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Speaker 1: Hello, my friend, welcome back. Have I got a sweet

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Speaker 1: treat for you on today's episode? In this podcast, I

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Speaker 1: talked to people, ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things

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Speaker 1: in the hopes that their stories will resonate deep within you,

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Speaker 1: will jostle something loose that you'll say, Hey, if they

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Speaker 1: can do that, I can certainly use my gift to

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Speaker 1: change the world. Whatever this is my guest today are

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Speaker 1: going to blow you away. After hearing their story, you

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Speaker 1: are going to realize that absolutely no obstacle, no challenge,

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Speaker 1: no hardship, no fear is too mighty to overcome. David

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Speaker 1: is a bright, talented, handsome young man, full of unbridled

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Speaker 1: enthusiasm for life and the Lord. He's the kind of

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Speaker 1: guy folks look at and think, dudes got it all.

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Speaker 1: And David grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was an

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Speaker 1: active kid. He loved music, He attended church, he played sports.

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Speaker 1: He did well in school. He went off to college,

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Speaker 1: graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, and then went

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Speaker 1: to start his career. But soon realized music was what

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Speaker 1: he was really excited about, and so, in one of

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Speaker 1: his first courageous moves, he quit a job that was

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Speaker 1: paying the bills and started teaching piano and guitar lessons

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Speaker 1: and dabbling in music production out of a studio he

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Speaker 1: built in his bedroom. And then a few years later,

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Speaker 1: in April, back in sixteen, he did another courageous thing.

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Speaker 1: He packed up and he moved to Nashville to attend

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Speaker 1: the Blackbird Academy. He wanted to become the best music

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Speaker 1: producer that he could possibly be. He got an apartment,

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Speaker 1: he had a few belongings, he had a lot of

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Speaker 1: enthusism as him, and he had a bicycle. Twenty three

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Speaker 1: days after he started classes, it happened the unthinkable. David

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Speaker 1: and his bride, Christie, who plays a very important role

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Speaker 1: in their story, are with me today to talk about

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Speaker 1: what true courage looks like, what true faith looks like.

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Speaker 1: This is gonna be real, it's gonna be raw, it's

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Speaker 1: gonna be powerful, and I know it's going to inspire

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Speaker 1: your heart. Before we get into it, though, we need

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Speaker 1: to first take a moment to thank my podcast sponsor,

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Speaker 1: the Home Depot. I've been shopping at the Home Depot

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Speaker 1: for longer than I care to admit, certainly longer than

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Speaker 1: they've been a sponsor of this podcast or my radio program.

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Speaker 1: I shot there because I find what I'm looking for

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Speaker 1: in the garden department, in the paint department. When it's

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Speaker 1: time for a new appliance in my home. It's my

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Speaker 1: go to place and it has been for a long

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Speaker 1: long time. Make the home depot your destination when you

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Speaker 1: need something for your home. The home depot where doers

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Speaker 1: get more done. Hi David, Hello Christie, thank you for

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Speaker 1: being with us today. You have such an amazing story

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Speaker 1: to tell. I've given the back story and I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: let you take it from there. Tell us what happened

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Speaker 1: less than a month after making that big move. Yes,

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Speaker 1: I had been biking through Nashville, loving it, and I

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Speaker 1: get to the last intersection to my house and I

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Speaker 1: got t boned at about thirty five by Volvo. Smashed

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Speaker 1: into the windshield, My head smashed against the top of

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Speaker 1: the car. Fortunately, think the lord I had a helmet on. Okay,

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Speaker 1: stop right there, Stop right there. Kids, young people, if

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Speaker 1: you are listening, especially my young people, when Mama Bear

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Speaker 1: says where you're dang helmet? This is why, this is why,

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Speaker 1: what would have happened had you not listen to your

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Speaker 1: Mama Bear and didn't have your helmet on. Oh, I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't be alive. And it's crazy. Actually, there's a story

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Speaker 1: behind the helmet that I'll share briefly. Um, I actually

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Speaker 1: didn't have it in Nashville. I had forgotten it, um,

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Speaker 1: and it was in my hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. But

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Speaker 1: just three days before the crash, I was at home,

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Speaker 1: driving away from my parents house forgetting it again, and

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Speaker 1: the thought just popped in my head. I call it

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Speaker 1: whatever you want, but I think it was the voice

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Speaker 1: of God, and it just said, go get the helmet.

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Speaker 1: I turned around and I got the helmet. And then

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Speaker 1: literally three days later I was in this crash that

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Speaker 1: without the helmet I would have probably died. So did

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Speaker 1: the driver just not see the red light? So what

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Speaker 1: actually happened was she was a a heavy drug user

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Speaker 1: at the time. We don't know if she was on

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Speaker 1: drugs when she was driving, but she was hearing voices

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Speaker 1: in her head off of her bipolar medication, not in

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Speaker 1: the right state of mind, and so um, really she

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Speaker 1: she just said it came out of nowhere and and

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Speaker 1: it was a bad choice on her part to drive

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Speaker 1: that day. So you were hit head into the windshield

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Speaker 1: and then what happened. I actually don't remember anything from

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Speaker 1: the crash. This is all just what's been told to me.

