WEBVTT - DAVID FRANCISCO 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:10.080 Hello, my friend, welcome back. Have I got a sweet 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:13.600 treat for you on today's episode? In this podcast, I 0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:18.720 talked to people, ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:23.120 in the hopes that their stories will resonate deep within you, 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:26.840 will jostle something loose that you'll say, Hey, if they 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:30.479 can do that, I can certainly use my gift to 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:34.360 change the world. Whatever this is my guest today are 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:37.080 going to blow you away. After hearing their story, you 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:42.000 are going to realize that absolutely no obstacle, no challenge, 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:50.280 no hardship, no fear is too mighty to overcome. David 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.920 is a bright, talented, handsome young man, full of unbridled 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:57.440 enthusiasm for life and the Lord. He's the kind of 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:01.920 guy folks look at and think, dudes got it all. 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:05.480 And David grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was an 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:09.480 active kid. He loved music, He attended church, he played sports. 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:12.160 He did well in school. He went off to college, 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:17.759 graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, and then went 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:23.280 to start his career. But soon realized music was what 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:25.800 he was really excited about, and so, in one of 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:29.760 his first courageous moves, he quit a job that was 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:34.400 paying the bills and started teaching piano and guitar lessons 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:37.679 and dabbling in music production out of a studio he 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.679 built in his bedroom. And then a few years later, 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:45.240 in April, back in sixteen, he did another courageous thing. 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:50.040 He packed up and he moved to Nashville to attend 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:53.800 the Blackbird Academy. He wanted to become the best music 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:56.880 producer that he could possibly be. He got an apartment, 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.400 he had a few belongings, he had a lot of 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:04.240 enthusism as him, and he had a bicycle. Twenty three 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:11.720 days after he started classes, it happened the unthinkable. David 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:16.040 and his bride, Christie, who plays a very important role 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:19.400 in their story, are with me today to talk about 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:23.359 what true courage looks like, what true faith looks like. 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:26.600 This is gonna be real, it's gonna be raw, it's 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:30.160 gonna be powerful, and I know it's going to inspire 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:33.320 your heart. Before we get into it, though, we need 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:37.120 to first take a moment to thank my podcast sponsor, 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:41.120 the Home Depot. I've been shopping at the Home Depot 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:44.440 for longer than I care to admit, certainly longer than 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:48.000 they've been a sponsor of this podcast or my radio program. 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:51.400 I shot there because I find what I'm looking for 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:55.720 in the garden department, in the paint department. When it's 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:58.200 time for a new appliance in my home. It's my 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:01.000 go to place and it has been for a long 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:06.639 long time. Make the home depot your destination when you 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:10.960 need something for your home. The home depot where doers 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:15.920 get more done. Hi David, Hello Christie, thank you for 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.840 being with us today. You have such an amazing story 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:21.760 to tell. I've given the back story and I'm gonna 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:24.480 let you take it from there. Tell us what happened 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.400 less than a month after making that big move. Yes, 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:32.840 I had been biking through Nashville, loving it, and I 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:36.200 get to the last intersection to my house and I 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:42.680 got t boned at about thirty five by Volvo. Smashed 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:45.800 into the windshield, My head smashed against the top of 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.880 the car. Fortunately, think the lord I had a helmet on. Okay, 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:52.400 stop right there, Stop right there. Kids, young people, if 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.640 you are listening, especially my young people, when Mama Bear 0:03:55.720 --> 0:04:00.280 says where you're dang helmet? This is why, this is why, 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.520 what would have happened had you not listen to your 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:05.160 Mama Bear and didn't have your helmet on. Oh, I 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.840 wouldn't be alive. And it's crazy. Actually, there's a story 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:11.160 behind the helmet that I'll share briefly. Um, I actually 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:13.880 didn't have it in Nashville. I had forgotten it, um, 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:17.120 and it was in my hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. But 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:19.880 just three days before the crash, I was at home, 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.880 driving away from my parents house forgetting it again, and 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.200 the thought just popped in my head. I call it 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:28.880 whatever you want, but I think it was the voice 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:31.400 of God, and it just said, go get the helmet. 