In this uplifting episode of Arroyo Grande, Raymond sits down with six-year-old Cash “Bubba” Harris, a beloved honorary mascot for the Dallas Mavericks who lives with spina bifida, and his dad, Chase—a dedicated physical therapist and relentless advocate. Together, they’ve turned life’s challenges into a story of courage, joy, and fierce father-son love that’s inspiring people around the world.
Raymond also delivers his take on the most bizarre commencement ceremonies happening across the country—from Notre Dame’s surprising speaker swap to the University of Maryland’s unexpected choice to hand the mic to none other than… Kermit the Frog. (Yes, really.) He dives into the weird world of AI commencement speakers, sock puppets with life advice, and the deeper question: have we lost the plot when it comes to celebrating our grads?
Whether you're a basketball fan, a proud parent, or someone looking for laughter and inspiration, this episode brings heart, humor, and a healthy dose of perspective.
🔔 Subscribe for more bold conversations and deep dives into culture, faith, and the stories that matter, and let your life flow into a broad, thriving Arroyo Grande.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
If you are a basketball fan, or a parent, or
you're facing hardship, you're gonna love today's interview. Over the
last few years, the Dallas Mavericks have made six year
old Cash Bubba Harris, who has spina bifida, their backup mascot.
He's captured the hearts of Maverick players, fans, really people
around the world through social media. But Cash's story is
(00:22):
also about his physical therapist's dad, who refuses to give
up and the joy we can all find on the
other side of struggle. Dad's a physical therapist. What do
you think about that?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Do you like the therapy sessions or are they hard?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Like them?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You do? Want?
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I like them because Paba makes them fun. Any challenging
me a lot?
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Look at that.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
This is a great Arroyo Grande and you'll get my
take on commencements, a legendary singer and a sock puppet.
Let's go. I'm Raymond Arroyo. Welcome to Arroyo Grande, Cash
(01:09):
Boba Harris and his dad Chase and their inspiring story
is straight ahead. Go subscribe to the show now on
YouTube wherever you get your podcasts. Turn the notifications on
why would you want to miss an episode of this show?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Come on, okay, a little free flow.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Commencement season is upon us, that time when former presidents,
talk show hosts, and sports figures get huge paydays for
donning robes and offering advice that no one uses.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
After four years.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Graduates are looking for the exits, not a life coach.
Notre Dame is whimping out by breaking its tradition of
inviting the newly elected president to address it's graduates, which
seems silly. I mean, look, if Bush Clinton Obama spoke
and they gave Biden their highest honor, surely Trump's appearance
(01:58):
won't shake the gold off the dome. What happened to
fairness and consistency at America's Catholic university? They may need
to go to confession. Katie Ledeki, Usher, even Al Roker
have been booked at graduation exercises across the country, even
though most kids won't.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Have a clue who al Roker is.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
The graduates at the University of Maryland got a shock
when it was announced that their commencement speaker would be
Kermit the Frog. At least it's not Miss Piggy. She
might have been more fun but every time they introduced her,
the school would have been charged with fat shaming. You know,
here's miss Piggy. Now we're giving this award to Piggy,
(02:38):
and Piggy gets an honorary degree.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
It wouldn't have worked.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Graduates have mixed feelings about being sent on their life's
journey by a sock puppet. One engineering student said he
was deflated and thought it was silly having a fictional
character offering them life advice.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Cheer up kid.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Last year, a Buffalo university trotted out in AI robot
named Sophia for their graduation.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
I'm not kidding.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Congratulations, Do all the graduating students ambrase lifelong learning?
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Be adaptable?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Be so adaptable that you'll give us half a million
dollars and sit still while we have a robot lecture.
You can you imagine the whole audience was praying for
a power grid failure. But at least the university got
off cheap. They didn't have to pay Sofia a speaker's
fee and all she eats his gigabytes. At least the
University of Maryland has to fly Kermit's puppeteerium. It's clear
(03:33):
these universities are trying to avoid controversy.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Look, I get it.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
After years of protests and incendiary speakers, they just don't
want any problems. The independent school paper at the University
of Maryland says of the kermencement.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
That's what they're calling it.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
The school is avoiding having to deal with real issues
by virtue of not having a real speaker. They have
a point. I mean, it's like not having a speaker
at all. But given the political and cultural landmines, who
can blame them? I mean, full confession. My commencement speakers
were mister Rogers and Bill Cosby talk about whiplash.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Won't you be my neighbor, But let's have a drink first.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Having mister Rogers and Bill Cosby as your commencement speakers
is like having Julie Andrews open for Harvey Weinstein. It
never works out. Kermit is suddenly sounding magnificent, isn't he.
I mean, at least you didn't get those other two guys.
And despite having someone's hand up his backside at all times,
a puppet can't really get into trouble, I mean the
(04:36):
way a human can. I understand why the students are disappointed.
They wanted a speaker they could add to their Insta reel.
I get it, but you know what, the reality is,
no one remembers commencement speakers or anything they say aside
from let's applaud your parents. Meanwhile, you're focused on getting
everything packed up and praying you don't have to move
(04:57):
in with the people you just applauded. On the bright side,
maybe the University of Maryland is doing their graduates of
service by booking Kermit. They're getting you accustomed to taking
orders from those who are also puppets happy graduation kits.
And it looks like Doge has found the White House
Correspondence Dinner A big cut just happened. If you don't know,
(05:21):
this is the annual gala where Washington journalists and elites
get all dressed up to eat lousy food at the
Hilton while ogling those in power. It also ends up
being a roast of the President or whoever's running DC
at the time. I've been to so many of these things.
I just can't anymore. It's pretentious, it's fake. You wait
(05:43):
all all day online, then you got to go through
scads and security. The only good thing is the brunch
held beforehand. Anyway, Each year they hire an entertainer Seth Myers,
Colbert Trevor, Noah Conan O'Brien, and a slew of comedians you're.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Probably you've never heard of, have always done it.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
This year, the White House Correspondence Association hired comedian and
former late night talk show host Amber Ruffin.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Have you heard of her?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Most haven't, but she shared her thoughts about the Trump
administration on the Daily Beast podcast after getting the gig.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
You're kind of a bunch of murderers, I mean so
like they were like, you need to be you know,
equal and make sure that the that you give it
to both sides and blah blah blah. I was like,
there's no way I'm going to be for doing that, dude.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
But this is supposed to be entertaining and fun, Amber,
It's not a political protest rally. It's not supposed to
be the Maxine Waters Marjorie Taylor Green death match.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
It's a fun evening.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Or you could just invite that pair and put the
mudpit down front.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
I guess. Well.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Look, Following Ruffin's comments and the firestorm they drew, the
White House Correspondence Association called a meeting faster than the
Disney executives in charge of snow White. The association's president wrote,
the White House Correspondence Association Board has unanimously decided we
are no longer featuring a comedic performance this year. At
(07:20):
this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the
focus is not on the politics of division, but entirely
on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing
scholarship and mentorship for the next generation of journalists. Now,
did you pick up the hidden admission there? We don't
want this year's festivities to be focused on the politics
(07:43):
of division. It's an acknowledgment that the dinner has always
been focused on the politics of division in some way
at least, I mean, anyone who's attended this dinner over
the years knows the comedic performances are always about divisive politics.
That's the way the White House Course Respondence Association programs
the evening. It was always a dinner built to bash
(08:05):
the president with a particular partisan edge, and it was
riddled with the politics of division. This is the correspondent's
payback to the guy who ignores their questions all day long.
It's snickering payback in black ties and gowns. Also, why
are White House correspondents choosing comedians to entertain anyone they
(08:29):
have the collective humor and excitement of Wolf Blitzer at Hooters.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Entertainment's just not your thing. Guys, move along, Let somebody
else do it. Lead it to the professionals. They don't
call it the nerd prom for nothing.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
If they really want to instill a spirit of unity
and truly allow all people, no matter their politics, to
come together and have a good time in DC book,
really great comedians who won't go to the gutter or
get crude or cheap in a partisan way. Seinfeld, Jay Leno,
Steve Martin, Da Carvey, Andrew Schultz. Look, all those guys
(09:03):
might take a few shots, but it would not be done.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
In a cruel or a partisan way. And White House.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Correspondence, if you really want to play it safe. Once
he's done with the University of Maryland's commencement, maybe Kermit
the Frog.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Could entertain your guests. He'd be perfect for the DC crowd.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
He's totally green, and he's worked with animals his whole career.
A little salute before we do our interview, A great
American artist announced that he is retiring from the road,
and I have to say I was really sad when
I read this announcement. The legendary singer Johnny Mathis has
been singing live since nineteen fifty six. His career spanned
(09:46):
seven decades, guys, but at eighty nine, he's announced that
age has taken a toll on his voice and his memory,
and he feels it's time to retire now. I've seen
Mathis in concert so many times. His unique tenor has
left such a mark on American music, and if you
see him even now, the tone, the beauty of his
(10:08):
voice really is undimmed, unchanged. Chances are it's not for
me to say, of course, all these Christmas songs, Winter
Wonderland and Marshmallow World.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
I asked him once.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
In an interview on The World Over about the way
he sings, and it was illuminating watch.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I've watched you.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
As an audience member on television, but certainly live. You
move your jaw in a certain way, and I always thought,
I mean, you really work your jaw moves in unpredictable
ways when you're singing.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I used to think that was to accommodate.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
The tone and the beautiful sounds you were making to
sort of move that tone into this place to resonate.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
It's not now.
