Andrea Weahkee and Michael Langford

[00:02] MICHAEL LANGFORD: My name is Michael Langford. I am 61 years old. Today's date is April 21, 2023. We are in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I am interviewing Andrea.

[00:19] ANDREA WEAHKEE: My name is Andrea Weahkee I'm 41. It is April 21, 2023. I am in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and my interview partner is Mister Michael Langford.

[00:32] MICHAEL LANGFORD: All right. You know, I was looking at some of the questions, and, you know, this word of kindness has been, you know, been something that is. I've tried to use a lot more of treating people kind, but can you tell me a person in your life that you had memories of someone treating you kind? And I'll do the same.

[00:59] ANDREA WEAHKEE: All right.

[01:00] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Okay.

[01:01] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I think the person who's always been the kindest to me is my current boyfriend, Jeremy. He's always just been so kind to me. No matter what the situation, he's just always kind. And it's nice because then kindness is a humankind of the kindest dying in our world.

[01:22] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah, it is. Folks tend to be more aggressive toward each other instead of helping out.

[01:30] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yep. And that's funny, because I told my kids, be kind. Just be kind to people. Respect people. Be kind.

[01:39] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah. You know, I used to tell my kids something, especially with my oldest son, because in this world, and, you know, this is what I'm about to say, sometimes you have to have that talk.

[01:52] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right?

[01:53] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You know, you have to have the talk.

[01:55] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You do.

[01:55] MICHAEL LANGFORD: So, Nathan, I had to talk, and I go, look, man, the goal is for you to get home.

[02:01] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right?

[02:02] MICHAEL LANGFORD: The goal is for you not to get shot out there. The goal is, if you get stopped, you're respectful. You say, yes, sir, no, ma'am. Always tell yourself, the goal is for you to come home.

[02:15] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right.

[02:16] MICHAEL LANGFORD: I don't need you to argue with the police.

[02:18] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right. Just get home.

[02:20] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Just get home. Right.

[02:21] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right.

[02:21] MICHAEL LANGFORD: So with this kindness, saying, you know, the person that, you know, showed me a lot of kindness was when I. When I was in college and I was playing college football, and my position coach, his name was Coach Brown. Coach Scott Brown. And he was extremely kind to me. He helped me out. I remember that was a situation where my mother. My mother had cancer. And while I was in college, I remember him driving me home every day so I could see my mom in the hospital. And to me, that was. They didn't have to do that.

[03:09] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right. But he understood that as his player, you were going through it, and so he was kind enough to be human enough to show you his understanding of that by going and the extra mile and taking you home.

[03:23] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah.

[03:24] ANDREA WEAHKEE: That was nice.

[03:25] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Oh, it was cool. It was, you know, so I didn't say it was my wife, my ex wife or I my current girlfriend. I was, you know. But he, you know, I grew up without a father, so a lot of my male figures have always been kind of coaches because I didn't. I grew up without a dad. So that was always interesting now. And it was like you saying around the kindness part. I remember talking to our kid, my kids, and you go, and my mother used to tell me this, too. And you probably heard this old saying that you can get more. You can get more with sugar than.

[04:05] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You can with vinegar.

[04:06] MICHAEL LANGFORD: With vinegar or salt. Right. And, you know, it's like now my. You know. And I think sometimes people have lost that act of kindness. Kindness or just understanding. If you treat people right, you can get more out of it instead of.

[04:25] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Being a doing right, just doing to others. Because you never know when the position could be switched.

[04:31] MICHAEL LANGFORD: It could be switched in a heartbeat.

[04:33] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right. In an instant.

[04:34] MICHAEL LANGFORD: In an instant. Well, because.

[04:36] ANDREA WEAHKEE: And kindness is something that's. It's kind of like grace. It's just given people are kind or they're not. But kindness, definitely. It changed your life.

[04:46] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And you just want to be around people who are kind.

[04:50] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Kind, right.

[04:52] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You know, people who are a hos.

[04:54] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I know you can do without them because there's enough of that in the world.

[04:58] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yes, indeed.

[04:58] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Kindness sticks out.

[05:00] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah. No, no, that's good.

[05:02] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I agree. I agree.

[05:03] MICHAEL LANGFORD: That's good stuff. So what were some of your fondest memories as a kid? And I want to, you know, if I. I don't want to get into anything that is traumatizing, but, you know, what were some of the.

