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Starting a Nonprofit After 40 · The Uplifters

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1:08
SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the Uplifters podcast,
1:10
SPEAKER_02: where we talk to uplifting women who are doing big,
1:14
SPEAKER_02: brave things in the world.
1:15
SPEAKER_02: Today,
1:16
SPEAKER_02: we're talking to Dawn Veselka,
1:18
SPEAKER_02: who,
1:18
SPEAKER_02: with her daughter,
1:19
SPEAKER_02: Sadie,
1:19
SPEAKER_02: co-founded Cards to Warriors,
1:22
SPEAKER_02: an organization that sends greeting cards filled with love,
1:26
SPEAKER_02: hope,
1:26
and cheer to people who are battling long-term illnesses and to
1:32
their support
1:33
SPEAKER_02: teams.
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SPEAKER_02: Dawn's first big goal for her team is to send 100,000 cards.
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SPEAKER_02: I'm not battling a long-term illness.
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SPEAKER_02: I am doing my own hard, big, brave things.
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SPEAKER_02: And Dawn generously sent me a couple of her cards.
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SPEAKER_02: And I have to say that I found it just incredibly moving.
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SPEAKER_02: and meaningful to receive these messages.
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SPEAKER_02: So Dawn,
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thank you for all that you're doing in the world and thank you
2:02
for taking time out
2:04
SPEAKER_02: to hang out with us.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: Oh, thank you, Miranda.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: I am just tickled and delighted to be invited to talk to you today.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: I love what you're building.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: I think you're such a bright light in this world that's a little cloudy.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: And so I, yeah, I'm just so honored.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me today.
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SPEAKER_02: It is absolutely my joy.
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SPEAKER_02: And I think we have to start with how Cards to Warriors started.
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Sadie is my daughter and she was diagnosed with chronic illness
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and rare disease at age four.
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SPEAKER_00: Took a while to get her diagnosed.
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And then just over the course of her journey,
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we've been at this over 15 years now.
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SPEAKER_00: We always wanted to do something to help.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: And we did things along the way,
2:50
SPEAKER_00: raising money,
2:50
gas cards to help people get to treatments and all different
2:54
kinds of things.
2:55
But what we really landed on was sometimes people just need to
3:01
know that they're
3:02
doing good and that somebody's thinking about them and that
3:05
somebody cares.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: And so with a card,
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SPEAKER_00: we call it magic mail,
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just showing up in their mailbox randomly when they're not
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expecting it is like,
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SPEAKER_00: it's like Christmas morning.
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It's like a little present nestled in amongst the insurance
3:22
statements and all the
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SPEAKER_00: medical stuff that comes when
3:25
SPEAKER_00: when you're navigating an illness.
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SPEAKER_00: And it's so small and simple, yet it has such a big tangible impact.
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SPEAKER_00: And it's something that we could do.
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SPEAKER_00: We're not a big organization.
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SPEAKER_00: There's amazing organizations doing advocacy and funds for a cure.
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But sometimes somebody just needs help right in that moment
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when they just think
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SPEAKER_00: they can't do one more day.
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SPEAKER_00: So that's our niche.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: That's where we landed.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're doing.
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SPEAKER_02: It's so cool.
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And I love to going back to what you said about bright light in
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a cloudy world.
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SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:00
SPEAKER_02: And that is exactly what you are for these families and their caregivers.
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SPEAKER_02: And I imagine it really makes them feel seen in that.
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SPEAKER_02: And instead of people just looking at the disease and
4:13
It's really looking at and the treatment and sort of all these
4:16
and the payments and
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SPEAKER_02: all these like really tactical things.
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It's looking at who's this person having a really human
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experience and how can I
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SPEAKER_02: just let them know that they're cared for?
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SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
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SPEAKER_02: So now how old is Sadie these days?
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SPEAKER_00: Sadie, oh my gosh.
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SPEAKER_00: Sadie just turned 21 on Saturday.
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SPEAKER_00: 21.
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SPEAKER_00: She is my little Peter Pan.
4:37
SPEAKER_00: She's just a beautiful soul.
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And with everything that she's been through,
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she just,
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she's innately joyful.
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SPEAKER_00: And just, she's her own bright light.
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SPEAKER_00: How did you settle on cards?
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SPEAKER_00: I always loved mail as a kid.
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SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: And I'm one of those people that everybody tells everything to.
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Whether I'm standing in the grocery store line or wherever I am
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in the world,
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somebody's telling me something about themselves and sharing
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some secrets or...
5:06
SPEAKER_00: sharing their journey or something.
5:08
And mail was a way to just let anybody feel seen or appreciated
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or just drop a
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SPEAKER_00: little love on them.
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SPEAKER_00: It's become old school now.
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There's just nothing personal about an email,
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even if it's a gif or something you create.
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But when you open a card and you touch it and you feel it and
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you sit it on your
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SPEAKER_00: table and it's right there all the time,
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SPEAKER_00: that tangible reminder.
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SPEAKER_00: So that's really what I loved.
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And we have patients with no support team that literally take
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their cars with them
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to the hospital and put them up on the walls like they're
5:43
friends so that they can
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SPEAKER_00: be reminded that somebody's with them on their journey.
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And not everyone has the great fortune of having a full support
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team and an amazing
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SPEAKER_02: mom who gets it and advocates for them.
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And as I hear about stories like yours,
5:59
your job was full-time radiologist and mom.
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SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
6:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, radiation therapist, actually.
6:06
SPEAKER_02: Okay, yes.
6:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
6:08
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
6:08
SPEAKER_00: It's a little bit different.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: It's okay.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: Treating cancer patients is the difference.
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SPEAKER_02: And so you were not in fulfillment.
6:16
SPEAKER_02: You were not in an operations role.
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SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
6:20
SPEAKER_02: You weren't in fundraising.
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SPEAKER_02: And all of these are things you've had to learn.
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And we had the great joy of hosting another woman on the show
6:29
that I just adore
6:31
SPEAKER_02: whose project is called Gifts No One Asked For.
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And after her mom passed,
6:35
she wanted to carry on her mom's legacy of spreading love.
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SPEAKER_02: And so she just started this Instagram and said, hey,
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I make art and I'm not very good at art and it's not like my
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thing,
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but I like doing it.
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SPEAKER_02: It feels good to me.
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And so I'd like to share it with other people just to spread a
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little joy.
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And so she figured out how to get names and addresses and mail
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things and she made
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SPEAKER_02: mistakes and it was super inefficient and then it got better.
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SPEAKER_02: And now she sent thousands of pieces of art around to people.
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And so I imagine that you went through a similar journey of
7:09
like,
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I love this idea.
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SPEAKER_02: I can figure out how to do it for one person.
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SPEAKER_02: I go to the store and buy a card.
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SPEAKER_02: But how do I do it for thousands of people?
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SPEAKER_02: How do I fundraise for this?
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SPEAKER_02: So how did you work through,
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SPEAKER_02: like,
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SPEAKER_02: what is your process through working through what you don't know?
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SPEAKER_00: That's a great question.
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SPEAKER_00: And I'll take it even back a step further.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm of that generation that we didn't have computers in school.
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SPEAKER_00: We had typing class, right?
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And I think my senior year,
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they had word processing,
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which I didn't take.
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SPEAKER_00: And I laughed because I went from that.
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And then I transitioned over the next few years and became a
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radiation therapist.
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Well,
7:48
we run linear accelerators and all this specific equipment to
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treat cancer patients.
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SPEAKER_00: I didn't even know how to use a PC.
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SPEAKER_00: This is going back a ways.
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SPEAKER_00: I wasn't on Word and Google.
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SPEAKER_00: I wasn't a techie.
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SPEAKER_00: And so I've learned over the years.
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SPEAKER_00: But when we started this,
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SPEAKER_00: you would think snail mail,
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SPEAKER_00: piece of cake,
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SPEAKER_00: write it out,
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SPEAKER_00: send it,
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SPEAKER_00: put a stamp on it.
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SPEAKER_00: The hardest thing's going to be going.
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SPEAKER_02: And is that what it was?
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SPEAKER_02: Did it start with like you and your daughter writing the letters?
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SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
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SPEAKER_00: Denise Archia had started a warrior card swap,
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SPEAKER_00: which was a card swap back and forth between illness warriors,
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SPEAKER_00: which we have since purchased and put under our nonprofit umbrella.
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SPEAKER_00: So we have so everything around cards goes under our umbrella.
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SPEAKER_00: But so we saw the impact of the cards and it did.
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SPEAKER_00: It started as handwritten cards.
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And we have a whole crew of people who write them with us,
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which is just really cool.
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SPEAKER_00: And then we also have our printed cards.
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They're themed and they go out five times a year so that we can
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send a big batch all at once.
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SPEAKER_00: And we've done a lot of work to make them as personal as possible,
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SPEAKER_00: even though they're mass produced.
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SPEAKER_00: But there's so much tech involved.
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There's so much security protecting people's information,
8:58
making sure they can change it.
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SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
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When you need $30,000 to build your tech to send cards,
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it doesn't compute.
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SPEAKER_00: Mm-mm.
9:07
It's been a learning process and I've learned a million ways
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that didn't work.
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SPEAKER_00: And we finally got everything in place that is working really good.
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SPEAKER_00: We have Next Step, our roadmap to what we're going to do next with it.
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But we can serve as many illness warriors and caregivers as
9:23
want to sign up with us.
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SPEAKER_00: So we're ready.
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SPEAKER_02: So most of us get stopped by the like, I don't know how to do it.
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SPEAKER_02: Well, hopefully somebody else will solve that problem.
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SPEAKER_02: And so what I really want to understand is your process.
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How do you go from,
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I don't understand how,
9:40
to,
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well,
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I'll figure out how?
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SPEAKER_00: Well...
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First,
9:45
you have to own it because nobody's going to show up into it
9:49
for you.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: But unless, you know.
9:51
SPEAKER_02: Like own not knowing.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
9:54
And just own that somebody's got to take the responsibility for
9:57
figuring it out.
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SPEAKER_00: And so for me, that was me.
10:00
And so it was like I knew it was going to be hard and you just
10:04
have to go into it
10:06
SPEAKER_00: knowing you don't have the answers.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: And
10:08
You may fail 50 times,
10:09
but you're going to get it figured out and you just can't stop.
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SPEAKER_00: So I think that's the persevering part is the biggest key.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: You just keep trying.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: And if that doesn't work, everything's figureoutable, right?
10:22
SPEAKER_00: To quote Marie Forleo.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: But it is.
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SPEAKER_00: And we can do hard things.
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SPEAKER_00: We do hard things every single day.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: And it's just a matter of not stopping.
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SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, I wish I had a bestie that was techie.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: But that would have made life a whole lot easier.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: But she's worse than me.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: So that wasn't any help.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: But she's amazing.
10:40
SPEAKER_02: She probably has other skills, though, that were invaluable.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: She's amazing.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: She's a nurse and she's amazing.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: She's fantastic.
