Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This episode of the Lori Takhtarsky Morning show is produced by CMJW Entertainment. This episode is brought to you in part by MHA of Dutchess county and Angels of the Andes.
Mental Health America of Dutchess county and Reviver Entertainment Group present the Sound of Nashville in the Hudson Valley's Queen City featuring headliner brand Ole Opry member and CMT Award nominee Craig Morgan.
With supporting acts two time Grand Grammy nominee Maggie Rose, Finalist of season 19 of the Voice in Hudson Valley, native Ian Flanagan, Viral sensation Jake Banfield and special guest Broadway to country star Brooke Morrow.
The Sound of Nashville one night only Tuesday, October 6th at the Bartaban Opera House in Poughkeepsie, New York. Visit bartabon.org for ticket information.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: We at Angels of the Andes are proud to partner and support the Lori Talk Tarski Morning Show. Our mission is to create brighter futures for children living in Peru's highest peaks of the Andes Mountains by supporting families and schools with essential resources and reminding them that there is always hope for tomorrow. Each year we also bring the gift of Christmas. Rooting children enjoy faith and the love of Jesus while reminding them that they are deeply cared for behind their mountains. For more information and to donate, please scan the QR code code on the screen and visit the link in the description. 100% of your gift goes directly to the mission, helping families where they need it most. Together we can continue reaching the highest peaks.
[00:01:56] Speaker C: Good morning.
Rise and shine to the iconic light.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: Nice and shine.
[00:02:02] Speaker C: Yes. And as we say, coffee in one hand, confidence in the other.
Girl power.
[00:02:12] Speaker B: Yes, Girl power.
[00:02:14] Speaker C: Today I have my pink heart mug and pink's one of my favorite colors.
[00:02:19] Speaker B: I love pink.
[00:02:20] Speaker C: Yes, such a girly Barbie dollish color. And of course the heart because I'm show everything with Lori loves to love. To spread light and love.
[00:02:30] Speaker B: Yes you do.
[00:02:31] Speaker C: And all I want to do today is spread the light and beautiful light and love of your story, your compelling story, how you rose above so much adversities and challenges and really near death experiences. Death experiences.
So I want to kind of see what you're a little. I'm kind of curious to see what your coffee mug says.
[00:02:55] Speaker B: So my mug says be still.
And this actually is from the Bible. It's be still and know that I am God. And this is from Psalms 4610. And this saying right here kind of got me through many challenges in the last two years of my life. In the midst of chaos in my life, I was told quite a few times to be still. And when I actually Stopped and listened, and I was still.
Things changed.
[00:03:22] Speaker C: I think we should start a little bit. We kind of rewind. Be kind, rewind.
Why don't we go back a little bit to little Emmy? You know, the Emmy.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: I love that.
[00:03:33] Speaker C: Yeah, the inner child.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Sounds like my dad. Little Emmy.
[00:03:36] Speaker C: Yeah. And talk a little bit first about your childhood and a little bit about you so the audience can get, you know, a better picture of the beautiful, strong woman you've become and the force you are in so many people's lives and in the community. Community.
So tell me a little bit.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Okay, so.
Wow.
So I come from Coney island, originally in Brooklyn, and I come from a broken home. My parents were separated when I was nine. They went through a terrible separation and divorce. And it really is not uncommon.
[00:04:17] Speaker C: I mean, broken homes happens to just about everybody in some capacity, although each individual. It really hurts.
[00:04:24] Speaker B: Yeah, it was really hard. I feel like a lot of things were. I was the oldest, I have two younger brothers, and I feel like because I was the oldest, a lot of things were kind of put on me, you know, of course, like to help take care of my brothers and, you know, the homework and cooking and cleaning and, you know, extra things that really weren't put on me before, but now they were.
[00:04:43] Speaker C: So, in a sense, did you feel like your childhood was. You were robbed of a certain childhood?
[00:04:48] Speaker B: I definitely was robbed of a childhood at. From that point on, just, just the divorce. It was just really ugly what had happened between my parents, you know, after the fact. It was just like so much fighting that happened.
And, you know, in the end, you know, the fighting for custody that my mother did, you know, for so long, and then she left in the end. You know, in the end she fought for us. She won. And then one day she just decided that she couldn't do it anymore. You know, she was an alcoholic and she was a drug addict. You know, I faced that challenge also of having to live with that. And there was a lot of things that went into dealing with, with that, with living in that kind of home. You know, just things that I had to endure and go through and.
[00:05:30] Speaker C: Why don't you just take a deep. Let's take a deep breath and then maybe if you're able to just explain some of the things that you had to kind of go through with all of that,
[00:05:43] Speaker B: you know, just having to see things that, you know, probably, you know, a 13 and 14 year old child shouldn't have to see in their home. You know, things, you know, coming in and out or happening a Child having to kind of be alone, you know, Like, I was just kind of alone, you know, at that time in my life, in a big way. And unsupported, you know, in a big way.
[00:06:08] Speaker C: So did you have a sense of spirituality or a sense of a higher being or that you could maybe call on?
[00:06:15] Speaker B: You know, at that time? I don't feel like I had, like, really such a sense of spirituality. No, I don't feel like there was. I feel like I was just.
I was just living. I was just, like, struggling to live, you know, like, every day was just, like a challenge to live every single day.