Speaker 6 (10:54):
When I was a child, as most poor children are,
they go to the dentist and if you have a
cat in your tooth, they pull it. In those days,
so I had several cavities on one side of my
mouth and they took all my teeth out, and so
it made my mouth lopjaw. So in order for me
(11:17):
to open my mouth.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
I had you like that.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (11:22):
It was quite traumatic for me to watch myself in
the early days, and I said, I don't know what
to do. So as time went on and dentistry caught
up to the world, I was told that there was
(11:43):
some help for me, and I found a wonderful dentist
who straightened things out for me.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Isn't it interesting, though, that this something you wouldn't ask for,
you know, something a child didn't desire. It ended up
shaping your tone and making your sound.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yes, yes, and it's.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
What we remember. It's what you produce even now. Is
that same sound? I mean, that's got to be a
curious thing for you.
Speaker 6 (12:15):
Yeah, all sorts of wonderful things happen. I'm out of
an unfortunate situation.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Isn't that incredible?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
We get so depressed about the things we lack or
physical limitations, but sometimes those seeming limitations are the pathways
to greatness. Mathis is really the end of an era.
This is a man who broke down racial barriers in
the nineteen fifties.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
He doesn't get enough credit.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
A man who worked with a new nat king cole
Ela Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, and now he's really joined their ranks.
Johnny Mathis will stop touring in May of twenty twenty five,
but I hope he continues to record. He has always
been wonderful, wonderful Go listen to his work. He's truly
(13:03):
one of the smoothest singers. His transitions are like silk singers.
Know what I'm talking about. It is a rare thing,
and Johnny Mathis is a rare singer.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
You know.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Johnny told me.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
About how his father and his parents were really the
reason he pursued music. I want to now introduce you
to an incredible father and son in our deep dive
Cash Bubba Harris has become a staple at Maverick's games.
The six year old has been battling spina biffiter but
(13:35):
the story of he and his father, Chase is an
inspiration and I think it'll help you overcome any difficulties
you're facing in your own life.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Watch this.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I am delighted to have you both here, honored to
have you on the on the show. I want to
start with you, Chase. There are two eight hundred and
seventy five Americans who suffer from spina biffidah every year.
Tell me what you and your wife thought when you
were first notified that your son Cash had spine epithodal.
Speaker 7 (14:07):
I think initially we kind of have the upper hand
because my wife is a nurse, so she knew she
had heard of it.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
She didn't know a lot about it.
Speaker 7 (14:15):
Hm, I was completely lost. I had never heard of
it before. So it was a situation where she knew
a little bit, but it was us learning more and
more about it once we found out and so, but
the biggest thing was fear because you go to the
doctors and they tell you one out of like you
just said, the two thousand plus, so you think of
(14:35):
the likelihood of a quality of life being decent, and
it's hard for you to fathom that.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Did tell me about tell me about the realization of
the disease. Did the doctors put any pressure on you
and say you may want to consider.
Speaker 7 (14:48):
Yeah, that was the number one. So that was what
we were kind of urged to do. But due to
our faith, we knew that that's that's.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Not not a possibility.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
No, it wasn't something we were going to do.
Speaker 7 (15:00):
They said we could do a in my wife knows it,
but essentially they do surgery while he's still in the
womb and in vitro.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (15:07):
Yeah, but at the time the doctor was like it
was new. They only did it in Houston, and they
said there's a fifty percent chance that you and the
baby may not make it, so we're not taking that
risk either. So from twenty weeks to forty weeks, every
single day we prayed for healing every single day and here.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
And here you are, kid.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
They got they got healing in ways I bet they
didn't expect.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Did not expect. Tell me what?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Tell me?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
First of all, what was it like dealing with spina
biffit when Cash was very small?
Speaker 7 (15:41):
Frightening because one, he's fragile, just like a baby, but
he has when you were born with spina biffita. Some
kids have a sack on their back and the closure
is fairly easy. You just kind of bust that sack
and close it up. He didn't have a sack. His
was just flayde So they had to take skin and
essentially stretch it, and I think we had three or
(16:02):
four revisions.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
They even took a skin graft from.
Speaker 7 (16:05):
His side, like his hip, yeah, to close it up
because it kept opening.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
So when we finally got home with that piece of it,
we had wound care. Again. Thankful for my wife being
a nurse, they allowed us to do a lot of
this stuff at home. Otherwise we would have stayed in
the hospital if she didn't have How.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Many surgeries six surgeries? How many surgeries did he go
through before he came home?
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Before he came home, No, I think it was over eighteen.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Ohayo, that many?
Speaker 4 (16:32):
It was one. It was two a week. In the beginning,
it was like what it was like or something.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
It was wow, it was.
Speaker 7 (16:41):
But it was essentially Okay, let's do this closure and
then would messed up.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
So in three days, let's.
Speaker 7 (16:46):
Do a revision and then oh, well, he needs a
VP shunt, which is I mean he has one right
here in his head.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Essentially, the spinal fluid would go to his brain and
it would just keep expanding.
Speaker 7 (16:56):
So you have to put a VP shunt that runs
behind his neck right here and down into his stomach
so that it could drain. So then you got to
get that. Then that malfunctions, so you got to get that.
And then you got mbilical hernia's, so you got to
get those.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
So it's just different things to moving targets.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, it's it's like a video game and they're just
trying to catch up.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
It's like a video game.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Yeah, amazing. Tiger Woods once said his father was his
greatest role model. Tell me, once you.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Found out your son had spina bifida as a dad,
what did you commit to do and how did it
change your life in way you did?
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Next?
Speaker 4 (17:38):
It right? Just learning more so than anything.
Speaker 7 (17:41):
I have a beautiful daughter who's able body the healthiest
can be, and so you really take on too fast.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
It's a father effort in the world. You take on this.
Speaker 7 (17:53):
Facet of this child of ours hat needs a little
bit more attention medically, but at the same time, this
little girl requires attention just because of her genetic makeup.
And so it's a balance of trying to do both
and at the same time. Cash was born in April
twenty seventh of twenty eighteen. My stepfather died in May
(18:15):
of twenty eighteen. So here I am taking this journey.
My biological father died in August of twenty thirteen. Oh,
so I'm taking this journey without any guidance from father.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
No pops, I'm struggling right now.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I don't have to do Yeah, and what did you do?
Who did you turn to.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
God, good and man?
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Sometimes some as mom.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Sometimes he got some good words, sometimes you got some
bad words.
Speaker 7 (18:41):
Just because it was so heavy to see a baby,
a child experiencing so much pain. He's probably been through
more in his six years of life than any of
us may ever go through.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Right, And so it's just a situation where you don't understand.
Speaker 7 (18:56):
You wonder why you can't make sense of it in
the moment. Obviously today can I see the glory. But
at the time it's just it's tough, and it's like
it's never ending.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Why did you ever find the answer?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
I mean, I know we all anytime pain comes into
our lives, anytime struggle anytime challenge, you go why is
this happening to me? But usually you come out with
some new understanding. What did you come away with?
Speaker 4 (19:24):
I think it was for all of us as a family.
It was to show me perspective.
Speaker 7 (19:31):
He lives a life that none of us have to live,
and he's smiling every single day. My daughter, she realizes
I have a little brother who I mean, on paper,
I should be able to do way more than him.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
I can't. I can't do a pull up. I can't
do a push up, but he can't his strength.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
She can't do one.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
She's the use of stool to do it.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Oh my gosh, and you're doing it.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
I'm doing it like this, Oh my gosh, and do
it all.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Was it made you more determined?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
The spina biff, it has made you more determined to
beat it, to conquer it. Tell me what a day
in the life looks like? There what I mean obviously,
once once Bubble was bigger and not a little infant,
and he was mobile, What did life look like?
Speaker 7 (20:24):
Essentially, at the beginning, we had twelve hour nursing, so
from six to six we had a nurse and then
the other rotation we had another nurse, So at first
it wasn't very pleasant.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
You got the stranger in your house at all times.
But in today we wake up.
Speaker 7 (20:39):
He due to spina bifida, he has to cath overnight,
essentially to drain his bladder. The biggest thing with these
guys is a lot of them die at a young
age forties because of kidney disease, kidney failure, because of
what they call neurobladder disorder, and so we cath overnight
to ensure that we keep that. So we wake up,
(21:00):
change the cat, get him set up for school. But
it's you know, you don't have a lot of move
in the leg, so it's every single that. You got
to put the socks on, you got to put the
pants on, you got to put the braces on, put
the shoes on.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
I'm a nut, so moisturizer or moisturized this whole body,
do his hair. I don't want to looking crazy.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
He's looking good.
