An Army of Normal Folks - Gaby Laurent: Adopting A Baby Withdrawing From Opioids (Pt 2)

Episode Date: September 24, 2024

Right after surviving a life and death battle with cancer, while pregnant, Gaby and her husband decided to adopt a baby that was experiencing withdrawal from opioids in their mother’s womb. Her story that’s chronicled in her new book “Wrinkles Welcome” is an extraordinary one of perseverance, love, and forgiveness.  Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, it's Bill Courtney with An Army in Normal, folks, and we continue now with part two of our conversation with Gabby Laremp, right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. We think of Franklin as the doddering dude flying a kite in the rain, but those experiments are the most important scientific discoveries of the time. I'm Evan Ratliff. Last season, we tackled the ingenuity of Elon Musk with biographer Walter Isaacson. This time, we're diving into the story of Benjamin Franklin, another genius who's desperate

to be dusted off from history. His media empire makes him the most successful self-made business person in America. I mean, he was never early to bed and early to rise type person. He's enormously famous. Women start wearing their hair in what was called a coiffure à la Franklin,

and who's more relevant now than ever. The only other person who could have possibly been the first president would have been Benjamin Franklin. But he's too old and wants Washington to do it. Listen to On Benjamin Franklin with Walter Isaacson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre.

It doesn't get more Mexican than this. Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha libre is a type of storytelling, it's a dance, it's tradition, it's culture. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12 episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of lucha libre. And I'm your host Santos Escobar, the emperor of lucha libre and a WWE superstar. Join me as we learn more about the history behind this spectacular sport from its inception in the United States to how it became a global symbol of Mexican culture.

We'll learn more about some of the most iconic heroes in the United States to how it became a global symbol of Mexican culture. We'll learn more about some of the most iconic heroes in the ring. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask as part of my cultura podcast network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from?

Like what's the history behind bacon-wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria. Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejon. Our podcast, Hungry for History, is back. Season two, season two. Are we recording, are we good? Oh, we push record, right? And this season we're taking a bigger bite

out of the most delicious food and its history. Seeing that the most popular cocktail is the Margarita, followed by the Mojito from Cuba, and the Piñuco Lada from Puerto Rico. So all of these things we think Latin culture. There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey that dates back to the ninth century BC. BC?

I didn't realize how old the hot dog was. Listen to Hungry for History as part of the My Kultura podcast network, available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. After 80 years of learning his wildfire prevention tips, Smokey Bear lives within us all. Learn more at SmokeyBear.com and remember, only you can prevent wildfires. Brought to you by the USDA Forest Service, your state forester and the Ad Council. What's up, y'all? This is Questlove, and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast I've been working on. prevent wildfires. Brought to you by the USDA Forest Service, your state forester and the Ad Council. Sup y'all, this is Questlove, and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast

I've been working on with the Story Pirates and John Glickman called Historical Records. It's a family-friendly podcast. Yeah, you heard that right. A podcast for all ages. One you can listen to and enjoy with your kids, starting on September 27th. I'm going to toss it over to the host of Historical Records,

Nimini, to tell you all about it. Make sure you check it out. Hey, y'all. Nimini here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. Flash slam, another one gone. Flash slam, another one gone.

Fast bam, another one gone. The cracker, the bat, and another one gone. A tip, but a cap, cause another one gone. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15 year old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing.

Check it! Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to historical records starting on September 27th on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So you go through this craziness. Yes. You survive it. Survive. It's like it's like one in a million kind of miracle thing that both you and Lewis are now healthy and everything else and you decide you know why don't we just go adopt also

let's just add some more flavor to this life of ours. I've only been pregnant one time in my life. And that one time I also had cancer. So I was not taking that chance again. Do you think the pregnancy spurred the cancer? Well, no one can tell me this, but when you are making a baby, you make a lot more blood in your body. So maybe there's a chance that there was some kind

of dormant situation going on in my body and as my body was making more blood to make the baby, maybe it sparked it. What about stressors also? Because stressors can be part of that too. Yeah. Well, yeah. Okay. So you're thinking... Not doing that again. Not doing that again. We had always wanted to adopt. That was always in our plan. Really? Both of you? Yes. We both in college had worked in children's homes in Guatemala and in Costa Rica because

we went to this small university where they were very into short-term mission trips. So orphan care was always a big thing for us. And we just thought, hey always we always wanted to adopt let's just start the process so our kids can be closer in age yeah so we started the adoption process as soon as we could and about two years after you realize that's kind of crazy does that sound crazy a little bit nuts you a near- death experience for both you and your child. Seven months of all of that. You're having to probably restart life now.

And you just decide, hey, let's go get a kid. I guess on the one hand that's crazy, on the other hand, when you've truly contemplated and stared death in the face, I guess you just wanna get on with life too. Yeah, yeah. I mean, right? Right, you wanna move forward.