[00:06:28] Speaker C: Certainly relate to.
[00:06:29] Speaker B: I feel like there was always, like, the presence of God was with me. Like, now as an adult, I know that God was with me every day, you know, but back then, I didn't know. Right.
[00:06:37] Speaker C: It's so funny in hindsight, I know when I was going through tumultuous times, I just reached out and I said, please, please. And some days it was really difficult to believe. And now that I look back on hindsight, it was like he was grasping for me. He was holding me and everything.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: But that's the thing, you know, Like, I. I. Like I said I wasn't spiritual. Like, I don't feel like I was, but, like, I know that he was with me right then. Right. I know that now, but then I just. I didn't know. I was just fighting every day to stay alive, just, you know, to survive. To survive. Exactly. I was just struggling.
[00:07:07] Speaker C: And today, by the grace of God, you're thriving.
[00:07:09] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yeah.
[00:07:10] Speaker C: So that's what I say. I call myself not just a survivor, but a thriver.
[00:07:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, she. She left. It changed a lot of things in my life. You know, I ended up going to South America, and I lived in South America for a while, and, you know, I came back and I lived with my dad. And, you know.
[00:07:26] Speaker C: You're originally from South America.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: My father.
[00:07:28] Speaker C: Your father.
[00:07:29] Speaker B: My father.
[00:07:29] Speaker C: Okay, your father's from Peru.
[00:07:31] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:07:31] Speaker C: And we'll get to that. Yes. How it turns into such a beautiful story.
[00:07:35] Speaker B: Yeah. But, you know, it was just. There were so many things that happened, you know, in my. In my childhood of abandonment and, you know, just. Just things that I went through. But I'll tell you what the good news is, is that. And I know that we will touch on this at some point, but, you know, I have a book coming out, and my story will be in the book, and it will be in a lot more detail.
[00:07:55] Speaker C: It's going to be unbelievable.
[00:07:57] Speaker B: It's going to be a lot more detail, you know, when do you think this.
[00:08:01] Speaker C: This force will be out, this incredible book?
[00:08:04] Speaker B: My hopes is that it's going to be out this summer. That's going to be. That's my hopes. Yeah.
[00:08:09] Speaker C: Do you have a title yet or what you've been thinking of?
[00:08:12] Speaker B: Yes, we have a title. Well, it's not official, but we have a title in the works. I don't really want to give it away yet because it's not, like, for certain. For certain. But when the title is for certain, I will definitely yell it from the rooftop. I will make sure that you know about it so that you could yell it for me from the rooftop.
[00:08:29] Speaker C: Sure thing.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: On your. On your podcast and make sure everybody knows.
[00:08:32] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:08:33] Speaker B: Because it will be a story of hope. And, you know, through many challenges, from many situations, I think that's how we all.
[00:08:41] Speaker C: That's all. We all want to claim that. We all want to take hope, we all want to have faith, we all want to have love.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: Because it's a lot of trauma through, you know, just childhood things I went through, you know, through, you know, postpartum through.
[00:08:53] Speaker C: And you had a lot of postpartum depression?
[00:08:55] Speaker B: There was some. But, you know, also through my marriage and through just my own depression, you know, just challenges through many different things.
[00:09:01] Speaker C: How did you. Because I've dealt with severe depression with my bipolar that I've endured and suffered with, but now find, like, I'm totally in the light and I've been graced with a remission that I can do greatness for the glory of God. How did you feel in the depressions? How did you cope with it? Did you even know what was happening
[00:09:19] Speaker B: to you in the moment? I. I can't say that I knew exactly that I was in depression.
You know, like, before, I was talking about chaos. Like, I. I was. There was a moment where I was, like, really in complete and utter chaos in my life, and I just didn't know what was going on. I didn't know what was happening.
[00:09:37] Speaker C: So we were like. I was. We were kind of like lost sheep looking for the shepherd.
[00:09:41] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. And it was really rough.
And, you know, it really. Sometimes it really. It takes for someone to step in, you know, to intervene. Yeah. And that's kind of what happened for me.
And I was. I was blessed in that way that somebody intervened and really was able to help me through that, and I was able to see where my life was and what was going on.
So.
[00:10:08] Speaker C: So you had more awareness finally?
[00:10:10] Speaker B: I. I did, but ultimately, I. For me, I realized that what I needed to do to get through my depression for myself was I needed to focus on forgiveness.
And once I was able to focus on forgiveness and it wasn't something like that happened overnight, like, I wasn't able to say, oh, okay, you know, I forgive my mom or I forgive this person. And then, like, I woke up the next day and my life was changed.
[00:10:36] Speaker C: I know it's a long process. A lot of people never reach that.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: It didn't happen like that. Right. Like, it took, like, it took a while, and it took a lot of praying and it took a lot of talking to, you know, people that, like, really had my back for me to, like, get to that point in my head where I was able to, like, surrender it to God and, like, really forgive. Forgive for myself, you know, I look
[00:11:02] Speaker C: at it as, like, it's forgiving, like, for giving.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:05] Speaker C: You know, it's forgiving.
[00:11:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:07] Speaker C: Do you follow what I'm saying?
[00:11:08] Speaker B: I do. I do. And you know, when it's so weird, like, I remember being on my sofa, and I remember I had this green sofa. It was like a velvet sofa.