Speaker 7 (21:19):
So it's a I mean, it's a task, but at
the end of the day, it's a task that we
don't know any different from.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
So it's just our normal.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
We'll return to cash and Chase in a moment.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
But I need to tell you an amazing father son's
story I happened upon the other day. It's the tale
of how a son's illness led his dad to the
greatest invention.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Of his life. And wait until you hear how it ends.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Candido and his six brothers immigrated from Italy at the
turn of the century, and they settled in Berkeley, California.
The family made their money building propellers for airplanes and
agricultural pumps. In nineteen forty to Candido's son, Kenneth, was
not yet too when the boy contracted a fever that
(22:06):
left him with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. He found it impossible
to move his body from his neck down to his knees.
Candido sold property so we could spend more time with
the boy, and Candido and his wife tried everything to
relieve their son's symptoms. They tried holistic treatments and physical therapy,
even gold injections, but nothing seemed to work until a
(22:31):
doctor recommended hydrotherapy. Candido and Kenneth got into their car
and made long drives to the warm water therapy sessions,
and amazingly, much of Kenneth's pain subsided.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
And the boy could move easier.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
The only problem was the long drives were exposing him
to cold and flu bugs that he was very susceptible to.
So his mother begged his dad to find a solution.
Wait until you hear how it ends. Little Kenneth needed
hydrotherapy to relieve his rheumatoid arthritis. The whirlpool was helping
(23:10):
to circulate his blood and restore his limbs, but the
boy couldn't endure the long drives to the far away
hospital and it was exposing him to infection. So his
mother begged her husband, Candido, to create something at home
for Ken. Candido was an engineer. He created agricultural pumps
(23:30):
and propellers, so this was not totally outside of his wheelhouse.
He re engineered a sump pump and mixed water with
air to create a jet effect. When he placed it
in the family tub, it created a whirlpool that allowed
Ken to perform his therapy at home and preserve his limbs.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
The doctors were so impressed with the.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Results they encouraged Candido to patent his pump, which he
did in nineteen sixty six. Candido's creation would become a
fixture in American households after his passing in the nineteen eighties,
his whirlpool tubs were everywhere. They are now simply known
by Candido's last name, and he's probably the only jacuzzi
(24:17):
whose story you know. Candido Jacuzzi is another example of
innovation born of necessity, in this case, a father wanting
to care for his son and.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Leaving a jacuzzi for the rest of us. Now you
know how it ends.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Dad's a physical therapist. How has that changed your pattern
your life?
Speaker 3 (24:39):
That it helped me? Like it helped him, like like
understand like how I do stuff? Like how to I
do my goals that I set for myself.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
I love that at six years old, you've got goals.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
He helped He helps me past my goals.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Hmm, You're incredible. I've been following your journey on social media.
How tell me how being a physical therapist? How did that?
I mean, having you as a dad of somebody battling
spine of biffida is very different from if I were
the dad of somebody with fine bifit because you come
with all this physical therapy knowledge. How did you apply
(25:21):
that to the therapy of your son? And the daily
practice will weekly practice?
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Yeah, I've always said he is my most.
Speaker 7 (25:29):
What's the word I'm looking for as well?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Important is a good one, Bubba.
Speaker 7 (25:36):
I get the most gratitude from working with him as
far as a client goes. I've worked with double amputees,
all different types of individuals, and so he teaches me
how to make muscles fire, how to try to wake
up the nerves, how to utilize balance when you have
scoliosis at a.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Forty degree curve.
Speaker 7 (25:57):
So really he teaches me how to become better at
what I do just by finding I mean, he's he's
a clean slate, he's little, he's muscles move real, these
bones are real flexible, and so I can do a
lot more with him than I could an adult. But yeah,
he just teaches me how to so he gets my
best and my words at the same time because it's
(26:17):
new to me something and your.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Son, so that it's always harder working with dad, right
and toddlement Dad.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
You don't why because Dad wants you to push harder
because you're his son. It's not just a client, it's
it's a part of you.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
I think.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Tell me what the tell me what that regimen looks like.
Three days a week, your workout is we do, tell
me what that looks.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Like is depending on what we need to work on.
Speaker 7 (26:40):
We do electro stimulation therapy and that's to essentially wake
up the nerves while we're working. Because with spina bifida,
this other therapist that I work with that specializes in
the electro stimulation, she says, there's nothing wrong with the muscles.
Spina biff is a nerve issue. So with the electro stem,
we're able to activate the nerves. And so we may
work on core stability, and that's why we might do
(27:02):
our planks, we might do our pushups. He has what's
called an hk AFO brace and that's hit knee, ankle,
and foot, okay, and so when we put that on,
that's when you see him standing up in his walker
and so that straightens them up. But also it's weight bearing.
So for these guys, the more weight bearing, that's how
they're able to build muscle. They have to be weight
(27:22):
bearing through their feet and so in that that's when
we work on our steps.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
I've seen you running, tell me what that's like. That
did that take a long time to.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Like week two?
Speaker 4 (27:37):
It didn't take him too long.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Really, it didn't take me too long to start walking? Wow,
take me a long time?
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Does it? It would normally take longer?
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Right it does?
Speaker 1 (27:48):
I mean this is this is also determination in a mindset.
Speaker 7 (27:52):
Right and he I mean he's one to one in
the sense of like he said, he has goals. His
goals for two years straight have been to walk, to run,
and to make a jump shot standing up. And so
he completed that goal in twenty twenty four. He set
it again for twenty twenty five, but this time I
did I.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Need it again, and you threw your jump shot.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
And we're taking away devices each time.
Speaker 7 (28:15):
So it's finding ways for him to balance with no standard,
no crutches, and to truly be able to take a
jump shot. Or this year we've stood with no assistance
on the hands.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
But but tell me, how did you become so obsessed
with basketball? Where did this come from?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Like I I started watching it, I was like, I
think I could do that, and I just started shooting
and I was like, whoa, I know I can make that.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
My God, But you know all the players now, I
mean now you really know the players.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
I know, like all the players in the NBA right now.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah, you're unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
And the Mavericks have basically adopted you. I mean, you're
like an honorary Maverick.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
I'm like the mascot, I'm like the honorary second mask.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah, you're at every game, You're always there. I've seen
so many videos of you. How did you and Bubba
get on the radar of the Mavericks?
Speaker 1 (29:08):
How did that happen?
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Just from us posting?
Speaker 7 (29:11):
And then the wife of the strength conditioning coach at
the time reached out to me, and we're friends now.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
We're family friends now.
Speaker 7 (29:20):
But at the time she was like, I want to
get y'all to the practice facility and then you go
to the game that night. And so we went to
the mass practice facility, he got to meet all the guys,
go in their weight room, their training room, and then
that night we went to.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
The game and.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Phinny Smith was in the locker room. Oh, well, what
are you doing here?
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I hope they lose to the Pelicans, just once, but
I don't think it's going to happen.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
I know, well, you're being very diplomatic.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Denzil traded Anthony Davis.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
I don't know that's right. He's kind of he's on
both teams. But now he's on your team. Yeah, he
left the Pelicans. Oh well why did he leave? I
don't know, I don't know. These trades are crazy. Like Luca,
he was traded. That had to upset you.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
You knew him, and and all of those players I.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Knew actually got a ball signed by all of them. Wow.
And then probably midway through the season they all got.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Trade, all got traded. Isn't that miserable? You're just you
just got friendly with them and they leave. And tell
me about the Dallas Junior Wheelchair My.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Prep team isn't My premp team is first in the nation.
Speaker 7 (30:34):
He's on the future. So he started playing when he
was four years old.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Wow, you know, tell us about tell us what it is.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
People might not yet.
Speaker 7 (30:41):
So the Dallas Junior Wheelchair team Mavericks is a wheelchair
basketball team in Dallas. You have them in Dallas, you
have them in Austin, in Atlanta, Houston.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
So you got multiple teams.
Speaker 7 (30:57):
And so the idea is to because they don't have
it in any schools, they don't have a pair of
sports in any schools. So these organizations start these programs
like this so they can play year round.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
But Jory.
Speaker 7 (31:09):
I mean for the most part, maybe a couple months off,
but it's just a phenomenal culture there.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
My friend know is supers, but you're getting faster. I
see the videos.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Tell me how did you come to post? When did
you decide I'm going to post our journey because this
is invasive. I mean, it's your family, it's Cash's development.
When did you decide why to post that journey.
Speaker 7 (31:39):
I've been doing social media for years prior to him
and us posting together, just with my fitness and different
things like that, and.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
I just realized that.
Speaker 7 (31:50):
There's the awareness shortage of spina biffit of disabilities which.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
Causes people to be in wheelchairs.
Speaker 7 (31:58):
And for me to have the knowledge, I figured why not,
because I mean, I can help so many people by
doing the things with him and they can emulate it.
And I've had so many messages of pts and occupational
therapists say hey, I have this patient of mine whose
dad saw your videos, and so now the dad is
more intentional with the child.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
And reaching out to you. I'm sure for advice.
Speaker 4 (32:21):
No, he just watches Wow.
Speaker 7 (32:23):
And then actually a lady that I had trained in
physical training, she became a physical therapist, and so she
was his physical therapist, but the dad was doing stuff
with the son that he's seen me do from our videos.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
What would be your advice to fathers who find themselves
facing any disability Because for a dad, for a mom too,
but for a dad, it's scary because it's uncharted water.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
You don't know what you're doing.