We were young, I was 26 when I had Lewis. By the time we brought Jack home, I was 30. I mean, that's young. Yeah, it is. It's not even midlife yet. You know, we're ready to get back was 30. I mean that's young. Yeah, it's not even midlife yet You know, we're ready to get back to normal. Yeah, it was crazy. We were like that's we kind of come compartmentalize it That's that's them. This is them. We're now we're new we're made whole we're ready to just take our family Okay, so here in lies where first of all your whole

That whole thing is just insane but We've often talked about you don't have to be part of some big 501c3 to be part of the Army or normal folks. You can serve right in your community. And I can't imagine a greater face of service than adopting. Because often kids that don't get adopted as infants end up in foster care and everything else. So you're making a life for someone who didn't ask to be brought into this world a much better life than what the other trajectory has a high likelihood would

be. So awesome. Good for you. So, awesome, good for you. So, y'all decide to adopt. Yes. And tell me how that went. Okay, so it was, you know, I thought after having been pregnant with cancer that things couldn't get harder. What could be harder or even difficult? Everything else should be downhill, right?

Right. So we start- Smooth sailing. Smooth sailing, yeah. So we start the process and I'm green. I'm green to the world. You know, I grew up in a small town, so loved. Nothing really bad ever happened to me.

Like just so safe. My whole life had been safe. And we start this process and I realize there are a lot of people in the world who did not have that. And that was a stark reality for me. And it just made me so thankful for my parents that they protected me and loved me. And that's the best gift to be given. Which is what you're given a child when you adopt them.

Exactly. So in knowing that we have that love to give, you have to, you know? So we start the process with a private Christian organization that they really care for birth moms and take care of them and give them everything they need and help them find a placement for their baby or they can choose to keep the baby and not place it if they want to. It's up to them. It's a really neat organization. Bethany Christian Services is the name of it. And so basically it's like one way online dating. Like you make a profile like online and the perspective birth moms,

they get to look through all these families and say, okay, this family already has kids, I like that. Or, this family doesn't have kids, I want my kid to be an only child. You know, they get to make these decisions, it's wonderful. So you're presenting yourself to the birth mothers so that they can actually try to choose the birth, what they feel like would be the best path for their child.

Yes. Oh, that's interesting. I like that actually, that's pretty cool. So- It's gotta make it easier for a birth mother to give up a child when they feel like they're doing the best they can for their child. Yeah, there's power in that choice.

Yeah, right. I get it. Yeah, so we make this book, we put you know, put all these like, we love being outside and talked about how I was a survivor of cancer and gives us this fervor for life and this family wants to meet us. We go to meet this family and that's the only family we ever met. One couple, they chose us and I didn't understand right away what was happening but we were able to be together a couple of times and I was able to go to her doctor's appointment with her to be able to see the baby on the sonogram and

kind of have that experience and it's adoption is this really mysterious thing where you feel connected to that baby even though it's not inside your body. I get that but when you just said what you said I also can't help but wonder, is it? Wow, I gotta be careful here. I wanna choose this right. And I don't mean, I really mean this as a question. Please hear me, it's curiosity. How does that birth mother feel?

Sitting there pregnant, looking at her baby on a sonogram, accompanied by the woman, who is going to now take, raise, love. That has to be challenging maybe. Yeah. But the idea of it is for this family, there is no world where they would get to keep that baby. What was their background in problem? So addiction, homelessness, just vicious cycles that they could not get out of.

And there was no way that they would be able to, if they didn't connect with this agency, DCS would take the baby from birth and place it in foster care. And that's how that would go. So that's terrific in and of itself. So this was a beautiful thing for them because they were getting to choose us. I get it. Okay, so that, I get it. And so they were completely aware of that reality as well.

This baby's going away one way or another, at least this way we have control over hopefully a better future for our child than we're able to do and that we had as children ourselves probably. Yes, they were seeing that. They were seeing our love. They were seeing our care for our Lewis and they wanted that for their son. She said the name she had picked out was Jackson and we said, that's great. We love it.

So we call it, his name's Jackson but we call it Jackson. So you even allowed her to name. Yeah. Good for you. Yeah. Good for you. That's great. We love it. So we call it his name is Jackson. But we can't even allow her to name. Yeah. Good for you. Yeah. Good for you. That's awesome. So you, you go to the sonograms and see what's going on with the baby. It feels good. Um, eventually we get the call that it's, it's time. I'm going to go to the hospital. Hold on. I got, I'm sorry. I'm going to, I'm behind you a step. So I'm catching up. So my slow

brain is just getting up to you. Then you know this child, this woman has done drugs and stuff while pregnant. There are inherent risks and danger in the developmental possibilities and deficiencies for this child. Are you wide-eyed to that at this point? At that point, yes. I was like, this is happening. The term for this is NAS. I know the previous guest you had, I don't think she ever mentioned that, but

we use the term NAS. It stands for neonatal abstinence syndrome. So this is- You're talking about the syndrome. Yes. So this is kind of the umbrella term that covers any child that's exposed to opioids and utero. And there's not a ton of research on that either.