[00:11:16] Speaker C: Sounds pretty.
[00:11:16] Speaker B: It was. It was. And I remember, you know, in. In the chaos of my life, though, like, I remember. And my kids were little, and I remember crying a lot in that depression time, you know?
[00:11:26] Speaker C: Yes, I know what that's.
[00:11:28] Speaker B: I just remember crying and crying and, like, you know, that depression, the chaos
[00:11:31] Speaker C: almost equates to, like, that darkness.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: It does. And, you know, if, you know, it just feeds off everybody in the house, you know, like, everybody in house feeds off of you. You know, off the depression, you know,
[00:11:40] Speaker C: like, negative breeds negative, and positive breeds positive.
[00:11:43] Speaker B: And it's horrible, especially because as the woman of the house, you know, like, I kind of feel like, you know, I was, like, setting up the standard for my home, and so. So it was hard for me.
But after I let that go, you know, when I. When I. I remember realizing that time in my life when it was gone, like. Like, the forgiveness was there, and that feeling was gone, you know, And I. I felt so good.
[00:12:10] Speaker C: It's almost like your spirit could fly.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: It was. I felt so different. Everything in my home just felt different, you know, it was.
It was like a whole new world in my house. You know, once I was able to, like, truly forgive in my heart, there was a sense of freedom.
[00:12:26] Speaker C: Were you able to reconnect with these relationships or the people?
[00:12:30] Speaker B: Well, here's the thing, right? So I. One of my biggest.
I think one of the biggest reasons Why I was having trouble also with the forgiveness was because I always assumed in my mind that when you forgive somebody that you need to have a relationship with that person. Right. And you need to start hanging out with them again or, you know, breaking bread with them. Exactly. You need to start breaking bread. Okay. So now we're going to Thanksgiving together again.
You know, like, this is in my head, and it's like. But I knew that that's not what I wanted. I wanted to be able to forgive and just be done. Right.
[00:13:05] Speaker C: Because, you know, ultimately they weren't good for you.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: Exactly. Like, it was. The toxicity wasn't good.
[00:13:11] Speaker C: I think that's so important for people to hear because they keep so many people in their lives because they think it's. They must. They have to. They. Ultimately, they can't. They can't be without them.
[00:13:22] Speaker B: Yeah. But it was, you know, when I was. When I realized that I was able to forgive and it was okay not to have that person or anybody in my life, like, that I was forgiving and move on.
[00:13:37] Speaker C: Right. That you can love them from afar. You could pray for them, you could do good things.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: And I could still love the person. Like, I could still love people and not have you in my life. I could still love you and say, I forgive you, even if you never say anything to me. And I can live a wonderful life.
[00:13:51] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:13:52] Speaker B: And we're good.
[00:13:53] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: You know, like, I just didn't know that that was possible, and it just took so long for me to realize that, too, you know?
[00:13:59] Speaker C: Well, guess what? I don't think a lot of people ever realize that. Yeah.
[00:14:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:03] Speaker C: So that's a gift.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: Yeah. So that happened. And, you know, now I know your family.
[00:14:08] Speaker C: I've gotten to know your family, and what a. What a beautiful, wonderful family you have. Very much so. And I know you have two sons that are in their 20s. And the thing I always found about your sons, I know them going on about five years or so since I moved up to Dutchess. The Long island girl. Came up state, but still have that heart.
[00:14:31] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:14:31] Speaker C: Of a Long island girl.
[00:14:33] Speaker B: You definitely have Long island all over you, sister. Yes, you do.
[00:14:36] Speaker C: Anyway. But the thing I really enjoy about your boys is they're so respectful and they're so kind and they're so helpful, and they don't want anything in return. They just want. They want to be of service, and that's such a. That's such a heart of God and giving and things like that. So did you raise them like that? Did they come to be like That. I mean, because in today's world, it's been. It's very difficult.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: What is that saying in the Bible? Me and my. Me and my house, we will serve the Lord, right?
This has always been in my house. We will serve the Lord, and definitely.
[00:15:10] Speaker C: And that's kind of like. You know, I know I always talk about it. I grew up Jewish, and now I find myself.
I make a joke out of it. I hope no one gets offended. But I say I'm a messianic Jew, which is the type of Judaism. I say I'm a mess of a Jew, you know, And I'm a Jew that believes in the Messiah, you know, Jesus as the Messiah. I know you grew up very, very religious in a Jewish background, in Yeshiva.
[00:15:36] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:15:37] Speaker C: And now you go to church.
[00:15:39] Speaker B: Yes, yes, so I do.
So I will definitely. I'll touch on the church part in a sec. But definitely.
[00:15:47] Speaker C: With your boys, being with the Lord, in the home of the Lord.
[00:15:51] Speaker B: Yeah. So with the boys, I always raised them to be just loyal, loving and giving. I always wanted to create in my home, like a foundation of unity and love. It was always really important to me that.
That we had that. Me and Danny always built that with the kids, it was just like an important factor. And, you know, I always said, you know, I was gonna break.
[00:16:15] Speaker C: Danny's not your man off the street, right? He's your husband.
[00:16:17] Speaker B: You didn't mention him. Yeah, Danny's my husband. We've been married for 25 years.
