speaker 1: and I was like trying to hold back tears and

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Speaker 1: trying to be connected with this family and be aware

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Speaker 1: and be present with them, and at the same time,

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Speaker 1: I was kind of fighting my own emotions on it's

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Speaker 1: just difficult knowing that I had one person that loved

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Speaker 1: your music and now they're gone, and you know how

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Speaker 1: bad that family's hurting. So I went back to the bus.

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Speaker 1: Needless to say, I was just really frustrated and upset

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Speaker 1: and emotional, and I was going to get dressed and

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Speaker 1: start playing the show in about thirty minutes. And I

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Speaker 1: go back to my dressing room and as you guys know,

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Speaker 1: I've lost my dad in twenty fourteen, and I made

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Speaker 1: a bracelet that represented him as it was like a

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Speaker 1: chrome bracelet, like a heroes bracelet, and it had the

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Speaker 1: success poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson the very end, this

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Speaker 1: is to have succeeded. It's the very end of that poem,

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Speaker 1: and it said, this is to have succeeded. And on

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Speaker 1: the other side it said Chris P. Smith nineteen fifty

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Speaker 1: two Dash twenty fourteen. And I have I don't wear

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Speaker 1: it all the time because it's hard to play guitar

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Speaker 1: with it. So it was in this little drawer and wildflower.

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Speaker 1: I go up after this meet and greet and I

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Speaker 1: sit down and I'm just like thinking, you know, is

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Speaker 1: this worth it? Like can I emotionally keep going through

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Speaker 1: meet and greets and talk to people like this and

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Speaker 1: go through and hear these kind of stories and then

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Speaker 1: go play a show like is that even possible? Like

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Speaker 1: this is tough, you know. And I had a picture

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Speaker 1: and I like a four x seven picture of that girl,

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Speaker 1: and I was like, this is tough. I think I

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Speaker 1: even texted you. And I sat down and I went

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Speaker 1: to put my boots on, and I put my boots

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Speaker 1: on and there was something in the bottom of my

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Speaker 1: boot and then took off my boot and there was

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Speaker 1: that bracelet. That chrome bracelet was in the bottom of

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Speaker 1: my boot. There's no way it couldn't It could have

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Speaker 1: gotten from that little drawer out of the drawer and

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Speaker 1: then dropped into the boot which I had just placed

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Speaker 1: there before the meet and greet. And I was just like, wow,

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Speaker 1: this is to have succeeded, Like are you trying to

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Speaker 1: tell me something here? You know? I mean, it's that

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Speaker 1: was a crazy moment. I just sat there. I was

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Speaker 1: blown away for a long time. Yeah. We always say okay, God, okay, God, okay, okay,

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Speaker 1: can here you have something on your hat? Okay okay.

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Speaker 1: So I guess if we want to how much time

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Speaker 1: do we have if we want to stay on your dad.

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Speaker 1: London when she was two, Okay, so hearts. Hearts have

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Speaker 1: been very important with seeing signs from from Chris and

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Speaker 1: and Debbie Granger's mom. We see right after Chris passed

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Speaker 1: there it was really special between them. Right after Sorry

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Speaker 1: Chris passed, we were just seeing hearts everywhere in the sky,

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Speaker 1: in pieces of lead or pieces of thread that fell

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Speaker 1: off our jeans shaped in the shape of a heart.

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Speaker 1: If we cracked an egg, open it, the yolk was

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Speaker 1: in the shape of a heart. We just saw hearts

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Speaker 1: all the time. So we would always send send pictures

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Speaker 1: to each other through the family and say, you know,

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Speaker 1: we saw another heart today, or we felt we felt

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Speaker 1: Papa today. But London, she was two. She was just

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Speaker 1: so connected, you know, little children are so connected, so

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Speaker 1: innocently connected. And I remember one big one for me

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Speaker 1: was we were driving over to our friend's house. She

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Speaker 1: was giggling in the back seat and I kind of