10:47
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, neither one of us had the tech skills.
10:50
So if you're lucky enough to have people in your inner circle
10:52
that have the skills
10:53
SPEAKER_00: that you don't,
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SPEAKER_00: I highly recommend that.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: And I think part of it comes from persevering with my daughter's illness,
10:59
SPEAKER_00: you know,
11:00
SPEAKER_00: like giving up when you have a kid with an illness,
11:03
SPEAKER_00: you just can't,
11:03
SPEAKER_00: there's no,
11:04
SPEAKER_00: it doesn't,
11:04
SPEAKER_00: you know,
11:05
SPEAKER_00: whatever,
11:06
regardless whether your kid has an accident and you have to run
11:09
them to the
11:09
SPEAKER_00: emergency room,
11:11
SPEAKER_00: it doesn't matter how tired you are,
11:12
SPEAKER_00: how,
11:13
SPEAKER_00: whatever,
11:13
SPEAKER_00: it's like,
11:14
SPEAKER_00: you just do it,
11:14
SPEAKER_00: right?
11:15
SPEAKER_00: And then if you have a kid that's living with illnesses,
11:17
SPEAKER_00: like,
11:18
SPEAKER_00: yeah,
11:18
SPEAKER_00: it's just waiting isn't an option.
11:20
Yeah.
11:21
I love that example too,
11:23
because in both of these,
11:24
I think it starts with why,
11:26
right?
11:26
SPEAKER_02: So you had a very strong mission and purpose.
11:30
SPEAKER_02: And for most of us,
11:31
SPEAKER_02: that's where it begins is,
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SPEAKER_02: okay,
11:33
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to get really clear on why this is worth doing hard things for.
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And then it's looking at what resources do I have around me
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that are available?
11:43
SPEAKER_02: What resources are missing?
11:44
SPEAKER_02: Right.
11:45
SPEAKER_02: And how do I enlist support to create this change?
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The other thing I'm noticing more and more in my conversations
11:52
with women who are
11:53
SPEAKER_02: doing big,
11:53
SPEAKER_02: brave things is that it takes leaning into problems.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: You know,
12:00
SPEAKER_00: reframing as it's not failing,
12:03
SPEAKER_00: it's learning when growth,
12:05
whether you're an athlete and pushing your muscles or you're
12:08
learning something
12:08
SPEAKER_00: new,
12:09
SPEAKER_00: it's never easy.
12:10
So don't expect it to just expect that it's going to be a
12:13
challenge and that it's
12:15
SPEAKER_00: when you don't do it right,
12:17
SPEAKER_00: you just learn another way to do it.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: You learn, okay, that doesn't work.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: Now let's try something else.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: And it is sort of that relentless learning pursuit.
12:28
And I think when we get caught up in the this is really hard
12:32
story or the I'm not
12:33
SPEAKER_02: ready story or the I don't know how story,
12:36
SPEAKER_02: those are all just limiting beliefs that then become inaction.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: Right.
12:42
SPEAKER_02: As opposed to the questions which become action.
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SPEAKER_02: How do I figure this out?
12:46
SPEAKER_02: How do I turn this idea into a set of actions?
12:51
SPEAKER_02: Right.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: And it's not like, I can't do this.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: That's what we all want to say.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: And then it's like reframing to, I just haven't figured it out yet.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: I still haven't figured it out.
13:01
SPEAKER_00: We're getting there, but I haven't figured it out.
13:03
And I think having something that anchors you to a purpose
13:06
really strongly is
13:08
SPEAKER_00: is makes a big difference as well.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: And for me,
13:12
it was tethering to the pain of the isolation of caregiving for
13:17
my daughter and
13:18
SPEAKER_00: everything she and I walked through in her early years.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: We couldn't have done this in the early years of everything.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: But what drives me is knowing that
13:27
SPEAKER_00: that card is going to show up.
13:29
And I trust the timing of the universe that it shows up exactly
13:32
when it's meant to,
13:33
to give the greatest wind beneath the wings for the person that
13:37
receives it and
13:38
SPEAKER_00: gives them that oomph to push over whatever's hard in their day,
13:41
SPEAKER_00: that week,
13:42
SPEAKER_00: that time,
13:43
SPEAKER_00: whatever,
13:43
that they're just going to feel the outpouring of love that
13:46
comes through this
13:47
SPEAKER_00: piece of paper that comes in the mail.
13:50
SPEAKER_02: How beautiful is that?
13:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
13:52
SPEAKER_02: And I love that idea of tethering to purpose.
13:56
SPEAKER_02: And so for you,
13:57
it was remembering your own experience and that naming that
14:00
feeling of isolation.
14:02
SPEAKER_02: Do you now have stories that sit front and center that drive you forward?
14:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes, for sure.
14:13
SPEAKER_00: Probably the most poignant one is I got an email.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: We'll see if I can do this without crying.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: But I got an email from a girl that her name was Alyssa.
14:22
She was in Canada and her email said,
14:25
I have less than two months to live.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: And she wasn't afraid of dying.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: She'd been doing this for a long time.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: When you live with an invisible disease,
14:33
SPEAKER_00: if you have cancer,
14:35
SPEAKER_00: everybody understands,
14:36
SPEAKER_00: oh,
14:36
SPEAKER_00: it could be terminal.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: And there's, you know, there's so much more empathy around it.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: But when you never look sick, it's just different.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: So she was reaching out for support.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: She's like, your cards have meant a lot.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: And if you guys could just support me as I die, I would be so grateful.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: And don't be afraid to talk about it because I'm not afraid of it,
14:57
SPEAKER_00: but I just would like some support.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: So of course, we rallied the troops, which would be our card.