[00:16:21] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:16:21] Speaker B: Yes, 25 years. And so, you know, he's also gone through, you know, some stuff in his life. His life. And, you know, we always said that there were certain things that we wanted to do when we raised kids and how we wanted to raise kids and we wanted to break some cycles.
[00:16:35] Speaker C: Generational curses.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: In his life, you know, from his life, from my life, you know, I wanted it better. Absolutely. You know, we wanted to create something different, something better for our kids and for our lives and, you know, just the. The unity and the love and, you know, teaching them to do things differently. And, you know, Danny and I, you know, we went to school. We both had gotten associate's degrees, and, you know, we were always like, oh, you know, we want our kids to do so much better than us, and we want them to, like, aim high. And, you know, so that was always something, like, for my kids, you know, that I always told them, you know, aim high, aim high. You know, but I always would tell them also, like, you know, you're not perfect. And I will never expect you to be perfect. Like, you guys are allowed to mess up, you know, like, just be honest, you know, like, just tell me the truth. Be honest. You know, you are never, ever, ever like gonna like disappoint me if, like you're messing up and you're coming to me, you're gonna tell me the truth.
[00:17:27] Speaker C: Like, right, we talked about that. It's our imperfections that make us perfect.
[00:17:30] Speaker B: Yes. So, you know, that was like one of the biggest things with my kids is that, you know, I always wanted them to aim high and I always encourage them to do great things. I wanted them to always, you know, aim to achieve greatness.
And I always supported them and whatever that they wanted to do, you know, even if they change their mind from like one career to the next or which a lot of people do, and that's fine, you know, like, I'm always going to support my kids no matter what, you know, as long as, like they're being authentic of who they are, you know. And, you know, I think that's all
[00:18:01] Speaker C: we can ask of everybody.
[00:18:02] Speaker B: Straight. You're straight and you're honest.
[00:18:04] Speaker C: Right.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Like, that's what I need, you know.
But as far as the church, you, you mentioned.
[00:18:11] Speaker C: Well, I had met you at the church, so.
[00:18:12] Speaker B: Yeah, so we met in a freedom group.
So that was yay to freedom. That, yes, freedom feel is just.
[00:18:20] Speaker C: It surpasses all understanding.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:18:22] Speaker C: The peace and freedom.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: The freedom. You are not kidding.
And yeah, you know, God really brought you into my life. Like, he has brought people into my life and brought people out of my life. Right. In like the most amazing ways, honestly.
And you have really just been such a light in my life, Laura. No, really, you have been such an amazing friend. Like, you know, I met you from the day I just, you know, you know how like sometimes like you meet people, you just don't really think that, like, oh, I just met this person. Like, you don't really know that you're going to become close with them or you don't really imagine that they're going to be in your life, you know, next week.
Right.
[00:18:57] Speaker C: Like, so you imagine we'd be sharing the picket fence and gardening together.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: I love you.
[00:19:05] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: I love you.
[00:19:07] Speaker C: Thank you. I love you too.
[00:19:08] Speaker B: I love you.
[00:19:09] Speaker C: You're so sweet.
[00:19:11] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:19:12] Speaker C: Well, your family's been amazing. You've been amazing and your, your story is just as we go on. It's unbelievable. And I want to continue to tell this, this just God inspired story.
So.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: So what do you want to.
[00:19:27] Speaker C: I want to talk about, you know, you had said, I want to talk about in depthly. I know for me, like my mother always says this saying, gegesund hate, and it's a Yiddish expression, it says, go in health, go in peace and go in health. I know for me, like, I felt like if only I didn't have these terrible health conditions, I could just climb all the mountains I can get from all the valleys and I could just do invincible things in life for the glory of God and for doing good things and good deeds.
And I remember so many years, I felt so knocked down.
But like we said, in hindsight, it's through adversity that we find out who we are.
And obviously, if I didn't have all these things happen to me, with the mental health challenges and the food addiction and trauma, law trauma of loss and different things, my life mission wouldn't be to bring people to light and healing.
And so much of what you do in the community and in your family and with your friends and is about things that have you. You have gone through. And I know most recently in the last couple of years, we almost lost you.
[00:20:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:39] Speaker C: And that was beyond frightening.
[00:20:42] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes.
Yeah. So, yeah, you're right. And, you know, I was thinking earlier about this because I was just thinking about how, you know, God orchestrates for us, our lives, and we don't even realize it, you know, and he. Or it just orchestrates how things are going to happen and, you know, through what you've battled with, you know, the mental health issues and, you know, your food addiction and, you know, you never imagined that you would be here right now. Right. And you never imagine of, you know, all the things that you would have been doing.
But, you know what, you know, now
[00:21:22] Speaker C: I can't imagine I'm doing it.
[00:21:23] Speaker B: I know, but, you know, just think about all the. The people that you've touched, you know, and this was like God's plan, right, for you to be touching so many people and. And helping so many people.