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Speaker 1: But my body apparently went a hundred feet is what

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Speaker 1: I was told. Um. I was unconscious, bleeding out from

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Speaker 1: my arm, which had smashed the windshield, and um, some

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Speaker 1: people came over prayed over me. Um, and I started

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Speaker 1: coming to a little bit after someone put a tourniquet

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Speaker 1: on my arm made out of someone else's belt. God's

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Speaker 1: angels just coming around and yeah, so somebody at the

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Speaker 1: scene of the accident had the good sense to say,

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Speaker 1: oh my gosh, he kind of madejor artery. It looks

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Speaker 1: like he's bleeding out. Ironically, it was a Jimmy John's

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Speaker 1: driver stops the car, leaves the sandwiches in the back

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Speaker 1: and just comes over. Turns out she's going to medical

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Speaker 1: school the next fall, and so she yeah, she knew

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Speaker 1: exactly what to do. Saves me from a blood transfusion,

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Speaker 1: if not just bleeding out. I got to meet her

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Speaker 1: later and it was what's the name of this hero,

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Speaker 1: Let's give her and Jimmy John's a shout out, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Cecily Hummer, and we still keep in touch. So Cecily

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Speaker 1: and Angel Sin at the right place at the right time. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: all right, so now you're you're awake. No, I don't

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Speaker 1: really remember being awake. I'm I am starting to say

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Speaker 1: I can't move, I can't feel my legs. I can't

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Speaker 1: move my legs. Um. My first memory actually is after

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Speaker 1: they had already taken me from the scene to the

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Speaker 1: hospital and and I wake up in the hospital and

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Speaker 1: I I realized my parents were there. I didn't realize

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Speaker 1: they had driven three hours from Knoxville to get there,

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Speaker 1: so it must have been a while. And I asked,

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Speaker 1: why are my legs off the bed? And uh, and

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Speaker 1: they said, well, your legs are on the bed. And

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Speaker 1: I was like, what do you mean? And I looked

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Speaker 1: down and there's my legs sitting on the bed, but

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Speaker 1: I couldn't feel them. And then I tried to move

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Speaker 1: them and I couldn't move them. And then the first

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Speaker 1: moment I really knew something was wrong. And it turns

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Speaker 1: out that I had had a spinal cord injury, which

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Speaker 1: basically means you can't control anything or feel anything from

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Speaker 1: below the point of impact, and mine was at the

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Speaker 1: l one level, which is mid lower back, so everything

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Speaker 1: below that point basically has no more function. And that

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Speaker 1: was definitely the worst of my injuries that day. And

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Speaker 1: do you remember what went through your head at that moment.

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Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure I said something like, I guess life

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Speaker 1: is going to be different. But honestly, it can't really

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Speaker 1: hit you a trauma like that. I was on pain

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Speaker 1: medication and had a severe concussion, and so I don't

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Speaker 1: think it really hit me in that moment. But over

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Speaker 1: the next few days and weeks and turned into months, actually,

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Speaker 1: I really kept learning the new implications of what it

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Speaker 1: was going to mean for my life. And what did

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Speaker 1: the doctors tell you when you were finally healed enough

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Speaker 1: and coherent enough to hear what they had to say.

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Speaker 1: The prognosis after an m R I was, it's so bad,

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Speaker 1: it's a complete injury. He's never gonna walk again. Neurological

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Speaker 1: recovery is unlikely, is what they said. So they actually

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Speaker 1: waited until the next morning to do the surgery to

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Speaker 1: put eight screws and two rods into my back. Maybe

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Speaker 1: the next day is when they told me it's a

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Speaker 1: complete injury. People don't really walk after this. That had

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Speaker 1: to be the hardest, scariest, most painful thing. Any young man,

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Speaker 1: any person could hear, any mama could hear. Was your

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Speaker 1: mom with you when they were sharing this? Well, yes,

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Speaker 1: I mean I was going through a lot of pain.

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Speaker 1: But the first few days were probably the hardest for

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Speaker 1: my family. UM, My mom and dad immediately drove to

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Speaker 1: Nashville when they heard. They got a call from my

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Speaker 1: cell phone, but it was a lady at the scene

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Speaker 1: of the crash that said I would come if I

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Speaker 1: was you, which, if you can imagine getting that phone call, Hey, Daves,

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Speaker 1: is what my mom said. And then it's this lady's voice,

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Speaker 1: and she said it was the worst call you could get.

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Speaker 1: But as I started processing it, yeah, I I grieved.

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Speaker 1: I probably cried every day for the first four months

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Speaker 1: just because of how much loss I was experiencing and

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Speaker 1: it was just overwhelming. So how many months were you

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Speaker 1: in the hospital just learning how to set up and

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Speaker 1: manage the pain? So a total of eight months in

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Speaker 1: the hospital, and the first I would say three months

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Speaker 1: were full time nurses taking care of me, learning how

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Speaker 1: to live, learning how to get out of bed, learning

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Speaker 1: how to get dressed, learning how to shower. It's actually

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Speaker 1: really hard um at first, because you you've got too

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Speaker 1: deadweights attached to your hips and you got to pull

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Speaker 1: them around and they literally don't move. But at of

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Speaker 1: the first two months or so of of being full

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Speaker 1: time nurse is taking care of me being in the hospital,

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Speaker 1: I started becoming pretty independent, and then I eventually started

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Speaker 1: seeing some movement, which was really amazing. Okay, stop right there,

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Speaker 1: because because this is this is big, this is huge, right.