15:03
We have a huge card crew and most of them are made up of
15:06
illness warriors because I
15:08
SPEAKER_00: believe that everyone can give.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: Even if you're bedridden,
15:12
SPEAKER_00: you still deserve an opportunity to make somebody else's day,
15:15
SPEAKER_00: to get those serotonin and dopamine hits,
15:17
SPEAKER_00: to know that you did something good in the world,
15:20
SPEAKER_00: even from your bed or even from the couch.
15:22
And so we have a huge card crew made up of illness warriors all
15:26
over the world.
15:27
And so we just put out the call to them and cards just started
15:33
showing up from all
15:34
SPEAKER_00: over the world to Alyssa's room.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: Oh, and she passed.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you just get those little hits of things you should do.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: And so one of the things she said was she loved animals.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: She didn't want to die alone.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: And we didn't have much time because from Florida to Canada,
15:52
SPEAKER_00: it's tricky to get mail there,
15:54
SPEAKER_00: right?
15:54
SPEAKER_00: In a time when you have a less than,
15:56
SPEAKER_00: I think we had a five week deadline by the time we knew about this,
15:59
SPEAKER_00: maybe four weeks.
16:00
SPEAKER_00: So in addition to the cards going,
16:02
SPEAKER_00: I also just put out a call and said,
16:04
SPEAKER_00: listen,
16:05
SPEAKER_00: if you're willing,
16:06
SPEAKER_00: grab your nearest pet,
16:07
take a picture and either do the heart hands or the I love you
16:11
sign and send it to
16:12
SPEAKER_00: us.
16:12
SPEAKER_00: We're going to make her a banner to go in her room.
16:15
And so this is not our typical support,
16:17
but this was end of life support that we did for her.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: We must have gotten 40 or 50 pictures.
16:22
So I put them in a box with one of those very light strings
16:26
that you can clip
16:27
SPEAKER_00: because I wanted to make it easy.
16:29
SPEAKER_00: And I sent it off on UPS on a wing and a prayer.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: Do you know that thing got from Orlando to Canada in two days?
16:35
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how it got there that fast other than miraculous.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: And they put it up and then cards came from around the world.
16:43
And about a month after she passed,
16:45
her mom reached out and asked to speak to me.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: And we had a beautiful conversation.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: I know, right?
16:53
SPEAKER_00: And she said,
16:54
SPEAKER_00: I put out a call to everyone we know when Alyssa was dying,
16:57
SPEAKER_00: to all of her friends,
16:59
SPEAKER_00: and no one came.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: No one came.
17:02
SPEAKER_01: It's too hard to sit in that space.
17:05
And so she said,
17:07
and then here comes cards from people all over the world.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: who were her friends, and then pictures all over her room.
17:16
SPEAKER_00: She said she didn't die alone.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: So it was beautiful.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: And the cool,
17:21
SPEAKER_00: the really cool full circle thing,
17:23
SPEAKER_00: well,
17:23
SPEAKER_00: one,
17:23
SPEAKER_00: she said what Alyssa wanted when she died was she wanted flowers,
17:27
SPEAKER_00: I think her dog and her family,
17:29
SPEAKER_00: and she wanted fairy lights.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: We didn't know that.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: And we sent fairy lights.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: She's like,
17:33
SPEAKER_00: and then here comes,
17:34
SPEAKER_00: she's like,
17:35
SPEAKER_00: Dawn,
17:35
SPEAKER_00: I got this box with fairy lights and pictures.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't sure why I was supposed to send that.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: I just knew if that's what was supposed to go.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: And then she said when Alyssa was sick,
17:45
SPEAKER_00: like probably two and a half years before that,
17:47
SPEAKER_00: before she got really bad,
17:48
SPEAKER_00: she had tried to start her own pen pal card thing.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: And she said Alyssa worked so hard on it.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: She said she just couldn't get people to engage.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: And she sent out like hundreds of letters and nobody ever wrote her back.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: And she was devastated.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: And her mom,
18:05
SPEAKER_00: Heather,
18:05
SPEAKER_00: was like,
18:06
I felt bad that I should have helped her and maybe we should
18:08
have continued it.
18:10
She put all of that out and it came back all at once,
18:13
right when she needed it.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we didn't do it without crying, but we love you, Alyssa.
18:18
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: And look at Alyssa's ripples continuing.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: I know, right?
18:24
SPEAKER_00: We've got another girl who's been bedridden.
18:27
She was going to be a scientist discovering cures for things,
18:31
and she can't get out of bed.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: She's in so much pain.
18:34
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they just don't know what to do, and they just leave.
18:36
She gets cards from us,
18:38
and she said,
18:38
every time I want to give up,
18:40
I get a card.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: So from those to the ones who,
18:44
SPEAKER_00: you know,
18:45
SPEAKER_00: we have warriors who are working full time,
18:48
SPEAKER_00: but they aren't seen at work.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: Nobody understands what they're going through.
18:52
So when something shows up,
18:55
it just reminds them,
18:56
hey,
18:56
you're doing a great job.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: We see you.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: We believe in you.
18:59
SPEAKER_00: We're championing you wherever you are on this journey.
19:03
SPEAKER_02: How beautiful.
19:04
SPEAKER_02: And to let these people feel
19:07
SPEAKER_02: as you said, seen and appreciated.
19:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and loved.
19:12
SPEAKER_02: And loved.