Speaker 7 (32:46):
I mean, the biggest thing is the world is getting
darker every day, and so if you coddle them, if
you try to hide them from the world and keep
them restricted to a little bubble, one day, you're not
going to be there.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
And when they get out there, they're going to be lost.
They're going to be scared air that.
Speaker 7 (33:00):
I mean, there's going to be so many mental things
that they're not going to be able to manage because
you never put them out there. You never gave them
the courage and confidence to know, I'm different. But that's it.
I'm not less than, I'm not more than. I'm just different.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
And that's the biggest thing we preach.
Speaker 7 (33:17):
And we went to Europe and a word that we
discovered in Europe was diversibility. They don't use disability, divers ability,
just a diversibility.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
How was Europe. Where'd you go?
Speaker 4 (33:29):
Why do we go there?
Speaker 3 (33:30):
We went to the Paralympics, and we if we went
there earlier, we would have been able to see that
the men's basketball when them, we saw the wheelchair basketball
win the gold medal.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
We went to the golden medal wheelchair basketball.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Game that is in the truck and field.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
And what did you think when you saw that other
people in wheelchairs doing this?
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Incredible?
Speaker 3 (33:59):
I got some three or four of the players and
I was like, and I was like, maybe I can
make it there one day.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
Hmmm.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I love that. Tell me about you hanging out with
Dirk Lewinsky.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I was like, I guess we're just going to take pictures.
And then she was like she took me to this
special room. I was like, is there gaming in there?
And she's like yes, and there's also another surprise in there.
What and Dirk was in there?
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Oh my goodness, and there was.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
A PS five in there.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
I was like, I was like, whoa, Well, you must
have thought you went to heaven.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
And tell me a little bit about you shared recently
on social media Bubba running. I know you said he
moved very cool, that this happened quickly and more quickly
than other clients. But I'm sure that happened because of
this sustained therapy he's had for me ad age. Should
(35:00):
that become the protocol for other people suffering for spintabi
of that?
Speaker 1 (35:05):
And are they doing this yet this kind of training?
Speaker 4 (35:09):
I believe so.
Speaker 7 (35:09):
I think it's the lack of consistency. And the hardest
thing for a parent with the child with disabilities is
the consistency.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Because it's hard.
Speaker 7 (35:17):
These braces they can take with singular person, they can
take you five to seven minutes to get them on
just to get them on, to get ready, and then
an hour to do the therapy, sometimes a little bit longer,
and then you got to take them off. And so
a lot of it is the lack of consistency.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Hmm.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
What do you think about that? Do you like the
therapy sessions or are they hard?
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Like them?
Speaker 1 (35:40):
You do? Want?
Speaker 3 (35:41):
I like them because Pabam makes them fun. He makes
them fun and any challenging me a lot.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Huh. Well, that's why you're that's why look at that.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
That's why you're running like a crazy man now and
making us all run out of breath watching you can
go to the Mavericks game and travel and you're here
and you're there and you're posting you're more engaged. Then
there's a lot of able body kids I know that
are far less engaged in their lives than you are.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Is that part of the lesson? Keep everybody engaged?
Speaker 7 (36:14):
It is, And just to explain, you don't have to
not live your life regardless of your circumstance.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
And so.
Speaker 7 (36:23):
The poor pital for me is something that I do
not allow for him because just as you said, there's
able body kids.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
That don't get to live his life.
Speaker 7 (36:31):
And so for us to take a sense of arrogance
or lack of gratitude because he uses this, I mean,
that wouldn't make sense to me.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
What do you want people to know about adversity and
when you face it and deal with it.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
The biggest thing about adversity is the battle in your mind.
We're always going to have it. It's never going to
go away. But it's how you approach it.
Speaker 7 (36:56):
Are you going to approach it knowing that there's something
better on the other side true? Or are you're going
to allow it to take you where it wants to
take you?
Speaker 4 (37:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah, Well I love that you've not only made the
best of it. You together are creating lives that most
people don't get to live.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
And you know what, I love most.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Of them, and I do want you to talk about this,
both of you, the importance of a father to a son,
because we often degrade fathers. I had a parenting expert,
doctor Meekern, recently, and she talked about how men are
valued in the culture. They make fun of them on TV.
They're always a goofy dad. Look at a goofball over there.
(37:37):
Your dad is everything but goofy. He is not goofy.
And I love the care, the love, and that you're
bringing him into your life and allowing him to bring
you into his. And how has that changed you as
a man, as a father.
Speaker 7 (37:52):
It's a weight on my shoulders that I'm willing to
accept because I know one day he's going to be
a man and I want to see how he.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
Interacts with his kids.
Speaker 7 (38:00):
But essentially, it's something that you lack which prevents your
body from breaking something down, and that's something he could
be a carrier of that, so he could have a
child with spine of ifida. And I want him to
know my life wasn't yielded because of this. This disease
is diagnosis, and so I want him to be able
to take his child through the same journey that I've
taken him through.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Tell me what the feedback has been like on your
social media feeds with like a lot of followers, millions,
Like one point over to you're like two million plus followers.
What are they saying to you? Why do you think
they follow you?
Speaker 3 (38:38):
Whoas hand like, good job? I want to I wanted
to do that.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Did you ever think that you and your son would
be inspirations to literally millions of people?
Speaker 4 (38:53):
He couldn't have told me that and had me believe it.
But you know, at the end of.
Speaker 7 (38:58):
It, that's where I say, I see God's glue. He
knew something that truly just to be. He's six years old.
He has so much more life to live, and so
I can imagine what he's going to be able to do.
But in the same token, we can always start now,
which is why we started our foundation to help kids
have the independence that he has. I didn't realize this,
but there's kids out there who are sixteen years old
(39:19):
and never had a wheelchair before. And so when that
is your source of independence and you've never experienced it,
you need a sixteen year old.
Speaker 4 (39:26):
That's not fair.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
No, it's limiting, it's limiting, and every life should be
allowed to thrive and flourish.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
And what we all have disabilities? We all do.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
I can't see without contacts in my eyes. Other people
can't drive straight, some have problems with balance. We all
have disabilities, but we have to deal with them right
and move forward, keep moving forward and living. And that's
what I love. It's why I wanted to have you
all on the show. To me, you're a huge inspiration
and I think you are an inspiration to so many people.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Tell me the world of faith in all this, how
faith is just and.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
Bubba so funny enough.
Speaker 7 (40:03):
Taking him back before Bubba, my wife and I we
weren't on good terms at the time, and I felt
like God had came to me and said, I've given
you this life for you to be fruitful. And so
I went and told her, I mean, I feel like
God is calling us to have another child. And so
once we decided that that's what we're going to do.
(40:24):
And then twenty weeks later, you find out that you're
going to have a child. But with spina bifida, you
start to wonder the why, like you said me.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
Twenty weeks later after he said that, No, that's.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
When I found out. But then you see him six
years later and you're like, okay, God, I.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
See this is the plan.
Speaker 4 (40:42):
This is the plan, and that's been my entire life.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
And he got a tattoo.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
And what does the tattoo say?
Speaker 4 (40:49):
What is it?
Speaker 3 (40:49):
You're a tattoo of them? Noah, that's mommy, that's the scene.
Speaker 4 (40:54):
That's me.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Oh it was Is he the lion king somewhere?
Speaker 1 (41:00):
I guess youre the walking Oh? Up top of is
Muphosse's up top high? Scar and Scar?
Speaker 4 (41:07):
Because sometimes you know, we got good and bad.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Well, we got to try to get rid of Star,
get rid of Scar. What would tell me before we go?
What would you tell other kids who are facing similar difficulties.
Some can't see, some are having trouble walking. I knew
a BOYO had muscular dystrophy, and he lived the greatest life.
He wrote poetry, He reached millions and millions of people,
(41:32):
and like you, he was in a wheelchair for a
lot of his life, but it was more rich and
he was more influential than any other kid.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
I think I know who you're trying to subscribe.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Okay, you you.
Speaker 4 (41:47):
He was like you.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
He was a lot like you and had a very
active mind. What would you tell kids who are suffering
and doubting whether they can be fully engaged because of
a disability.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
Don't let it hold you back. Just try to do
whatever you want. Just don't let it hold you back.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I love that, and it's it's really good. You have
a mom and dad who love you too.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
That helps.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
In fact, I think it's critical, it's critical. Thank you
both for being with me for the time. This has
been a joy, pleasure. God bless you.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Thank you, my friend. Remember me at those Mavericks.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Okay, here's the hole when Chase Harris said, adversity is
the battle in your mind.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
That's so resonated with me.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
It's not the adversity you face, but how you think
about it, how you're processing, how you pray about it.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
In the case of the.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
Harrises, and really, mister Jacouzi and Johnny mathis for that matter,
the love of a dad, the devotion to that child,
changes everything.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
You can see the determination and.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
The drive of these fathers in their kids, and we're
enriched by it all. And what an amazing boy Baba
harris Is. I love being with he and his yad,
great great people. I hope this episode touched you as
much as it touched me, and that you'll come back
to Royo Grande soon. Why live a dry, narrow, constricted
life when if you fill it with good things, it
(43:17):
can flow into a broad, thriving Arroyo Grande. I'm raiming Arroyo.
