An Army of Normal Folks - Enrique: I’m Giving Back To St. Jude For What They Gave To Us (Pt 2)

Episode Date: September 26, 2023

Enrique’s 3-year-old daughter Arianna was diagnosed with an incredibly rare brain cancer and they were told that she would never turn 4. Arianna was then accepted as a patient by St. Jude, the leading childhood cancer hospital where families don’t pay a dime, and they gave her an additional 4 years of life. Enrique is so grateful to St. Jude that he’s now working for their awareness and fundraising organization. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, it's Bill Courtney with an Army of Normal Folks and we continue with part 2 of our conversation within RIKA right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. What is this place? Wait, why my handcuffs? What am I doing here? 13 days of Halloween Penance Season 4 of the award-winning horror fiction podcast presented in immersive 3D audio Where am I?

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I truly believe had we not came to St. Jude, we wouldn't have anything past that date. Ariana came here. We got here August 2nd, 2009. She had a second brain surgery, August 10th, and then she started treatment. She had four months, or she had 31 radiation treatments. She had a month break, four months of high dose

chemotherapy with stem cell transplant. I assume this is after removing the tumor. Yeah, and so, you know, fast forward, she does her treatment, 31 radiation treatments, four high dose chemotherapies, March 31st of 2010. I'm sorry, what does that, you said high dose chemotherapy? What does that do to a three-year-old? It's tough. It was seven days. You know, the problem is we get to sensitize to the word chemotherapy. We are so used to people having cancer and hearing about radiation and chemotherapy and let's face it, people live and die with cancer all day, every day around our world. And we've got prince cancer awareness and all this other stuff, which is great.

But the problem is, I think we talk about it so routinely, we get to sensitize to just how devastating it is. And so I'm thinking about a three-year-old taking what you're calling high-dose chemotherapy. I don't want to get to go to a test. And I want to, I would, I would do nothing but honor your daughter's life. But tell us what that looks like and feels like from a parent's point of view. Uh, I mean, it's tough. You know, it's your three-year-old and she's lost weight. You know, you don't see it at the moment. I think it's crazy now for us to, like, look back at pictures and see, like, how skinny

she truly was. But, you know, her treatment was, again, the high-d dose chemo was her getting slammed with different, a cocktail of different chemotherapies for five days, straight here in the Chili's Care Center. And she'd get a day break and then the seventh day they'd give her her stem cells back, because you had to resuscitate her body. And that was the only way to do it. But I mean, the chemo was so toxic that anytime we were around her, we always had to recessitate her body and that was the only way to do it But I mean the chemo was so toxic that any time we were around her we always had to wear gloves I mean when she peed it burned her when she peed It was which means she was crying mm-hmm and she was in pain. Yeah

And you can't even touch your child with your bare hands. No, you're not supposed to but you know as a parent. You don't care. But still. Yeah. The point is I mean we hear okay, how does chemotherapy? We're talking about a three-year-old child who's in pain, sad, scared, burns when she pees, and parents just pleading for their daughter to recover. It's horrific.

Yeah. But you know, she goes through the treatment and March 31st of 2010, she's declared cancer-free, which was something we never expected to hear. Cancer-free. Cancer-free. Literally, it's out of her body. She's beat it. So now we're moving to... And she's four now. Or almost. She's about of her body. She's beat it. So now we're moving to and she's four now or almost about to be four. So she turns four a week after April 8th. We were on our make a wish.

Pretty nice birthday present for her fourth birthday. We were on our make a wish trip at Disney World. And that was the goal, right? The treatment. That was the goal to get her to her make a wish on her birthday. So she could go to Disney. treatment, that was the goal to get her to her make a wish on her birthday. So she could go to Disney? Cause she wanted to spend her birthday at Cinderella's castle. That's what she would always say. And so yeah, so she beats it. We try and get our life back on track back to normal. You know, I go back to work and maybe in the Navy, we stayed here.