19:13
SPEAKER_02: I have to say too,
19:14
SPEAKER_02: I just,
19:15
I am still a little bit stuck too on the bravery Alyssa showed
19:19
by just asking for
19:20
SPEAKER_02: what she needed.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: Right.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: Right.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: So we have what we call our Warriors in Crisis program.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: And that's where a person can be nominated by themselves or a loved one.
19:31
And we encourage them to nominate themselves because we want
19:35
them to ask for help
19:36
SPEAKER_00: when it's tough.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: We want them to give themselves permission to say, hey...
19:42
SPEAKER_00: I need a little bit of extra support right now.
19:45
And so I've found over the years of doing this that women
19:50
especially have a hard
19:52
SPEAKER_00: time asking for help.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: And so caregivers, we support caregivers and they won't sign up.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: Somebody needs it more.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's okay.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: It's okay.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: Or even illness warriors.
20:04
They're like,
20:04
somebody needs it more than you save it for someone who needs
20:07
it.
20:07
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, you deserve it.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: Sign up.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: You deserve it.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: You're going to get it when you need it most.
20:12
But everyone deserves that opportunity to feel that joy and to
20:16
feel that love,
20:17
SPEAKER_00: especially the handwritten cards that come from other illness warriors.
20:21
Or we have high school and college students across the country
20:24
that volunteer with
20:25
SPEAKER_00: us to earn service hours.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: And we're teaching them how to talk to someone who lives with an illness.
20:30
And they're earning service hours and a lot of them are going
20:33
on into health professions.
20:35
And so we feel like it's just going to show them both sides of
20:38
it's going to make
20:38
them better because they'll already know the right way to talk
20:42
to somebody that
20:42
SPEAKER_00: lives with an illness or rare disease.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: Goodness on top of goodness on top of goodness.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: I know it's just layers, right?
20:50
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
20:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:52
SPEAKER_02: And there's no way you could have known it would be all of this.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: No, never.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: And the ripples are beautiful.
21:00
SPEAKER_02: So you've taken this from something beautiful.
21:05
SPEAKER_02: My daughter and I are going to send these cards to people.
21:09
SPEAKER_02: That's all the roots of this, right?
21:10
SPEAKER_02: It's connection.
21:11
SPEAKER_02: It's seeing them.
21:12
It's giving a sense of purpose both to your pain and your
21:16
challenge and putting
21:17
SPEAKER_02: that to good use and impact,
21:19
SPEAKER_02: but also giving you a sense of positively impacting others.
21:25
SPEAKER_02: But it's gone so far beyond you and Sadie writing cards.
21:31
And I think that scale piece is really scary for people and for
21:36
uplifters.
21:36
I think oftentimes the most challenging is the,
21:40
how do I get the financial support to do this?
21:44
SPEAKER_02: And you have some big donors who are helping to make this possible.
21:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
21:50
SPEAKER_02: We do.
21:51
SPEAKER_02: How did you get past your own doubts and fears to enlist that support?
21:58
SPEAKER_02: Talk about asking for help.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Right.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: Well, first, I think it's always easier when to ask us for somebody else.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: Really believe it.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: Yes, for something you really believe in.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: And I remember back at the beginning,
22:11
SPEAKER_00: we were trying to raise $5,000 to build the website and the tech,
22:17
SPEAKER_00: the initial version.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: And people just said, why do you, you're sending cards.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: Why do you need tech?
22:23
SPEAKER_00: And it was just relationship building.
22:27
And we found the most beautiful local foundation called the
22:31
Harper Family Charitable Foundation.
22:33
They're local and the head of the family at the time,
22:37
he's since passed,
22:38
but he loves mail.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: He loves mail.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: Every card we ever sent them,
22:42
SPEAKER_00: he would forward it on to his best friend who lived in West Virginia.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that the cutest thing you ever heard?
22:47
SPEAKER_00: And he was like 80 something years old.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: But we found a champion in him.
22:52
And so we wouldn't be here without his foundation and his
22:56
beautiful family that supports us.
22:58
Every time we've gotten to where we need to build something
23:01
more,
23:02
they've helped us a lot.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: They're just an amazing organization.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: And so finding either a company or a foundation or a person that
23:10
who just gets what you're doing and believes in it just as much
23:14
as you,
23:14
that's not easy.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: But once you do, then that makes it a whole lot easier.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: But the bigger you grow, the more you need.
23:22
So you've got to keep adding to your base of people who are
23:26
supporting you.
23:27
SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: And so that's been tricky.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: We also had the Horizon organization, Horizon Pharmaceuticals.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: They've since been bought by Amgen,
23:35
SPEAKER_00: but they're an amazing patient-centered pharma company,
23:38
SPEAKER_00: which is,
23:39
SPEAKER_00: they were just,
23:40
SPEAKER_00: they were super special.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: So they were a big part in helping us get built as well.
23:44
So now we're on the hunt for new ones because we're going to
23:46
lose some of the ones that we have.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: And the other thing we do is we do a $5 fundraisers, right?
23:53
SPEAKER_00: Because everyone can do something little.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like everybody's busy.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's got a crazy life.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: Everybody has things that speak to their heart.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: So if we can make it easy,
24:04
SPEAKER_00: if I tell you,
24:05
SPEAKER_00: hey,
24:05
SPEAKER_00: if you donate $5,
24:07
you're going to make sure two cards get sent to someone who's
24:10
living with a
24:10
SPEAKER_00: long-term illness or caring for someone with a long-term illness.