Make sure you subscribe like this episode. Thank you for
diving in.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
And we'll see you next time. Fine out.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Arroyo Grande is produced in partnership with iHeart Podcasts and
Divine Providence Studios, and is available on YouTube, the iHeartRadio app,
or wherever you get your podcasts,
Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
If you are a basketball fan, or a parent, or
you're facing hardship, you're gonna love today's interview. Over the
last few years, the Dallas Mavericks have made six year
old Cash Bubba Harris, who has spina bifida, their backup mascot.
He's captured the hearts of Maverick players, fans, really people
around the world through social media. But Cash's story is
(00:22):
also about his physical therapist's dad, who refuses to give
up and the joy we can all find on the
other side of struggle. Dad's a physical therapist. What do
you think about that?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Do you like the therapy sessions or are they hard?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Like them?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You do? Want?
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I like them because Paba makes them fun. Any challenging
me a lot?
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Look at that.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
This is a great Arroyo Grande and you'll get my
take on commencements, a legendary singer and a sock puppet.
Let's go. I'm Raymond Arroyo. Welcome to Arroyo Grande, Cash
(01:09):
Boba Harris and his dad Chase and their inspiring story
is straight ahead. Go subscribe to the show now on
YouTube wherever you get your podcasts. Turn the notifications on
why would you want to miss an episode of this show?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Come on, okay, a little free flow.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Commencement season is upon us, that time when former presidents,
talk show hosts, and sports figures get huge paydays for
donning robes and offering advice that no one uses.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
After four years.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Graduates are looking for the exits, not a life coach.
Notre Dame is whimping out by breaking its tradition of
inviting the newly elected president to address it's graduates, which
seems silly. I mean, look, if Bush Clinton Obama spoke
and they gave Biden their highest honor, surely Trump's appearance
(01:58):
won't shake the gold off the dome. What happened to
fairness and consistency at America's Catholic university? They may need
to go to confession. Katie Ledeki, Usher, even Al Roker
have been booked at graduation exercises across the country, even
though most kids won't.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Have a clue who al Roker is.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
The graduates at the University of Maryland got a shock
when it was announced that their commencement speaker would be
Kermit the Frog. At least it's not Miss Piggy. She
might have been more fun but every time they introduced her,
the school would have been charged with fat shaming. You know,
here's miss Piggy. Now we're giving this award to Piggy,
(02:38):
and Piggy gets an honorary degree.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
It wouldn't have worked.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Graduates have mixed feelings about being sent on their life's
journey by a sock puppet. One engineering student said he
was deflated and thought it was silly having a fictional
character offering them life advice.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Cheer up kid.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Last year, a Buffalo university trotted out in AI robot
named Sophia for their graduation.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
I'm not kidding.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Congratulations, Do all the graduating students ambrase lifelong learning?
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Be adaptable?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Be so adaptable that you'll give us half a million
dollars and sit still while we have a robot lecture.
You can you imagine the whole audience was praying for
a power grid failure. But at least the university got
off cheap. They didn't have to pay Sofia a speaker's
fee and all she eats his gigabytes. At least the
University of Maryland has to fly Kermit's puppeteerium. It's clear
(03:33):
these universities are trying to avoid controversy.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Look, I get it.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
After years of protests and incendiary speakers, they just don't
want any problems. The independent school paper at the University
of Maryland says of the kermencement.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
That's what they're calling it.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
The school is avoiding having to deal with real issues
by virtue of not having a real speaker. They have
a point. I mean, it's like not having a speaker
at all. But given the political and cultural landmines, who
can blame them? I mean, full confession. My commencement speakers
were mister Rogers and Bill Cosby talk about whiplash.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Won't you be my neighbor, But let's have a drink first.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Having mister Rogers and Bill Cosby as your commencement speakers
is like having Julie Andrews open for Harvey Weinstein. It
never works out. Kermit is suddenly sounding magnificent, isn't he.
I mean, at least you didn't get those other two guys.
And despite having someone's hand up his backside at all times,
a puppet can't really get into trouble, I mean the
(04:36):
way a human can. I understand why the students are disappointed.
They wanted a speaker they could add to their Insta reel.
I get it, but you know what, the reality is,
no one remembers commencement speakers or anything they say aside
from let's applaud your parents. Meanwhile, you're focused on getting
everything packed up and praying you don't have to move
(04:57):
in with the people you just applauded. On the bright side,
maybe the University of Maryland is doing their graduates of
service by booking Kermit. They're getting you accustomed to taking
orders from those who are also puppets happy graduation kits.
And it looks like Doge has found the White House
Correspondence Dinner A big cut just happened. If you don't know,
(05:21):
this is the annual gala where Washington journalists and elites
get all dressed up to eat lousy food at the
Hilton while ogling those in power. It also ends up
being a roast of the President or whoever's running DC
at the time. I've been to so many of these things.
I just can't anymore. It's pretentious, it's fake. You wait
(05:43):
all all day online, then you got to go through
scads and security. The only good thing is the brunch
held beforehand. Anyway, Each year they hire an entertainer Seth Myers,
Colbert Trevor, Noah Conan O'Brien, and a slew of comedians you're.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Probably you've never heard of, have always done it.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
This year, the White House Correspondence Association hired comedian and
former late night talk show host Amber Ruffin.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Have you heard of her?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Most haven't, but she shared her thoughts about the Trump
administration on the Daily Beast podcast after getting the gig.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
You're kind of a bunch of murderers, I mean so
like they were like, you need to be you know,
equal and make sure that the that you give it
to both sides and blah blah blah. I was like,
there's no way I'm going to be for doing that, dude.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
But this is supposed to be entertaining and fun, Amber,
It's not a political protest rally. It's not supposed to
be the Maxine Waters Marjorie Taylor Green death match.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
It's a fun evening.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Or you could just invite that pair and put the
mudpit down front.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
I guess. Well.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Look, Following Ruffin's comments and the firestorm they drew, the
White House Correspondence Association called a meeting faster than the
Disney executives in charge of snow White. The association's president wrote,
the White House Correspondence Association Board has unanimously decided we
are no longer featuring a comedic performance this year. At
(07:20):
this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the
focus is not on the politics of division, but entirely
on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing
scholarship and mentorship for the next generation of journalists. Now,
did you pick up the hidden admission there? We don't
want this year's festivities to be focused on the politics
(07:43):
of division. It's an acknowledgment that the dinner has always
been focused on the politics of division in some way
at least, I mean, anyone who's attended this dinner over
the years knows the comedic performances are always about divisive politics.
That's the way the White House Course Respondence Association programs
the evening. It was always a dinner built to bash
(08:05):
the president with a particular partisan edge, and it was
riddled with the politics of division. This is the correspondent's
payback to the guy who ignores their questions all day long.
It's snickering payback in black ties and gowns. Also, why
are White House correspondents choosing comedians to entertain anyone they
(08:29):
have the collective humor and excitement of Wolf Blitzer at Hooters.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Entertainment's just not your thing. Guys, move along, Let somebody
else do it. Lead it to the professionals. They don't
call it the nerd prom for nothing.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
If they really want to instill a spirit of unity
and truly allow all people, no matter their politics, to
come together and have a good time in DC book,
really great comedians who won't go to the gutter or
get crude or cheap in a partisan way. Seinfeld, Jay Leno,
Steve Martin, Da Carvey, Andrew Schultz. Look, all those guys
(09:03):
might take a few shots, but it would not be done.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
In a cruel or a partisan way. And White House.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Correspondence, if you really want to play it safe. Once
he's done with the University of Maryland's commencement, maybe Kermit
the Frog.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Could entertain your guests. He'd be perfect for the DC crowd.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
He's totally green, and he's worked with animals his whole career.
A little salute before we do our interview, A great
American artist announced that he is retiring from the road,
and I have to say I was really sad when
I read this announcement. The legendary singer Johnny Mathis has
been singing live since nineteen fifty six. His career spanned
(09:46):
seven decades, guys, but at eighty nine, he's announced that
age has taken a toll on his voice and his memory,
and he feels it's time to retire now. I've seen
Mathis in concert so many times. His unique tenor has
left such a mark on American music, and if you
see him even now, the tone, the beauty of his
(10:08):
voice really is undimmed, unchanged. Chances are it's not for
me to say, of course, all these Christmas songs, Winter
Wonderland and Marshmallow World.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
I asked him once.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
In an interview on The World Over about the way
he sings, and it was illuminating watch.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I've watched you.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
As an audience member on television, but certainly live. You
move your jaw in a certain way, and I always thought,
I mean, you really work your jaw moves in unpredictable
ways when you're singing.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I used to think that was to accommodate.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
The tone and the beautiful sounds you were making to
sort of move that tone into this place to resonate.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
It's not now.