And I don't have to worry about anything and even the Millington base, they gave me that year off anyway. So I got a whole year off to just worry about Ariana. I didn't go back to work to after her make a wish. But anyway, sorry, I just can't so free March 31, 2010, we go on her make a wish. Unfortunately, in July of 2011, is when the relapse comes. So, if the diagnosis and the diagnosis was grim the first time around, it's even worse the second time around. So at that point, now we're looking at the possibility is that it's a genetic disposition and she can't fight off that cancer. So now even here at St. Jude, we're looking at how can we extend her life best with Dr. Gajar. Now we're sitting and talking how can we extend her life.

So this is in July of 2011 and even Dr. Gajar tells us like, hey, you know, I'm not sure she'll be here for the holidays like we need to, you guys need to do everything you can with her while you have her. So December comes in rolls, you know, comes and goes, February rolls around. Now she's two months past this expiration date that we've set. And Dr. Gajar comes to us and says,

Hey, I have this experimental chemo that we can try. Ariana will be the first ATRT patient at Saint-U to receive it. So we give it to her and it shrinks the tumor by 90%. Which is not something that we at all expected. She's still not curable. It's still, you know, it's still, now we're still playing the extension game. But now we've bought her even more time, right? And Ariana again, she's the first ATRT patient to receive it. And thanks to this drug, we got an extra three years from that date, from that relapse date. So Ariana did not pass away until March of 2014,

two weeks shy of her eighth birthday. And thanks to donors and supporters like you, there was so many different things that afforded to us. Like, we were able to figure out while we were moving from Japan, where we were going to live, which was at the target house, until we bought a house. And we were fed. My other daughter was taken care of because we didn't have to worry about anything. During

treatment, those five years, anytime Ariana felt well enough, we always asked her like, what do you want to do? You want to go to a Paso Phoenix, or you want to go to Disney World. And because we didn't have to pay for treatment. You could afford to go to Disney World. So Ariana passed away again, two weeks shy of eight. She had been to a Disney park 13 times. Wow. So she had been a Disney, my wife and I were talking about this last night.

So she had been a Disney world in Orlando nine times. And she had been to Tokyo Disney three times and then the Anaheim Disney ones. So Ariana and Olivia had been to Tokyo Disney three times and then the Anaheim Disney once. So Ariana and Olivia have been to Disney more than your average adult, right? So you're still in the Navy. And now you work for Saint Jude. How'd that happen? So, when Ariana passed in 2014, I don't know, it's hard to tell.

I mean, if you walk around the campus and meet families, it's really weird how Saint Jude draws everybody in. It's a... Stop for a second on that. It's really weird how Saint Jude draws people in here. We talked about when you were in San Antonio and I, you know, besides the prognosis and everything, you know, the family sick, the kids sick physically, but the families emotionally sit. They're sick to their stomachs or sad.

And it dawns on me walking through this campus that this place heals families too, because of what you just said. Explain that how, quote, this place draws people in. I think, I mean, I think you touched on it earlier. It's the sense of community that you have here, right? So when I was telling you about Ariana's diagnosis, you said, you didn't have a community to lean on. We didn't find that community. So we got to st. Jude. And, you know, because now here, you have other families that are being treated for ATRT or brain tumors, right?

So now you're meeting people and you're understanding what they're going through and what you're going through. And there's people that you can communicate on the same level with. And now you have a treatment team that is doing everything possible for you and your kid. You know, those those first two weeks here, I remember when we first got here,

my wife would walk around because you're stressed out and I can I can walk through that hospital right now and point out who the new families are, right? Because you see it in their face. And I just remember thinking like me and my wife would joke around and we'd say, dude, they're spraying pros at through these vents. Because like, why is everyone laughing? And why is everyone smiling? Why are these kids having a good time? There's kids dying around here. Why is everybody so happy? Exactly. And you don't understand that until you become a saint you'd family. Because, and the reason that is is because every other stress and burden is lifted off your back. The only thing that you have to worry about is keeping a smile on your kid's face. Right? They're treating her and they're paying for you and they're treating her and they're even giving you extra money

for you to worry about your housing and your food. So there is other than the fact that your kid has cancer, there is nothing else that you're having to worry about, but that. You know, the antithesis to what you said is, you said, I can walk around here and I can tell the new family's immediately about the look on their face. I bet you can also walk around here and tell the families who have had the St. Jude

experience also about the look on their face. That's kind of beautiful. this place is treating the whole family and you experience that. We'll be right back. What is this place? Wait, why my handcuffed? What am I doing here? 13 days of Halloween Penance. Season 4 of the award-winning horror fiction podcast presented in immersive 3D audio. Where am I?