And we had this feeling in our heart that... So you're willingly adopting a child that might be messed up. Yeah. He needs a home somehow. Why? Why wouldn't you want, this is a little rhetorical,

but why wouldn't you want a baby that you know is gonna have all 10 fingers, all 10 toes, and no problems? Wouldn't that be easier? You never know what's gonna happen and we already had gone through this experience of Lewis exposed to chemotherapy and in that moment we knew there's gonna be some similarities when we adopt a baby like we had this feeling in our heart. We knew that that was always going to come. And you were not deterred. We're ready.

And it was really hard. He, like you have, I mean, I could not believe when that episode dropped. Cause now you know, you know what these babies go through They are born and they're gonna have to detox like an adult so he was born I was in the room and It I'd are your hospital at children's in Knoxville They had to build a whole wing of the hospital for these babies because there's so many. Because they were at a dip, it's gotten so big. So bad there.

So they get their own room. It was really fun listening to that. They have their own room so they can control for noise and light and they have huddlers, like these little old liches. So they are doing a lot of it. They are doing a lot of the same. They have figured out that, to recap, in case you haven't listened to the Terra Sundem episode is in a very brief

deal, what we're talking about here now is best described as think of the worst migraine times 100 is what withdrawals from opioids feel like. And a child born to an opioid addicted mom, the child the first 24 hours or 36 hours out is fine. Not screaming, none of that because they're still addicted. Then when they start the withdrawals, these little two-day-old infants are having migraines times a hundred and light and noise and everything. They are literally going through the same withdrawals a grown adult does. This is their introduction to the world and it takes sometimes weeks for these brand new newborn children who never did anything wrong to get over the addiction that their mother caused them. And so you experience that as a mom, as an adoptive mother. Yes. So we were having some photos. A friend came and took photos of him and it was in that photo session.

My husband had his hand on him for a photo and he felt it. The tremors start and he was just shaking. His little body was just shaking. And we told the nurse and they said, it's time. I mean, they have a whole process. They know what to do. You know, we're, you know, we're there just so green to it. We don't know what's happening. But you knew this was going to happen or at least knew the possibilities? We figured that it would, but also it's our first rodeo, so we don't know what's happening.

We don't know what that actually looks like. Yes. So they, from the hospital where he was born, there's a tunnel where you go under a street to Children's Hospital that's across the street. So they said, meet us over there, we'll take him. And got checked into this little suite room and I would stay all day and I would hold him and I would cuddle him and we weren't gonna leave him, you know? Like, he needed us there with him. A lot of adoptive families choose to not be involved until the birth of the parents'

rights are terminated, but we could not handle the idea of him being alone there. So I would be there during the day, and then Joseph would come from work and we would switch out and he would sleep there to get him all of his bottles during the night. And then we would switch back in the morning and he would go to work and I would come be with Jack. And my parents were with Lewis at our house and we did that for two weeks. And then he finally so they weaned him off the thing. And she talked about that day's morphine to wean him off of all the things he'd been exposed to. And then we just had access to so much

early intervention. People came to our house. They taught us how to take care of him. I had to replicate the NICU in our home. Like I made a room really dark and had a rocking chair in there and I would put Louis on an iPad because I needed to be able to care for Jack and him not be screaming and stuff. So, you know, you do what you have to do to get through. And took him to therapy. You know, we did. We've just. I think that my army of normal folks, my family, my people that were holding me up,

gave me what I needed to be able to care for both of my boys. I mean, I got a master's in school counseling, you know, like I was ready to take care of my boys. We'll be right back. We think of Franklin as the doddering dude flying a kite in the rain, but those experiments are the most important scientific discoveries of the time. I'm Evan Ratliff.

Last season, we tackled the ingenuity of Elon Musk with biographer Walter Isaacson. This time, we're diving into the story of Benjamin Franklin, another genius who's desperate to be dusted off from history. His media empire makes him the most successful self-made business person in America. I mean, he was never early to bed and early to rise type person. He's enormously famous. Women start wearing their hair in what was called a coiffure a la Franklin. And who's more relevant now than ever. The only other person who could have possibly been the first president would have been called the Cuefor a la Franklin. And who's more relevant now than ever.

The only other person who could have possibly been the first president would have been Benjamin Franklin. But he's too old and wants Washington to do it. Listen to On Benjamin Franklin with Walter Isaacson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this.

Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance. Its tradition is culture. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12 episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of lucha libre. And I'm your host Santos Escobar, the emperor of lucha libre and a WWE superstar. Join me as we learn more about

the history behind this spectacular sport from its inception in the United States to how it became a global symbol of Mexican culture. We'll learn more about some of the most iconic heroes in the ring. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask as part of my cultura podcast network on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? Like what's the history behind bacon-wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria.

Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejón. Our podcast, Hungry for History, is back. Season two, season two. Are we recording? Are we good? Oh, we push record, right? And this season, we're taking a bigger bite out of the most delicious food and its history.

Seeing that the most popular cocktail is the Margarita, followed by the Mojito from Cuba and the piñacolada from Puerto Rico. So all of these things we have, we thank Latin culture. There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey that dates back to the 9th century B.C. B.C.? I didn't realize how old the hot dog was.

Listen to Hungry for History as part of the My Kultura podcast network, available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's 4 a.m. Monday, and you're literally sucking baby snot through a tube because she's congested. Man, that's love. And if you love her that much, love her enough to make sure she's buckled in the right car seat. To make sure your child's in the right seat for their age and size, visit nhtsa.gov slash the right seat. Show them you love them. Keep them safe. Visit nhtsa.gov slash the right seat. Brought to you by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Ad Council. So y'all this is Questlove and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast I've been working on

with the Story Pirates and John Glickman called Historical Records. It's a family-friendly podcast. Yeah, you heard that right. A podcast for all ages. One you can listen to and enjoy with your kids starting on September 27th. I'm going to toss it over to the host of Historical Records, Nimini, to tell you all about it. Make sure you check it out.

Hey, y'all, Nimini here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. Flash slam, another one gone. Bash bam, another one gone. The cracker, the bat, and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone.

Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15 year old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know?

I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was Claudette Colvin. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, tuning in to historical records because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to historical records starting on September 27th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So, I'm going to read something from your book about this time.

He'd been exposed, Jackie, been exposed to various substances in your row and once he was born he had to detox himself, which we're talking about now. He did not know a life without drugs. We held him in Niku as he detoxed. Here's what we haven't talked about. The hate in my heart for his birth mom, Anna, just grew and grew. And I think it grew because I really needed someone to blame for the pain that Jack had to go through

and for the difficulties that would come his way in life. I wasn't even sure what was coming, but I just knew someone really needed to take the blame. Jack's infant months were difficult. He could not have any external stimuli, especially when he was eating or he wouldn't even be able to eat. So we just had to swaddle him tight and feed him in a dark room so that he could get his calories.

We had just made it through the baby months. He was about a year old and we got a call. It was from the adoption agency. They said that Jack's first mom was in the hospital. They asked if I wanted to go visit and I did. I went to visit once and she asked me if I could come back again. And she asked me, this is the person that you hated. And she asked me if I could bring her a Bible so that she could understand. And she asked me if I could bring her a Bible so that she could understand. And I brought her in the Jesus Storybook Bible the next time and read to her a little bit from the New Testament.

About a week later, Jack's birth mom died and it had actually been cancer that killed her. And it was really that full circle moment, as you can imagine for me having been a cancer survivor and then Jack's birth mom dying for cancer. Did you quit Hayden? Sorry, what? Did you quit Hayden? I had to. It was, it was her cancer diagnosis was just this normalization. And I say a control, alt, delete. You forget about everything else and you know that she's in this terrible pain

and something that our family knew. And it just really, it just broke me. You know, it was breaking time for me because I don't wanna hate anyone. I don't wanna have to hold on to hate, especially the person who held my son in her body for nine months. And I was holding on to all this,

and maybe I needed to at that time because he was dealing with things that no baby should have to deal with. And in my heart previously I'd felt like it's all her fault. If she wouldn't have made these choices he wouldn't have been exposed to these things and he could have the best life possible because who knows what's gonna happen in the future know, at that time when he's just struggling even to eat. And when I got that call and then she passed away, it was like this shift in my brain. And I just thought about the naughtiness of human life and how we all are facing these battles and we all have these things and issues that we deal with.

And I really did not have a concept of addiction at all. I've never been around anyone who's just bad and bad people did it. Yeah, I didn't know anything. And the more I learned and dug into it, and especially like your podcast, learning how all these people have all these aces, those adverse childhood experiences up against them. They didn't have what I had, you know. They were fighting their own battle and when I started writing my memoir, I mean even more my mind shifted because I had never made the connection until I was writing my memoir. She and I did the same thing.

This is the part that when you wrote me, hammered me and it made me tear up. We both exposed our babies to toxins and substances that no baby should come into contact with. It was the only way for both of us to survive. contact with, but it was the only way for both of us to survive. I could have chosen to not expose Louis. That was a choice that I made.

