This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Verbo's last minute deals make chasing fresh mountain powder incredibly easy. With thousands of homes close to the slopes, you can get Epic Pow, Freshies, First Tracks, and more. Find last minute deals with the Last Minute filter on the app.
Book a private vacation rental now at Verbo.com. This is Rob Gronkowski from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jules. For the second season in a row, I partnered with T-Mobile's Friday Night 5G Lights, powering up hometown football across America. This year, T-Mobile invested over $4 million in prizes to help schools take their Friday nights to the next level.
Now it's time to crown our $1 million grand prize winner. A huge congrats to Derricks High School in Derricks, Arkansas, home of the Outlaws and your 2025 T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights Champion. They scored a home field upgrade, Gronk Fitness Weight Room, a 2026 tailgate party, and an all-expense paid trip to the SEC Championship game. To every school that competed, posted, and rallied your communities. Thank you, and a big thanks to T-Mobile for making it all possible and helping communities shine under the Friday night lights.
This season may be over, but the story isn't. Stay tuned for season three in 2026. 10 athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points. You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract for $250,000.
This is when mindset comes in.
Someone will be eliminated. Pressure is coming down. Trainer Games on Prime Video January 8th. Watch the trailer on TrainerGames.com. Did you know Microsoft has officially ended support for Windows 10?
Upgrade to Windows 11 with an LG Gram laptop. Voted PC Mag's Reader's Choice Top Laptop brand for 2025. Thin and ultra lightweight, the LG Gram keeps you productive anywhere, and Windows 11 gives you access to free security updates and ongoing feature upgrades. Visit lgusa.com slash iHeart for great seasonal savings on LG Gram laptops with Windows 11. PC Mag Reader's Choice used with permission.
All rights reserved. Season two of Unrivaled Basketball is here, and the talent is unreal. The best women's players on the planet are running it back with even bigger moments and bigger stakes. Don't miss as Paige Becker, Snafiza Collier, Kelsey Plum, Brianna Stewart, and more take the court and redefine the game. This isn't your regular season.
This is Unrivaled, where the pace is faster, the energy is higher, and every athlete shines. Unrivaled Basketball, Season 2, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5th on TNT, True TV, and HBO Max. This is Our American Stories and today we have a feature from one of our regular contributors. Stephen Resiniak. This piece is titled, Happy Birthday to Us.
Attribute to his mother. To read this story and its backstories, please visit. Stephen Rosiniac.com. That's stephen Raciniac.com. Here's Stephen sharing his story.
It was just what I wanted. It was the perfect present, a one-size fits all.
something that I had long thought of buying for myself. but never did. But somehow, my mom with her special maternal instincts and motherly radar. With her uncanny ability to glean information from snippets of overheard conversations, figured it out. Oh, by herself.
And in the end, she gave me that one gift that I had truly wanted. Nothing else could ever say, Happy birthday, son. like a large gift-wrap box containing a brand new Sawzall reciprocating saw.
Well, At least I'm sure that's what she was thinking that year. And to be honest, I couldn't have agreed with her more. Two months later, I put my newest favorite tool through its paces while volunteering with my church on a mission trip to Appalachia, where we were helping to make the homes warmer, safer, and drier. my trusty saw and I quite capably resolved a plethora of challenging cutting circumstances with ease and efficiency. And one night, As I was reflecting upon its versatility, I suddenly wondered.
What could I have possibly done to deserve such an awesome birthday present? And then an even greater question came to mind. What does anyone ever do to deserve any special recognition for nothing more? than to have been born. Both questions somehow intrigued and yet bothered me at the same time.
It occurred to me that aside from being the blue-eyed, blonde, babbling bundle of joy that caused my parents' world to change from that of being a team of two to becoming a family of three, I have done absolutely nothing to merit being the fortunate recipient of birthday cards and gifts. of salutations and recognition. It also occurred to me that if there was any one person who truly deserved acknowledgement for enduring nine long months of daily discomfort, which included morning sickness, indigestion, anemia, swollen ankles, if there was one person who was deserving of birthday kudos for once upon a time being pregnant and then giving birth to a toe-headed little kid, Who would one day grow up to become a happy and healthy, reciprocating, saw-wielding adult? He was my mom. After all, Should all the pertinent details pertaining to my ultimate appearance in his world be made known?
This much would be readily obvious. I had nothing to do with my own birth. Except of course. to have been present for the festivities. Suddenly, It seemed wrong for my mom to have done all of the work.
And for me to receive a lifetime of April birthdays, blowing out the candles on my forever favorite and beloved. Strawberry Shortcake.