Why, this is the Pendleton. All residents, please return to your habitations. Light stuff on your feet. You're new here, so I'll say it once. No talking. Starring Natalie Morales of Parks and Recreation and Dead to Me. Am I under arrest? We know what can use that word.

Can I leave of my own free will? Not at this time. So this is a prison then? No. It's a rehabilitation center. Premiering October 19th, ending Halloween. I'm gonna get out. And how may I ask, or are you going to do that?

Escape. Listen to 13 days of Halloween on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is In Retrospect, a podcast about pop culture from the 80s and 90s that shaped us. I'm very much a product of the pop culture I consumed. Yeah. And I don't think that's a bad thing. I'm Jessica Bennett, a New York Times writer and bestselling author.

I'm Susie Bette-Keram, an award winning TV producer and filmmaker. Every week, we'll revisit a moment in cultural history that we just can't stop thinking about. From tabloid headlines to illicit student teacher relationships, and one, very memorable red swimsuits. I found myself in Pamela Anderson's attic, as you do. I put that red swimsuit in a safe

because it seemed everybody wanted it. We're digging deep to better understand with these moments taught us about the world and our place in it. I want you to really smell the axe body spray that emanated during this time. It was presented more as kind of like a crime topic. Okay.

And that's not a lie. It's not a love story. It had been branded on the uteruses of every single woman from C to shining C. Listen to In Retrospect on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Danielle Moody here from Wokey F Daily. As we head into 2024, let me be your go-to guide for unpacking the election chaos. Bench this season of Wokey F Daily to hear me and my gallery of guests examine America's

decline into dysfunction. 150 episodes are waiting for you right now to dive into conversations with dozens of expert guests that are sure to keep you woke. Whether it's labor strikes, climate change, public health, gun violence, book bans, attacks on America's marginalized populations, or the literal trials and tribulations of Donald Trump, Woke If Daily is your place to catch up on this year's biggest stories. WokeF Daily is your destination to hear my unfiltered thoughts about everything going on in America, with a mustard seed of hope for better tomorrow. All 150 episodes are available for you to dive into

right now. Listen to all of WokeF Daily on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. So how come you work here? What happened? How the Navy becomes St. Jude for you? So we used to do a lot of speaking opportunities that they would, you know, like this. They would invite us to share our story. And Ariana was, so I worked on the patient family outreach team for a long time, which

is the team at Alseq. Alseq is the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude. So the patient family outreach team is the team that goes into the hospital and finds the families and want to share their stories. So we used to share a story a little time. That was my actual job at LSEC. But before that, I was always tied in with that team sharing our story. So what ended up happening is Ariana and again, I was saying that I was part

of the patient family outreach team because I didn't realize, you don't realize how hard it is to find families that one are willing to share their story comfortably. Two, you gotta have the kids that are willing. And then Ariana was, our family was military. So we, you know, we can tell the story in many different ways and I'm bilingual.

So that's hard to find. And Ariana was one of those. So Ariana was being asked to do a lot of different things. Spanish commercials, commercials that are targeted towards military, you know, things like that. So we were always sharing our story and one time I was at a dinner with Mr. Shadyak who's the CEO of LSAC and he told me right before it was right before Ariana relapsed. I remember he told me he's like, Hey, why don't you come work

over here? So this was 2011 and I was like, you know, at that time I was a lifer for the Navy. I wanted my 20 retire. Get your retirement? Yeah, and then just like, buy a farm somewhere in a toka and chill out. And maybe your kids would ask you out to party with them one day? One day, you know. It's a generational thing, possibly. Help them fail out of school.

Ha ha ha ha ha. So he, yeah, in 2011, he put this crazy idea in my head, like, hey, maybe you should come work over here. And I didn't want to. And, you know, as I told you, I failed at a school twice. I was in a school guy. I joined the military because the school was just not for me. But it did get me thinking in 2011, like, what am I going to do when all this is over?

