The Bird Show.

Let's get Mandy on it.

Hey, Mandy.

Hey, how are you all?

Good.

Good.

How are you today?

Good. I am so excited. Well, we got your email about a week ago or so, and we want to help your friend Lauren out here. Oh, that is so fabulous. I'm so excited for her. So you don't really know her all that well.

And I read the email last night, man.

And this one has, like,

if you're looking for an example of how the recession or the economy has really hurt one family, your friend is like the shining, unfortunate example. I know. And it just, it breaks my heart. And, you know, we work in a small art studio. And I only see her part time. I've only known her six months and you know she's just so sweet and I just I just wanted my heart goes out there and I just want to do something sweet for

so like things got so bad where she had to like move back in with her parents or something

then her mom lost her job tells the story yeah um they they had their own house um you know

they were married and they had their own house and then um they they were married and they had their own house,

and then they decided to move back in with their mom and the grandmother to save money.

And so as soon as they moved in, they were like, okay, this is going to work out great.

Well, all of a sudden, her mom lost her job, so they were paying the mortgage solely by themselves.

And, you know, they're feeling the brunt of it. And it's just, you know, it's hardbreaker because, you know, she works three part-time jobs. And, you know, he just got a new job, which that's a blessing in itself. But it was a major pay cut. And he lives in Nashville, Monday through Friday, and comes home on the weekends to see his kids.

Wow. So he took a pay cap plus he doesn't get to see the family. Yes. This is just... And I was asking her, I was like, you know, is this job okay even though it's a pay cut? And she said, well, in the long run it will be very good. We just have to make it through the hard times. And I'm like, oh my gosh, you know. Yeah, I think people... out for her. They're just taking anything they can right now to get some kind of money going

in the house. And you said they've got a couple of kids also, right? Yes, they have one 10-month-old girl and one two-year-old boy. And at this point, I think you wrote in the email that they don't even know how they're going to pay their electricity bill so you can forget about presents, right? Yeah, i mean i just spoke to her last night and we you know we talked for a while and she actually just told me that and i didn't know this or i would have wrote it in the letter but she said that um the two-year-old can't go to daycare anymore because they don't have the money to pay for it and so he just you know cries and dismisses it. And so she's like, yeah,

our mortgage is not going to get paid this month. And I don't know what other bills are not going to get paid. She's just like, me and my husband, we're not doing Christmas this year. And she was like, the only present my son wants is a red truck. And I can't get that for him. He's getting a potato head that I got at a consignment shop.

And she's just like, you know, she's like, you know, we're just making it. And, you know, I was trying, obviously I was like quizzing her last night because, you know, I was trying to, you know, gear up for today. But, you know, it's just my heart just goes out for her. And she's got like a crazy amount of jobs, too. Yes, you know, gear up for today, but, you know, it's just my heart just goes out for her.

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