[05:16] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I think mine was riding bikes. I felt like. I don't know what it is when you get a bike. And I was back in the day, my bike came through the mail in a box. My grandma sat there and helped me put it together. Boy, when I got that bike, I took off.

[05:31] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Right?

[05:31] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yep.

[05:32] MICHAEL LANGFORD: So you say you were raised. You were born in Gallup, right? Did you spend a lot of your years in Gallup?

[05:39] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Well, kind of on the. My grandma was a missionary.

[05:43] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Okay.

[05:44] ANDREA WEAHKEE: And her specialty has always been Native Americans.

[05:47] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Okay.

[05:47] ANDREA WEAHKEE: So I lived in Gallup a little bit. And on the Zuni reservation. Oh, my mom married a man from the Zuni reservation, so. Yep.

[05:59] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Okay, so you're part Zuni?

[06:01] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yeah, I'm part Zuni. Well, part Zuni as in my heart.

[06:06] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Okay.

[06:06] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Like, I was fluent in it. When I was, like, four, my mom said she used to get mad at me because me and my cousins would be talking in Zuni and she wouldn't understand a word we were saying. And I was like, oh, but I went to school and that's all we spoke, you know?

[06:20] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Oh, really?

[06:21] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yeah, but they're very spiritual people.

[06:25] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Okay.

[06:25] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Very spiritual people.

[06:27] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Okay.

[06:27] ANDREA WEAHKEE: So me and Brianna connect on that.

[06:30] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Oh, really? Yeah.

[06:31] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Cause Brianna's Zuni.

[06:32] MICHAEL LANGFORD: She's Zuni too.

[06:33] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yeah. Did you know that?

[06:34] MICHAEL LANGFORD: No, I didn't. I didn't. You know, I get to learn a lot here because in Texas, there's not a. There's not a large native american, native american population in Texas. So I. I've learned a lot since I moved to New Mexico, just in regards to culture.

[06:53] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right.

[06:53] MICHAEL LANGFORD: New Mexico is very cultured. Very cultured.

[06:56] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yep.

[06:57] MICHAEL LANGFORD: State. So that's always been real interesting. Real interesting. How many kids you say you have?

[07:05] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I have four kids.

[07:06] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Four kids.

[07:06] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Two girls, two boys. That's all I needed.

[07:09] MICHAEL LANGFORD: That's all you needed? Well, that's good. You got any grandkids?

[07:13] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yep, two grandkids.

[07:14] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Really?

[07:15] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yep. Two girls. Two boys and one girl. One boy.

[07:18] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Okay, okay, okay. How old is your oldest grandchild?

[07:23] ANDREA WEAHKEE: My oldest grandchild is five years old.

[07:25] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Five years old.

[07:26] ANDREA WEAHKEE: My younger one is 18 months. He's a biter and a slapper. My daughter was like, so I was a biter too. What are you trying to say, karma? I said, I don't know. You kind of get what you give, you know what I mean? She'd be biting on her brother's back, shaking, like, a little. And I'm like, don't bite. But I'd put chili on my kids tongues. I didn't bite them back, because then they think, oh, bite. And then they bite me, and then I bite them again. So, no, I'd stick chili on their tongue so they would stop biting. Some of them like, chili, some of them don't, but they all quit biting.

[08:01] MICHAEL LANGFORD: They all quit biting. Yeah. You know, you say something that was pretty interesting when you know your parents skills. Because you said, well, if I bit them back, all I'm doing is reinforcing.

[08:15] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Biting the biting back.

[08:16] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Cause I remember, you know, again, I'm much older than you, so I was raised in that old school hard way.

[08:24] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You know, the neighbor spanks you. You're going home. You're getting it.

[08:27] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You're getting it again, right? You know, like my mom used to say, son, I'm gonna put it on your behind to keep it on your mind.

[08:35] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right?

[08:35] MICHAEL LANGFORD: And that used to just, ah, but.

[08:39] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You know, that makes sense.

[08:40] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah.

[08:41] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yeah, I like that. I'm gonna put it on your behind. Keep it on your mind. That's a good one.

[08:47] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah, man. Now she had a whole. One of these days we could have a whole talk about the sayings that your parents told you as a child.

[08:57] ANDREA WEAHKEE: They thought you forgotten. Every time you're in a situation, being a little light comes on and you hear them whisper that two word or two line thing my grandma used to tell me before I got in trouble, you're cruising for a bruising. You're cruising for a bruising.