Like the Navy. Like, what, I don't want to keep working for the government. So I registered myself for school, June of 2011, what school? Online. It was like Colorado University. What kind of school? So I signed up for my associates just to get like, so you had to have that? It was just, it got me thinking for life after the Navy. Got it. So you're thinking when the Navy's over, I need to have something to fall. So you went ahead and said, I'm a doing online associate's degree.

Right, because every, every else's that you look at, the majority of them require a degree. So I knew that I was gonna need something if this is what I wanted to do. So in June of 2011, I registered to get my associates. Ariana relapses in July of 2011. So but now I'm on the military's dime. So I can't pull out a school where I got to pay for it and I can't fail out. So I keep going, I get my associates all while Ariana's getting treatment. And I'm like, saying that bad. So I continue doing it. I get my bachelors. I get a, that's not bad.

Yeah, I get a, I get a business degree into my bachelors in, in marketing and international business. And this is, in the middle of our honest treatment, I think I have finals the week that she dies. Yes, because I graduated in May. She passed away in March. And I remember I had finals, got

my bachelor's and then now I have a year and a half left in the Navy. So I'm like, I might as well just go for my masters. It's only a year and a half program. So now I'm thinking like the Navy's paying for this, right? So I get my masters, I get a masters in marketing. And now I feel like I can come work at Elsec and I feel like I earned it, right? It wasn't just because Mr. Shady act the CEO told me to come get a job here. It was because now I'm prepared, right? Not only are we a St. Jude family and I can understand that scope, but I've put myself through school and now I feel like I belong here because everyone else had to do what I did, right?

Sure, Dad's so off. Yeah. He's so proud. He's got to be. He is, but he can't like get it out without crying. It's hard. I love that. And that's great. He is. And, uh, I mean, he sent you off to ASU and you partied like it was 1999 and came home and was sleeping till noon. And now you've got a master's in a working at the premier children's research hospital in the world. And you know what?

That's our honest legacy. It is. So now, I can't roll her out here and tell you that she's junior or senior in high school. But our honest legacy lives on through whatever it is that I do at St. Jude, right? Giving tours and sharing our story. Let's talk about that community a little bit. I've read something. You've got to forgive me because I'm not the greatest note-taker in the world,

but your family became close family friends to another family with another child being treated. And I think his leg had to be removed. And Mark. Mark. What? Mark. Mark.

Mark. Mark. Mark. Tell us about what you did with Mark. Before that happened the night before. I love that story. Yeah. did with Marquel before that happened the night before. I love that story. Yeah. So with Marquel, um, Ariana was still alive during this time. So again, this is when I'm going to school for my bachelor's and I'm still. But it's about the community, right? Yeah,

it is. You wouldn't know Marquel and your families. I don't know if you came from the same place or not. But there's this connection through this thing. Your families are going through called cancer and your children and your children become friends as a result of it. Your families and all of that. That's part of the community, part of the healing process for everyone, right? Yeah. During that time, you know, we met Markel.

I was in school. So I was juggling school, Ariana's treatment, and the Navy, like I was doing all three, and then still maintaining a household, right? So all four. But I remember it was finals week, and Markel is their stain at Tridelta, which was the grizzly house back then. But he're staying at Tried Delta,

which was the grizzly house back then. But he's staying at Tried Delta house and about to have surgery, the next day to amputate his leg. And I remember he calls me. How old? Markel had to have been like 12 or 13. Again, we hear the world childhood cancer and I feel like we drive past it like it's a fender bender because we're just used to hearing it. A 12 year old kid, hey, we're going to have

to amputate your leg. Yeah, and I remember, I remember he called me and he was like, what you're doing, man? I was like, nothing dude. Just sitting here doing homework. You know, and he was like, what you doing man, I was like nothing dude, just sitting here doing homework, you know? And he's like, he's like, hey, you know, I used to always come get him and take him to Popeyes. He used to love Popeyes. Like and Popeyes coincidentally was all the way by my house.