24:14
And you can just grab your phone and Venmo or Zell us $5 and
24:17
then keep bebopping
24:19
SPEAKER_00: along your day knowing that,
24:20
SPEAKER_00: oh my gosh,
24:20
SPEAKER_00: I just write into people's lives.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: Like what's easier than that?
24:24
And what's just better than something that you can just drop
24:27
some love and keep on going.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: So that's a big thing that we do as well.
24:32
SPEAKER_02: That's pretty amazing.
24:34
SPEAKER_02: And I think you're right.
24:35
SPEAKER_02: We all want to do good.
24:37
SPEAKER_02: We don't always know how.
24:40
SPEAKER_02: we get overwhelmed by the scale of the problem.
24:43
SPEAKER_02: We get overwhelmed by the number of problems in the world.
24:47
SPEAKER_02: Right.
24:48
Oh,
24:49
and if you watch the news,
24:50
you'll just end up in a little puddle for anything.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
24:56
I learned that treating cancer patients,
24:58
I quit watching the news 20 some years ago.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: And I realized that
25:04
I couldn't be present and give them everything that they needed
25:08
if I was too buried
25:10
SPEAKER_00: in all of the big problems of the world.
25:12
SPEAKER_00: And so if something important was going on, they told me.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: They all watched the news.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: So they kept me current, but I didn't have to like take it all in myself.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like that was a gift from during the time that I treated them.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: And I've just buried that through with me.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: It's all going to happen whether I'm looking at it or not.
25:32
And so staying very present and focusing on the good that we
25:36
can do just helps us
25:37
SPEAKER_00: make a difference in our life and those around us.
25:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
25:41
And I think keeping it really active instead of getting caught
25:45
up in all the
25:45
SPEAKER_02: questions and what we can't do.
25:47
SPEAKER_02: Right.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like too, people have things that speak to their heart.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: Everyone's called to do something different.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: And so it's okay.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: If somebody wants to come write cards, awesome.
25:59
SPEAKER_00: If somebody wants to go and support whatever,
26:02
as long as everybody like listens to their heart and goes and
26:06
follows that,
26:07
SPEAKER_00: just think what a beautiful world.
26:08
This would be,
26:09
so we champion everybody no matter what speaks to their heart.
26:13
SPEAKER_00: Just like we champion everyone, we're not disease specific.
26:17
That's something that makes us very unique in all of the
26:20
nonprofit arenas is that
26:22
SPEAKER_00: because Sadie's diseases was a mix of diseases,
26:25
SPEAKER_00: she didn't really fit anywhere with the nonprofits.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: And so getting support for her was a little bit tricky.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: In all the time that we've been doing this,
26:34
we've only met one other person that had the same mix of
26:36
diseases as hers.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: And so it was just really important to me as we were building this,
26:42
SPEAKER_00: that everybody had a safe place to come.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: So regardless of if you're living with one of the 7,000 rare diseases,
26:49
SPEAKER_00: 95% of which have zero treatment.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine that?
26:52
SPEAKER_00: 95% have no treatment options.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: If you're dealing with one of those,
26:59
if you're dealing with one of the most common diabetes or
27:02
arthritis or any of
27:03
SPEAKER_00: those,
27:04
SPEAKER_00: or you're just trying to get answers,
27:05
SPEAKER_00: it takes a lot of times seven years to get diagnosed.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: As an adult,
27:09
SPEAKER_00: it can be seven to 10 years easy to get a complete diagnosis,
27:13
SPEAKER_00: during which time you have no treatment.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, hey, come over here.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: We'll take care of you.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: You can join us.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: You can get some love over here.
27:21
SPEAKER_00: It's a safe place for everyone.
27:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah,
27:24
and probably some networking and some space to talk to other
27:27
people about how they
27:29
keep moving their diagnosis forward and manage through the
27:33
challenges of even
27:35
SPEAKER_02: understanding what they're battling.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: Right.
27:38
And we don't personally facilitate those,
27:40
but we have the ones we recommend.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: And we also have the card swap so they can meet each other.
27:45
A lot of times when you're going through something hard and you
27:48
meet somebody else
27:49
SPEAKER_00: who's going something equally hard,
27:50
SPEAKER_00: but totally different,
27:52
you just realize you just find kindred spirits and you just
27:57
have different
27:57
SPEAKER_00: perspective on your days,
27:59
SPEAKER_00: regardless of what it looks like,
28:01
whether you're bedridden or you're at the hospital getting
28:03
treatments or you're at
28:04
SPEAKER_00: work with a boss who doesn't understand what
28:07
Whatever you're going through,
28:08
there's just that knowing that somebody gets it.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: And that's so important.
28:13
SPEAKER_02: It strikes me as I listen to you that there's no,
28:16
SPEAKER_02: or at least very few,
28:18
SPEAKER_02: big pharma companies that could come up with these answers.
28:22
SPEAKER_02: There's few hospitals that could come up with these answers.
28:25
SPEAKER_02: There's few doctors who could come up with these answers.
28:27
SPEAKER_02: It really takes
28:29
SPEAKER_02: patients and caregivers to understand what patients and caregivers need.
28:34
And I think that is such an empowering reminder to every one of
28:38
us who faces
28:39
challenge or struggle to remember that we can catalyze that
28:44
into something with
28:45
positive impact if we tune into our own experience and think
28:48
about how we might
28:49
translate it to make the world a little better or easier for
28:51
the next person.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: That is so true.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: And I think you find that over and over,
28:56
SPEAKER_00: even with your podcast,
28:57
SPEAKER_00: the ones when they go through the hard stuff on the other side of it,
29:01
they're better equipped to reach their hand back and help the
29:04
other person behind
29:05
SPEAKER_00: them get through it.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: But you got to go through it in the first place,
29:08
SPEAKER_00: which is the part that nobody wants to do or that,
29:11
SPEAKER_00: you know,
29:12
SPEAKER_00: is devastating.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: But on the other side of it,
29:15
SPEAKER_00: you're just fully equipped to help in whatever way you're meant to do it.