[09:13] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah.

[09:13] ANDREA WEAHKEE: And I knew that was like, my last warning.

[09:16] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah, well, at least she gave you a warning, right? Yeah, no, back in, you know, we just. We're in a different time, right?

[09:25] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Isn't it amazing how the world has evolved and everything has changed from children and rearing and the way people are? Oh, even just human contact. It's different.

[09:35] MICHAEL LANGFORD: It is different.

[09:36] ANDREA WEAHKEE: It's a different world.

[09:37] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Well, and, you know, Covid definitely made us do things a lot different.

[09:43] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right. I can definitely see the difference in my children who, when Covid hit, they started the Internet school. And the kids that just went to school and didn't get infected at all. I got Doordash kings. And my kids, they don't wanna touch. They don't wanna breathe on people. They don't want people breathing on them. They doordash everything.

[10:04] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Now that is funny. That is funny for me now, because I still. You know what? I have never ordered food through Doordash or Uber eats.

[10:17] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Not have to say, you're a smart man. Somebody else is touching you, too.

[10:20] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Well, it's not that. It's just I'm old and, you know, because probably our. Our facilitator, she's probably got doordash a whole bunch of times. She looks. She's young.

[10:34] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Are you a doordash queen? I am not. But this is a remote. You guys are talking to each other. Okay, because I'm afraid it's going to fall. Okay, that's fine.

[10:45] MICHAEL LANGFORD: No, that's fine.

[10:46] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I was just kidding.

[10:48] MICHAEL LANGFORD: But, yeah, it's just.

[10:50] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I'm a teenager. I remember when I was younger, I was dying to drive. He's like, you think you're gonna put me in that crazy world with that traffic? My older brother can chauffeur me around. Just the difference.

[11:01] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah.

[11:02] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Don't be afraid of it.

[11:05] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Part of life, it's like now kids just stay at home, right? When I was 18, I was like, yo, mom, I'm outta here.

[11:12] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I'm out. Yep.

[11:14] MICHAEL LANGFORD: I'm chucking the.

[11:14] ANDREA WEAHKEE: And your parents are like, don't let the door hit you where the good door split ya. Right? See ya. Wouldn't wanna be ya. I'm here when you need to come for Sunday dinner. And don't make me put it on your behind and keep it on your mind. Huh?

[11:31] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You like that, huh?

[11:32] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yep. I was always told you represent your family every time you walk out this door. So don't go out there crying or being mean, or just don't be mean. You know what my grandma used to say to me because I had words. I was mean with words. She would say, you can say something to somebody that can take a lifetime for them to build himself up. Don't be that person, Andre. You don't. Words are very powerful. It's true.

[11:59] MICHAEL LANGFORD: They are. Yeah. Because people can say some things that.

[12:01] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Are very mean, very hurtful. Right.

[12:04] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Very hopeful.

[12:04] ANDREA WEAHKEE: But then they can also be kind and change your life on the other spectrum, too.

[12:08] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yes, it does. Yeah. No, it does. Especially in what I do for a living.

[12:15] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yes. You are a very kind man.

[12:17] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Oh, thank you, Andrea. And you are kind. You are kind. You're a kind young lady yourself.

[12:22] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Well, thank you. I try to be kind just because there's no reason to be mean. I mean, we're angry, but I believe in energies, so whatever energy you push out, you could ruin somebody's whole day. So I try to just be happy, even if I'm sad or mad.

[12:42] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Right. You know, I was listening to a podcast the other day, and I've just started to do that because somebody showed me how. But I was listening to a guy talk about. He was saying. And he was saying that what I told you that day where I choose not to allow myself to have a bad day.

[13:03] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right.

[13:04] MICHAEL LANGFORD: I may have a bad moment, but.

[13:07] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Not the whole day.

[13:08] MICHAEL LANGFORD: But why am I gonna allow my whole day to be ruined by someone?

[13:12] ANDREA WEAHKEE: And see, I agree with that. I like your little rock thing. You do, too. Cause sometimes nobody else say anything. We're our worst. Our own worst day. Carrying our. And we'll say, oh, we're just our hardest critic. Yeah, well, you should be your biggest cheerleader, because at the end of the day, you got to go home and lay down with you.

[13:33] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Right.

[13:33] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You know what I mean?

[13:34] MICHAEL LANGFORD: No, I like that.

[13:35] ANDREA WEAHKEE: So I try to remember that, too, because it's easy to be hard on yourself and expect the best out of yourself.