It's only because Popeyes is the best chicken on earth. Yeah, uh, fat, we'll shelf that conversation. But... And Kozy Corner has great barbecue. And Popeyes chicken, the spicy chicken, the And cozy corner has great barbecue and Popeyes chicken the spicy chicken I love the chicken breast with the mashed potatoes and gravy and their their spicy coleslaw Man, they have the best jalapeno peppers on something. What they do have the best jalapeno peppers in town How about you peppers? Yeah, you know, they're crunchy chicken. They're crunchy. Take that stuff back to El Paso bro

We're about chicken. They're crunching. Take that stuff back to El Paso bro. We're talking about chicken right now. They're good for a chain. Yes. They're fantastic. And you used to take them to pop up. So I always pick them up. Like I was basically a Uber at that time. And you know, he, he, I had let 13 year old best friend at that time. It was like, I want to go to a gris game.

I would take them to a gris game. And he, uh, so yeah, he calls me after their appointment and he's like, hey, dude, what you doing? I'm sitting here doing homework. You know, I'm slammed with homework. And he's like, hey, we come get me and I'm like, he's not, dude, he's like, I just want to play basketball. He's like, hold it. You can't, you stop, pause. What do you think of when you hear that, dude? You've got to, it's time to take your breath away.

Yeah, I mean, you drop what you're doing and you go play basketball. I get that part. I'm talking about what you feel. I mean, it feels like a gut punch. Even now, talking about it, it's hard not to get emotional or just feel that pit in your stomach, you know?

It's a 12 year old kid. Mm-hmm. A teenager. So how long did you play basketball? Till the sun went down. Yeah, I mean the basketball court still there. It's the court next to the tried out to house. We just sat out there and played one-on-one and shot what was his cancer? He had osteosarcoma. What does that mean? It's a cancer of the bones but you know again the whole community thing I mean it

what was he from Louisiana and his mom was here with him I guess his mom works here now too is what his mom works here now too you might want on your podcast are you kidding me I not, she's right upstairs. Did he make it? He did not. How old was he? He passed away when he was 17 or 18, yeah. But his life was much longer given us time here and he got to play basketball with his buddy.

Yeah, Markelle was, you know, just talking about community. It's, I think everything I do, I carry so many of these names that we met along the way, right? Markel being one, I mean, I have him tattooed on my arm. He, Markel was just a kid that was larger than life. You know, he was an amazing kid. Um, you know, talking about that moment, right? And I think all St. Jude's, all, all St. Jude kids carry that about them.

It's like they can carry the worst news possible and take it and stride. And it's because of the people they're surrounded by and the treatment teams that they're surrounded by that gives them that confidence, I feel like. And hope and hope. And Marquel was just, he, I mean, I loved hanging out with him. He was like, I said, he'd call me and be like, dude, I want some Popeyes. And I'd have to come kid him and take him to Popeyes. And so I remember, so here's the first time I met Marquelle. Okay. So the first time we met Marquelle was in New York City, we were there for the

Thanksgiving celebration on the today show, which I'm sure you've seen. It's the week of Thanksgiving. They have a St. Jude family on every week or every day, right? So we happened to be there the week that they were there. We were the two families that were chosen. And I remember him walking around Times Square and then we did our thing and we ran up and saw each other at the hotel again after he had walked around Times Square and I was like, his mom comes up to us and tells us he's like, dude, we ran into Tracy Morgan.

You know? And I was like, that's cool. You know? And he's like, he's super nice. He was like chatting with us. And I was like, cool, but Marquels, you know, a little bit further away. So when Marquels comes up, first thing I tell him,

like, dude, I heard you met Tracy Morgan. He's like, I didn't meet Tracy Morgan. He's like, I don't need Tracy Morgan. He's like, Tracy Morgan met me. And that was just the kind of kid that Mark L. was, right? And I mean, he was just a great kid. And that's just one more example of how Enrique is a member of the army of normal folks. Here is Juggling a ton.

His daughter is battling brain cancer. He's going to college. He's a husband and a father, and yet he makes the time to serve another kid battling cancer. It's remarkable, and his service of others continues after the break. What is this place? Wait, why my handcuffed? What am I doing here? 13 days of Halloween, Penance. Season 4 of the award-winning horror fiction podcast presented in immersive 3D audio. Where am I?