And I'm here today because of it, but that was a choice I made. And she was making choices that she needed to make for her survival. That is profound and gut wrenching simultaneously. And we have to remember what Tara taught us, which is there's a lot of people that get exposed to opioids in the medical world. But you have to have a predisposition toward addiction to take hold of your life. And in this case, it did. She was sick. She had an addiction sickness that was no different than your cancer. And you arrived at that conclusion actually writing about it.

Yes. I had never made that connection. So what does writing about it do for you and what do you want the reader reading about this to understand about this evolution of thought and the revelation of this understanding? I, I want people, first of all, I had to like forgive myself for the previous thoughts that I had had. You still tear up when you say it, have you? I have, I had to, I had to forgive myself for the feelings that I had of hate for her in my heart when he was struggling so hard because I was a mama bear.

I mean you don't want someone to hurt your child. And if you have a thought of someone who's hurt your child, you're going to have negative thoughts about that person. Boy, Lisa would. I guarantee you. And then I had to come to terms with, boy, that was also me. And that's like, that's the gospel. You know, like that was me.

I was that person. I put Lewis in a harmful situation. Some people would say, yeah, but you got cancer. You didn't do, you didn't engage in activity that led to it. What's the answer to that? Because I think I know, but I wanna hear you say it. I think that addiction is a disease.

And I don't know everything about Jack's birth mom, but I'm pretty sure that she was in foster care, and it was just this cycle that would continue. And she couldn't get out of it. And everybody- She didn't choose that trauma. She did not that trauma, no more than you chose cancer. No. And we both did what we had to do.

When she found out that she was pregnant, Jack's birth mom, her pain medicine doctors, they said, you must continue taking everything that you're taking because if you stop taking anything, this baby will die in utero because they are used to it. They need help to detox when they're on the outside and they can't do it in utero. And the things that she was taking that he was exposed to are the types of things that are made to keep people alive, just like chemo.

They're the drugs that you can't overdose on that help people who have suffered with the opioid crisis. So wrinkles welcome a cancer survivor's memoir. Wrinkles welcome. Yeah. What's that about? You don't have wrinkles I want them because you know what it means bad wrinkles on my face I'm alive tell me about the the crisis is the best word I can come to it It came to you in May of 2022

When the MD Anderson Cancer Center released an article that sent you into a tailspin Okay. So like I said before the statistics on AML survivors are just They didn't apply to me. So I didn't have to think about them. MD Anderson decided, well, there's not any research on young adult survivors of leukemia, specifically AML. So they did all this research and their findings were that 10 years out from completing your

chemo and everything you have to do- Which was what date for you? Hasn't even happened yet. Happened in April 7th. Sorry, is my date. This coming April will be 10 years. So 10 years out from finishing treatment. One in 10 will die.

That is not a good statistic. And I was really scared and I was really hurt because I thought, oh, we've made it through this. Every year it goes by. I'm further from all of that. And I'm just going to... because previously I had asked my oncologist, this is a weird question, but like, what's my life expectancy? It's not a weird question. It is exactly what I would be thinking. I would be. I absolutely would be. And they said, just normal. What anybody else's would be.

And I was like, okay, great. I'm thinking. And then MD Anderson drops a study on you two years ago. Yeah, and I'm thinking, that's not good. I don you two years ago. Yeah, and I'm thinking that's not good I don't like those numbers. I don't like those odds and my doctors have been fibbing Well, they didn't know nobody knew because I know it's kind of getting there. But yeah, so False research is what you gotta feel. Yeah, I'm just thinking oh that changes things That really really changes things for me. And the place where I really landed was in many conversations with many trusted, wisdom-filled people that

you and I, all we have is today. We're on the same playing field. It doesn't matter what happened nine years ago for either one of us That even scripture tells us like don't worry about tomorrow have today and this is it and That is how I've had to Move forward in life is understanding that this is the day that I have right now And I hope that tomorrow comes. I really do but right now this is it. We'll be right back. We think of Franklin as the dodginging dude flying a kite in the rain, but those experiments

are the most important scientific discoveries of the time. I'm Evan Ratliff. Last season, we tackled the ingenuity of Elon Musk with biographer Walter Isaacson. This time, we're diving into the story of Benjamin Franklin, another genius who's desperate to be dusted off from history. His media empire makes him the most successful self-made business person in America. I mean, he was never early to bed and early to rise type person. He's enormously famous. Women start wearing their hair in what was called a coiffure à la Franklin.

And who's more relevant now than ever. The only other person who could have possibly been the first president would have been Benjamin Franklin. But he's too old and wants Washington to do it. Listen to On Benjamin Franklin with Walter Isaacson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from?