[13:40] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Oh, yeah.

[13:41] ANDREA WEAHKEE: But you got to give yourself a little grace sometimes.

[13:44] MICHAEL LANGFORD: That's nice.

[13:45] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right? Can you describe to Andrea, what your rock thing is?

[13:49] MICHAEL LANGFORD: What my rock thing is? My rock thing is I have a. A carton full of rocks, and in this. And they're large rocks, so rocks that are probably four inches in diameter. And what I do with the rocks, I will. If I'm doing an in service or a lecture for a group, I will bring those little grocery bags, cloth grocery bag, and I will give everybody a grocery bag. And then I would say, here's these tub of rocks. And if you told yourself a negative thing this morning about your. If you said something negative about yourself, you need to go and get a rock. And I tell people, just be honest with yourself. If you said ten negative things about yourself already, you got to.

[14:46] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I want to grab you two back.

[14:48] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You got to put ten rocks in there. And the goal is to show people how much weight we put on ourselves with negative things. With negative things. And it's kind of silly and people laugh at it. But if you have to carry that bag all day, it gets heavy. And the negative things, we tell ourselves, they get heavy. They get heavy. It gets heavy in our head, and we can't. We don't let it go, you know?

[15:23] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I just like the simplicity of such a good message in those rocks.

[15:29] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah. Yeah.

[15:30] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Cause it does weigh you down.

[15:31] MICHAEL LANGFORD: It weighs you down.

[15:32] ANDREA WEAHKEE: If you grab three of them mugs, them ten rocks in there, you're gonna be working out by the end of the day.

[15:37] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah.

[15:38] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You know?

[15:38] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah. And then all. And then that pressure we put on ourselves, man, to be whatever, you know, we all wanna be better.

[15:49] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Negativity is not the way to get there.

[15:51] MICHAEL LANGFORD: No, no. Being negative is, you know, I tend to allow myself not even want to be around people who are negative. Or when you see that person you like.

[16:01] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yeah. First thing, if I hear staff saying negative things, I make them say three positives about themselves.

[16:08] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Oh, that's good. I usually tell them. I usually go on this. This kick around. For every negative thing, you have to say nine positives, that's smarter.

[16:21] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Cause I think seven negatives over or turn into one positive. Is that what it is?

[16:28] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah.

[16:28] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I can't remember. A doctor told me.

[16:30] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Oh, really?

[16:31] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yeah. I can't remember exactly the ratio to ratio, but, yeah. So that's a good thing you do.

[16:36] MICHAEL LANGFORD: There, too, when you say. And you can say, no, I'm like, I don't want to talk about that. But we. We work. You live in a place where you suffered an injury, right? You suffered an injury. And how has that changed you changing me?

[16:59] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I think it's made me more kind, actually.

[17:02] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Really?

[17:02] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Because I think I was a little mean. And sometimes when. When life throws you something that you didn't realize you took for granted until you're on the other side and the grass is dead, there's no greenhouse.

[17:13] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Right.

[17:14] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You don't really see that of yourself. So I think it's actually made me kinder to people and not just giving more grace to myself, but other people just never knowing what they were before and what they've been through. Right, right.

[17:29] MICHAEL LANGFORD: And for you. For, you know, you suffered a stroke, which changed your life.

[17:37] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right. It did, yeah.

[17:38] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You know, and so I work in an industry here in New Mexico and the brain injury industry. So we've been able to work with wonderful people like you. But in working with folks like you, it definitely humbles people like me.

[18:00] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right. But it humbles us, too. Like me, I've had to learn how to ask for help instead of just trying to do it on myself.

[18:07] MICHAEL LANGFORD: True, true, true.

[18:09] ANDREA WEAHKEE: So it's nice to have humility around you when you have to embrace it. And it's not the easiest thing just because with a brain injury, like, I think the hardest obstacle has been, one, keeping a poker face, and two, realizing you can't do something, but not until you get there and you want to do it and you can no longer do it. So.

[18:32] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah. And that gets you.

[18:33] ANDREA WEAHKEE: It does. But it keeps you humble. Cause then you have to ask somebody else to help you do something that, you know, in your mind you've done a 1001 times before.

[18:42] MICHAEL LANGFORD: But that takes a lot for a person like you to. Because, girl, you run circles around people. I bet before you had this incident, you used to run circles around people.