Why, this is the Pendleton. All residents, please return to your habitations. Light stuff on your feet! You're new here, so I'll say it once. No talking. Starring Natalie Morales of Parks and Recreation and Dead To Me. Am I under arrest? We don't like to use that word.

Can I leave of my own free will? Not at this time. So this is a prison name? No. It's a rehabilitation center. Premiering October 19th, ending Halloween. I'm going to get out. And how may I ask for you going to do that?

Escape. Listen to 13 days of Halloween on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is In Retrospect, a podcast about pop culture from the 80s and 90s that shaped us. I'm very much a product of the pop culture I consumed. Yeah. And I don't think that's a bad thing. I'm Jessica Bennett, a New York Times writer and bestselling author. I'm Susie Bette-Karim, an award-winning TV producer and filmmaker. Every week, we'll revisit a moment in cultural history that we just can't stop

thinking about. From tabloid headlines to illicit student teacher relationships and one very memorable red swimsuit. I found myself in Pamela Anderson's attic as you do. I put that red swimsuit in a safe because it seemed everybody wanted it. We're digging deep to better understand with these moments taught us about the world and our place in it. I want you to really smell the axe body spray that emanated during this time. It was presented more as kind of like a crime topic.

Okay, and that's not a love story. Not a love story. It had been branded on the uteruses of every single woman from C to shining C. Listen to In Retrospect on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Danielle Moody here from Wokey F Daily. As we head into 2024, let me be your go-to guide for unpacking the election chaos. Bench this season of Woke AF Daily to hear me and my gallery of guests examine America's decline into dysfunction. 150 episodes are waiting for you right now to dive into conversations with

dozens of expert guests that are sure to keep you woke. Whether it's labor strikes, climate change, public health, gun violence, book bans, attacks on America's marginalized populations, or the literal trials and tribulations of Donald Trump, Woke If Daily is your place to catch up on this year's biggest stories. Woke If Daily is your destination to hear my unfiltered thoughts about everything going on in America, with a mustard seed of hope for better tomorrow. All 150 episodes are available for you to dive into us the story of the eight acts of random kindness for the eight years your daughter was on this earth.

Tell me about that. Yeah, so as I said, Ariana passed away two weeks shy of her eighth birthday. We got to, we celebrated her eighth birthday. And one of the cool things was, so we did her birthday party like, last few days in March. We had a piñata for her, because she's Mexican. So we had a piñata at our party.

Mexican, I had pi pinatas for my kids. Yeah, but it's our culture. Come on, dude. Yeah, everybody likes pinatas. So we had a pinata for her. I mean, do you like cheeseburgers? They're not Mexican. Good grief. Whatever. Okay. Go ahead. Yeah, I'll explore this off air.

But she, uh, so we had a pinata for her. She ended up not feeling well. And she had to go lay down. So she essentially missed her eighth birthday party. So us and our head, we saved a piñata for her because it was for her. And I remember when she woke up after the party, she looked at us and the first thing she said was, to jailbreak the piñata. And we were like, no, you know, we thought that you should break it. It's your birthday.

And she started crying because she was upset that the kids didn't get to break the piñata and have fun. Her friends didn't get to. Yeah. And so sweet. So she was always like that. She was always thinking about others.

And even when she was in treatment at the hospital, if she see kids not having a good time or often the corner by themselves not wanting to play, she always tried to pull those kids in. So she was always extremely kind and thoughtful. So again, she passed away two weeks after eighth birthday but we gave her eight. So when she did pass March 31st of 2014, we were just in a whirlwind of emotions and not knowing what to do. Completely understandable. You know, just kind of lost in our grief. We didn't want to celebrate a night birthday on April 8th

because she wasn't here with us anymore. I mean, we had just had her funeral. So we decided my wife and one of her best friends were just chatting through things on what to do on her Ariana's birthday that they came up with wanting to do eight random max of kindness on Ariana's birthday, one act for each year that she lived that we had her. And now we do that every year since that day. What do you do? We just go around and find people. Just not at St. Jude, but anywhere.