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:33.760 I turned around and I got the helmet. And then 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.800 literally three days later I was in this crash that 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:40.560 without the helmet I would have probably died. So did 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.200 the driver just not see the red light? So what 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:47.359 actually happened was she was a a heavy drug user 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:49.640 at the time. We don't know if she was on 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:53.680 drugs when she was driving, but she was hearing voices 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:56.880 in her head off of her bipolar medication, not in 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.640 the right state of mind, and so um, really she 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:02.560 she just said it came out of nowhere and and 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.760 it was a bad choice on her part to drive 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:09.960 that day. So you were hit head into the windshield 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:14.560 and then what happened. I actually don't remember anything from 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:16.640 the crash. This is all just what's been told to me. 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:20.279 But my body apparently went a hundred feet is what 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.920 I was told. Um. I was unconscious, bleeding out from 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:27.960 my arm, which had smashed the windshield, and um, some 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:32.200 people came over prayed over me. Um, and I started 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:34.760 coming to a little bit after someone put a tourniquet 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:38.240 on my arm made out of someone else's belt. God's 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:41.680 angels just coming around and yeah, so somebody at the 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:44.000 scene of the accident had the good sense to say, 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:46.520 oh my gosh, he kind of madejor artery. It looks 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:50.040 like he's bleeding out. Ironically, it was a Jimmy John's 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.560 driver stops the car, leaves the sandwiches in the back 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.599 and just comes over. Turns out she's going to medical 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:59.279 school the next fall, and so she yeah, she knew 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.560 exactly what to do. Saves me from a blood transfusion, 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:05.560 if not just bleeding out. I got to meet her 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:07.920 later and it was what's the name of this hero, 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:11.159 Let's give her and Jimmy John's a shout out, Yeah, 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:15.240 Cecily Hummer, and we still keep in touch. So Cecily 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:19.760 and Angel Sin at the right place at the right time. Yeah, 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.560 all right, so now you're you're awake. No, I don't 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.920 really remember being awake. I'm I am starting to say 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:29.360 I can't move, I can't feel my legs. I can't 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:33.840 move my legs. Um. My first memory actually is after 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:36.400 they had already taken me from the scene to the 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:39.960 hospital and and I wake up in the hospital and 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:43.320 I I realized my parents were there. I didn't realize 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:45.960 they had driven three hours from Knoxville to get there, 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:48.719 so it must have been a while. And I asked, 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:51.400 why are my legs off the bed? And uh, and 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:53.680 they said, well, your legs are on the bed. And 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:55.880 I was like, what do you mean? And I looked 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.440 down and there's my legs sitting on the bed, but 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:00.840 I couldn't feel them. And then I tried to move 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:02.960 them and I couldn't move them. And then the first 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:06.239 moment I really knew something was wrong. And it turns 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:08.840 out that I had had a spinal cord injury, which 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:13.800 basically means you can't control anything or feel anything from 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:15.840 below the point of impact, and mine was at the 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:19.600 l one level, which is mid lower back, so everything 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:23.640 below that point basically has no more function. And that 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:26.920 was definitely the worst of my injuries that day. And 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:31.320 do you remember what went through your head at that moment. 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:34.760 I'm pretty sure I said something like, I guess life 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:37.840 is going to be different. But honestly, it can't really 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.119 hit you a trauma like that. I was on pain 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:46.000 medication and had a severe concussion, and so I don't 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:49.480 think it really hit me in that moment. But over 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:53.680 the next few days and weeks and turned into months, actually, 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:58.760 I really kept learning the new implications of what it 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.720 was going to mean for my life. And what did 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:04.760 the doctors tell you when you were finally healed enough 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.240 and coherent enough to hear what they had to say. 