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Speaker 1: It's funny, actually I was. I was on the phone

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Speaker 1: with a friend one night in the hospital, in the

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Speaker 1: like the hospital bed with you know, the nurses still

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Speaker 1: kind of taking care of me, and I'm always trying

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Speaker 1: to move my legs but nothing ever happens. But they

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Speaker 1: they've told me about this idea of neuroplasticity. If you

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Speaker 1: think about sending the signal to your leg, it can

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Speaker 1: possibly regenerate a pathway or find another way to get there.

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Speaker 1: John was always thinking about it. And then on the

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Speaker 1: phone one night with a friend, I'm looking down and

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Speaker 1: thinking about moving my legs, and all of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, wait, is my foot moving? And I'm I

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Speaker 1: literally told him like, dude, I think my foot's moving,

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Speaker 1: and and it was so small that I all the

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Speaker 1: nurse in just to confirm, and she was like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think it's moving a little bit. And so then

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Speaker 1: I called my parents and who were still literally living

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Speaker 1: at the hospital, and they came in, and this is

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Speaker 1: this is a month after the crash, so it's been

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Speaker 1: a month of zero movement, and so when they came in,

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Speaker 1: we all celebrated, even though obviously it wasn't walking. It

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Speaker 1: was literally one twitch in one part of my lower extremities.

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Speaker 1: We'll take a twitch, right, So that was amazing. It's

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Speaker 1: our first little sign of hope. So as a musician,

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Speaker 1: did you just feel like bursting into song at that moment?

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Speaker 1: And brazen? God, here's where I ended up at a

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Speaker 1: place where I turned off long term thoughts. He was

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Speaker 1: so dark and depressing at the beginning. I had to say,

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Speaker 1: I'm not going to think about a year from now.

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Speaker 1: I'm not even going to think about six months from now.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna focus on today and what the therapists are

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Speaker 1: asking me to do, and I'm gonna just do my

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Speaker 1: best today. So when I saw the first movement, it

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Speaker 1: was great, this happened, It's amazing. But I think that

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Speaker 1: I was also focused on just every day let's keep

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Speaker 1: working and see what happens. And how much longer after

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Speaker 1: that did you? You said you were in the hospital

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Speaker 1: eight months, so you you had to have stayed there

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Speaker 1: quite a bit longer. Yeah, So it was a month

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Speaker 1: and when I had the first movement, and then over

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Speaker 1: the next few weeks, I really started seeing exponential growth,

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Speaker 1: just movement in my right but a few days later,

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Speaker 1: and then a few days later my hamstring could kind

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Speaker 1: of flex, and they had said that there's spinal swelling

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Speaker 1: that goes down. After about eight weeks, I just kept

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Speaker 1: seeing recovery. And when I was in Nashville, I was

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Speaker 1: going to the Audio School. We were thinking about going back,

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Speaker 1: but because I was getting this movement, we decided to

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Speaker 1: be better to actually stay at the Shepherd Center where

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Speaker 1: I was doing my therapy and a program called Beyond Therapy.

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Speaker 1: It's really more like athletic training than therapy. But but

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Speaker 1: they had me the first week, and keep in mind

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Speaker 1: I had a couple of things switching, but they had

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Speaker 1: me on my knees, crawling like a baby. They had

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Speaker 1: me actually on a bicycle with my legs kind of

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Speaker 1: strapped into the pedals and zero resistance um and again

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Speaker 1: all of this is because of the idea of neuroplasticity,

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Speaker 1: the idea that you can possibly regenerate pathways, and so

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Speaker 1: that's what we focused on. And I did that program

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Speaker 1: for the next six months. So yeah, eight months total

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Speaker 1: of therapy, and by the end of that I was

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Speaker 1: actually walking on forearm crushes. Wow. Now where does the

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Speaker 1: young woman sitting in the studio with you? Where does

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Speaker 1: she enter the picture? Ah? She and there's one month

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Speaker 1: before the crash. Actually, you want to tell about it, Christie. Yes.

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Speaker 1: So I was actually in Nashville visiting friends for a

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Speaker 1: wedding and one of the friends I was visiting he

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Speaker 1: was playing in a show and it just so happened

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Speaker 1: that David was also in the band that night, and

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Speaker 1: we all just clicked and um hung out that night

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Speaker 1: and they were just band members. So I actually never

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Speaker 1: heard David sing, but he was such a light it

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Speaker 1: was really uplifting. Um. So then I leave Nashville, I

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Speaker 1: go back to California and I start listening to David's

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Speaker 1: own music and it was so funny because I shared

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Speaker 1: with all my friends and my family and my mom. Actually,

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Speaker 1: after she listened to his album, she said, you need

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Speaker 1: to find a guy that speaks the way that this

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Speaker 1: guy sings. Wait, stop right there, Christie. I felt connected

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Speaker 1: to David through his music, the fact that he's adorable.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, his picture was on the CD I had.

