By Random Acts
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In this episode, Jenna and Will surprise Dani, a widow who lost her husband when he took his own life. Dani has been very open about her experience losing her husband, and does her best to raise awareness for suicide prevention in the community. Her hope is to prevent the tragedy of suicide so other families don’t suffer.
We gave Dani her wish of going on a sailing trip and also gave her another special, heart-warming surprise. Tune in to see what happens!
Transcript provided by YouTube:
00:00
today is the day we are waiting right
00:01
outside of Danny’s apartment that’s
00:03
right and once she leaves I’m gonna be
00:05
meeting her sister Jess in the apartment
00:07
to pick up the t-shirts and I have to go
00:09
boating wait a small boat
00:12
[Music]
00:35
okay so just supposed to have secretly
00:39
collected Denny’s t-shirts and have them
00:41
ready to go hopefully she has a good
00:43
collection for me when I get in yes
00:52
Thanks so nice to meet you too – really
00:55
looking forward to seeing those t-shirts
00:56
I think I found some that are gonna work
00:58
perfect awesome right over here perfect
01:00
so it’s been a little bit of a challenge
01:01
because Danni is very perceptive
01:03
so kind of over the past few days and
01:05
just been sneaking one at a time Wow but
01:07
I think I found some that are gonna mean
01:09
a lot to her that Danny loved well we’ve
01:11
got lots of good colors here everything
01:13
sports he knew everything about every
01:15
team he was obsessed with everything I
01:16
was very very proud of where he came
01:17
from that’s perfect that’s the kind of
01:19
special memories we want to keep and I
01:22
know this is a quick visit but I’ve got
01:24
to get back to the cool storm they want
01:25
to get started absolutely
01:27
I cannot wait to get this made and show
01:29
it to her thank you so much I’m gonna
01:31
run it okay thank you thank you thank
01:33
you thank you hi
01:36
[Music]
01:38
getting close be ready everyone oh okay
01:42
we’ll start mending with the elbow
01:43
that’s why I read Maryann anything
01:46
they’re getting Brett excuse me I’m so
01:49
sorry I am like struggling with this my
01:52
little nephews about to get here and I
01:53
just can’t seem to figure out how to
01:55
like shorten these oh thank you you’re
01:57
very nice what’s your name my name is
01:58
Jenny I’m will you look like you know
02:01
your way around the sailboat do you sail
02:03
I wish I did look at that that looks
02:07
good you know what you’re like a
02:08
professional run a sailboat and your
02:10
sister Jess told us how much you’ve
02:12
always wanted to go sailing and actually
02:14
you’re on a show called random acts
02:19
absolutely where we take people who do
02:21
nice things and then we do nice things
02:23
for them so Danny we know how much
02:27
you’ve been through in the last few
02:28
months and how you’ve turned that around
02:30
help so many other people so we are
02:32
taking you say today is for you we want
02:36
you to just have an awesome time in fact
02:41
we’re on a tight schedule now so we got
02:42
to get going
02:43
have fun let’s go good morning grab the
02:50
t-shirts 24 of them perfect we got our
02:53
team ready to go let me introduce you
02:54
okay Tina Tina hammer hi Janee hi and
02:57
Jenna hello I’ve got t-shirts okay so
03:01
what do we do first so let me show you
03:03
so we’re gonna cut the back you just
03:05
dive right in
03:06
the part we’re gonna use nervous here’s
03:08
some scissors for you thank you we’ll
03:10
give you this one
03:11
ooh they’re sharp all right so we cut
03:12
perfect time we’re gonna cut 15 inches
03:14
just like a pizza cutter put some muscle
03:16
in yeah
03:17
all right I can do that wow there’s a
03:19
lot to do
03:22
so I read a little bit of your blog and
03:25
you took this awful incident and turned
03:27
it around into this advocacy yeah I hope
03:30
so I put in the obituary that he died by
03:33
suicide and people were kind of shocked
03:34
by that like that well you mean just
03:36
friends and family yeah and and random
03:39
people who would be like hey my brother
03:41
died of suicide and we never talked
03:43
about and I’m so glad that you’re
03:44
talking about it and I I just didn’t
03:46
want it to be like that because I think
03:47
people should look at depression and
03:49
addiction and mental illness in the same
03:51
way they look at any other physical
03:52
illness how open are you with your
03:54
children about it I don’t want it to be
03:56
a hidden thing I don’t want her to turn
03:57
12 and me be like hey guess what at this
04:00
age she can’t understand what suicide
04:02
means yeah so I explained it to her like