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:12.040 The prognosis after an m R I was, it's so bad, 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:16.600 it's a complete injury. He's never gonna walk again. Neurological 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:20.560 recovery is unlikely, is what they said. So they actually 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:22.840 waited until the next morning to do the surgery to 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:26.160 put eight screws and two rods into my back. Maybe 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:28.440 the next day is when they told me it's a 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:32.880 complete injury. People don't really walk after this. That had 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:37.920 to be the hardest, scariest, most painful thing. Any young man, 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:41.679 any person could hear, any mama could hear. Was your 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:45.360 mom with you when they were sharing this? Well, yes, 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:47.320 I mean I was going through a lot of pain. 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:51.599 But the first few days were probably the hardest for 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:55.840 my family. UM, My mom and dad immediately drove to 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:58.640 Nashville when they heard. They got a call from my 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:00.800 cell phone, but it was a lady at the scene 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.560 of the crash that said I would come if I 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:08.040 was you, which, if you can imagine getting that phone call, Hey, Daves, 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.600 is what my mom said. And then it's this lady's voice, 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.120 and she said it was the worst call you could get. 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.200 But as I started processing it, yeah, I I grieved. 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:20.479 I probably cried every day for the first four months 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:24.040 just because of how much loss I was experiencing and 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:28.040 it was just overwhelming. So how many months were you 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:31.439 in the hospital just learning how to set up and 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:35.600 manage the pain? So a total of eight months in 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:39.680 the hospital, and the first I would say three months 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:44.439 were full time nurses taking care of me, learning how 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:47.199 to live, learning how to get out of bed, learning 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:50.040 how to get dressed, learning how to shower. It's actually 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:53.400 really hard um at first, because you you've got too 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:57.120 deadweights attached to your hips and you got to pull 0:09:57.160 --> 0:10:00.040 them around and they literally don't move. But at of 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.240 the first two months or so of of being full 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:05.880 time nurse is taking care of me being in the hospital, 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:11.559 I started becoming pretty independent, and then I eventually started 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:15.240 seeing some movement, which was really amazing. Okay, stop right there, 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:18.960 because because this is this is big, this is huge, right. 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:21.360 It's funny, actually I was. I was on the phone 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.800 with a friend one night in the hospital, in the 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.520 like the hospital bed with you know, the nurses still 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:29.280 kind of taking care of me, and I'm always trying 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:31.640 to move my legs but nothing ever happens. But they 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:35.679 they've told me about this idea of neuroplasticity. If you 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:39.000 think about sending the signal to your leg, it can 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.440 possibly regenerate a pathway or find another way to get there. 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:46.000 John was always thinking about it. And then on the 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:48.840 phone one night with a friend, I'm looking down and 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:51.600 thinking about moving my legs, and all of a sudden, 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:55.200 I'm like, wait, is my foot moving? And I'm I 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:57.480 literally told him like, dude, I think my foot's moving, 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:00.240 and and it was so small that I all the 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:03.080 nurse in just to confirm, and she was like, yeah, 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.800 I think it's moving a little bit. And so then 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:08.640 I called my parents and who were still literally living 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:11.760 at the hospital, and they came in, and this is 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:13.800 this is a month after the crash, so it's been 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:16.840 a month of zero movement, and so when they came in, 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:20.480 we all celebrated, even though obviously it wasn't walking. It 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:24.240 was literally one twitch in one part of my lower extremities. 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:29.840 We'll take a twitch, right, So that was amazing. It's 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.000 our first little sign of hope. So as a musician, 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:36.080 did you just feel like bursting into song at that moment? 