Speaker 6 (10:54):
When I was a child, as most poor children are,
they go to the dentist and if you have a
cat in your tooth, they pull it. In those days,
so I had several cavities on one side of my
mouth and they took all my teeth out, and so
it made my mouth lopjaw. So in order for me
(11:17):
to open my mouth.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
I had you like that.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (11:22):
It was quite traumatic for me to watch myself in
the early days, and I said, I don't know what
to do. So as time went on and dentistry caught
up to the world, I was told that there was
(11:43):
some help for me, and I found a wonderful dentist
who straightened things out for me.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Isn't it interesting, though, that this something you wouldn't ask for,
you know, something a child didn't desire. It ended up
shaping your tone and making your sound.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yes, yes, and it's.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
What we remember. It's what you produce even now. Is
that same sound? I mean, that's got to be a
curious thing for you.
Speaker 6 (12:15):
Yeah, all sorts of wonderful things happen. I'm out of
an unfortunate situation.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Isn't that incredible?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
We get so depressed about the things we lack or
physical limitations, but sometimes those seeming limitations are the pathways
to greatness. Mathis is really the end of an era.
This is a man who broke down racial barriers in
the nineteen fifties.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
He doesn't get enough credit.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
A man who worked with a new nat king cole
Ela Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, and now he's really joined their ranks.
Johnny Mathis will stop touring in May of twenty twenty five,
but I hope he continues to record. He has always
been wonderful, wonderful Go listen to his work. He's truly
(13:03):
one of the smoothest singers. His transitions are like silk singers.
Know what I'm talking about. It is a rare thing,
and Johnny Mathis is a rare singer.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
You know.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Johnny told me.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
About how his father and his parents were really the
reason he pursued music. I want to now introduce you
to an incredible father and son in our deep dive
Cash Bubba Harris has become a staple at Maverick's games.
The six year old has been battling spina biffiter but
(13:35):
the story of he and his father, Chase is an
inspiration and I think it'll help you overcome any difficulties
you're facing in your own life.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Watch this.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I am delighted to have you both here, honored to
have you on the on the show. I want to
start with you, Chase. There are two eight hundred and
seventy five Americans who suffer from spina biffidah every year.
Tell me what you and your wife thought when you
were first notified that your son Cash had spine epithodal.
Speaker 7 (14:07):
I think initially we kind of have the upper hand
because my wife is a nurse, so she knew she
had heard of it.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
She didn't know a lot about it.
Speaker 7 (14:15):
Hm, I was completely lost. I had never heard of
it before. So it was a situation where she knew
a little bit, but it was us learning more and
more about it once we found out and so, but
the biggest thing was fear because you go to the
doctors and they tell you one out of like you
just said, the two thousand plus, so you think of
(14:35):
the likelihood of a quality of life being decent, and
it's hard for you to fathom that.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Did tell me about tell me about the realization of
the disease. Did the doctors put any pressure on you
and say you may want to consider.
Speaker 7 (14:48):
Yeah, that was the number one. So that was what
we were kind of urged to do. But due to
our faith, we knew that that's that's.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Not not a possibility.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
No, it wasn't something we were going to do.
Speaker 7 (15:00):
They said we could do a in my wife knows it,
but essentially they do surgery while he's still in the
womb and in vitro.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (15:07):
Yeah, but at the time the doctor was like it
was new. They only did it in Houston, and they
said there's a fifty percent chance that you and the
baby may not make it, so we're not taking that
risk either. So from twenty weeks to forty weeks, every
single day we prayed for healing every single day and here.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
And here you are, kid.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
They got they got healing in ways I bet they
didn't expect.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Did not expect. Tell me what?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Tell me?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
First of all, what was it like dealing with spina
biffit when Cash was very small?
Speaker 7 (15:41):
Frightening because one, he's fragile, just like a baby, but
he has when you were born with spina biffita. Some
kids have a sack on their back and the closure
is fairly easy. You just kind of bust that sack
and close it up. He didn't have a sack. His
was just flayde So they had to take skin and
essentially stretch it, and I think we had three or
(16:02):
four revisions.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
They even took a skin graft from.
Speaker 7 (16:05):
His side, like his hip, yeah, to close it up
because it kept opening.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
So when we finally got home with that piece of it,
we had wound care. Again. Thankful for my wife being
a nurse, they allowed us to do a lot of
this stuff at home. Otherwise we would have stayed in
the hospital if she didn't have How.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Many surgeries six surgeries? How many surgeries did he go
through before he came home?
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Before he came home, No, I think it was over eighteen.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Ohayo, that many?
Speaker 4 (16:32):
It was one. It was two a week. In the beginning,
it was like what it was like or something.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
It was wow, it was.
Speaker 7 (16:41):
But it was essentially Okay, let's do this closure and
then would messed up.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
So in three days, let's.
Speaker 7 (16:46):
Do a revision and then oh, well, he needs a
VP shunt, which is I mean he has one right
here in his head.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Essentially, the spinal fluid would go to his brain and
it would just keep expanding.
Speaker 7 (16:56):
So you have to put a VP shunt that runs
behind his neck right here and down into his stomach
so that it could drain. So then you got to
get that. Then that malfunctions, so you got to get that.
And then you got mbilical hernia's, so you got to
get those.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
So it's just different things to moving targets.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, it's it's like a video game and they're just
trying to catch up.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
It's like a video game.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Yeah, amazing. Tiger Woods once said his father was his
greatest role model. Tell me, once you.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Found out your son had spina bifida as a dad,
what did you commit to do and how did it
change your life in way you did?
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Next?
Speaker 4 (17:38):
It right? Just learning more so than anything.
Speaker 7 (17:41):
I have a beautiful daughter who's able body the healthiest
can be, and so you really take on too fast.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
It's a father effort in the world. You take on this.
Speaker 7 (17:53):
Facet of this child of ours hat needs a little
bit more attention medically, but at the same time, this
little girl requires attention just because of her genetic makeup.
And so it's a balance of trying to do both
and at the same time. Cash was born in April
twenty seventh of twenty eighteen. My stepfather died in May
(18:15):
of twenty eighteen. So here I am taking this journey.
My biological father died in August of twenty thirteen. Oh,
so I'm taking this journey without any guidance from father.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
No pops, I'm struggling right now.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I don't have to do Yeah, and what did you do?
Who did you turn to.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
God, good and man?
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Sometimes some as mom.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Sometimes he got some good words, sometimes you got some
bad words.
Speaker 7 (18:41):
Just because it was so heavy to see a baby,
a child experiencing so much pain. He's probably been through
more in his six years of life than any of
us may ever go through.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
Right, And so it's just a situation where you don't understand.
Speaker 7 (18:56):
You wonder why you can't make sense of it in
the moment. Obviously today can I see the glory. But
at the time it's just it's tough, and it's like
it's never ending.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Why did you ever find the answer?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
I mean, I know we all anytime pain comes into
our lives, anytime struggle anytime challenge, you go why is
this happening to me? But usually you come out with
some new understanding. What did you come away with?
Speaker 4 (19:24):
I think it was for all of us as a family.
It was to show me perspective.
Speaker 7 (19:31):
He lives a life that none of us have to live,
and he's smiling every single day. My daughter, she realizes
I have a little brother who I mean, on paper,
I should be able to do way more than him.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
I can't. I can't do a pull up. I can't
do a push up, but he can't his strength.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
She can't do one.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
She's the use of stool to do it.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Oh my gosh, and you're doing it.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
I'm doing it like this, Oh my gosh, and do
it all.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Was it made you more determined?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
The spina biff, it has made you more determined to
beat it, to conquer it. Tell me what a day
in the life looks like? There what I mean obviously,
once once Bubble was bigger and not a little infant,
and he was mobile, What did life look like?
Speaker 7 (20:24):
Essentially, at the beginning, we had twelve hour nursing, so
from six to six we had a nurse and then
the other rotation we had another nurse, So at first
it wasn't very pleasant.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
You got the stranger in your house at all times.
But in today we wake up.
Speaker 7 (20:39):
He due to spina bifida, he has to cath overnight,
essentially to drain his bladder. The biggest thing with these
guys is a lot of them die at a young
age forties because of kidney disease, kidney failure, because of
what they call neurobladder disorder, and so we cath overnight
to ensure that we keep that. So we wake up,
(21:00):
change the cat, get him set up for school. But
it's you know, you don't have a lot of move
in the leg, so it's every single that. You got
to put the socks on, you got to put the
pants on, you got to put the braces on, put
the shoes on.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
I'm a nut, so moisturizer or moisturized this whole body,
do his hair. I don't want to looking crazy.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
He's looking good.
Speaker 7 (21:19):
So it's a I mean, it's a task, but at
the end of the day, it's a task that we
don't know any different from.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
So it's just our normal.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
We'll return to cash and Chase in a moment.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
But I need to tell you an amazing father son's
story I happened upon the other day. It's the tale
of how a son's illness led his dad to the
greatest invention.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Of his life. And wait until you hear how it ends.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Candido and his six brothers immigrated from Italy at the
turn of the century, and they settled in Berkeley, California.
The family made their money building propellers for airplanes and
agricultural pumps. In nineteen forty to Candido's son, Kenneth, was
not yet too when the boy contracted a fever that
(22:06):
left him with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. He found it impossible
to move his body from his neck down to his knees.