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Speaker 1: looked back and I was like, what are you what

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Speaker 1: are you laughing at? And she just goes Papa, and

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Speaker 1: it just kind of took took me aback, and we

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Speaker 1: got out of the car and she was looking up

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Speaker 1: at the sky and she goes Papa and I said,

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Speaker 1: what are you talking about? She goes, see Papa's sprinkling

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Speaker 1: hearts everywhere. See, obviously I saw nothing, but a little

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Speaker 1: innocent two year old felt that presence and it was

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Speaker 1: and it was a heart, you know. It wasn't like

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Speaker 1: stars or something else. So that was a big sign

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Speaker 1: that I held onto with London. She's just you know,

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Speaker 1: little children are very spiritually connected. Do you want to

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Speaker 1: talk any more about your dad or do you want

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Speaker 1: to go to signs for rip? So I guess the

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Speaker 1: big sign I had recently with riv is I was

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Speaker 1: seeing and by the way, it happened to me yesterday,

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Speaker 1: I saw on it. Some where my eyes go straight

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Speaker 1: to the word river. It's either a street sign or

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Speaker 1: a vehicle or a state park sign or river crossing.

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Speaker 1: But I've learned through touring in the last several months

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Speaker 1: that the river is probably the most popular word you

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Speaker 1: could put on a sign. And I see it in

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Speaker 1: every city we go to, in every town, in every country.

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Speaker 1: It's everywhere. But there's been times that being said that

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Speaker 1: my eyes have gone straight to that word, like looking

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Speaker 1: down or looking at the steering wheel, eyes glance up

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Speaker 1: and the first thing they fall on is the word river.

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Speaker 1: And then I noticed there was times when my eyes

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Speaker 1: would do that four or five times in a row

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Speaker 1: in the span of five to ten minutes. Like I

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Speaker 1: would just i would look up and there'd be the

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Speaker 1: word river, and I'm like, oh, that's weird. And I

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Speaker 1: would think about something else and I would be doing

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Speaker 1: something else, and then my eyes would go another direction

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Speaker 1: boom there was again the word river, Like oh gosh,

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Speaker 1: And then it would happen four or five times a row,

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Speaker 1: and I'd be like, this is weird, Like there's a

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Speaker 1: connection with all these I feel like there's a message here,

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Speaker 1: or maybe maybe it's just association in my mind, just

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Speaker 1: maybe you know what is it when you're getting married

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Speaker 1: and all you see is made it's wedding, you know,

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Speaker 1: bride's gowns on billboards. It's like the association that the

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Speaker 1: brain starts making, if that's what you're thinking about. So

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Speaker 1: I was thinking, Oh, maybe that's what it is. So

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Speaker 1: then one day, in particular, I'm driving close to home

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Speaker 1: and we live kind of close to the Interstate I

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Speaker 1: thirty five in Texas, and then I'm driving towards the

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Speaker 1: interstate and I see it river. Then look again River,

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Speaker 1: and the third time, a third time and like thirty

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Speaker 1: seconds uninterrupted full glance, and I say, and I saw

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Speaker 1: the word river, and I just threw my hands up

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Speaker 1: and I said, what what? What? God? What? Why are

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Speaker 1: my eyes doing this? What? And right when I said

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Speaker 1: the last what, my eyes hit one more thing and

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Speaker 1: it was a semi truck I just entered. I thirty five.

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Speaker 1: It was a semi truck. And in giant letters on

429
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,840
Speaker 1: the side of the semitruck it said peace. And I

430
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:32,760
Speaker 1: had a little red dove and I was like it

431
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:39,399
Speaker 1: was silent, and I was like, oh oh. And so

432
00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:43,159
Speaker 1: then yesterday, since that story, that's happened several times. So

433
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,080
Speaker 1: then yesterday I saw the word My eyes went up,

434
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 1: saw the word river, and then I thought, peace, Peace,

435
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,080
Speaker 1: That's what that means to me now. And it could