And like what's the history behind bacon wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria. Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejon. Our podcast, Hungry for History, is back. Season two, season two. Are we recording? Are we good? Oh, we push record, right? Okay.

And this season, we're taking a bigger bite out of the most delicious food and its history. Saying that the most popular cocktail is the Margarita, followed by the Mojito from Cuba, and the piñucola from Puerto Rico. So all of these we thank Latin culture. There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey that dates back to the ninth century BC.

BC? I didn't realize how old the hot dog was. Listen to Hungry for History as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre.

It doesn't get more Mexican than this. Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance. Its tradition is culture. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12 episode podcast in both English and Spanish

about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host Santos Escobar, the emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Santos! Join me as we learn more about the history behind this spectacular sport from its inception in the United States to how it became a global symbol of Mexican culture. We'll learn more about some of the most iconic heroes in the ring. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask as part of my cultura podcast network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts.

Smokey the bear. Then you know why Smokey tells you when he sees you passing through remember, please be careful It's the least that you can do After 80 years of learning his wildfire prevention tips Smokey bear lives within us all learn more at Smokey bear.com and remember Only you can prevent wildfires brought to you by the Forest Service, your state forester and the Ad Council. What's up, y'all? This is Questlove, and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast I've been working on with the Story Pirates and John Glickman called Historical Records.

It's a family-friendly podcast. Yeah, you heard that right. A podcast for all ages. One you can listen to and enjoy with your kids starting on September 27th. I'm going to toss it over to the host of Historical Records, Nimny, to tell you all about it. Make sure you check it out. Hey, y'all. Nimny here.

I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. Flash slam, another one gone. Bash bam, another one gone. The cracker, the bat, and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure

from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And if you came with me, did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, he was Claudette Colvin.

Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records starting on September 27th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tell me about Jack today. Jack is so, so special. He, his brain is not like anyone else's I've ever met. He is more aware of where his body is in the world than anyone else.

Like he can run down a mountain and not fall down. Like he'll probably be in the Olympics. Is he that athletic really? He's so athletic. Really, that's cool. Yeah. How old is he? He's six.

Okay, so he can run down a mountain, he's gonna be in the Olympic down mountain running thing. Yes, yeah, they're gonna create a sport for him. Right. But he just started kindergarten, and he can write his name, and he knows his numbers, and he's just jogging right along, full of energy. Is he developing properly?

He is. Full of energy, though. A second miracle. A second miracle. In writing this memoir, I had doubts about what to share, as this is such a sensitive and difficult subject. However, this is our true story. Our is Jack, Louis... And Joseph.

What's that? Joseph. Jack, Louis, Joseph, Gabby. Yeah. This is our true story. This is how our Sunside Jack came to our lives. This is one example of how adoption happened and how our lives were forever changed by Anna and Dustin choosing us to be Jack's forever family. It's also a story about how Lewis oddly saved your life, Which the irony to me is that in some sense you could argue that Lewis saved you, which

allowed you to save Jack. Yes. And the reason why I know, the reason why I made it through having had cancer while I was pregnant was because of my parents. And it just, it goes on and I write about this and I use this phrase all the time. It's from a Christmas song, but repeat the sounding joy. Because there's so many people around me who had really, really terrible childhoods and

really sad situations. And they're trying to break free of all these generational traumas. And what I experienced was this inheritance of love and safety. And I know that that is why I was able to go through my treatment without any problems and just felt so secure in who I was that I could focus on Louis and taking care of him and taking care of my body and now I get to repeat that to my boys. Joseph is an unsung hero here too. He deserves about 20,000 high fives.

Joseph's the best. He's the best. He's a rock. He is the person you want on your team. Yeah. Six foot four, about that. Can handle anything. Exactly. And if you're hungry, you'll walk down the street and get you a cheeseburger. Exactly. And I write about this in the book, and I have to tell you this.

Right after the MD Anderson information broke out, and this has really changed my life, how I see things. And one day at a time, today is a gift, it's beautiful. A lot of cancer survivors are that way. You know, we're just so thankful to be here because things could have gone very differently. And his job is very stressful. He's a CFO of a couple of car dealerships. And he was very feeling very stressed out and wanting to be the best person at

work and wanting to be the best husband, son, he's only child, husband, father, he wants to be all the things to all the people and that's just a lot, you know? And he was saying, I cannot wait to be retired and I was like, I don't, I don't get to think about that. I don't think about 67 and a half years old. That's not, I can't be in the present moment always and be thinking of I can't wait to live this way in some distant future. So I don't know, none of us know.

If I'm, who's gonna do that? Yeah, but it's especially keen to someone who survived what you survived. Right. So... Each day probably is a little bit different approach for you than it is for me. Yeah. But the richness of that is part of the blessing, isn't it? For sure.