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:39.319 And brazen? God, here's where I ended up at a 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:42.800 place where I turned off long term thoughts. He was 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:47.160 so dark and depressing at the beginning. I had to say, 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:50.640 I'm not going to think about a year from now. 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:52.880 I'm not even going to think about six months from now. 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.439 I'm gonna focus on today and what the therapists are 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:59.000 asking me to do, and I'm gonna just do my 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:02.440 best today. So when I saw the first movement, it 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:07.720 was great, this happened, It's amazing. But I think that 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:11.480 I was also focused on just every day let's keep 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:15.360 working and see what happens. And how much longer after 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:17.280 that did you? You said you were in the hospital 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:19.760 eight months, so you you had to have stayed there 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:23.440 quite a bit longer. Yeah, So it was a month 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:26.080 and when I had the first movement, and then over 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:30.480 the next few weeks, I really started seeing exponential growth, 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:33.240 just movement in my right but a few days later, 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:35.920 and then a few days later my hamstring could kind 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:39.600 of flex, and they had said that there's spinal swelling 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:43.679 that goes down. After about eight weeks, I just kept 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:47.680 seeing recovery. And when I was in Nashville, I was 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:51.000 going to the Audio School. We were thinking about going back, 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.480 but because I was getting this movement, we decided to 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:58.400 be better to actually stay at the Shepherd Center where 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:01.880 I was doing my therapy and a program called Beyond Therapy. 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:05.880 It's really more like athletic training than therapy. But but 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.760 they had me the first week, and keep in mind 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:12.280 I had a couple of things switching, but they had 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:15.560 me on my knees, crawling like a baby. They had 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:18.480 me actually on a bicycle with my legs kind of 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:23.760 strapped into the pedals and zero resistance um and again 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:26.520 all of this is because of the idea of neuroplasticity, 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:29.440 the idea that you can possibly regenerate pathways, and so 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.400 that's what we focused on. And I did that program 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:35.080 for the next six months. So yeah, eight months total 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:38.520 of therapy, and by the end of that I was 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:43.760 actually walking on forearm crushes. Wow. Now where does the 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:47.640 young woman sitting in the studio with you? Where does 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:51.760 she enter the picture? Ah? She and there's one month 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.960 before the crash. Actually, you want to tell about it, Christie. Yes. 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:58.480 So I was actually in Nashville visiting friends for a 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:01.720 wedding and one of the friends I was visiting he 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.920 was playing in a show and it just so happened 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.200 that David was also in the band that night, and 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:10.160 we all just clicked and um hung out that night 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:12.600 and they were just band members. So I actually never 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:16.320 heard David sing, but he was such a light it 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:19.120 was really uplifting. Um. So then I leave Nashville, I 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.400 go back to California and I start listening to David's 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.480 own music and it was so funny because I shared 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:29.000 with all my friends and my family and my mom. Actually, 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:32.320 after she listened to his album, she said, you need 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:34.920 to find a guy that speaks the way that this 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:38.600 guy sings. Wait, stop right there, Christie. I felt connected 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:42.000 to David through his music, the fact that he's adorable. 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:45.760 Oh yeah, his picture was on the CD I had. 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:49.720 He was very cute. We had one moment that night 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:52.360 at the at the show where she's like, do you 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:54.800 ever put your hair in a man butt? And I'm like, yeah, 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:57.040 sometimes I put it up, and we kind of looked 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.400 at each other for just a little bit longer than 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:03.720 I was like, no, got me. He can rock the 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:08.000 man bun. Wow, thank you. Yeah, Yeah, you're so adorable. 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.560 I listened to some of those songs and Christie, You're right, 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:17.360 he does. He does speak to the heart of people. Okay, 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:20.600 so you had met before the accident and then what happened. 