436
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,240
Speaker 1: never have been more clear. And I took a picture

437
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:59,160
Speaker 1: and I sent to you, and I strangely I ended

438
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,200
Speaker 1: up sending a picture back to you a couple weeks

439
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,560
Speaker 1: later of the same truck. I just happened to glance

440
00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:06,800
Speaker 1: up and saw this huge the same exact truck that

441
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:08,359
Speaker 1: he sent me a photo up. I've never seen that

442
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:09,920
Speaker 1: send my truck ever in my life, and it just

443
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:11,919
Speaker 1: said peace massively, And it was during a time I

444
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:16,200
Speaker 1: was thinking about riv And it's those little things where, yeah,

445
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:18,040
Speaker 1: people could say it's a coincidence, you're just driving by

446
00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:21,080
Speaker 1: a truck, but it's it's the moment your eye hits it,

447
00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 1: like you don't. You could have been looking this way

448
00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 1: and would have missed it, But in that moment, your

449
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,440
Speaker 1: eye hit what God needed you to see. So sorry,

450
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,640
Speaker 1: I was almost starting to cry there, y'all. I have

451
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:37,280
Speaker 1: so many signs. I have them all written down just

452
00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:39,440
Speaker 1: because I hold on to them as little pieces of hope.

453
00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:42,360
Speaker 1: And I guess if we if we want to start

454
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:46,280
Speaker 1: at the very beginning with RIV. Rain has always been

455
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,159
Speaker 1: very important in our family. It rained on the day

456
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:49,800
Speaker 1: we got married, it rained all the days that our

457
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,680
Speaker 1: babies were born, and on the night that the accident happened,

458
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:56,440
Speaker 1: it was a beautiful, beautiful evening and beautiful spring day,

459
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: you know, sunny, And after it happened, we were driving

460
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:04,080
Speaker 1: to the hospital and this torrential downpour just started and

461
00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 1: we kind of looked at each other like, oh my gosh,

462
00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:09,840
Speaker 1: like this is another one of these really important days

463
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:13,040
Speaker 1: in our lives. And it was just crazy rain nowhere,

464
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,359
Speaker 1: like the kind of rain where we were going like

465
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,199
Speaker 1: eighty miles an hour to try to keep up with

466
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,360
Speaker 1: the ambulance and we're like we kind of slowed down

467
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,159
Speaker 1: to like forty yeah, because we couldn't see it as

468
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,000
Speaker 1: crazy as we needed to get to that hospital. I

469
00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,119
Speaker 1: had to slow down to half speed on the interstate

470
00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:36,520
Speaker 1: because it was unbelievable rain. And then there was a

471
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:41,439
Speaker 1: rainbow at River service on a June day in the summer,

472
00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,960
Speaker 1: in the desert, in the desert, a rainbow, which is

473
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,439
Speaker 1: God's promise to us. It also rained at the service

474
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,320
Speaker 1: through one tiny cloud in the summer sky in June

475
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:58,440
Speaker 1: in the hill country of Texas, in drought like conditions. Yeah,

476
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:01,080
Speaker 1: and not the kind of rain that even wet the ground.

477
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:04,399
Speaker 1: It was like just like sprinkling on our heads. Yeah,

478
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:08,560
Speaker 1: So a little sprinkle. And then a couple of days

479
00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:11,840
Speaker 1: after the after the service, we had the craziest lightning

480
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,560
Speaker 1: storm I've ever seen ever. The lightning was going sideways

481
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:17,679
Speaker 1: and it wasn't just every now and then, it was

482
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:22,359
Speaker 1: every second for hours and lightning, you know, lightning m

483
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 1: Queen with River. It was just very important to us.

484
00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:26,840
Speaker 1: River loved lightning. He loved storms, He loved watching the lightning.

485
00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:28,880
Speaker 1: He loved flickering the lights on and off all the time.