[00:21:34] Speaker C: No, it just feels so amazing. Oh, God. Like, and heart bubbles over and.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: And that's like, that's the plan of purpose. And I feel like for so long in my life, I've always wondered, like, you know, what's my purpose? What am I supposed to be doing? You know, And I think that's like a struggle that so many people have in life is like, what. What's their purpose? They don't know where their. What their purpose is where they're supposed to be, you know, but it was
[00:21:58] Speaker C: so interesting just to get. I'M sorry, I don't want to interrupt, but yeah, this is something that I spoke to, with, to a dear friend yesterday, my friend Emma, and she said, you know, sometimes people are looking for this big, big purpose. But, you know, when you have this belief of a higher being, you know, there's all different purposes. They may be big purposes, like on a grandiose scale, but just going to the supermarket and helping somebody with their groceries or paying for it, or smiling at somebody and they're having a very painful day, or buying your best friend one of your best friend's flowers, you know, or giving somebody a hug.
[00:22:34] Speaker B: I'm definitely one of those people that you will find that I will absolutely be that person that I am buying someone their lunch and they don't know it, right? Or I'm giving them that extra super duper tip because I heard, like, they somehow shared their story with me and they melted my heart. And I'm like, oh, gosh, here we go, right? You know, like, somehow I have. I have like an extra 50 in my bag again. And I'm putting.
[00:23:05] Speaker C: I'm sharing my story with you.
[00:23:08] Speaker B: I'm putting a Bible verse on the ticket, on the receipt, and I'm like, here you go, you know, and I'm running out the door because I don't even want her to know. Like, I don't want to, you know, because I'm not, you know, I don't. I don't want the.
[00:23:19] Speaker C: Right. The camaraderie.
[00:23:21] Speaker B: I don't want the camaraderie. Yeah. I don't want the charades or anything, you know, Like, I'm like, you definitely are.
[00:23:26] Speaker C: And that's. There's so many beautiful things about you, but that's one of the. The most beautiful. So, yes, you definitely do all the little things and the big things and. But you also said, you know, for a long. You didn't know exactly, you know, what direction to go in.
[00:23:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I didn't. And so, you know, I guess, you know, what happened was, is, you know, it's just. It's life, you know, it's living, you know, I'm taking care of my kids, I'm taking care of my husband. You know, I was. I went to school and it was just, you know, everyday stuff and, you know, I just wasn't really feeling well and I'm having headaches and rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia and.
[00:24:02] Speaker C: What exactly is that? You know, not, you know, to kind of touch upon it in a way, you know, a little Bit. So for those that don't know.
[00:24:07] Speaker B: Rheumatoid arthritis. Right.
[00:24:09] Speaker C: So it's just. I know what arthritis is, but.
[00:24:12] Speaker B: Well, rheumatoid arthritis is. Can we look it up then?
If you want to. I want to give you like a. Like a. In depth. I don't want to give you a track GPT.
[00:24:20] Speaker C: I don't want to give you a chap GPT version.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't want to tell you. Right.
[00:24:25] Speaker A: Chronic autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks the joint lining, causing painful inflammation, swelling, stiffness, and potential permanent joint damage or deformity.
[00:24:38] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:24:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:39] Speaker C: Okay. That's unbelievable. And I know you were going through that because you used to talk about it in our groups.
[00:24:44] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:45] Speaker C: How painful and the inflammation.
[00:24:47] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:47] Speaker C: So you had that, and on top of it, you were having headaches.
[00:24:50] Speaker B: So what happened was I was having. Dealing with the rheumatoid arthritis, and then the rheumatologist was putting me on all kinds of medications, biologics, and I was going for injections and what have you. And I was complaining of migraines. And he said, you really need to see a neurologist. And I said, well, I don't really have time.
You know, like, I'm dealing with this. I'm taking care of my kids. I'm helping my dad with this. No, no, no, you need to go.
So I finally decided in 2016 for as a New Year's resolution to myself that I was going to take care of my health. And I decided to go see the neurologist, and I went for an mra. And when the results came back, I went into the office and she was like, we need to talk. You need to come sit down. And I have news.
And I just knew something was wrong, and it was nothing that I expected.
And she showed me the images and told me that the arteries in the front of my brain were narrowed and collapsed.
[00:25:56] Speaker C: Did it resonate with you or you just in shock because you heard, like, that there was bad news?
[00:26:01] Speaker B: I was. I was in shock because I really wasn't anticipating to hear bad news. You know, it was like one of those things, like, you know, like when you go to get, like, a mammogram and, you know, you go get your results. Oh, everything was great. You know, come back in a year. Yeah, you go get a pap, and it's like, oh, the pap is great. You know, come back in a year. You know, like, I was not expecting anything. And so, yeah, I was, like, in shock.
And so all of A sudden, like, it was like, one of those things. Like, I was like a Charlie Brownie. I didn't hear anything. And I'm just like, just write everything down for me. Just write everything down. And she said, all I heard was, neurovascular surgeon. And then I couldn't even repeat the words.
[00:26:34] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:26:34] Speaker B: Like, the words wouldn't even come out of my mouth. Wow. And so from there, I had to go for a cerebral angiogram. And a couple of weeks later, I was in the city. I found a doctor out there. And the cerebral angiogram confirmed that I had a rare brain disease called moyamoya.
And with that, they also found that I had an aneurysm in the back of my brain.
[00:26:58] Speaker C: Oh, my God. What was the prognosis? What did they say at that point?
[00:27:01] Speaker B: The moyamoya is.
It's a rare brain disease that there's no cure for. They typically do surgery, but they needed to do so much more testing before they could do any kind of surgery. There was, like, a ton of testing that they needed to do beforehand.
They said the aneurysm was small, so that was something that they wanted to monitor.