So it was that night in Appalachia And as I packed away my saw, I knew that I was going to have to do something about this birthday recognition business. The following year, and on the morning marking the date of my birth, I surprised mom with a beautiful floral arrangement. My way of acknowledging and sharing with her our special day. I would do this several more times over the coming years, as we would mutually note the anniversary celebrating the arrival of her firstborn. B.
Now, getting these annual arrangements to her wasn't always as easy as I might have liked. Because this senior citizen Nana led an active life. one spent in perpetual motion, Knowing this, I soon discovered that it would be her schedule and her circumstances that would dictate when and where she might receive the annual acknowledgment recognizing our auspicious occasion. While some of these deliveries were certainly despatched to her home, Not all of them were. Once I I surprised her by placing them inside her car outside the Delhi, where she often stopped for a mid-morning cup of coffee.
Another time, I had them delivered to the hospital information desk. Where she was volunteering. While still, another year. She found them inside the room housing the food pantry at my church, where she spent time sorting and bagging donations for distribution. Although the delivery locations and as well the arrangements themselves.
would differ from year to year. The one thing that never changed was the verbiage on the enclosed card. My handwritten message to her was always the same. Happy birthday to us. Love Steve.
I think that she grew to expect her annual floral arrangements, and I was more than happy to provide them. They were beautiful reminders of our birthday bond. The Sun was moments from rising, and still the colours of spring were already clear to see. The bright yellow Forsythias running the length of my neighbour's back yard. the linen white buds on the dog woods, the mulchy green colors of the emerging leaves high atop the oaks and the maples.
I stood outside on that cool April morning. savoring my coffee and basking in the magnificence. of this just awakening day. It was my birthday. And I.
was another year older. And mom?
Well She's no longer with us. But as sure as I knew that a strawberry shortcake was going to be in my immediate future, I couldn't help thinking about her. After all, It was our day. It will always be our day. And so I softly whispered, Happy birthday to us, Mom.
And um, you know what? I'm pretty sure that she heard me. And you've been listening to Stephen Resiniak, a beautiful story about his mom. My special thanks as always to Faith. for the great work she always does on our pieces.
And a special thanks to Stephen for not only writing this, but for performing. This beautiful piece. And, my goodness, it's so true What could I have done to deserve such an awesome birthday present? he asked himself. when he got a reciprocating saw.
as a young man, and that the mom understood That was the dream, like leaning through conversations and snippets of conversations. What he really wanted. And by the way, it's such a great point. The boy gets the credit for what? Coming out of the mom, I mean, the mom did all the work.
and what a beautiful tradition to establish with your mother. Happy birthday to us. I wished I'd have thought of that. I lost my mom. But my goodness, I should have done that.
I didn't ever think about that. Then again, my mom wanted it to be all about me. In the end, she wanted to know that I was unconditionally loved and did all the things any mom would do. I was lucky to have a mom. who did all those things.
And, my goodness, that night in Appalachia, when he had that understanding, Oh my goodness, I had nothing to do with my own birth. Mom did all the work. I get the birthday gifts. We'd love to have your mother's stories. Send them to ouramericanstories.com.
That's ouramericanstories.com. We'll be playing them all year long, not just Mother's Day, folks. We love mother's stories and father's stories. all year long. Stephen Resyniak's story, his mother's story, here.
on our American stories. 10 athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and and mental breaking points. You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract for $250,000. This is where mindset comes in.
Someone will be eliminated. Pressure is coming down. Trainer Games on Prime Video January 8th. Watch the trailer on TrainerGames.com. Did you know Microsoft has officially ended support for Windows 10?
Upgrade to Windows 11 with an LG Gram laptop. voted PC Mag's Reader's Choice Top Laptop brand for 2025. Thin and ultra lightweight, the LG Gram keeps you productive anywhere, and Windows 11 gives you access to free security updates and ongoing feature upgrades. Visit lgusa.com slash iHeart for great seasonal savings on LG Gram laptops with Windows 11. PC Mag Reader's Choice used with permission.
All rights reserved. Season two of Unrivaled Basketball is here, and the talent is unreal. The best women's players on the planet are running it back with even bigger moments and bigger stakes. Don't miss as Paige Becker, Snafiza Collier, Kelsey Plum, Brianna Stewart, and more take the court and redefine the game. This isn't your regular season.
This is Unrivaled, where the pace is faster, the energy is higher, and every athlete shines. Unrivaled Basketball, Season 2, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5th on TNT, True TV, and HBO Max. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt.
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That's public.com/slash podcast. Paid for by Public Investing, Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc., member FINRA SIPC. Advisory Services by Public Advisors LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice.
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Guaranteed human. Mm-hmm.