486
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,119
Speaker 1: He loved flashlights. And I we just stood outside as

487
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,440
Speaker 1: a family, crying, watching this lightning storm. And I remember

488
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 1: Granger and I were lay in bed that night, and

489
00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:39,080
Speaker 1: Granger didn't want to go to sleep. He's like, I

490
00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:40,920
Speaker 1: don't want to close my eyes. He's not finished yet,

491
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,760
Speaker 1: so I'm still going. It was like a midnight. Yeah,

492
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:50,760
Speaker 1: so lightning is another sign for us. Like I said,

493
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:52,640
Speaker 1: kids are very in tune. I was walking one time

494
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,479
Speaker 1: with Lincoln Uh and we were crossing the street and I,

495
00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:56,760
Speaker 1: you know, he didn't want to hold my hand, and

496
00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:58,200
Speaker 1: I said, buddy, you need to hold my hand. You

497
00:28:58,240 --> 00:28:59,440
Speaker 1: have to be safe. Why do you not want to

498
00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:01,600
Speaker 1: hold my hand? And he said, I don't need to.

499
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,400
Speaker 1: River's always holding me. River's holding my shoulder. You know.

500
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,280
Speaker 1: He was probably he was five, you know, And that's

501
00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:10,320
Speaker 1: not and we weren't talking about River. That's not just

502
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:15,240
Speaker 1: something that he would just make up. Please tell me

503
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,200
Speaker 1: you're going to talk about the buzzer Oh, the buzzards. Okay,

504
00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,520
Speaker 1: So that will lead into my biggest sign that I

505
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,280
Speaker 1: will hold on too for my entire life. I had

506
00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:26,160
Speaker 1: just read a book about signs after River passed. I

507
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:28,440
Speaker 1: just completely filled my mind with books on hope and

508
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,360
Speaker 1: heaven and signs and NDEs, and I just wanted to

509
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,000
Speaker 1: know so much about heaven, and so this book said

510
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:37,479
Speaker 1: ask for a specific sign. You know, I know we're

511
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:39,000
Speaker 1: not supposed to ask God for things all the time,

512
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,000
Speaker 1: but if you're really hurting and you're desperate, you can

513
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:42,920
Speaker 1: cry out to God and ask him for a specific sign.

514
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,200
Speaker 1: So I went to bed that night and I just

515
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:48,000
Speaker 1: was really sad, and I said, please, God, if he's okay,

516
00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:52,080
Speaker 1: if he's with you, show me a blue butterfly. You know,

517
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 1: we saw tons of butter We see tons of butterflies

518
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,480
Speaker 1: all the time, but they're always monarchs, and I've never

519
00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:58,880
Speaker 1: seen a blue butterfly. Went to sleep that night, and

520
00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 1: we woke up the next morning. I kid you not,

521
00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:06,200
Speaker 1: there was seventeen buzzards on our roof. Seventeen really weird,

522
00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:11,520
Speaker 1: like eerie, creat creepy, so weird, and big black buzzards.

523
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:13,840
Speaker 1: I told Granger, I always think of riv when I

524
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,080
Speaker 1: see buzzards because they're so graceful as they soar with

525
00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:18,200
Speaker 1: their big wingspan, and so I was kind of like, Okay, God,

526
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:20,520
Speaker 1: well that's not a blue butterfly, but I'll take it

527
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,640
Speaker 1: like the opposite of a blue butterfly. But we were like,

528
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:26,320
Speaker 1: I guess God was going to give you a different sign,

529
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 1: just to tell you that he's in control of your signs,

530
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:31,840
Speaker 1: not you. Yeah, like trying to be funny, and Granger's stopped.