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:25.120 So then about a month and a half later was 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:28.520 when the crash happened, and Gideon our mutual friends. He 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:31.600 texts me saying, hey, can you pray for David. He's 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:35.320 been in the crash, And my stomach just drops through 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:38.360 the floor. And so I called Gideon and he updates me, 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:41.240 and I remember that first night so vividly. We just 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:45.520 were crying over the phone over David and you know, 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:50.320 kind of a little angry at the situation about why him, 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.040 Like he's such a good person, why does this have 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:56.560 to be his fate? And uh, and then I remember thinking, 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.520 wait a minute, I've met this guy one time. Why 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.400 am I so affected by it? But it's not like 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:05.080 he was one of my good friends or family members. 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:08.320 But I think that was the push from God saying, no, 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:10.680 you are meant to be connected to this human It's 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:14.480 okay to feel so now I have to rewind for 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:18.640 a second, because during the time of me listening to 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.720 his music, I really wanted to reach out and tell 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:24.720 him how much it was impacting me. And I knew 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:27.480 he was moving to Nashville, so I was going to 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:32.120 write a letter, a type of encouragement letter. However, I 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.680 never wrote it because I felt like it had come 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:39.080 off creepy or weird. Then the crash happened, and then 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:42.840 I was regretful. Well, then I started having dreams about 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:47.560 words and letters and reaching out to David, and uh, 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:50.720 finally I woke up literally at five am in the morning, 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.640 and I just wrote and I sent. I actually sent 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:56.920 two letters. One had the theme of encouraging him in 0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:01.400 his music, and the other was just trying to encourage 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:05.120 him in his new situation. Um, and so I think 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:07.520 he received them well and we still have it, which 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:11.479 is awesome. And what was your response. I was very 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:16.400 encouraged and kind of um impressed with this amazing letter 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:19.119 from this girl in California. We were kind of in 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:21.320 our own spaces, but I would I would watch the 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:25.159 social media videos that his parents would post, and Gideon 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.399 would update me and whatnot. So basically, you were stalking 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.679 him from California without letting him know that. Absolutely, okay, 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:34.520 just just making sure I understand where you're at here. 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:39.639 So I had a crazy dream that summer. Again, the 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:41.960 first one is about the letters. The second one, I 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:45.440 actually had a dream of David walking. And in the dream, 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:49.520 David is walking down this path or aisle, and at 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.080 the end of the aisle, he turns around and I'm 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:54.240 at the other end of the aisle, and you can 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:58.399 guess that it's a wedding. And I wake up the 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:01.399 next day freaking out. I'm like, I just had not 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:04.840 only a dream of David walking, but of me marrying David. 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:08.440 I've talked to this guy one time, and then finally 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:10.600 I get a message from David that he's coming out 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.960 to California. We have so much more to cover. Let's 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:18.280 take a breath and pause for this message. Okay, David, 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:21.800 where did we leave off? So I'm coming to California. 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.400 I first of all, I should just explain I had 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:29.159 amazing support from friends, family, and even more than that, 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:33.399 the music community. I was invited to the audio school, 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:37.120 Blackbird Academy, on a full ride. If you can get 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:41.159 back here, we'll build wheelchair ramps for him. Martina McBride 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:44.080 and her husband John are actually the owners of the school, 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:48.960 and they have an incredible program, an amazing place, and 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:51.400 just shows you the kind of people they are over there. 