04:05
daddy had a yeast in his brain and in
04:08
his heart and he was really sad and so
04:11
he died and she said no he died because
04:13
his heart broke and I was like yeah
04:15
that’s a great way to describe it so she
04:17
kind of like picked up on it quickly and
04:20
so she goes to therapy we
04:22
talk about how that’s a way to fix your
04:24
heart and daddy cook didn’t have a
04:26
chance to fix his heart but yeah I am
04:30
pretty open with them with it looks like
04:31
age appropriate I think that’s a
04:33
positive thing
04:34
and probably the best way you can deal
04:36
with it all I can think about are all
04:38
the memories and all of these shirts
04:40
coming together and these memories being
04:42
bound together forever and I just think
04:44
it’s so meaningful and here’s the order
04:47
we’re gonna put the t-shirts in we’re
04:49
gonna get them labeled up this one 5 do
04:51
you want to put tons of these got it so
04:53
every block that’s not a number 5 is
04:55
gonna get sashing where’s 3 C 3 C is the
04:59
picture over the picture I’ll go get the
05:00
black fabric so this is actually fabric
05:03
and it’s not the same size as all the
05:05
t-shirts squares it’s great but they’re
05:07
gonna add black fabric around its limits
05:09
framed really nicely I didn’t see solid
05:12
black here you go I love it so we are
05:15
here Wow look at this yeah it’s
05:18
beautiful hey guys well welcome back
05:20
thank you sir Danny it’s great to meet
05:22
you okay so scaling I heard that you’ve
05:25
always want to learn how to sail
05:26
always so you’re in the right place have
05:28
a seat there’s some fundamentals we
05:29
should discuss before we hit the water
05:30
okay so first of all we’re gonna go
05:33
through some important parts of the boat
05:34
this is the front I know it is wrong
05:40
starboard okay the front there is
05:43
another name for it though we’re gonna
05:45
call this the bow we’re gonna learn a
05:46
lot of terms today and by the end of
05:48
this hopefully I’ll be real yeah I can’t
05:50
tell if we’re on schedule but I’m here
05:52
ironing just doing what I can time there
05:54
lay it out check the pattern yet have
05:56
more somewhere right
05:57
I happen so we’re not really ready to
05:58
lay it out I’m sure how faster that time
06:01
is you know
06:04
all right this is the last one now we’ll
06:08
start sewing them together this is
06:13
sailing in a nutshell and I know this is
06:15
probably overwhelming as it is but the
06:16
most learning happens on the water so
06:19
would you guys like to get changed we’ll
06:20
meet at the dock
06:21
yeah okay cool sounds good I’ll see you
06:23
down there – phew you look like you guys
06:25
are ready for sailing this does not look
06:26
like a stale boat though no it is not
06:28
but we’re gonna take the chase boat out
06:30
to the sailboat here we go
06:31
silver lives on a mooring which is a
06:33
permanent anchor and I feel a little bit
06:35
of breeze coming down the lake right now
06:37
can you feel that yeah that’s huge we
06:39
need that welcome aboard
06:40
so first let’s get this blue sail cover
06:43
off and raise the mainsail okay so you
06:45
see the snaps that run underneath yeah
06:47
if you just undo those do you guys
06:49
remember pop-quiz with the sail was
06:51
called the one that’s out in front yep
06:52
yes nice one person needs to push these
06:56
little slug cars up the groove in the
06:58
master will that’s your job Danny you’re
07:00
gonna hoist so that work together helps
07:02
to sound like yar or now get one last
07:09
big pull on that halyard make sure it’s
07:11
all the way up excellent okay we’re
07:13
moving yeah so I am getting a little
07:16
nervous there is just too much to do a
07:18
quilt that’s a matter of giving every
07:20
little step’ right so Rene we’re doing
07:22
okay timewise you think you know we’re
07:24
close let’s just keep going so now it’s
07:28
your turn hey Danny you can come and
07:29
steer the boat well why don’t you assume
07:31
control of the mainsail or you were
07:32
doing both now the command would be
07:34
ready about meaning are you ready to
07:36
Jack ready about I’m ready are you ready
07:38
yes okay now say heartily heartily push
07:42
the tiller away from you and stay in
07:44
your seat wait for this boom to come
07:45
over your head now when it does start to
07:47
straighten the tiller again now stand up
07:49
and pass it behind your back as you
07:51
switch to the other seat tricky that was
07:53
perfectly done Thanks excellent job are
07:55
we doing okay we’re loading the vacuum
07:59
so snap it down okay yeah I mean setting
08:02
up the computer so it’ll be ready to
08:03
quilt I’ve picked the sailboat design
08:06
top all right where’s the quilt time I