531
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:33,480
Speaker 1: He's like a blue butterfly because he did. I didn't

532
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 1: tell him that I asked for that, And so that

533
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:38,360
Speaker 1: next was it the same day or the next day,

534
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:40,840
Speaker 1: I think it was that same Saturday. Yeah. I went

535
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:42,840
Speaker 1: to go pick up our mail at the UPS store

536
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,160
Speaker 1: and I always tell people we had one package and

537
00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:47,440
Speaker 1: two letters, and the very first thing that I pulled

538
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:50,040
Speaker 1: out of our box was a letter with a big

539
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:53,600
Speaker 1: blue butterfly stamp that said thinking of you and I

540
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:57,480
Speaker 1: have it framed. And that is something that God would

541
00:30:57,520 --> 00:30:59,920
Speaker 1: have had to put into motion before I asked for

542
00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:01,440
Speaker 1: He had to have known that I was going to

543
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:03,400
Speaker 1: ask for that for that to be in my mailbox

544
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:08,800
Speaker 1: the next day. And some people might say that's a coincidence,

545
00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,240
Speaker 1: but that I specifically asked for a sign and God

546
00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:12,840
Speaker 1: gave it to me, and I am holding onto that

547
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,840
Speaker 1: so tight. And now I see blue butterflies everywhere. You know,

548
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:18,080
Speaker 1: you people send me blue butterflies all the time, but

549
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,280
Speaker 1: that was my main sign that I will hold on

550
00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,120
Speaker 1: too forever. Then I started seeing them everywhere. Then we

551
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,560
Speaker 1: got that little Zelda video game, oh yeah, for Nintendo,

552
00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:29,920
Speaker 1: and me and the kids went and picked up this

553
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,080
Speaker 1: little game a few days later, and when we brought

554
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,760
Speaker 1: it home, it was a brand new game, a Zelda game,

555
00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,200
Speaker 1: and we put it in just to kind of help,

556
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 1: you know, pass the time. And the whole game has

557
00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:44,800
Speaker 1: blue butterflies, tiny blue butterflies flying everywhere. That's part of

558
00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:49,760
Speaker 1: the game. Like, God, that's so weird. I'm trying to

559
00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:52,120
Speaker 1: think if I have any other The balloons in Germany

560
00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:54,000
Speaker 1: when we took our trip back to Germany, remember we

561
00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:56,800
Speaker 1: got off the train and red balloons you know from

562
00:31:56,840 --> 00:31:58,800
Speaker 1: Heavy Man balloons as are always important to us. There

563
00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 1: was just random balloon floating up to heaven. Yeah, and

564
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:08,560
Speaker 1: so that was kind of special. There's been several balloon stories. Yeah.

565
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,920
Speaker 1: I see hearts in the clouds, you know. I anytime

566
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 1: I'm thinking of riv or something, I'll look over and

567
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,760
Speaker 1: there's the perfect shape of a heart in the clouds

568
00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:19,840
Speaker 1: were I did brain spotting back to lights and stuff.

569
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:21,440
Speaker 1: When we went to therapy, we were doing our brain

570
00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:24,840
Speaker 1: spotting session, which is a light I'm sorry, an eye

571
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:27,040
Speaker 1: therapy to kind of help you get rid of visions

572
00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:30,800
Speaker 1: and traumatic memories. So in the middle of it, I'm

573
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:35,080
Speaker 1: deep in this traumatic story. I'm telling the story of

574
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,360
Speaker 1: what happened, and I'm bawling. All of a sudden, every

575
00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:39,320
Speaker 1: light in the building goes out right as I was

576
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:41,680
Speaker 1: talking about Riv and flicked back on, and me and

577
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,480
Speaker 1: my counselor are eyes just like he goes, that's never

578
00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:46,480
Speaker 1: happened before. And then I told him the story of

579
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:50,280
Speaker 1: how lights are so important to us and lightning and anyway,

580
00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,240
Speaker 1: that was another strange thing that happened. The Wheels on

581
00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 1: the Bus song when I was doing my devotionals at

582
00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:58,640
Speaker 1: the kitchen table. This was just a couple of weeks

583
00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:02,560
Speaker 1: after River passed. Had the Christian Alexa playlist on and

584
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:06,760
Speaker 1: it's all Christian songs. About three songs in the children's song,

585
00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,120
Speaker 1: the Wheels on the Bus came on and it's the