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Speaker 1: He was very cute. We had one moment that night

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Speaker 1: at the at the show where she's like, do you

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Speaker 1: ever put your hair in a man butt? And I'm like, yeah,

258
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Speaker 1: sometimes I put it up, and we kind of looked

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Speaker 1: at each other for just a little bit longer than

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Speaker 1: I was like, no, got me. He can rock the

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Speaker 1: man bun. Wow, thank you. Yeah, Yeah, you're so adorable.

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Speaker 1: I listened to some of those songs and Christie, You're right,

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Speaker 1: he does. He does speak to the heart of people. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so you had met before the accident and then what happened.

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Speaker 1: So then about a month and a half later was

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Speaker 1: when the crash happened, and Gideon our mutual friends. He

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Speaker 1: texts me saying, hey, can you pray for David. He's

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Speaker 1: been in the crash, And my stomach just drops through

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Speaker 1: the floor. And so I called Gideon and he updates me,

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Speaker 1: and I remember that first night so vividly. We just

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Speaker 1: were crying over the phone over David and you know,

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Speaker 1: kind of a little angry at the situation about why him,

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Speaker 1: Like he's such a good person, why does this have

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Speaker 1: to be his fate? And uh, and then I remember thinking,

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Speaker 1: wait a minute, I've met this guy one time. Why

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Speaker 1: am I so affected by it? But it's not like

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Speaker 1: he was one of my good friends or family members.

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Speaker 1: But I think that was the push from God saying, no,

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Speaker 1: you are meant to be connected to this human It's

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Speaker 1: okay to feel so now I have to rewind for

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Speaker 1: a second, because during the time of me listening to

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Speaker 1: his music, I really wanted to reach out and tell

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Speaker 1: him how much it was impacting me. And I knew

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Speaker 1: he was moving to Nashville, so I was going to

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Speaker 1: write a letter, a type of encouragement letter. However, I

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00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:34,680
Speaker 1: never wrote it because I felt like it had come

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Speaker 1: off creepy or weird. Then the crash happened, and then

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Speaker 1: I was regretful. Well, then I started having dreams about

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Speaker 1: words and letters and reaching out to David, and uh,

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Speaker 1: finally I woke up literally at five am in the morning,

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Speaker 1: and I just wrote and I sent. I actually sent

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Speaker 1: two letters. One had the theme of encouraging him in

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Speaker 1: his music, and the other was just trying to encourage

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Speaker 1: him in his new situation. Um, and so I think

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00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:07,520
Speaker 1: he received them well and we still have it, which

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00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:11,479
Speaker 1: is awesome. And what was your response. I was very

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Speaker 1: encouraged and kind of um impressed with this amazing letter

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Speaker 1: from this girl in California. We were kind of in

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Speaker 1: our own spaces, but I would I would watch the

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Speaker 1: social media videos that his parents would post, and Gideon

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Speaker 1: would update me and whatnot. So basically, you were stalking

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Speaker 1: him from California without letting him know that. Absolutely, okay,

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Speaker 1: just just making sure I understand where you're at here.

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Speaker 1: So I had a crazy dream that summer. Again, the

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Speaker 1: first one is about the letters. The second one, I

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Speaker 1: actually had a dream of David walking. And in the dream,

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Speaker 1: David is walking down this path or aisle, and at

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Speaker 1: the end of the aisle, he turns around and I'm

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Speaker 1: at the other end of the aisle, and you can

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Speaker 1: guess that it's a wedding. And I wake up the

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Speaker 1: next day freaking out. I'm like, I just had not

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Speaker 1: only a dream of David walking, but of me marrying David.

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Speaker 1: I've talked to this guy one time, and then finally

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Speaker 1: I get a message from David that he's coming out

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Speaker 1: to California. We have so much more to cover. Let's

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Speaker 1: take a breath and pause for this message. Okay, David,

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Speaker 1: where did we leave off? So I'm coming to California.

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Speaker 1: I first of all, I should just explain I had

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Speaker 1: amazing support from friends, family, and even more than that,

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Speaker 1: the music community. I was invited to the audio school,

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Speaker 1: Blackbird Academy, on a full ride. If you can get

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Speaker 1: back here, we'll build wheelchair ramps for him. Martina McBride

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Speaker 1: and her husband John are actually the owners of the school,

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Speaker 1: and they have an incredible program, an amazing place, and

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Speaker 1: just shows you the kind of people they are over there.

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Speaker 1: But all that to say, another piece of encouragement I

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Speaker 1: got in the music community was from this show called

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Speaker 1: Pintado's Place. It's a TV show on YouTube where they

329
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Speaker 1: interview famous mixers and producers and engineers, the guys behind

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Speaker 1: the scenes in the audio industry. And so one day

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Speaker 1: the Blackbird Academy, Uh, some of our friends, they're actually

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Speaker 1: sent out the video of one of the episodes, and

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Speaker 1: I'm like, oh cool, I love the show. I wonder

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Speaker 1: why they're sending this to me. So we start watching

335
00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:23,800
Speaker 1: it and all of a sudden, they start talking about

336
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,200
Speaker 1: me on their show. Hey, send all your Pensatian powers

337
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:31,680
Speaker 1: to our friend David who was injured in this crash. Um, bro,

338
00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,080
Speaker 1: We're with you, We're gonna support you. Blah blah blah.