Candido sold property so we could spend more time with
the boy, and Candido and his wife tried everything to
relieve their son's symptoms. They tried holistic treatments and physical therapy,
even gold injections, but nothing seemed to work until a
(22:31):
doctor recommended hydrotherapy. Candido and Kenneth got into their car
and made long drives to the warm water therapy sessions,
and amazingly, much of Kenneth's pain subsided.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
And the boy could move easier.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
The only problem was the long drives were exposing him
to cold and flu bugs that he was very susceptible to.
So his mother begged his dad to find a solution.
Wait until you hear how it ends. Little Kenneth needed
hydrotherapy to relieve his rheumatoid arthritis. The whirlpool was helping
(23:10):
to circulate his blood and restore his limbs, but the
boy couldn't endure the long drives to the far away
hospital and it was exposing him to infection. So his
mother begged her husband, Candido, to create something at home
for Ken. Candido was an engineer. He created agricultural pumps
(23:30):
and propellers, so this was not totally outside of his wheelhouse.
He re engineered a sump pump and mixed water with
air to create a jet effect. When he placed it
in the family tub, it created a whirlpool that allowed
Ken to perform his therapy at home and preserve his limbs.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
The doctors were so impressed with the.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Results they encouraged Candido to patent his pump, which he
did in nineteen sixty six. Candido's creation would become a
fixture in American households after his passing in the nineteen eighties,
his whirlpool tubs were everywhere. They are now simply known
by Candido's last name, and he's probably the only jacuzzi
(24:17):
whose story you know. Candido Jacuzzi is another example of
innovation born of necessity, in this case, a father wanting
to care for his son and.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Leaving a jacuzzi for the rest of us. Now you
know how it ends.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Dad's a physical therapist. How has that changed your pattern
your life?
Speaker 3 (24:39):
That it helped me? Like it helped him, like like
understand like how I do stuff? Like how to I
do my goals that I set for myself.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
I love that at six years old, you've got goals.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
He helped He helps me past my goals.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Hmm, You're incredible. I've been following your journey on social media.
How tell me how being a physical therapist? How did that?
I mean, having you as a dad of somebody battling
spine of biffida is very different from if I were
the dad of somebody with fine bifit because you come
with all this physical therapy knowledge. How did you apply
(25:21):
that to the therapy of your son? And the daily
practice will weekly practice?
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Yeah, I've always said he is my most.
Speaker 7 (25:29):
What's the word I'm looking for as well?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Important is a good one, Bubba.
Speaker 7 (25:36):
I get the most gratitude from working with him as
far as a client goes. I've worked with double amputees,
all different types of individuals, and so he teaches me
how to make muscles fire, how to try to wake
up the nerves, how to utilize balance when you have
scoliosis at a.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Forty degree curve.
Speaker 7 (25:57):
So really he teaches me how to become better at
what I do just by finding I mean, he's he's
a clean slate, he's little, he's muscles move real, these
bones are real flexible, and so I can do a
lot more with him than I could an adult. But yeah,
he just teaches me how to so he gets my
best and my words at the same time because it's
(26:17):
new to me something and your.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Son, so that it's always harder working with dad, right
and toddlement Dad.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
You don't why because Dad wants you to push harder
because you're his son. It's not just a client, it's
it's a part of you.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
I think.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Tell me what the tell me what that regimen looks like.
Three days a week, your workout is we do, tell
me what that looks.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Like is depending on what we need to work on.
Speaker 7 (26:40):
We do electro stimulation therapy and that's to essentially wake
up the nerves while we're working. Because with spina bifida,
this other therapist that I work with that specializes in
the electro stimulation, she says, there's nothing wrong with the muscles.
Spina biff is a nerve issue. So with the electro stem,
we're able to activate the nerves. And so we may
work on core stability, and that's why we might do
(27:02):
our planks, we might do our pushups. He has what's
called an hk AFO brace and that's hit knee, ankle,
and foot, okay, and so when we put that on,
that's when you see him standing up in his walker
and so that straightens them up. But also it's weight bearing.
So for these guys, the more weight bearing, that's how
they're able to build muscle. They have to be weight
(27:22):
bearing through their feet and so in that that's when
we work on our steps.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
I've seen you running, tell me what that's like. That
did that take a long time to.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Like week two?
Speaker 4 (27:37):
It didn't take him too long.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Really, it didn't take me too long to start walking? Wow,
take me a long time?
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Does it? It would normally take longer?
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Right it does?
Speaker 1 (27:48):
I mean this is this is also determination in a mindset.
Speaker 7 (27:52):
Right and he I mean he's one to one in
the sense of like he said, he has goals. His
goals for two years straight have been to walk, to run,
and to make a jump shot standing up. And so
he completed that goal in twenty twenty four. He set
it again for twenty twenty five, but this time I
did I.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Need it again, and you threw your jump shot.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
And we're taking away devices each time.
Speaker 7 (28:15):
So it's finding ways for him to balance with no standard,
no crutches, and to truly be able to take a
jump shot. Or this year we've stood with no assistance
on the hands.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
But but tell me, how did you become so obsessed
with basketball? Where did this come from?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Like I I started watching it, I was like, I
think I could do that, and I just started shooting
and I was like, whoa, I know I can make that.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
My God, But you know all the players now, I
mean now you really know the players.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
I know, like all the players in the NBA right now.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yeah, you're unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
And the Mavericks have basically adopted you. I mean, you're
like an honorary Maverick.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
I'm like the mascot, I'm like the honorary second mask.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah, you're at every game, You're always there. I've seen
so many videos of you. How did you and Bubba
get on the radar of the Mavericks?
Speaker 1 (29:08):
How did that happen?
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Just from us posting?
Speaker 7 (29:11):
And then the wife of the strength conditioning coach at
the time reached out to me, and we're friends now.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
We're family friends now.
Speaker 7 (29:20):
But at the time she was like, I want to
get y'all to the practice facility and then you go
to the game that night. And so we went to
the mass practice facility, he got to meet all the guys,
go in their weight room, their training room, and then
that night we went to.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
The game and.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Phinny Smith was in the locker room. Oh, well, what
are you doing here?
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I hope they lose to the Pelicans, just once, but
I don't think it's going to happen.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
I know, well, you're being very diplomatic.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Denzil traded Anthony Davis.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
I don't know that's right. He's kind of he's on
both teams. But now he's on your team. Yeah, he
left the Pelicans. Oh well why did he leave? I
don't know, I don't know. These trades are crazy. Like Luca,
he was traded. That had to upset you.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
You knew him, and and all of those players I.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Knew actually got a ball signed by all of them. Wow.
And then probably midway through the season they all got.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Trade, all got traded. Isn't that miserable? You're just you
just got friendly with them and they leave. And tell
me about the Dallas Junior Wheelchair My.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Prep team isn't My premp team is first in the nation.
Speaker 7 (30:34):
He's on the future. So he started playing when he
was four years old.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Wow, you know, tell us about tell us what it is.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
People might not yet.
Speaker 7 (30:41):
So the Dallas Junior Wheelchair team Mavericks is a wheelchair
basketball team in Dallas. You have them in Dallas, you
have them in Austin, in Atlanta, Houston.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
So you got multiple teams.
Speaker 7 (30:57):
And so the idea is to because they don't have
it in any schools, they don't have a pair of
sports in any schools. So these organizations start these programs
like this so they can play year round.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
But Jory.
Speaker 7 (31:09):
I mean for the most part, maybe a couple months off,
but it's just a phenomenal culture there.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
My friend know is supers, but you're getting faster. I
see the videos.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Tell me how did you come to post? When did
you decide I'm going to post our journey because this
is invasive. I mean, it's your family, it's Cash's development.
When did you decide why to post that journey.
Speaker 7 (31:39):
I've been doing social media for years prior to him
and us posting together, just with my fitness and different
things like that, and.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
I just realized that.
Speaker 7 (31:50):
There's the awareness shortage of spina biffit of disabilities which.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
Causes people to be in wheelchairs.
Speaker 7 (31:58):
And for me to have the knowledge, I figured why not,
because I mean, I can help so many people by
doing the things with him and they can emulate it.
And I've had so many messages of pts and occupational
therapists say hey, I have this patient of mine whose
dad saw your videos, and so now the dad is
more intentional with the child.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
And reaching out to you. I'm sure for advice.
Speaker 4 (32:21):
No, he just watches Wow.
Speaker 7 (32:23):
And then actually a lady that I had trained in
physical training, she became a physical therapist, and so she
was his physical therapist, but the dad was doing stuff
with the son that he's seen me do from our videos.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
What would be your advice to fathers who find themselves
facing any disability Because for a dad, for a mom too,
but for a dad, it's scary because it's uncharted water.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
You don't know what you're doing.
Speaker 7 (32:46):
I mean, the biggest thing is the world is getting
darker every day, and so if you coddle them, if
you try to hide them from the world and keep
them restricted to a little bubble, one day, you're not
going to be there.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
And when they get out there, they're going to be lost.
They're going to be scared air that.
Speaker 7 (33:00):
I mean, there's going to be so many mental things
that they're not going to be able to manage because
you never put them out there. You never gave them
the courage and confidence to know, I'm different. But that's it.