[00:27:20] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:27:21] Speaker B: Okay. So after tons of testing for probably about three weeks, I was back and forth in the city doing all kinds of tests.
[00:27:26] Speaker C: And what was going through your mind during all this time? Like, were you, like, were you able to comprehend everything? Were you trying to, like, disassociate and not. Not kind of focus on it? Were you trying to distract yourself?
[00:27:38] Speaker B: I was comprehending. I was really thinking that, you know, I was trying to be realistic. And that's just something about me is that, you know, even at that time that I was in faith, right? And I'm definitely the type of person at that point in my life where I'm like, okay, I really try to give it to God, and it's like, you know, the battle belongs to you, Lord. You know, and I'm giving it to you, and I'm praying to you. But, you know, at the same time, I feel like I need to live in reality, right? So, like, my reality is, is that, okay, this could be a deadly disease, right? So now I need to live as if this is a deadly disease, even though I need to give this battle to the. To God, right? You know, we just went through all the testing, and at the end, we found that my brain had created these, like, little baby arteries called collateral arteries. And because it created these arteries that was supplying blood and oxygen to my brain, they couldn't do the surgery that they were talking about, because it kind of would have created, like, a force, like a blood flow force that could have been dangerous is how he kind of explained it. Okay. So we monitored and monitored. Every year we were monitoring. And that was from 2016.
[00:28:48] Speaker C: Was the aneurysm staying basically the same size?
[00:28:51] Speaker B: So, yeah, I was going. And, you know.
[00:28:52] Speaker C: And did you still have headaches?
[00:28:54] Speaker B: So I was, you know, every. I was still getting, like, these pressure. I always was getting pressure in the front of my head, and I was getting headaches. And so, you know, they would tell me, you know, you have to take medication. You have to find a way to do something about it through medication or alternatively or however you can. There was nothing that they could really do for me, honestly. They were like, you know, go to a regular neurologist, get on medication, or find another way to deal with it, because they couldn't do anything at that point.
But then in 2024, I was, like, past. A few months past due on my appointment, and I was having migraines, and a friend of mine, Renee, you know, oh, yeah. She was like, you need to go. You need to go. And she was kind of, like, up my butt about it. And so finally I went. When I went to go get my results, it was kind of like in 20, back in 2016, like, when I walked into that office and, you know, you just think that you're going to go in and they're going to be like, all right, baseline is normal again. We'll see you next year.
And the surgeon was like, we need to talk.
[00:29:54] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:29:55] Speaker B: And I'm like, what are we talking about?
[00:29:57] Speaker C: Right.
[00:29:57] Speaker B: You know, so he told me that the aneurysm had grown.
It was probably, like, about four or five times the size.
The sad news was, is that recently, like, about two or three years before that, my cousin passed away from a brain aneurysm rupture that she didn't know that she had.
And so I had told the surgeon that. And so. And with the increase in size from one year to the next, I mean, it was humongous.
And when he showed me from last year to this year, and he was able to show me side by side, it was enormous. And it was scary to even just look at it. It was frightening, Frightening. And he said, we are gonna have to do surgery, like, as soon as possible because I'm afraid that this is gonna rupture.
So we did. Two weeks later. I think it was about two or three weeks later, yeah, we did surgery.
[00:30:47] Speaker C: And where were you at as far as Feeling or, you know, did you still have that handed over to faith
[00:30:53] Speaker B: and all I did, I was still giving it to God and I was still surrendering to him. But again, I was being realistic. I still felt like I needed to be.
And I was setting everything up. I was getting everything ready. I was showing my children where the budget books were, where the passwords were.
I listen, this is the reality. I'm going in for a full blown craniotomy. They were cutting my brain open, my head open from here to here, the inside of my mouth, they were cutting me. They were going in my brain and anything was possible. So I was setting up anything, like for anything was possible.
You know, of course, I'm saying to myself, of course, God, please, I don't want to die.
But, you know, let's be realistic here, you know, I don't have that control.
[00:31:37] Speaker C: Well, I always say God only knows the number of our days.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: Exactly. And I live in reality, you know, I mean, my, my husband. And listen, I love my surgeon and he's like a world renowned surgeon, Dr. David Langer, you know, and my husband
[00:31:48] Speaker C: gave him a big. Yeah, no shout out.
[00:31:50] Speaker B: He's a he. Dr. David Langer from Lennox Hill Hospital. And he actually has a necklace Netflix series with Lennox Hill. And my husband praised him up and down and said, nothing's happening to my wife. And. But you know, I said, babe, you gotta stop because, you know, now you're. You're turning him into an idol.
[00:32:07] Speaker C: Right? And there will be no idols before.
[00:32:08] Speaker B: God cannot do that. He is not an idol. Right.
[00:32:11] Speaker C: Like he's.
[00:32:12] Speaker B: Dr. David Langer is amazing when he's not an idol. Yes. However, so the surgery went well.
I came out of the surgery and, and I went home. And Although, you know, of course, the.
It was a little rough, right. Coming through the recovery. And seven days into the recovery, my son came home, Zachary.
And he had a cute little cake and it had a little seven, number seven on it with a candle. And it's so touching. It was. Because there's just. They're such touching kids, you know, they really are. And he just wanted to celebrate my life and he just wanted to, you know, happy, you know, one week.