All over, yeah. I mean, Walmart, wherever. I mean, we've put bags together for new families at Target House. I've paid for people's meals, took in homeless people, food, clothes, anything we can think of. We try and just spend that day. Just literally really random kindness to just honor your daughter's legacy, right? That's it. Yeah.

We, uh, anywhere. We spend that day just being kind of people and telling people about Ariana, not necessarily being kind, but like, we always have a, like, a little bookmark that we share with people. And we say, and this is why we're, this is why we're doing it. And then it has like Ariana's little story. Um, so, but we feel like this is something that we should do because the first year, um, you know, I went to work the ninth, the next day, and I was still in the Navy.

And on the drive home, my wife tells me she's like, hey, will you pick me a Starbucks drink or whatever? She gets teased. She doesn't get coffee. She gets those fancy teas But you know, she always has text me the order because I don't remember what it's like you know It's dead of water that you got to use apple juice and blah blah blah, right? So I remember I remember the ninth the ninth I'm driving home This was after the first year that we did that I'm driving home and

This is my military cheap self thinking, right? There's a Starbucks right above my house that if you're in uniform, they won't charge you. So I'm like, I'm stopping at that Starbucks. So anyway, I pull up through the drive-through and she's like, hey, you know, you know, I'm trying to pay, because I always try and pay no matter what. So I'm trying to pay. And the lady's like, no, it's on the house.

We got it. And I'm like, you know, I'm like, why? And she's like, well, she's a, she's also, I didn't work yesterday, but someone came in and did an act of kindness and they asked that we pay it forward. And here's a bookmark.

And it was for this little girl, Ariana. And you know, this is why I'm doing it. And I chose you. And I was like, well, thank you so much. You know, and did you tell her? No, I didn't. You did not even say that's my daughter. But it came full circle. It came full circle. I told my wife and she broke down and cried

But I felt like I'm about to break down and cry if I would have told that poor little teenager She lost it she would she would I don't think she would have been able to work. Did you not ball on the way home? I've always been really good at compartmentalizing Everything that we've experienced and really good at compartmentalizing everything that we've experienced. I mean, even now people always say, like, I don't understand how you don't get emotional

talking about Ariana, but... Tears do not mean you're not emotional, it's where your motion is put. Right. But okay, I guess I can contain that really well, but yeah, we've had can contain that really well, but But yeah, it had to have hit you in your core it did when the woman in Starbucks gives you a coffee and Hends you the bookmark. Oh, there wasn't much conversation and had no idea and said Here and it's about your own daughter

Your daughter's legacy coming right back through a drive-through window of Starbucks and eating in the face. Yeah, I just thanked her and drove off and called my wife immediately. It made us feel like that's what we needed to do every year because that was the first year. So I don't know the exact statistics, and I know you probably do, so correct me or help me,

but, 30 years ago, if a child got cancer, one out of five survived it, about 20%. And now, because of St. Jude and the amazing research they do and the experimental stuff they do, I think it's four out of five. It's about 80%. It helped me with those numbers. Is that close to right?

What is it? So in 1962, when St. Jude opened its stores. Okay, 62. So that's 38, 50, almost 60 years now. Mm-hmm. So in 1962, when Danny Thomas started first fundraising, if you look at, if you go into the pavilion and you look at pictures of like The original fundraisers at Danny would do you see a lot of them where they're talking about childhood leukemia

So his goal at that point was childhood leukemia leukemia survival rate in 1962 was 4% how much 4% 4 so it was a decent a Today Thanks to all the research and all the treatments that St. Judith has helped develop thanks to donors and supporters and all their donations The survival rate for child the most common form of childhood leukemia is 94% So that's you know It's night and day. It's completely different than it was when Danny Thomas

started this organization. And overall, not even just childhood leukemia, but all kinds of cancers. All right, 80% now. 80% survive worry. Against an 80% death rate. What's it feel like to be part of an organization that is doing that for humanity?