For sure. So I told him, I can't think about retirement. That's not in my mind's's view and we made this plan Took it to his boss and his boss When when I was sick that seven months his boss continued to pay him that whole time This boss is a good dude. Boss is a good dude. His name's Adam white What's the name of his dealerships? Free plug. I know. We got North Knox, Chrysler Dodge, Jeep and Ram,

and Secret City, Chrysler Dodge, Jeep and Ram. Just known, those places are owned by a good dude, and the money is kept up with a rock. So if you're in Knoxville, go buy vehicles there. Yes. So Joseph came to Adam and said, Hey, I got to make a change. I've got to go to four tens. And Adam said, do what you need to do.

So now on Fridays, we take our kids to school and we live like retired people. Wow. That's just beautiful. Right? Wow. That's just beautiful. Right? Gabby, when I first read the title, Rico's Welcome, a Cancer Survivor's Memoir, I thought, well, what a wonderful thing for people going through cancer or for uplifting hope that you're going to survive cancer or if you've been through cancer and all of that.

I saw what this book's about. What is this book about? This book is about knowing that you can make an impact in your little sphere, your little circle. Even if you just live with your little family, I know that I'm okay because my parents took care of me and loved me and that was going to save me. You don't know what's coming for your kids and you loving your kids, taking care of them, having a safe environment for them, for all kids, all kids deserve that. That is gonna be the thing that saves them when whatever things coming for them them because you don't know what's coming. You need that deep well that's been dug so carefully and filled up with so much love and safety to draw from. I just really want to encourage moms and dads to know like what you're

doing matters in the lives of your kids and I wouldn't be here if my parents hadn't taken care of me in that way. Gabby is living proof of something we talk about all the time, which is all you've got to do is employ your passion and your abilities where it meets opportunity and you can change lives. And you do not have to start some massive organization to do it. Because Gabby has a passion as a loving parent, that she got from her loving parents. She has a passion for life because she experienced the fear of what not having life would be. And she saw an opportunity and adopted

Jack. There's no doubt his life is far better today than it would have been given its original trajectory. That's just being a normal person. Normal folks. Seeing a place and fill a need. In the meantime, I wrote a book that I think everybody should read if you want a perspective on life that should increase your awareness of its riches and

The blessing of every single day You're amazing I wish so much people could see your sweet smiling face and how full of life and color you are. And see how just genuinely kind of a soul that you are. If there's somebody out there thinking about adopting and is fearful of what if I adopt a kid with problems. If there's somebody out there that struggling with cancer and needs encouragement, I gotta believe you'd be

happy to visit with them. Yes, I would love to talk to anyone about any of these issues. And if there's anybody out there that just wants to know more about your book. Yes. How do they reach you? So you can find me on Instagram at GabbyLorentWrights and you can contact me there and I've got a website being built right now. What's it going to be called? I'm not sure yet.

How about email? I've got a Gmail, do you want me to say it? Yeah. Yeah. It's Gabby Laurent. I say mine. Oh yeah. So you say yours. Okay. All right. GabbyLorrent24 at Gmail. There you go. And you can reach out if you or somebody who loves dealing with cancer, if you want to hear more about this book or if you're thinking about adopting and have trepidation, you have just met a person who's been through all of it and Jack together of this family you've met or one of your favorite stories about Louis and Jack's interaction, these two kids, both of whom had an interesting introduction into our world. We're now brothers

How do they interact They are full-on brothers They play together. They go crazy together. We've made our room fear I'm sorry our house very kid friendly. Yeah, so they can just jump all over everything sorry, our house very kid friendly. So they can just jump all over everything. We've got swings in the house. Their sensory systems need to be plain at all times. But Lewis is the most tender-hearted kid you ever meet.

When he meets a new adult, he always says, where were you on 9-11? Where were you on 9-11? Really? How old is he? He's nine. Wow, that's crazy. Why does he want to know that? Because he read a book about it. Oh well, there it is. Curious, very curious. Because of Jack and our experience with Jack and him having some needs, Lewis is more tender and aware of other people

who have needs. And he befriends the kids who have needs. Empathy, real live empathy. Real life empathy. So you've got this Jack and Louis family. Tell me about Jack's other brother. Okay, so Jack's other brother is named Nicholas. He is exactly one year older than Jack.

He was adopted through foster care by his mom, Carrie, and they live about 20 minutes from us. Crazy. Crazy. And one of my favorite things about Louis is that he loves to say, okay, this is Nicholas. He is Jack's brother and Jack is my brother, but Nicholas is not my brother. Does, does, are Nicholas and Jack completely aware of one another?

Yes. And they are little twins and their energy level is the same. So when we get together, it's on, it's like WWE, like wrestling and just so much energy and it's, it's beautiful. Did Nicholas struggle with the same things Jack did? Same things. Is it potential that they would go to school together one day? No, but he does go to a school where a friend that I have from church is a teacher.