[00:32:50] Speaker C: What an incredible life it is, you
[00:32:52] Speaker B: know, one week home, mom, you know, and we were just celebrating the moment and it was a great moment.
And then the next morning I woke up and I had a stroke.
[00:33:07] Speaker C: I remember what happened because I went to your house because I hadn't heard from you. And that wasn't like you and your son Sebastian. Answered the door and told me what happened, and we both started hysterically crying. Because you were intensive care.
Yeah.
[00:33:20] Speaker B: So it was.
It.
[00:33:22] Speaker C: And when exactly did this happen?
[00:33:24] Speaker B: This. So I. I had the surgery up October.
August 20th, so I want to say August 28th, I think it was.
And. And then I was in the hospital, and I was in and out of the or, and they were just trying to figure out what was going on, and I couldn't speak. I lost my. My speech. There was just, like, so many things going on.
There was literally a moment in time in the first 24 hours that I was laying in the bed, and I truly had a moment with God. And I thought that be still.
[00:34:02] Speaker C: Right.
[00:34:03] Speaker B: Well, it wasn't even beyond. Well, I mean, I was definitely being still. I was being still with God because I thought for sure that that was my moment. And I thought that it was over for me, and I was surrendering my entire life to him in that moment that I couldn't even speak. My speech was completely gone, but I was aware of what was going on around me. And I just remember thinking in my own head, I'm like, this is it, God. You know, like, please just take care of my family. Just take care of my husband, Take care of my sons. You know, I. I surrender. Like, I'm literally in my head, I'm telling him, like, I'm. I surrender to you.
Like, it is your will. Whatever is your will, whatever is your will, I'm giving it to you. I'm giving it all to you.
Whatever it is.
[00:34:50] Speaker C: Look at these miracles that happened.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: Whatever it is.
[00:34:52] Speaker C: Look at. I mean, look at you.
[00:34:54] Speaker B: Look.
[00:34:54] Speaker C: Look how you've been restored, Renewed. Almost like a rebirth.
[00:34:58] Speaker B: Yeah. And it just. It wasn't my time. It wasn't my time.
And. And, you know, a few days about. About a week and a half later, when I was able to speak again, you know, barely. I was learning how to speak again in my. My sons were helping me learn how to talk again. My husband. It was. Insanity was going on in this. In the ICU.
But the doctor came in, the surgeon, Dr. Langer, and I said to him, you know, when I came in here, I didn't think I was going to make it.
And he sat down with me and he looked at me and he said, when you came in here, I didn't think you were going to make it either.
[00:35:33] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
[00:35:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
And, you know, it was.
That was a moment for me, like, to hear that from him, you know, to hear those words out of his mouth. It was a moment for me.
But, you know, I. I left there September 11th.
[00:35:51] Speaker C: Wow. Never forgotten.
[00:35:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I left there September 11th.
And I remember I couldn't wait to get out of that hospital. But at the same time, I was so afraid. You know, I was afraid to leave because I was afraid of the. Oh, God forbid I have another stroke or God forbid something happens, and I live all the way up here and it. And I just. But I remember going home, and it was.
It was emotional. You know, I took a really hot, warm bath and I sat in the bath and I just cried.
[00:36:19] Speaker C: Oh, wow. Yeah.
[00:36:20] Speaker B: And, you know, Danny just sat with me and I cried in the bath, and it was just a moment, but, you know, I.
I feel like we as a family, went through something together, and we stood by each other's side, and we knew that we were not gonna let what happened to me and. And to us turn into anything that was gonna destroy us in any way.
[00:36:47] Speaker C: It was just gonna build you.
[00:36:48] Speaker B: Yeah. It wasn't going to, like, bring any negativity into our lives.
[00:36:51] Speaker C: She's gonna strengthen all of you.
[00:36:53] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. You know, and what was great is, you know, I had so many wonderful people in my life. I had. My. My ladies from my church group were coming every day for weeks. They were bringing us food. Danny didn't have to cook a meal for weeks. They were coming. They were praying over me. They were bringing food. They were loving on us. You know, it was. It was amazing. We had so many wonderful people in our lives that were just there for us.
[00:37:16] Speaker C: And loving so breaks things, the people in our lives.
[00:37:19] Speaker B: Yes. You know, and that's like, another thing is, like, you know, you realize in moments like this, you know, you know, who's there and who's not, you know, and it was a true testimony to
[00:37:30] Speaker C: me, and it was true how loved you are.
[00:37:33] Speaker B: It really was. And it was beautiful. But, you know, through. Through this whole scenario, like, so many. So many things happen, you know? You know, in just a few little months. And we decided that, you know, we were going to start an official 501C3. You know, through what I went through, we were like, okay, we're starting this official 501C3, because we had already been doing a Christmas mission for children.
[00:37:58] Speaker C: And what is that called? You're actually one of our sponsors, so that's wonderful. Yeah. How you took a liking and support us.
[00:38:04] Speaker B: Yes, yes, we. So it's called Angels of the Andes.
[00:38:08] Speaker C: I love that. Angels.
[00:38:10] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:38:10] Speaker C: Angels all around.
[00:38:11] Speaker B: Because the angels. Because those children are like my little angels. And they're so beautiful.
[00:38:15] Speaker C: You know, they really are.