29:19
SPEAKER_02: Uplifters.
29:20
SPEAKER_02: Uplifters.
29:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
29:23
SPEAKER_02: So our show is a chain of uplifters.
29:27
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: I love that so much.
29:31
SPEAKER_00: We all need each other.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: See, yours is the new version of like the chain letter, right?
29:38
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: It's so funny.
29:40
SPEAKER_02: I actually was going to call it that in the beginning.
29:42
And my friend Anna Marie was like,
29:44
don't you remember how scary it was to get a chain letter?
29:46
SPEAKER_02: And then you felt all this like guilt and obligation.
29:48
SPEAKER_02: I was like, well, I don't want to be associated with that.
29:52
SPEAKER_02: So I just started calling it like a chain.
29:54
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
29:55
SPEAKER_02: But yes, totally chain letter.
29:58
SPEAKER_02: And it's love notes, right?
29:59
SPEAKER_02: It's a chance to say to the people you admire, hey, I admire you.
30:04
You've made a positive impact on me and I want other people to
30:07
know about the
30:08
SPEAKER_02: positive impact you've made.
30:09
SPEAKER_02: So who would you like to nominate for the uplifters, Dawn?
30:14
I have a few that are amazing women that I'm blessed to be
30:18
connected to a lot of
30:18
SPEAKER_00: amazing women,
30:19
SPEAKER_00: but the ones that come top of mind,
30:21
SPEAKER_00: Elena Crooks,
30:23
SPEAKER_00: So Glenna is a person who has been a trailblazer,
30:28
like seeing the start of public health and getting vaccines and
30:33
getting IEPs in
30:34
SPEAKER_00: schools for kids,
30:35
SPEAKER_00: like taking care of kids has been her life's mission.
30:39
She's also known as the soup angel because she shows up when
30:43
there's a natural disaster.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: She's gallons and gallons of soup.
30:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
30:48
SPEAKER_00: Fascinating.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: And then also like the most recent thing she's done is she did an oath.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: Like there's a Hippocratic oath,
30:57
but she created an oath that doctors need to take when they're
31:00
going to be
31:01
SPEAKER_00: utilizing AI and when they're going to be using all these new tools.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: So Glenna is in every sense a trailblazer and just absolutely amazing.
31:12
And I know that you will love talking to her and your
31:16
incredible audience will love
31:17
SPEAKER_00: hearing from her.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: What a mover and a shaker.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: I know.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: She's so special.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: And I have two people.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: The other person is Lisa Gable.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: And I always say when I grow up, I want to be like Lisa and Glenna.
31:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:31
Because talk about two powerhouse women who have literally
31:37
blazed these amazing trails.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: So Lisa was a US ambassador.
31:41
She was,
31:42
I might not have all the facts right,
31:44
but she was appointed under Reagan.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: She's a powerhouse in DC.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: The people that she knows, the committees that she sat on,
31:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:53
I can't even think off the top of my head,
31:55
all the amazing things that she has.
31:57
SPEAKER_00: And now she's also,
31:59
her big thing is teaching the generation behind us because the
32:02
young ones who are
32:03
SPEAKER_00: going to be running the world,
32:05
SPEAKER_00: she's a huge mentor speaker,
32:07
just seeing all the good and nurturing these young generations
32:11
to become the next
32:12
SPEAKER_00: leaders.
32:13
SPEAKER_00: So, and she's done a million things in between all of that.
32:17
SPEAKER_00: She's also been a caregiver for
32:19
SPEAKER_00: to her husband who lives with an ultra rare disease,
32:22
SPEAKER_00: cancer,
32:22
SPEAKER_00: and has been on treatment for 20 plus years and a daughter.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: So she's multifaceted in so many women.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: They have such depth and such life experiences.
32:34
And I often joke that I just want to sit at the feet of Glenna
32:37
and Lisa and just
32:38
SPEAKER_00: learn about life and then be them when I grow up.
32:42
We'll have to record their wisdom so that we can just listen to
32:45
it on repeat.
32:46
That's the best part of this job is I'm going to get to hear
32:48
your story three times
32:50
SPEAKER_02: through the editing process.
32:52
So I'm just going to like absorb all your dawnness through
32:55
osmosis and use it in my
32:58
SPEAKER_02: daily choices.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's so sweet.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: That's so sweet.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: Well,
33:02
SPEAKER_00: I love listening to all your episodes and some of them a couple of times,
33:05
SPEAKER_00: like you said,
33:06
SPEAKER_00: because you just,
33:07
SPEAKER_00: things speak to you and it's just beautiful.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: The last person I'd love to nominate is Dr. Summer Watson.
33:13
She's a community builder who's been through incredible,
33:17
really hard stuff in her life,
33:18
right?
33:18
And she's all about mental health,
33:20
building communities,
33:21
taking care of people.
33:23
SPEAKER_00: And so she's her own uplifter and changer in a soft and beautiful way.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: She's awesome.
33:29
SPEAKER_00: Those would be my three off the top of my head.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: I can't wait.
33:33
SPEAKER_00: How extraordinary.