339
00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,240
Speaker 1: I was freaking out because like, these are my dudes

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00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:40,920
Speaker 1: that I've been watching for years and trying to learn

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Speaker 1: how to mix through um. And then not only that,

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00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,400
Speaker 1: but then later they reached out directly to my dad

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Speaker 1: and said, hey, we want to have David come out

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Speaker 1: for our awards show in California. Four months after I've

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Speaker 1: been paralyzed in this crash. I'm flying out still, you know,

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Speaker 1: in a wheelchair pretty much full time, UM to California

347
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Speaker 1: to go to this award show called the Pensado Awards.

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Speaker 1: Well it was an amazing event, um, but I guess

349
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Speaker 1: I should explain. When I landed, I'm like, l A,

350
00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,480
Speaker 1: this is so exciting, this is so cool. Wait that

351
00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,040
Speaker 1: chick who sent me that letter doesn't she live here?

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00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:25,240
Speaker 1: Wait a man, at hold on? I remember, yeah exactly.

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00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,080
Speaker 1: I hit her up on Facebook Messenger because I don't

354
00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:31,280
Speaker 1: even have her number, And I say, yo, first of all,

355
00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,760
Speaker 1: been me to thank you for about eternity and for

356
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Speaker 1: for your letter, and second of all, I'm in l

357
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Speaker 1: a are you around? It was so vague and so bad.

358
00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:44,400
Speaker 1: I'm still embarrassed. Um. But and because you already had

359
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:46,760
Speaker 1: her at the man Bun, and because she's already dreamed

360
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Speaker 1: the dream of your wedding. Instead of saying, what a

361
00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:52,879
Speaker 1: rude jerk, You've gone all this time without answering, no, no,

362
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:57,399
Speaker 1: I'm not around, she said. Oh, I was ecstatic. But

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Speaker 1: the ironic thing was, I was actually how of the country.

364
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,199
Speaker 1: I was in Guatemala on a missions trip. I was

365
00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:09,120
Speaker 1: like out of all the time using California, I'm literally

366
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:12,879
Speaker 1: out of the country. However, we realized that I was

367
00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,960
Speaker 1: going to get back late the night before he was

368
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,480
Speaker 1: going to leave, and so we literally had a few

369
00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,040
Speaker 1: hours on a Sunday morning that I could go meet

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Speaker 1: up for coffee. So there was a meet up. I

371
00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:29,000
Speaker 1: was a little nervous because I haven't seen him since

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Speaker 1: that concert back in March, when he was fully able bodied.

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00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,320
Speaker 1: I hadn't seen him in a wheelchair. I didn't know

374
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Speaker 1: exactly how this was going to go. So he is

375
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,399
Speaker 1: rolling out of the hotel and I'm crossing the street

376
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:45,040
Speaker 1: and I kid you not, and he had that his

377
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,040
Speaker 1: hair in a main bun. My first thought was crap,

378
00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:52,760
Speaker 1: I forgot how good looking he was even see the wheelchair.

379
00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:55,600
Speaker 1: I just saw his face. But we hugged and she

380
00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,280
Speaker 1: came in and we just caught up like old friends.

381
00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,359
Speaker 1: It really felt it was crazy, yeah, like and so

382
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,320
Speaker 1: it was great until my dad started inserting himself into

383
00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:09,480
Speaker 1: the conversation and ends up it's her and my dad

384
00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:13,200
Speaker 1: talking and I'm like, what is going on here? I'm

385
00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:15,760
Speaker 1: trying to talk to the girl, and my dad is

386
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,680
Speaker 1: jack the conversation right away from you in the conversation.

387
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,680
Speaker 1: So um. So it's funny now that we look back,

388
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:24,560
Speaker 1: because he actually did turn out to be a wing

389
00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:28,720
Speaker 1: man and invited her to a festival in San Diego

390
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,560
Speaker 1: that we were going to the next month. So anyway,

391
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,760
Speaker 1: a month goes by, but I was in the friend zone,

392
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:38,119
Speaker 1: she was in the resident So we go to this

393
00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:42,600
Speaker 1: music festival and it was pretty pivotal in our friendship.

394
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:46,399
Speaker 1: I would say, uh everyone. For me, first of all,

395
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:50,480
Speaker 1: my eyes were open to the world of the handicapped

396
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,800
Speaker 1: because I would help push David in his wheelchair, and

397
00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,080
Speaker 1: all of a sudden everything was an obstacle. Course, so

398
00:22:57,359 --> 00:22:59,960
Speaker 1: it just really humbled me. And now I'm I'm very

399
00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 1: much hyper aware, and I'm glad for that lesson that

400
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:06,240
Speaker 1: I learned. And of course we get to know each other.

401
00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:10,480
Speaker 1: And one time, luckily David's dad, he snuck away, but

402
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,119
Speaker 1: he came back and took pictures of us behind our backs.