No kidding. And I said, listen, Jack's brother's coming in and she was so excited to see him on the first day. What does Nicholas's mom say? Carrie. Carrie, do you and Carrie and everybody get together and have these big play dates and stuff? Yes, and it's like an extra parent, you know? Because, you know, with your kids, you know,

you've got one kid, if a kid has an allergy to something, you know to look for that in your next event. And the other, oh, that's right. So it's super helpful to be able to text her about any little random thing, or like sister moms or something. It's amazing, it's a huge blessing for our family. What a crazy mixed up beautiful mess going on. It's but it's beautiful. It really is. And again, you know, where would Nicholas be

without Carrie? Where would Jack be without Gabby? You want to make an imprint on this world, there's about a thousand different ways to do it. Starts at home. Gabby, what an amazing story. Joseph, I wish you to come and hung out with us because I know you got to be proud of this life of yours and One last question. Given what you've been through and given the unknown about this ridiculous disease that you had to fight at such a young age, not being a 70-year-old white dude. Right. How do you approach each day and month and each scan or each checkup or whatever it is

you go through? Being a mom who clearly wants to be her husband's wife and her children's mother. What sustains you? My faith, knowing that when I was sick, all I had was my hope in God that he was going to carry us through. And if I know that he did that then, I know that he can do that for as long as I can go. And it is scary every time I have to have a blood draw to check it. It is scary. It doesn't go away. And I just have to remember that hope.

We have this picture of me at the bottom of the stairs in her house. I'm bald. I'm looking out the window and I have my hands under my belly and I call it my Ebenezer. It's my touchstone. So I see that and I say, I remember what God brought me through. And when I get scared, I can look at that and say, don't forget, we've been here before. If it comes back, we'll get through it again. And I just have to move forward, and the blood work's always great.

And then I take a big sigh of relief, and I go back to washing dishes. Your light to your husband, your light to your kids, but your light to the world. Everybody, wrinkles welcome. A cancer survivor's memoir. It's not about cancer, it's not about motherhood. It really is about approach to life.

You know how to reach out to Gabby if you want to. I hope you will. I hope you will read her book. September 17th. September 17th is when it's released. Yes. Is that it? So thank you for the, I'm glad.

So September 17th, this thing's coming out. And buy it, get it, read it, reach out to her. This really isn't a podcast where we intentionally promote books or stuff. I rarely promote my own book, right? But in this regard, I'm not promoting it so Gabby gets royalties. I'm promoting it because I think it is a beautiful example of what being a member of the Army of Normal Folks

is really about and how no matter what your station in life, what you're faced with or what your abilities are, we can all affect positive change in this world. And I imagine this book's gonna be something special. Gabby, thanks for coming to Memphis, thanks for joining me. Thank you, thank you so much. And thank you for joining us this week. If Gabby or other guests have inspired you in general or better yet to take action by adopting a child or helping someone through their cancer journey or something else entirely,

please let me know. I'd love to hear about it. You can write me anytime at Bill at normal folks dot us and I promise you I'll respond. You know what? If you enjoyed the episode, share it with friends on social, subscribe to the podcast, rate it, review it, join the army at normal folks dot us. Consider becoming a premium member there. Any and all of these things help us grow an army of normal folks. Thanks to our producer, Ironlight Labs. I'm Bill Courtney. I'll see you next week. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even lucha libre. Join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12 episode podcast in both English

and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Santos! Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartReyo app, Apple podcasts, or whatever you stream podcasts. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from?

And like what's the history behind bacon wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria. Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rajon. Our podcast, Hungry for History, is back. And this season we're taking a bigger bite out of the most delicious food and its history. Seeing that the most popular cocktail is the Margarita, followed by the Mojito from Cuba,

and the Piñu Colada from Puerto Rico. Listen to Hungry for History on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What happens when a professional football player's career ends and the applause fades and the screaming fans move on? I am going to share my journey of how I went

from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. For some former NFL players, a new faith provides answers. You mix homesteading with guns and church, voila, you got straight away. They tried to save everybody. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We think of Franklin as the doddering dude flying a kite in the rain. Benjamin Franklin is our subject for a new season with Walter Isaacson. He's the most successful self-made business person in America.

A printer, a scientist, a founding father, but maybe not the guy we think we know. Franklin casts his lot on the side of revolution, and it's another thing that splits the family apart. Listen to On Benjamin Franklin with Walter Isaacson on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. family apart. behind their music. Carney Wilson. Elton John, you know, I mean, Elton John picked me up and put me back in my crib when I was a toddler. It's like, that's the thing that's so cool is, I've got these stories because of my life. Listen to Take It A Walk in the iHeartRadio app,

Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.