[18:55] ANDREA WEAHKEE: All right.

[18:56] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You know, and you still have the gift of the gab, right?

[18:59] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Talking you into something or talking you out of something. No.

[19:03] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yes, it did. Yes, indeed.

[19:06] ANDREA WEAHKEE: But with humility and the willingness of all the staff to help us achieve this goal of just getting back to life, it helps us because with that compassion and that humbleness, first we learn how to be humble as they are humble, which I think the care your whole company provides is just a humanity. Humility all the way around, no matter what.

[19:33] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Right.

[19:34] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You know what I mean? It's not always easy.

[19:36] MICHAEL LANGFORD: No, it's not easy because, you know, sometimes we. We watch people who want to be. Who want to fight and do all kind of crazy stuff. So. So. Yeah, but no, that's. That's. That's. That's all right. That's all right. So what's your. What's your most funniest story. Let's talk about kids. What's the story? That one of your kids did something and you just looked at him and you just like, seriously, I got too many of those with my, my wild childs. But you, my kids.

[20:10] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yeah, there's funny stories. I think the funniest story is actually I was pregnant with my first nine pounder.

[20:16] MICHAEL LANGFORD: And I was your first nine pounder.

[20:19] ANDREA WEAHKEE: First nine pounder.

[20:19] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Oh. So this. So there had to be a second. Oh.

[20:23] ANDREA WEAHKEE: After the second one, I was done smarter, not harder. I was like, these kids are getting bigger and bigger and I can't do it. And he was early and he was nine pounds. I was wow. They were like, you want to wait two more weeks? Two more weeks for what, a 13 pounder? No, thanks. But I was grocery shopping, and you know how you go through the checkout lanes? I was so big, I got stuck right there and I couldn't get out. And their dad had to pushed me by my butt to get out. So the kid wasn't even here yet. But it was. I thought that was funny just cause everybody at Smith was like, do you need help? And I was like, I'm just stuck cause I got in there at an angle and I was stuck trying to pay for my groceries. And the more I hurried, the more stuck I got.

[21:11] MICHAEL LANGFORD: That's funny. That's funny. Yeah. I have a story. My oldest son, back when he was younger, he was a big Jim Carreys fan. And so he'd run in the house. And I guess at that time, the big Jim Carrey movie was the mask and Ace Ventura, but he thought. So in those movies, Jim Carrey says something like, somebody stop me, right? So my son would run in the house, Mandy. And he'd just run and he'll slide like Jim Carrey would do and go, dad, somebody stop it. Now that was funny the first ten times we were in the millions of times that he would do this and he'd run in, dad, somebody stopping. I said, boy, I'm gonna stop you, buddy. I'm gonna knock you out.

[22:09] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I'm gonna stop you.

[22:10] MICHAEL LANGFORD: I'm gonna stop you. So the funny so going to now he has my granddaughter is probably as hyper and as wired as he was. Cause I always told him when he was young, I can't wait for you to have kids. So. And I hope they all as hyper as you are so I can enjoy myself watching you having to deal with all this nonsense. So he sends me a video last week. He's not saying anything. And he goes. And in this text message, he goes, dad, I want to say I'm sorry for all the headaches I gave you. And in the background, all I hear is my grandkids screaming and holling and playing. He's like, I'm like, yeah, I went through that so good. I'm glad you happen to go through it now. But nah, that was fun. That was fun. He said, he's a good one. He's a good one.

[23:07] ANDREA WEAHKEE: It's interesting to watch the way kids deal with their own mirror. You know what I mean? Cause I have a daughter, and her daughter is hoppy Joe. Everybody said she's more hyperactive like me. Like, I never stopped, right? Circles started when I was, like, three years old, just never stopping. And my daughter's always like, mom, this kid doesn't stop. And I would talk to her on the phone. She'd be jumping up and down on the couch, somersaulting and just doing it. And my daughter's like, what do I do? And I said, I don't know. Do you want me to hang up with you so you can handle that? I mean, I don't know how many times I had to do that with her and her brothers jumping from bed to bed or couch to couch. The carpet's hot lava. Playing their little games or whatever.

[23:51] MICHAEL LANGFORD: The carpet is hot lava.

[23:53] ANDREA WEAHKEE: That's a good one, right? They used to not touch the floor because they would say it's hot lava. And they jump from couch to couche. And I'm like, you'd be like me?

[24:03] MICHAEL LANGFORD: I was like, jumping like situ.