08:08
hear that sewing machine they’re not
08:09
quite pretty you’re acting very calm but
08:15
I know that we are down to the wire all
08:17
day long we’ve all been working and now
08:19
we’re down to the last person doing the
08:21
last job before we get it on the machine
08:22
oh wait guys guess what what we’re done
08:27
time is short we gotta get this going
08:30
cuz it takes a while we are already
08:33
starting position
08:36
that’s on its way and now we wait
08:40
this really is magical yeah it is really
08:42
cool do you think you’d share it with
08:44
your kids oh yeah I would love to bring
08:45
my kids it would be so fun Danny loved
08:47
being outdoors he would think of
08:49
something like this it’s pretty cool
08:50
so I read your blog and I’m impressed by
08:52
how open you are
08:53
do you write so others know that they’re
08:55
not alone I think people who’ve been
08:56
affected by suicide can relate to me but
08:59
it’s also just for the people who are in
09:02
that mindset like they’re about to make
09:06
that decision and for them to know that
09:08
it’s so much better if they’re year no
09:11
matter what their issues are
09:12
I think shame takes many forms and it
09:16
prevents communication in a lot of
09:19
different taboo areas that we would
09:21
probably be better off if we absolutely
09:23
talked about one yeah and then he could
09:26
not talk about his feelings or he felt
09:28
like he was not being tough and so for
09:30
me to be open about this I’m sure is
09:32
like shocking to people but I also feel
09:35
like he would have done anything to
09:37
prevent this from happening to another
09:40
family it’s kind of a way to help his
09:43
life continue like he’s continuing to
09:45
help people in a way does that make
09:47
sense yeah that makes a lot of sense all
09:51
right so I’ve got an idea what do you
09:53
say we try to find the limits of the
09:55
boat a little bit okay okay Danny unfurl
09:58
the jib pull as hard as you can keep
10:00
pulling keep pulling yeah okay we got a
10:02
little bit of a pop coming over our
10:04
right shoulder you’re gonna feel the
10:05
increase in the breeze right about now
10:08
[Music]
10:12
[Applause]
10:36
[Applause]
10:38
so this is normal some people think that
10:40
they’re about to capsize that this is
10:42
actually this is sailing
10:43
it’s a sailing baby you’re doing such a
10:47
good job thank you can you take us home
10:49
now on my own
10:50
uh-huh oh my goodness yes I’m so excited
10:55
now we’re invited what I thought we were
10:58
done I am just gonna sneak away because
11:01
I feel like I’m hovering I don’t want to
11:03
get in the way there we go oh my
11:09
goodness
11:10
the quilt is done you guys it is thank
11:13
you so much
11:21
okay Jenna just meet it
11:23
[Music]
11:27
did you have fun today we it was really
11:29
fun it was way button well that’s
11:30
awesome yeah I wanted to do shoe to
11:32
Jenna she’s another it’s nice to meet
11:37
you here today it was cool yeah I was
11:39
friends yeah well I really wanted to
11:41
meet you but I also wanted to bring you
11:44
a little something for you to have to
11:46
remember today and to take home to your
11:48
girls oh that’s so nice thank you
11:50
sailboat yes there’s actually a lot more
11:55
to this she’s being very modest when
11:57
we’ve been out there sailing she has
11:59
actually been getting this custom-made
12:00
quilt done and I really think that your
12:03
girls are gonna love it
12:06
[Music]
12:12
I don’t even know what to say that’s
12:16
amazing
12:17
thank you oh I love that
12:22
nothing cruel it was really fun to put
12:26
together really sociable and the people
12:28
who worked on it really put their hearts
12:30
into it yeah yeah I’m sure oh my gosh
12:33
that’s crazy all of his Star Trek sir oh
12:37
that’s awesome
12:40
that’s amazing I love it thank you
12:45
that’s incredible thank you you know
12:49
you’ve done the hard work of
12:51
transforming tragedy into something more
12:53
thank you thank you how about we do a
12:57
group hug you know that’s our show
13:08
ladies and gentlemen a big thanks to
13:09
Renee and her team at quilts on the
13:11
corner as well as Scott and everybody at
13:12
Park City sailing random acts on three
13:14
one two three max well what are you so
13:19
excited about I’m just excited for
13:21
people to sail on down to the dock on
13:23
their computer and open their internet
13:25
browser and subscribe to our page on
13:27
YouTube yeah water you waiting for
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This post was previously published on YouTube and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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Photo credit: Screenshot from video