403
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:18,080
Speaker 1: Dad's good. Yeah, he believe when he has a vision

404
00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,920
Speaker 1: for something, he makes it happen. So Dad had already

405
00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:28,719
Speaker 1: started naming the grandkids. He literally texted his wife, Mitsy,

406
00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,080
Speaker 1: my mother in law, a picture of us, and said,

407
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,040
Speaker 1: I think this is David's future wife, Like he knew

408
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,280
Speaker 1: at that moment. So David, everybody's kind of a step

409
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:43,960
Speaker 1: ahead of you. It sounds like, yeah, basically, David, you

410
00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:47,880
Speaker 1: didn't stand a chance. Yeah. So I said something like

411
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:50,000
Speaker 1: I really like you and I look forward to seeing

412
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:53,200
Speaker 1: where this goes, because I didn't know what else to say. Really,

413
00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:56,040
Speaker 1: It's like, I want to tell her that I like her,

414
00:23:56,119 --> 00:24:00,720
Speaker 1: but I also don't know what's next. We started writing

415
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,560
Speaker 1: letters back and forth. So a month goes by from

416
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,680
Speaker 1: after this correspondence, so I actually go out to visit

417
00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:11,520
Speaker 1: him in Nashville and we go to the place where

418
00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:16,600
Speaker 1: we're gonna stay, and David's kind of like weirdly excited

419
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,120
Speaker 1: about I don't know, and I just was like, oh, yeah,

420
00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:21,199
Speaker 1: he's excited that I'm here. But we get to the

421
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:24,639
Speaker 1: airbnb and he finally says, oh, I would love to

422
00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:28,440
Speaker 1: play music for you, and I I'm like, heck yes,

423
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,760
Speaker 1: And then finally he says, well, I should warn you

424
00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:34,840
Speaker 1: this song is about you. And then I was like,

425
00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:38,440
Speaker 1: what one of my favorite songs actually, and you can

426
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,800
Speaker 1: go here it on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, all the things.

427
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,399
Speaker 1: It's called She makes you want to sing? And I

428
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:48,679
Speaker 1: played it for her. She was like so joyful, just smiling,

429
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,520
Speaker 1: beaming the whole time. And you can imagine I was

430
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,439
Speaker 1: a girl who fell in love with his music months

431
00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 1: ago and then here I am listening to this guy

432
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 1: playing a song about me. So that's when we both

433
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 1: kind of knew, okay, like this is definitely something. And

434
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:07,760
Speaker 1: you know, by the end of that trip, I literally

435
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,720
Speaker 1: dropped her off at the airport and cried the entire

436
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:15,040
Speaker 1: thirty minute drive home, just thankful to God. Honestly, like

437
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:19,080
Speaker 1: that he redeemed relationships when I thought there was no hope,

438
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 1: And you know, David will tell people about the redemption

439
00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:26,040
Speaker 1: parts of his story, and one of them is the

440
00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:29,119
Speaker 1: love and the relationships. One of him, obviously is his

441
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:33,640
Speaker 1: physical journey and the journey back to music. But then

442
00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:37,200
Speaker 1: there's also the driver and her redemptive story that we

443
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,600
Speaker 1: might be able to get to too. Tell me, tell me,

444
00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:42,560
Speaker 1: tell me, tell me. Because you shared that she was

445
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:49,320
Speaker 1: an active addict, dabbling mental illness, probably self medicating, yep

446
00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:54,400
Speaker 1: was was so depressed after the crash that she actually overdosed,

447
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:57,400
Speaker 1: trying to kill herself and woke up in the hospital

448
00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 1: kind of like I woke up in the hospital, UM

449
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,320
Speaker 1: with a second chance and said I gotta do something

450
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,359
Speaker 1: about this. UM. So she actually ended up going to

451
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:11,760
Speaker 1: a halfway house, becoming clean, facing our fears. UM. But

452
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,080
Speaker 1: what's crazy is UM and a lot of people, I

453
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 1: guess tell me this is crazy. It felt natural to me,

454
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,000
Speaker 1: is when I woke up and they told me what happened.

455
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:21,960
Speaker 1: I was concerned for her. I was wondering, is she

456
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,800
Speaker 1: going to be okay? If if I had done that

457
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:29,560
Speaker 1: to someone unintentionally, I would be devastated. So tell her

458
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,080
Speaker 1: that I'll be all right, Tell her that I forgive her.

459
00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,320
Speaker 1: Tell her that I'm going to get through this, so

460
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,760
Speaker 1: it's okay. Um, and that was yeah, I think really

461
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:45,119
Speaker 1: powerful for her. Wow. Yeah, so you you fall in love,

462
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,320
Speaker 1: you decide to spend your life together, and then there

463
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:57,280
Speaker 1: is the proposal. Yea, the proposal. I knew. I wanted

464
00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,399
Speaker 1: to try to surprise her and uh don't know how

465
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 1: it was going to happen, But when we were going

466
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:08,879
Speaker 1: to Tennessee, we ended up going kayaking this one day. Um. Secretly,

467
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,679
Speaker 1: I had taken her to coffee earlier that day and

468
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:16,320
Speaker 1: my family had decorated this peninsula and her family, who

469
00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:18,680
Speaker 1: her parents, were in town. My parents were in town

470
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:22,520
Speaker 1: because David had just graduated from the Blackbird Academy program.

471
00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,600
Speaker 1: So it's natural that everyone was there. So I didn't

472
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,160
Speaker 1: think anything of it that both of the families are there,

473
00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:32,160
Speaker 1: I should be suspicious. No, we're just celebrating David, so continue.