33:34
And I love that you're building your concentric circles bigger
33:38
and bigger of all the people.
33:40
And I love that I can hear someone on your podcast and then I
33:43
get to listen to
33:44
SPEAKER_00: someone that they're connected to.
33:45
And it's just all these little pulling us all together because
33:50
we are all connected.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: So you're actually showing us in all the ways that we are.
33:54
SPEAKER_02: We're all facing the same fears and doubts.
33:57
And we need these reminders that we can have hope,
34:00
that we can overcome these challenges.
34:03
So one of the things we love to do with uplifters is we love to
34:07
uplift other uplifters.
34:09
And you've already given us one idea,
34:10
but I want a little more specifics here.
34:12
SPEAKER_02: How can we support you and the work of Cards to Warriors?
34:17
SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, thank you.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for that.
34:20
The easiest way is that you can donate $5 and it sponsors two
34:25
cards that will go out.
34:26
SPEAKER_00: The website is cards2warriors.org.
34:31
So we use warriors instead of patients,
34:33
instead of,
34:33
you know,
34:34
so cards2warriors.org.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: Or if you're on Venmo, it's at cards2warriors.
34:40
SPEAKER_00: Stop, drop, and roll.
34:41
If we don't collect donor information,
34:43
we don't send you email after email after email.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: We believe we're grateful, you know, for everything that we're given.
34:49
SPEAKER_00: And we know if you're called, you'll come back and do it again.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: So Venmo, and then we do take Zelle.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: It's high at cardstowarriors.org.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: So those are all the easy ways to do it.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for wanting to support her.
35:03
SPEAKER_02: We'll put those in the show notes for anybody who feels called to give.
35:07
SPEAKER_02: I will be donating as soon as we end this call.
35:09
SPEAKER_00: Oh, thank you.
35:10
SPEAKER_02: What's next for you that you're building Courage Capital?
35:15
SPEAKER_02: to do, Dawn.
35:16
What we really need is connections to brands that care,
35:20
people that want to sponsor us.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of picky because I think that,
35:25
SPEAKER_00: well,
35:26
SPEAKER_00: coming from a cancer background,
35:27
SPEAKER_00: when the pink ribbon thing started,
35:30
SPEAKER_00: It was a marketing tool.
35:31
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't that these brands cared.
35:33
SPEAKER_00: It was that they realized that if they slapped a pink ribbon on it,
35:37
SPEAKER_00: they'd get more people to buy it.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: But if you read the fine print, their donation was already set.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: Whether you bought $100 worth of product or $1 worth of product,
35:46
their donation was going to be $250,000 at the end of the
35:47
campaign or whatever.
35:50
So it's really important for me that we find brands that care
35:53
about people that
35:54
live with illness and disability and rare disease and that
35:57
they're putting good
35:58
SPEAKER_00: things into the world as well,
35:59
because I think there's so many good ones that we want to
36:02
partner with them to drop
36:04
SPEAKER_00: some love into the mailboxes of the warriors and the caregivers.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: And honestly,
36:09
SPEAKER_00: as impactful it is for the warriors,
36:11
SPEAKER_00: the ones having the treatments and going through it,
36:14
SPEAKER_00: the caregivers,
36:15
SPEAKER_00: they're so unseen.
36:17
We could thank you cards from the caregivers because they're
36:19
like,
36:20
nobody sees it.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: Nobody knows.
36:22
SPEAKER_00: Like, oh my gosh, I can't believe you sent me a card.
36:25
SPEAKER_00: It's the most heartwarming thing ever.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: Oh, beautiful.
36:30
SPEAKER_02: Well, I wish you so much continued success.
36:32
SPEAKER_02: I'm so inspired by you.
36:34
So grateful that you're doing this work in the world and you
36:38
are truly an uplifter.
36:40
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Aranzas.
36:41
SPEAKER_00: As are you.
36:42
Thank you for bringing all of us together in this beautiful
36:45
community and giving us
36:46
SPEAKER_00: a chance to learn from each other and cheer for each other.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: It's beautiful.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
36:54
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for listening to the Uplifters podcast.
36:58
SPEAKER_02: If you're getting a boost from these episodes,
37:01
please share them with the uplifters in your life and then join
37:05
us in conversation
37:07
SPEAKER_02: over at theuplifterspodcast.com.
37:10
SPEAKER_02: Head over to Spotify,
37:12
SPEAKER_02: Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast and like,
37:16
SPEAKER_02: follow and rate our show.
37:18
It'll really help us connect with more uplifters and it'll
37:22
ensure you never miss
37:24
SPEAKER_02: one of these beautiful stories.
37:28
SPEAKER_03: Big love.
37:30
SPEAKER_03: Painted water, sunshine, with rosemary and tongue.
37:35
SPEAKER_03: Dwelling, not perplexing, though you find it vexing.
37:39
SPEAKER_03: Toss a star and hover, be your own best lover.
37:44
SPEAKER_03: Relish in a new prime, plant a tree in the springtime.
37:48
SPEAKER_03: Dance without all hindsight, bring the sun to twilight.
37:54
SPEAKER_03: Lift you up.
37:55
SPEAKER_03: Lift you up.
37:58
SPEAKER_03: Lift you up.
38:26
SPEAKER_03: Lift you up.
38:34
SPEAKER_03: Beautiful.
38:36
SPEAKER_02: I cried.
38:38
SPEAKER_02: That little thing you did with your voice.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: Right.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: In the pre-chorus.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: I was like.
38:47
SPEAKER_02: Mommy, stop crying.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: You're disturbing the peace.