[24:05] ANDREA WEAHKEE: But right when I was a kid, my grandma would be like, I'm gonna be gone for 3 hours. You're gonna sit here? You. Yes, ma'am. No, sir. Asked to use the bathroom. Ask to get a drink. May I please have something to drink? You know what I mean?

[24:20] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Right?

[24:20] ANDREA WEAHKEE: So then chaotic. You're like, whoa. Children are meant to be seen and not seen. Jumping on your couch, flipping around, thinking, it's gymnastics. It's not the Olympics.

[24:35] MICHAEL LANGFORD: I remember my mom used to say, children should be seen and not heard.

[24:41] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Children only speak when spoken to.

[24:45] MICHAEL LANGFORD: I was raised back. It was kind of a little different back then. Now they would call the way I was raised, they would probably call that child abuse today compared to how choosing to raise today. So that's funny or not, but I wasn't abused, so.

[25:00] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Right.

[25:02] MICHAEL LANGFORD: All right, all right. You know, we touched a little bit on this, and I don't, you know, this brain injury thing. And I'll tell you how I started in the business in. In 1984, and you're like, oh, I wasn't even born. Yeah, you were born in 84.

[25:26] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yeah, I was two years old.

[25:27] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You was two years old? Yeah, right. You know, I went to a place and they were like, well, you're big enough. And, well, we work with people, adults with brain injury. At that time, I didn't know what a brain injury was, but got the job, started working, kind of enjoyed it, just like, man, this is cool. But you guys have taught me a lot. You know, as a person who I'm supposed to be giving you services, the things that you say and the way you handle yourself during these trying times, I have mad respect for you.

[26:04] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Attitude reflects leadership. Do you know that? Attitude reflects leadership. So good job. Pat yourself on the back. I knew it took a minute to build a good company. Like, you've got a so. Attitude reflects leadership. I truly believe in that.

[26:19] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Well, thank you. You know, you gotta go through some people, but, you know, it's been. I've been now doing, working with individuals with brain injuries now going on 39 years.

[26:30] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Wow.

[26:30] MICHAEL LANGFORD: And I've seen some people, I've met some wonderful people. I met some people who were pain in the butts, but this job humbles me because I could be sitting in your seat anytime, at any time.

[26:50] ANDREA WEAHKEE: See, and I think that all your workers think, like, they live like that with us. You know what I mean? And the thing that I love the most about it is it's like we're all a family. You know what I mean? When you're away from home, it's hard to heal if you miss home, but if there's family, it's home. You know what I mean? Yeah, it's home.

[27:09] MICHAEL LANGFORD: I like that.

[27:10] ANDREA WEAHKEE: And so it's good. It's. I think it's the most wonderful place I could have ever healed, and I think I'll probably get the most healing here because I learned a lot from everyone.

[27:20] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Well, you definitely kept me on my toes of getting you here.

[27:27] ANDREA WEAHKEE: That's how we got to know each other.

[27:29] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yes, we did. Yes, we did.

[27:31] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I called him for, like, a month or two straight. Every single day, the squeaky oil gets the wheel. So I squeaked it all the way.

[27:40] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You definitely squeaked it. And we got you patiently.

[27:43] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You patiently endured it and still gave me the hope. And then we got in.

[27:47] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yes, indeed. We got you in and out. And it's been good.

[27:52] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I agree with you.

[27:53] MICHAEL LANGFORD: It's been real well. And I'm. I'm ecstatic. And every time I I have the opportunity to meet with you and talk with you. So it's good stuff. It's good stuff. Let's see. Andrea, can you tell me one more.

[28:14] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Time what you meant by it took a long time for you to get him? Because I was trying, I was trying to get into Arcanero. And so I'm in a rehab. Like, I wanted to go home, but due to my injury and lack of care, one of my social workers at the rehab I was at was like, I was looking at a couple places. I wanted to sit down with you and show you a couple things and see if you would like to get into one of these so you could get back to life. Because I knew and they knew that I needed more rehab. I wasn't completely done right. So I sat down and looked, and there was a couple places, there was a couple places out of state. I didn't really care to go out of state, right? So I sat down and looked at Arca and I was like, that's what I need. I don't know why, I just like. You know when you just know?

[29:13] MICHAEL LANGFORD: No, you know when you know.

[29:14] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Have you watched that movie Air Jordan?

[29:16] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yes.