[00:38:16] Speaker B: They're my angels. They're just, just the most beautiful children. And, you know, we were doing this before, but we didn't have an official name, right? So now after the fact, I'm like, okay, we need to do. And my husband too, he's like, we have to do something. And it's like, you know, God saved me. And now I felt like I had to give something back, like a hundred times more. I'm like, God, what can I do for you? You know, how can I serve you, Lord? Lord, please, how can I serve you after what you did for me and my family? You know, like, I just couldn't get enough.
[00:38:44] Speaker C: That's how I felt when I. When I went through what I went through. I just want to give back and help and give and serve and love.
[00:38:50] Speaker B: Exactly that. And that's what I wanted to do. What I wanted to do was give back and serve and love in any way that I possibly could.
And so, you know, I had a bit of a rough time with my speech still and a little bit with my comprehension in the beginning when I got home. So, I mean, thankfully, you know, my husband was very on board with this and he really helped me. We hired a lawyer and, you know, so in the whole beginning stages, he really helped me through a lot of the stuff, the legal stuff. And we did our first non profit organization. We did our first.
[00:39:25] Speaker C: I was shaking it, girl.
[00:39:27] Speaker B: Yes, you were.
[00:39:28] Speaker C: I was. Even with the bad foot.
[00:39:30] Speaker B: We did.
[00:39:31] Speaker C: Yeah, it was, we had a lot of fun. Yes.
[00:39:33] Speaker B: And it was amazing. So from the end of September, we started it, and then we did Christmas mission. We sent gifts out in the beginning of December, but literally from September through December, the second week of December, we raised like $35,000.
[00:39:47] Speaker C: That's amazing. Yeah, it's amazing. Using it all for good things.
[00:39:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:39:51] Speaker C: To help these, to help people.
[00:39:53] Speaker B: Yeah. 100 of the money that we, that we raised goes directly to Peru. And of course, like, we had a lot of money left because we were not expecting to raise that much money. So we decided that we were going to expand our mission. And my son came up with this great idea of helping a school there. I went back to Peru in May and I interviewed a couple of different schools in like, all these little rural areas in Peru.
And we found a school that we were going to help and we, we did, we worked on. They asked for uniforms, they asked for a library, they asked for a soccer field.
[00:40:31] Speaker C: These kids sure not what to ask for.
[00:40:35] Speaker B: Let Me tell you something. I went back with my husband just this past March. March, April, May. So two months ago, not even two months ago, my husband and I went back and we delivered the library.
[00:40:49] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:40:49] Speaker B: With all new, brand new books.
[00:40:51] Speaker C: Oh, good.
[00:40:51] Speaker B: Yes. We delivered a brand new soccer field with new balls. They all got brand new uniforms.
Yeah. And we're going to be cementing a whole area for them on top of it. Oh, I love it.
So we did that for them. And then there was another school that we also ended up helping and they needed a. Their stove was broken. It was a school that I interviewed and they had a broken stove.
And they were. They served 80 students with a broken stove they had to cook lunch for.
So Angels of the Andes bought them a brand new stove, bought them new pots and spatulas, and while I was there with my husband in March, we bought them the whole school, brand new bowls and spoons and cups for all the students.
[00:41:41] Speaker C: Beautiful. I just want to say Emmy, say your full name, please, because I want them to know as your book and all these things come out. Emmy.
[00:41:50] Speaker B: Emmy Angelis Nussimo.
[00:41:52] Speaker C: And your name, angel is in there, right?
[00:41:54] Speaker B: Yes. Angelis is Angeles. Is Angels. Yes.
[00:41:57] Speaker C: So it was meant to be. Once again, I just want to say you're amazing. Your story is amazing. Things you're doing is amazing. And I think you had mentioned you wanted to kind of wrap up on the Lori Talk Tarski morning show, Prayer with a prayer.
[00:42:11] Speaker B: Yes. So besides that, Ms. Laurie, my beautiful friend, I wanted to give you this mug. It says hope on it. Okay. Because you are literally such a wonderful light in my life and you bring hope, Hope to me. And. And Lori was the first person in my life, actually on my one year anniversary after my stroke, of my stroke, that came to my house with a little gift to celebrate my one year.
And that really meant so much to me that she thought of me and remembered me.
[00:42:40] Speaker C: So I'll never forget.
[00:42:42] Speaker B: So, you know, hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. Okay. So this is a little gift for you.
Okay. But I definitely do want to just take my hand and I just want to say, Father, God bless the loving, caring soul, the gentle, outstretched hand who gives of herself and has a heart, has her heart asking nothing in return.
My beautiful friend, Lori, May God bless you and keep you always.
Amen.
I love you and thank you so much for having me on your podcast. This is my first podcast.
[00:43:21] Speaker C: Not your last.
It was as if it wasn't your first. You were so. It was so at ease and just so beautifully vulnerable and real, like you always are.
[00:43:30] Speaker B: Thank you so much.
[00:43:31] Speaker C: Can I keep that beautiful little prayer?
[00:43:33] Speaker B: You know what? I'm gonna type it up beautifully for you, actually. Okay. And I will frame it for you.
[00:43:37] Speaker C: I love that.
[00:43:38] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:43:39] Speaker C: How's that? Anyway, that's a wrap.
[00:43:41] Speaker B: That.