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:55.720 But all that to say, another piece of encouragement I 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.920 got in the music community was from this show called 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:02.919 Pintado's Place. It's a TV show on YouTube where they 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:08.000 interview famous mixers and producers and engineers, the guys behind 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.639 the scenes in the audio industry. And so one day 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:14.840 the Blackbird Academy, Uh, some of our friends, they're actually 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:17.040 sent out the video of one of the episodes, and 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:18.880 I'm like, oh cool, I love the show. I wonder 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:21.320 why they're sending this to me. So we start watching 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.800 it and all of a sudden, they start talking about 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:27.200 me on their show. Hey, send all your Pensatian powers 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:31.680 to our friend David who was injured in this crash. Um, bro, 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:35.080 We're with you, We're gonna support you. Blah blah blah. 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:38.240 I was freaking out because like, these are my dudes 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:40.920 that I've been watching for years and trying to learn 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:44.199 how to mix through um. And then not only that, 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:47.400 but then later they reached out directly to my dad 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:50.240 and said, hey, we want to have David come out 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:54.040 for our awards show in California. Four months after I've 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:57.760 been paralyzed in this crash. I'm flying out still, you know, 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:01.720 in a wheelchair pretty much full time, UM to California 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:04.400 to go to this award show called the Pensado Awards. 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:08.800 Well it was an amazing event, um, but I guess 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:11.800 I should explain. When I landed, I'm like, l A, 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:15.480 this is so exciting, this is so cool. Wait that 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:18.040 chick who sent me that letter doesn't she live here? 0:20:18.800 --> 0:20:25.240 Wait a man, at hold on? I remember, yeah exactly. 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:28.080 I hit her up on Facebook Messenger because I don't 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:31.280 even have her number, And I say, yo, first of all, 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:34.760 been me to thank you for about eternity and for 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:36.680 for your letter, and second of all, I'm in l 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:40.000 a are you around? It was so vague and so bad. 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:44.400 I'm still embarrassed. Um. But and because you already had 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:46.760 her at the man Bun, and because she's already dreamed 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:49.159 the dream of your wedding. Instead of saying, what a 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:52.879 rude jerk, You've gone all this time without answering, no, no, 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:57.399 I'm not around, she said. Oh, I was ecstatic. But 0:20:57.480 --> 0:21:00.720 the ironic thing was, I was actually how of the country. 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:05.199 I was in Guatemala on a missions trip. I was 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:09.120 like out of all the time using California, I'm literally 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:12.879 out of the country. However, we realized that I was 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:15.960 going to get back late the night before he was 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:18.480 going to leave, and so we literally had a few 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:21.040 hours on a Sunday morning that I could go meet 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:25.280 up for coffee. So there was a meet up. I 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:29.000 was a little nervous because I haven't seen him since 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:33.800 that concert back in March, when he was fully able bodied. 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:36.320 I hadn't seen him in a wheelchair. I didn't know 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:39.480 exactly how this was going to go. So he is 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:42.399 rolling out of the hotel and I'm crossing the street 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:45.040 and I kid you not, and he had that his 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:48.040 hair in a main bun. My first thought was crap, 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:52.760 I forgot how good looking he was even see the wheelchair. 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:55.600 I just saw his face. But we hugged and she 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:58.280 came in and we just caught up like old friends. 0:21:58.400 --> 0:22:01.359 It really felt it was crazy, yeah, like and so 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:05.320 it was great until my dad started inserting himself into 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:09.480 the conversation and ends up it's her and my dad 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:13.200 talking and I'm like, what is going on here? I'm 0:22:13.240 --> 0:22:15.760 trying to talk to the girl, and my dad is 0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:19.680 jack the conversation right away from you in the conversation. 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:22.680 So um. So it's funny now that we look back, 0:22:22.720 --> 0:22:24.560 because he actually did turn out to be a wing 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:28.720 man and invited her to a festival in San Diego 0:22:28.800 --> 0:22:31.560 that we were going to the next month. So anyway, 0:22:31.840 --> 0:22:34.760 a month goes by, but I was in the friend zone, 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:38.119 she was in the resident So we go to this 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:42.600 music festival and it was pretty pivotal in our friendship. 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:46.399 I would say, uh everyone. For me, first of all, 0:22:46.720 --> 0:22:50.480 my eyes were open to the world of the handicapped 0:22:50.520 --> 0:22:53.800 because I would help push David in his wheelchair, and 0:22:53.880 --> 0:22:57.080 all of a sudden everything was an obstacle. Course, so 0:22:57.359 --> 0:22:59.960 it just really humbled me. And now I'm I'm very 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:02.800 much hyper aware, and I'm glad for that lesson that 0:23:02.840 --> 0:23:06.240 I learned. And of course we get to know each other. 0:23:06.480 --> 0:23:10.480