[29:17] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yeah, just like that guy. I just knew Arca was the spot. And so she was like, well, we might have to call every day to get you in. And I was like, I'll call every single day. And she would come see me every morning. And you know what I would tell her? I called Mister Langford, I called Misses Jones, right? I think I got to know the staff through the phone before I even showed up.

[29:39] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yes, you did.

[29:40] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Called every day. Persistence, persistence. But I knew I needed that to get back to life and that's what's happening.

[29:48] MICHAEL LANGFORD: And you're very close. You're very close of being discharged and moving on and just keep working at it. Keep working, keep working.

[29:58] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I will. And it's, you know, and even though I move on, I'll always come back and say hi to everybody because I think gratitude is a very good thing. And since everybody's so humble, it's hard to be humble sometimes. I know from my own personal life, so sometimes when people get to see the results or you're just always so thankful for their humility and humanity that you just show them how it's made you a success story. Because without those two from you guys, I would not even be where I'm at.

[30:31] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You know, I was talking to our social worker about you and I was like, you know what, Andrea could be a public speaker and talk about your experiences in life, how you've overcome those things. You know, we've had some highs and Lord knows we've had some lows, right? And.

[30:55] ANDREA WEAHKEE: But we never stop. We just keep going.

[30:57] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Right? So, I mean, so when I see you work, because rehab is work, right? It's not like, okay, right? I'm just hanging out. It's work.

[31:10] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You gotta come and touch uncomfortable things in your life sometimes in therapy, and it's just because you are damaged. But you know what? When I used to pay for my kids sports, I used to say, now, congratulations, you have a job. I'll pay. But you gotta show up to work every day and give 1000%, no matter how you feel, no matter what your day is like, that's your job. You know what I mean? You spend $3,000 on cheerleading for one time, that's like buying a used car. You better get your boots on and go to work. You know what I mean?

[31:46] MICHAEL LANGFORD: No, you're right. You're right. Cause I see folks now don't have kind of that old school work ethic.

[31:53] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You know what, Mike got pieces. Tell me. You don't work, you don't eat. And my grandma cooked so good, I was like, shoot, I ain't missing one meal. I'm getting a snack. Put me on extra. Put me on the extra train. I will work overtime.

[32:08] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You work overtime to get that food. I know that's right. I know that's right. Yeah. But. So it's good to provide those services that we've started to provide here.

[32:22] ANDREA WEAHKEE: And I think you'll be very successful, not just with me, but even to ones you might. That seem difficult. I think teamwork makes a dream work. It takes a village to raise a child. Taking a village to help us put those brain, make those pathways and get back to normal life. I don't think you guys understand what you give to us. Well, because we have another chance at life now. Normal. You know what I mean?

[32:49] MICHAEL LANGFORD: As normal as we can get it.

[32:50] ANDREA WEAHKEE: As normal as we can be.

[32:52] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Right? And who knows what that means, right? Yeah. Yes, indeed. What are your. I'm gonna tell you my children's names, and you can tell me. So. My oldest son, he is 39. And his name is Nathan. My middle daughter, her name is Kaylee. Kaylee is 31. And my baby, which is trying to move to New Mexico. Cause I'm out here by myself. My baby, her name is Natalie. And she's in the business like her father. And so she wants to move out here and start a new life. So we'll see how that works? So she should probably come out here in September.

[33:48] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I bet she'll be here too.

[33:50] MICHAEL LANGFORD: She'll be here.

[33:50] ANDREA WEAHKEE: There's something to a daughter, a father. You know what I mean? Like, we grow up and we're grown women, and we want a man, companionship. And the only example we get is our father. So there's always a special part in our heart for our dad. You know what I mean? So I'm sure Natalie will be out here, and then you'll go. You guys will just go stronger, especially since you're by yourself.

[34:16] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yes.

[34:17] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yeah. Family is most definitely needed.

[34:20] MICHAEL LANGFORD: No, family's good. You know, every six to eight weeks, I'll head back to Texas and see my grandkids and laugh at them.

[34:31] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Cause they're funny.

[34:33] MICHAEL LANGFORD: They're funny. There are many me's. There are many, many my grandma and Nathan. So they're. That's just fun. That is just fun.

[34:41] ANDREA WEAHKEE: All right, so I have four kids. My oldest is Alyssa. She is 23.

[34:47] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Okay.

[34:48] ANDREA WEAHKEE: My second is Andreas. He is soon to be 18. My third son is Armando, and he is 16. And then my baby. Baby is Ariana, and she is 13 years old.