Um, I mean, it's the most fulfilling job I've ever had. It's, uh, it's great to know that I don't know. So the way I look at it is, I feel like you said, right? Just normal guys make amazing organizations, right? And I think these normal guys are impacted by something in their life. So a lot of these foundations and a lot of these organizations are created and founded because something impacted that person. After what we've been through with Ariana

and everything that I learned and everything that we experienced with Ariana, the way I look at it is when it's all said and done for me when I'm done being here. I want my kids to know that I did everything I possibly could learning from the experience that we lived with Ariana. And I gave back to everything that gave to us. So the way I look at it is I've dedicated my career to the organization that gave us so much hope and so much care for my daughter that gave us an extra five years that we wouldn't have got elsewhere.

And I will forever feel indebted to St. Jude for that. that gave us an extra five years that we wouldn't have got elsewhere. And I will forever feel indebted to St. Jude for that. You know, our podcast is an army of normal folks, and we talk to a lot of normal folks who have started extraordinary organizations or become involved in extraordinary organizations. And you know, your story is so fitting because you're a normal guy and you know your parents are blue collar workers and you you found a way to get in the Navy and you get married, you have two kids, and your life is on its way, and you're interrupted by a devastating news for your daughter.

And you continue to serve in the military, and then you figure out how to get your masters after failing twice in your younger years. And now you end up working at the very hospital that gave your daughter hope and kids from families that are so much like yours. And I guess if you're part of that end of St. Jude, your whole goal is to continue to still the

story of St. Jude and what it meant to your family and families like yours and why it isn't so important that people across the world support this place. Yeah, I mean, it's an amazing organization. And one of the things I always say when I get to speak at radio thons, because radio thons, they always shoot for the $20 a month, like to partner and hope, right? And one of the things I always say when they're like, what do you have to tell our donors or our listeners?

I think $20 a month is amazing to be able to donate, right? It's not unattainable. It's easy. That's three Starbucks cups a day, right? It's a 16 piece bucket at Popeyes. That's $19.90. Yeah, easy, right? So you can do that, right? You can, you can leave the bucket at Popeyes one time a month. And for $20 a month, I mean, you're, you're ensuring that these doors stay open. So I look at it more as an insurance policy, right? Because you never know when you're gonna need a place like Saint Jude.

It might be for your kid. It might be for your neighbor's kid. It might be for your niece or your nephew. But one day someone that you know or that that's touched your life is gonna need these doors to be open. And then $20 a day ensures, or $20 a month ensures that those doors are open.

So guys, let's ensure St. Jude's doors always stay open. And together, we can get one step closer to the day when no child dies from cancer. Once again, if you're interested in joining us in this mission, go to www.sayjood.org, backslashnormalfokes. I'm Bill Courtney. I'll see you next week.

13 days of Halloween Penance Season 4 of the award-winning horror fiction podcast presented in immersive 3D audio. If I am under arrest, you have to tell me what I'm charged with. Starring Natalie Morales of Parks and Recreation and Dead To Me. Please, you've been some kind of mistake. I'm not supposed to be here. How do you know? I'm innocent.

Are any of us truly innocent? Premiering October 19th, ending Halloween. Listen to 13 days of Halloween on the IHART radio app Apple podcasts over wherever you get your podcasts. There's a place beyond this place. For some it's a bridge between the living and the dead. For some, it's a bridge between the living and the dead. Yet for others, it's something else entirely. Welcome to Hip Hop Horror Stories. I'm your host, Belly. And each week, we're going to take you to the limits of your imagination

as we explore the reality of paranormal experiences. This is Belly. Listen to Hip Hop Horror Stories on the High Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. or wherever you get your podcast. Sometimes the pop culture we love just teens hits differently in retrospect. Maybe it's a tabloid story we couldn't get enough of or an illicit student teacher relationship on our favorite show. We're Suzy Bannockerim and Jessica Bennett,

posts of the new podcast in retrospect, where each week we'll revisit a cultural moment from the past that shaped us and probably you to try to understand what it taught us about the world and our place in it. You're the most important part of the world to be able to see the world. We're the most important part of the probably you to try to understand what it taught us about the world and our place in it. You're the first person that I've talked to about this for years and years. Listen to In Retrospect on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you find your favorite shows.