474
00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:35,359
Speaker 1: So So anyway, I took her to coffee while they

475
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 1: decorated the peninsula, and then we end up um saying

476
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,800
Speaker 1: all right, we're gonna go kayaking, which was Christie's idea,

477
00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,520
Speaker 1: which made it super easy. So we go kayaking, and

478
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,040
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, we're going by the peninsula and

479
00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 1: I'm like, there's lights on the ground. I'm like, check

480
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 1: that out. That's interesting, and my first spot. I don't

481
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:57,520
Speaker 1: know why, it goes to, oh my gosh, what weird

482
00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,399
Speaker 1: people are having a seance in the forest always be

483
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:07,240
Speaker 1: and I'm not out. I didn't really scared. I'm like,

484
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,840
Speaker 1: keep paddling, keep paddling. What I thought? And David's like, no,

485
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:15,679
Speaker 1: there's no you should go check it out. And I'm like,

486
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,639
Speaker 1: she's seriously going to miss her proposal because she's scared

487
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,720
Speaker 1: of lights in a forest. So then he finally convinced

488
00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:25,560
Speaker 1: me to go over there. He's like, this is where

489
00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:26,920
Speaker 1: I used to play as a kid. I want to

490
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,720
Speaker 1: show it to you, and so I'm like okay. So

491
00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:35,359
Speaker 1: we get closer and there's conveniently this woulden ramp because

492
00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,760
Speaker 1: David is still pretty weak, and so he was able

493
00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,920
Speaker 1: to kind of toss himself on the ramp and go up. Later,

494
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:46,680
Speaker 1: I found out that neighborhood boy and David's dad built

495
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,680
Speaker 1: that ramp just for the proposal because they knew David

496
00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,760
Speaker 1: would need help to get out of it. But yeah,

497
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:55,680
Speaker 1: it was. It was awesome. So then we get off

498
00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:59,280
Speaker 1: of the ramp, and we start walking on this little peninsula.

499
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,840
Speaker 1: But then I see rose pedals and more lights on

500
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:07,040
Speaker 1: the ground and I'm like what, and David I'm like yeah.

501
00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,640
Speaker 1: I'm like, wow, this looks like it was made for

502
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,720
Speaker 1: two people who are madly and left. And then she's

503
00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 1: like what, and I'm like, this looks like it was

504
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,440
Speaker 1: made for us. And then I'm not even kidding you.

505
00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:22,440
Speaker 1: For the next four hours, it seemed like I wept.

506
00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:27,080
Speaker 1: I was beside myself with happy emotional tears. And we

507
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,320
Speaker 1: walked down the peninsula and there's this beautiful heart made

508
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,520
Speaker 1: out of tool and a bench with the roads and

509
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:36,479
Speaker 1: the ringbox, and I'm weeping and we sit on the

510
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,240
Speaker 1: bench and then David was able to transfer from the

511
00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,160
Speaker 1: bench to his knee to propose, which I found out

512
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,520
Speaker 1: later the bench was my mom's idea because he was

513
00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:48,560
Speaker 1: thinking I'll just fall to the ground. And so then

514
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:53,040
Speaker 1: he proposes, and I say, yes, yes, yes, this freaking out.

515
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,400
Speaker 1: This whole videos on YouTube, but yes, and you'll hear

516
00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,160
Speaker 1: me crying. I found my way to you becau as

517
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 1: of that video. That is how I found my way

518
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:10,360
Speaker 1: to you too. Well. After he proposed, then I hear

519
00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:14,120
Speaker 1: a lad explosion and fireworks are going off in the

520
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,560
Speaker 1: middle of the lake. And I love fireworks. I've always

521
00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 1: loved fireworks. I work at Disney now, that's where I dance,

522
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,320
Speaker 1: and you know there's fireworks there. So it's just something

523
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:25,000
Speaker 1: that he knew that I liked. And so the kid

524
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 1: that had also helped at the ramp had also been

525
00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:30,960
Speaker 1: secretly in the lake on a paddle boat and at

526
00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,000
Speaker 1: the right queue, I guess he jumped into the water

527
00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:36,760
Speaker 1: and set off the fireworks that were on the paddle

528
00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 1: boat from the water, like these people are committed. And

529
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:45,240
Speaker 1: so then the fireworks go off, and then John boats

530
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:49,720
Speaker 1: everyone else over, including David's nine year old grandma, who

531
00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:52,920
Speaker 1: was just a matriarch, and she says this beautiful prayer

532
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:56,680
Speaker 1: over us. And the best part was when David's mom

533
00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:01,320
Speaker 1: and David's best friend emerged from the wood. It's in camouflage.