[35:04] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Okay? And if you don't mind. If you don't mind me asking, they all.

[35:11] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Who they live with, they live with their dad.

[35:13] MICHAEL LANGFORD: They live with their dad.

[35:15] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Their dad is. They have the best dad in the world.

[35:18] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Good.

[35:20] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Rain, tornado, wind, flood or shine. He's there.

[35:23] MICHAEL LANGFORD: He's there.

[35:24] ANDREA WEAHKEE: He's concrete there.

[35:25] MICHAEL LANGFORD: He's right. Yes, indeed. No, because you don't see that a lot anymore, right?

[35:33] ANDREA WEAHKEE: No. Dad stepped up to the plate. Hit a grand slam.

[35:36] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Hit a grand slam.

[35:37] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yep. And concreted him in. I couldn't be more blessed with the bed. You know, people are like, baby's dad, and I find myself saying that I'm like, not my baby's Daddy, it's my children's father. Because there is a big difference between baby daddy and children's father. That man guided my kids, too. You know what I mean?

[35:57] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah.

[35:58] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Ups and downs and all around.

[36:00] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Because I definitely tell you, I don't know if my ex wife would have all the positive things that you've said about. About me, too. I mean, about. About your ex husband than my. My ex wife. Oh, Lord. So hopefully she say something nice, right?

[36:17] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You never know.

[36:18] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You never know. Yeah, you never know. Well, that's cool, man. That is cool.

[36:23] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yeah, no, he's a good guy. I don't have anything bad to say about him. He has been concrete for my kids through all of this. Because kids don't understand brain injuries like you and I. You know what I mean? Mom's in a coma. We want to go see her. Oh, my gosh, mom is going to die. They've never seen you in a wheelchair with staples in your head cut open like a baseball. It's a very traumatic thing for them.

[36:45] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yeah, it is.

[36:46] ANDREA WEAHKEE: And he just used his judgment on what's. When my daughter, as well as himself, came to see me out of the coma of what kids could handle it and much couldn't. Like, you know, if you have kids with somebody, as long as those kids are always the first priority in that person's mind as well as yours, you'll be okay. And that's how it's been. And he's been their superhero to everything. Good, good, because it's not easy. Like, I have a son that was like, mom, I want to come see you so bad, but you're in a wheelchair. I can't imagine, like crying. I can't see you that way. It's breaking my heart. And. Cause the mother's son bond, too, is like the daddy daughter.

[37:31] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Oh, man, girl, you just don't know. I was the mama's boy, let me tell you.

[37:36] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Oh, and Mamas want to keep that mama's boy. Just coddle him, just coddle him. And this is mine.

[37:44] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Yes, indeed, I was. I'd have to tell everybody, yes, I was a mama's boy. But no, that's good stuff. Good stuff, good stuff. Let's see. Okay, this has been fun. And I have to start making more time to hang out with you away from the monotony of what we do every day. This was good.

[38:22] ANDREA WEAHKEE: This was good.

[38:24] MICHAEL LANGFORD: You good people.

[38:25] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Yes, you are too. Just know that you are good people. You are very kind.

[38:30] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Well, thank you. And you are very kind. What I want you to know, while we are wrapping this up, you have made an impact in my program, and I want to thank you.

[38:44] ANDREA WEAHKEE: You're more than welcome. Your program has impacted me as well, in a very positive, humbling, loving way. I would not heal anywhere else, Mister Langford ever. If I had to do it again, I would call you every day for the next six months.

[39:03] MICHAEL LANGFORD: I remember your telephone would come up and I was like, it's Andrea again.

[39:09] ANDREA WEAHKEE: For the 47th time in one day.

[39:13] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Oh, but we got you in, man. I was so proud to get you.

[39:16] ANDREA WEAHKEE: In, and I'm glad to be here. Proud to be so.

[39:21] MICHAEL LANGFORD: We'll make it work.

[39:22] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Oh, you do. You make it work. It was well worth all those phone calls. Like I said, if I had to do it again, I would.

[39:29] MICHAEL LANGFORD: Well. And I'll take that phone call.

[39:31] ANDREA WEAHKEE: Well, thank you. Any day.

[39:32] MICHAEL LANGFORD: I'll take that phone call.

[39:34] ANDREA WEAHKEE: I appreciate that.

[39:35] MICHAEL LANGFORD: I appreciate you. It.