I'm not less than, I'm not more than. I'm just different.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
And that's the biggest thing we preach.
Speaker 7 (33:17):
And we went to Europe and a word that we
discovered in Europe was diversibility. They don't use disability, divers ability,
just a diversibility.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
How was Europe. Where'd you go?
Speaker 4 (33:29):
Why do we go there?
Speaker 3 (33:30):
We went to the Paralympics, and we if we went
there earlier, we would have been able to see that
the men's basketball when them, we saw the wheelchair basketball
win the gold medal.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
We went to the golden medal wheelchair basketball.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Game that is in the truck and field.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
And what did you think when you saw that other
people in wheelchairs doing this?
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Incredible?
Speaker 3 (33:59):
I got some three or four of the players and
I was like, and I was like, maybe I can
make it there one day.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
Hmmm.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
I love that. Tell me about you hanging out with
Dirk Lewinsky.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I was like, I guess we're just going to take pictures.
And then she was like she took me to this
special room. I was like, is there gaming in there?
And she's like yes, and there's also another surprise in there.
What and Dirk was in there?
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Oh my goodness, and there was.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
A PS five in there.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
I was like, I was like, whoa, Well, you must
have thought you went to heaven.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
And tell me a little bit about you shared recently
on social media Bubba running. I know you said he
moved very cool, that this happened quickly and more quickly
than other clients. But I'm sure that happened because of
this sustained therapy he's had for me ad age. Should
(35:00):
that become the protocol for other people suffering for spintabi
of that?
Speaker 1 (35:05):
And are they doing this yet this kind of training?
Speaker 4 (35:09):
I believe so.
Speaker 7 (35:09):
I think it's the lack of consistency. And the hardest
thing for a parent with the child with disabilities is
the consistency.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Because it's hard.
Speaker 7 (35:17):
These braces they can take with singular person, they can
take you five to seven minutes to get them on
just to get them on, to get ready, and then
an hour to do the therapy, sometimes a little bit longer,
and then you got to take them off. And so
a lot of it is the lack of consistency.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Hmm.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
What do you think about that? Do you like the
therapy sessions or are they hard?
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Like them?
Speaker 1 (35:40):
You do? Want?
Speaker 3 (35:41):
I like them because Pabam makes them fun. He makes
them fun and any challenging me a lot.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Huh. Well, that's why you're that's why look at that.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
That's why you're running like a crazy man now and
making us all run out of breath watching you can
go to the Mavericks game and travel and you're here
and you're there and you're posting you're more engaged. Then
there's a lot of able body kids I know that
are far less engaged in their lives than you are.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Is that part of the lesson? Keep everybody engaged?
Speaker 7 (36:14):
It is, And just to explain, you don't have to
not live your life regardless of your circumstance.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
And so.
Speaker 7 (36:23):
The poor pital for me is something that I do
not allow for him because just as you said, there's
able body kids.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
That don't get to live his life.
Speaker 7 (36:31):
And so for us to take a sense of arrogance
or lack of gratitude because he uses this, I mean,
that wouldn't make sense to me.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
What do you want people to know about adversity and
when you face it and deal with it.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
The biggest thing about adversity is the battle in your mind.
We're always going to have it. It's never going to
go away. But it's how you approach it.
Speaker 7 (36:56):
Are you going to approach it knowing that there's something
better on the other side true? Or are you're going
to allow it to take you where it wants to
take you?
Speaker 4 (37:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Yeah, Well I love that you've not only made the
best of it. You together are creating lives that most
people don't get to live.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
And you know what, I love most.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Of them, and I do want you to talk about this,
both of you, the importance of a father to a son,
because we often degrade fathers. I had a parenting expert,
doctor Meekern, recently, and she talked about how men are
valued in the culture. They make fun of them on TV.
They're always a goofy dad. Look at a goofball over there.
(37:37):
Your dad is everything but goofy. He is not goofy.
And I love the care, the love, and that you're
bringing him into your life and allowing him to bring
you into his. And how has that changed you as
a man, as a father.
Speaker 7 (37:52):
It's a weight on my shoulders that I'm willing to
accept because I know one day he's going to be
a man and I want to see how he.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
Interacts with his kids.
Speaker 7 (38:00):
But essentially, it's something that you lack which prevents your
body from breaking something down, and that's something he could
be a carrier of that, so he could have a
child with spine of ifida. And I want him to
know my life wasn't yielded because of this. This disease
is diagnosis, and so I want him to be able
to take his child through the same journey that I've
taken him through.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Tell me what the feedback has been like on your
social media feeds with like a lot of followers, millions,
Like one point over to you're like two million plus followers.
What are they saying to you? Why do you think
they follow you?
Speaker 3 (38:38):
Whoas hand like, good job? I want to I wanted
to do that.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Did you ever think that you and your son would
be inspirations to literally millions of people?
Speaker 4 (38:53):
He couldn't have told me that and had me believe it.
But you know, at the end of.
Speaker 7 (38:58):
It, that's where I say, I see God's glue. He
knew something that truly just to be. He's six years old.
He has so much more life to live, and so
I can imagine what he's going to be able to do.
But in the same token, we can always start now,
which is why we started our foundation to help kids
have the independence that he has. I didn't realize this,
but there's kids out there who are sixteen years old
(39:19):
and never had a wheelchair before. And so when that
is your source of independence and you've never experienced it,
you need a sixteen year old.
Speaker 4 (39:26):
That's not fair.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
No, it's limiting, it's limiting, and every life should be
allowed to thrive and flourish.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
And what we all have disabilities? We all do.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
I can't see without contacts in my eyes. Other people
can't drive straight, some have problems with balance. We all
have disabilities, but we have to deal with them right
and move forward, keep moving forward and living. And that's
what I love. It's why I wanted to have you
all on the show. To me, you're a huge inspiration
and I think you are an inspiration to so many people.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Tell me the world of faith in all this, how
faith is just and.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
Bubba so funny enough.
Speaker 7 (40:03):
Taking him back before Bubba, my wife and I we
weren't on good terms at the time, and I felt
like God had came to me and said, I've given
you this life for you to be fruitful. And so
I went and told her, I mean, I feel like
God is calling us to have another child. And so
once we decided that that's what we're going to do.
(40:24):
And then twenty weeks later, you find out that you're
going to have a child. But with spina bifida, you
start to wonder the why, like you said me.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
Twenty weeks later after he said that, No, that's.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
When I found out. But then you see him six
years later and you're like, okay, God, I.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
See this is the plan.
Speaker 4 (40:42):
This is the plan, and that's been my entire life.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
And he got a tattoo.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
And what does the tattoo say?
Speaker 4 (40:49):
What is it?
Speaker 3 (40:49):
You're a tattoo of them? Noah, that's mommy, that's the scene.
Speaker 4 (40:54):
That's me.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Oh it was Is he the lion king somewhere?
Speaker 1 (41:00):
I guess youre the walking Oh? Up top of is
Muphosse's up top high? Scar and Scar?
Speaker 4 (41:07):
Because sometimes you know, we got good and bad.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Well, we got to try to get rid of Star,
get rid of Scar. What would tell me before we go?
What would you tell other kids who are facing similar difficulties.
Some can't see, some are having trouble walking. I knew
a BOYO had muscular dystrophy, and he lived the greatest life.
He wrote poetry, He reached millions and millions of people,
(41:32):
and like you, he was in a wheelchair for a
lot of his life, but it was more rich and
he was more influential than any other kid.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
I think I know who you're trying to subscribe.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Okay, you you.
Speaker 4 (41:47):
He was like you.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
He was a lot like you and had a very
active mind. What would you tell kids who are suffering
and doubting whether they can be fully engaged because of
a disability.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
Don't let it hold you back. Just try to do
whatever you want. Just don't let it hold you back.
Speaker 2 (42:10):
I love that, and it's it's really good. You have
a mom and dad who love you too.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
That helps.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
In fact, I think it's critical, it's critical. Thank you
both for being with me for the time. This has
been a joy, pleasure. God bless you.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Thank you, my friend. Remember me at those Mavericks.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Okay, here's the hole when Chase Harris said, adversity is
the battle in your mind.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
That's so resonated with me.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
It's not the adversity you face, but how you think
about it, how you're processing, how you pray about it.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
In the case of the.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
Harrises, and really, mister Jacouzi and Johnny mathis for that matter,
the love of a dad, the devotion to that child,
changes everything.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
You can see the determination and.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
The drive of these fathers in their kids, and we're
enriched by it all. And what an amazing boy Baba
harris Is. I love being with he and his yad,
great great people. I hope this episode touched you as
much as it touched me, and that you'll come back
to Royo Grande soon. Why live a dry, narrow, constricted
life when if you fill it with good things, it
(43:17):
can flow into a broad, thriving Arroyo Grande. I'm raiming Arroyo.
Make sure you subscribe like this episode. Thank you for
diving in.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
And we'll see you next time. Fine out.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
Arroyo Grande is produced in partnership with iHeart Podcasts and
Divine Providence Studios, and is available on YouTube, the iHeartRadio app,
or wherever you get your podcasts,
Host
Raymond Arroyo
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