586
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:10,600
Speaker 1: same song that River and I sang. And you can

587
00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:12,200
Speaker 1: go back and look at a Smith's episode and we're

588
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,160
Speaker 1: singing it together, the exact same children's version on a

589
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,640
Speaker 1: Christian playlist, and I was like, Okay, God, you're trying

590
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:22,280
Speaker 1: to be funny. Yeah, but just I just so believe

591
00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:24,160
Speaker 1: that God can speak to you and try to comfort

592
00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:26,120
Speaker 1: you in your times of need if you're if you're

593
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:29,640
Speaker 1: open to seeing and feeling those things, I want to

594
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:31,560
Speaker 1: I want to see if you guys have I know

595
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,360
Speaker 1: you do, if you have similar stories, if you're listening

596
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:36,520
Speaker 1: on the podcast app, then go to my social media

597
00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:42,560
Speaker 1: or Ambers Amber Emily Smith and and say hashtag Graander

598
00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:46,840
Speaker 1: Smith podcast and then after that, after that, tell a

599
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,440
Speaker 1: little bit of your story whatever that social media platform

600
00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:53,760
Speaker 1: allows you the space to do. But I think Facebook, Facebook,

601
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:56,280
Speaker 1: Instagram allows lot a lot, a lot of space, so

602
00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,360
Speaker 1: Instagram would be good. But yeah, it's I want to

603
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:02,360
Speaker 1: hear your stories, and I think it's it's a good

604
00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:05,080
Speaker 1: thing to share if you do have the stories, because

605
00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:07,480
Speaker 1: maybe you have a really good story that you haven't

606
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:09,719
Speaker 1: shared with anybody because you feel a little weird about it,

607
00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:13,320
Speaker 1: or you feel like you're kind of you're a strange person.

608
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:18,680
Speaker 1: If you want to talk about spiritual signs. But we're

609
00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:21,040
Speaker 1: here telling you you're not crazy, and we'd love to

610
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:23,880
Speaker 1: hear your stories. And I know that you have a

611
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:25,680
Speaker 1: ton more. I have a ton more, and I keep

612
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:28,319
Speaker 1: a list of them just because if I am going

613
00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:30,520
Speaker 1: through a hard time, I can always go back to

614
00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:35,160
Speaker 1: this and say, look, you're okay, He's okay. God is

615
00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:37,560
Speaker 1: with you, and look what He's shown me. And I

616
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:39,480
Speaker 1: encourage you to do the same. Wake up from dreams,

617
00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:41,759
Speaker 1: write down dreams, write down signs that you see so

618
00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:43,960
Speaker 1: you don't forget. Sometimes we get busy and we forget

619
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,279
Speaker 1: what God has done for us, and these just help

620
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:50,399
Speaker 1: me to keep the hope and keep the faith. Yeah. Well,

621
00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:52,440
Speaker 1: thank you guys for listening watching If you'd like to

622
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,680
Speaker 1: hear more of these stories on this kind of podcast,

623
00:34:55,719 --> 00:35:01,719
Speaker 1: this format with Amber, specifically maybe my mom so she's

624
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,239
Speaker 1: so connected, you would love love jazz You've so let

625
00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:08,600
Speaker 1: us know and comment below or go to social media

626
00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:12,239
Speaker 1: hashtag Granger Smith podcast and love you guys if you

627
00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:14,840
Speaker 1: want to see more of Amber. She does a series

628
00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:17,719
Speaker 1: on YouTube on Earth Smith's channel called a Rise with

629
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:24,759
Speaker 1: Amber Every Sunday Morning for Some Reason. Series That's a

630
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:31,080
Speaker 1: Sign for Some Reason series listening to me right now. Okay,

631
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:36,040
Speaker 1: that's creepy series talking to me. Okay, anyway, love you guys.

632
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:41,040
Speaker 1: We'll see you next episode on Monday. You got there mentally,

633
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:42,040
Speaker 1: see you