534
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:05,160
Speaker 1: They had been taking video and pictures the whole time,

535
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:08,880
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh my gosh, that's awesome. And

536
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:12,200
Speaker 1: then he moved out to California. When we planned the

537
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:18,000
Speaker 1: wedding and got married February two thousand eighteen, we're meant

538
00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:21,360
Speaker 1: to be a team, and we found purpose together so

539
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,920
Speaker 1: well that and and the man Bun Yes, and the

540
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:28,200
Speaker 1: man Bun started with the man bun. So, so what

541
00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:32,280
Speaker 1: is God doing since since the proposal, since the wedding,

542
00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:37,080
Speaker 1: with the music, with your your producing? Where are you

543
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,360
Speaker 1: guys at today? And you know, the whole purpose of

544
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 1: this podcast is to inspire other people to find that

545
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,640
Speaker 1: gift that they have inside and use it to change

546
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:51,320
Speaker 1: the world for good. The things that have come from

547
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:55,280
Speaker 1: this tragedy just keep getting crazier and crazier. I actually

548
00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,840
Speaker 1: um wrote the book Lion Heart, which we kind of

549
00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:02,320
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, and and an album that goes with it

550
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:06,280
Speaker 1: about the whole journey. Um I had started writing songs

551
00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:08,960
Speaker 1: a month or two into the crash, and she kept

552
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,560
Speaker 1: writing songs and they all kind of had to do

553
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:15,200
Speaker 1: with the journey I had been on, and so an

554
00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 1: album pretty quickly emerged. And then one day a friend

555
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:20,600
Speaker 1: told me, hey, you should write a book, and I

556
00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:23,720
Speaker 1: was like, you know what, Like normally I would just

557
00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,280
Speaker 1: laugh and be like whatever, and you know, you move on,

558
00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 1: but I actually stayed on that for a little bit

559
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:29,880
Speaker 1: and I was like, you know what, I think I'm

560
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:33,360
Speaker 1: going to And it took a year or two, but

561
00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:37,080
Speaker 1: finally I finished, and we got editors to actually make

562
00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:42,400
Speaker 1: me sound coherent. And it's called called Lion Heart, An

563
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:46,000
Speaker 1: Inspiring Story of Love, Forgiveness, and the Power of Music

564
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:50,080
Speaker 1: by David Francisco. So each chapter of the book is

565
00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,040
Speaker 1: a song title, and I was able to structure in

566
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:56,040
Speaker 1: a way to where if you read the chapter and

567
00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:58,520
Speaker 1: then you listen to the song, you'll have more kind

568
00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,239
Speaker 1: of insight into how I wrote it and why, and

569
00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:03,560
Speaker 1: so I think it will be a really interesting experience

570
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:06,920
Speaker 1: for the reader. But not only that, I mean another

571
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,880
Speaker 1: crazy piece that's come into this whole thing to give

572
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:14,000
Speaker 1: me purpose it is I've actually started speaking to high

573
00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:18,480
Speaker 1: schoolers about distracted driving and I share my story. I

574
00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:21,240
Speaker 1: get to play music, and I go around the country

575
00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:24,240
Speaker 1: now and I and I share it and the kids

576
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:28,880
Speaker 1: just love it. It's it's amazing how many positive responses

577
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:31,320
Speaker 1: I've gotten from them, And it really feels like I've

578
00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:35,760
Speaker 1: found something that's really it aligns all of my different

579
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,440
Speaker 1: passions into one thing where I get to communicate through

580
00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:43,120
Speaker 1: music and words and and get to connect with people

581
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:47,560
Speaker 1: all over and so that's another really cool development. Um

582
00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:50,000
Speaker 1: So these days life looks like working on the book

583
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:52,560
Speaker 1: and the album, finishing up the stuff for that, and

584
00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:55,760
Speaker 1: then going on these little week long trips to different

585
00:33:56,040 --> 00:34:00,680
Speaker 1: schools around the country and for you, Christie. So I

586
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,440
Speaker 1: actually get to travel with David quite a bit, which

587
00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:06,760
Speaker 1: is wonderful. We get to sing together, and I'll share

588
00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:09,880
Speaker 1: part of the story as well. I'm so proud of you, guys.

589
00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:14,640
Speaker 1: I'm so happy for you, Thank you, thank you so much. Well,

590
00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:17,840
Speaker 1: good luck and God bless you. From the day of

591
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:22,080
Speaker 1: the crash, with David keeping his faith through therapy and complications,

592
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:26,080
Speaker 1: then embracing the belief that love is what keeps us alive,

593
00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:31,240
Speaker 1: marrying his soul mate Christie thanks to his wingman Dad,

594
00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:35,120
Speaker 1: all these things pointing to the future, a future focused

595
00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:39,680
Speaker 1: on music and redemption. David's book was born. Lion Heart,

596
00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:45,400
Speaker 1: just released befittingly on Valentine's Day February. It just so

597
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:48,200
Speaker 1: happens that Lion Heart is also my book Club Pick

598
00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:51,200
Speaker 1: of the Month for February. You can find out more

599
00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:54,600
Speaker 1: about that at Delilah dot com. Lion Heart is a

600
00:34:54,640 --> 00:34:58,840
Speaker 1: movement with the aim of empowering people to find purpose

601
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:03,800
Speaker 1: in their transit. Go to David's website, David Francisco Music

602
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,520
Speaker 1: dot com David Francisco, f R A, n C I,

603
00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:10,399
Speaker 1: s c O, and order the book and the music CD.

604
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:16,240
Speaker 1: I promise you'll find nothing more impactful, inspiring and downright

605
00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:19,560
Speaker 1: entertaining out there. Thank you for coming along in this

606
00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:22,520
Speaker 1: journey today with us. Join me on the next episode

607
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:37,320
Speaker 1: of Lumsomeone with Delilah