0:02

This is Let's Be Clear with Shannon Doherty.

0:07

Hey, welcome to Let's Be Clear with

0:09

Shannon Doherty. I hope you guys

0:11

have all enjoyed listening

0:14

to this podcast as much as I have

0:16

enjoyed hosting it, and I'm

0:18

really excited for the new year. I'm excited for

0:20

all of the new guests that I have coming on. Uh

0:24

We're talking about expert doctors that

0:26

are going to talk to us about cancer, what's

0:28

coming up in the future for the cancer

0:31

world, sort of health in general,

0:33

and some super surprise guest

0:36

from you know, just friends or

0:39

people that I've worked with, and really

0:41

going to just keep digging into my

0:43

life, the past, the present, in the future.

0:46

So I'm really excited to keep sharing

0:48

with you all and connecting

0:50

really, because that's what this podcast is about.

0:52

It's about connecting and learning from

0:55

each other. I learn every

0:57

single time I I

1:00

host an episode. I learned from my

1:02

guests, I learned from my doctors, I learned

1:04

from the experience, I learned

1:06

from you know, your guys comments.

1:09

So thank you.

1:11

Let's just keep learning together and

1:13

being joyful and

1:17

and being clear, because I think that being clear

1:19

at this point in my life is incredibly important.

1:22

But right now we're doing a Christmas

1:24

episode. In case you didn't notice, there is

1:26

a Christmas tree behind me that

1:28

started out really ugly. And

1:31

then we have my very.

1:34

Special guests, my mom.

1:38

I'm so happy to like be

1:40

doing it with her, but I'm not

1:42

happy because I have anxiety over

1:45

I'm very private basically.

1:48

So this is Mama Rosa Rosa

1:51

to me, she's just mom. And you

1:54

know, we coordinated today and matching green and green,

1:57

and.

1:57

The tree back there.

2:00

Started as green

2:03

because the Christmas tree lot said

2:05

that they were done with flocking

2:07

for the air. They were just

2:09

done with flocking, which was bizarre to

2:11

me. And my idea was that I was going

2:13

to do this like minimalist tree. So

2:16

it was just going to be a white flocked tree

2:19

with white lights and

2:22

that's it, like super minimalist.

2:24

I thought it might be pretty, and so

2:27

I bought all this fake snow stuff

2:30

great when you have cancer, like the chemicals

2:32

and that stuff, and I decided

2:34

to flock my own tree. Yes

2:36

you did, Yes. I meanwhile flocked

2:38

my couch. I flocked Holly,

2:40

who was here for all of this, yourself. I

2:42

flocked myself, my

2:46

friend Mike. Then came over and he got flocked.

2:49

We were all flocked, and

2:52

the tree was looking really.

2:54

Really really rough, a little pathetic,

2:56

a little, just a little.

2:58

You kept asking me like, are you going to fix it?

3:01

Are we going to put ornaments on it? What

3:04

are we gonna do?

3:05

So we did not put ornaments on. We

3:08

just did baby's

3:10

breath and ribbons.

3:13

So it's still a little bit minimalist. I'm

3:15

going to have to put on my thinking cap next tour. I was supposed

3:18

to go to Tennessee this year with you and my

3:20

brother and his wife and the kids, but

3:24

due to weather and my dog's

3:26

health, we all adjusted

3:29

and everybody's coming to California now.

3:31

So the tree was last minute. Yeah,

3:33

but you did a really good job, and you always

3:36

do something special with the tree. Our trees are

3:38

always special every year because

3:40

you do it and you're up on the ladder and

3:42

the best part it makes me cry. The

3:44

best part is seeing you up on the ladder putting

3:47

the star or the angel or ribbon,

3:49

big bow whatever on the tree. And

3:52

then I usually go to your place and do your tree. Yes

3:54

you do. Yeah, so we're

3:56

not doing yours this year.

3:57

No, we don't see the family's here, You're just going to stay

3:59

with me for Christmas.

4:03

And normally there's.

4:05

Like a theme, yes for

4:07

the tree, and then the theme carries

4:09

out like throughout the house. So

4:12

the Christmas packages are all

4:15

wrapped pretty much the

4:17

same, Like I'll do all

4:19

parchment paper one year, and then the

4:22

ribbon will be variation on the

4:24

same color. So it

4:27

was like brown parchment paper with like black

4:29

and white striped ribbon or

4:32

black and white polka dot ribbon.

4:34

And we all have to adhere to what

4:37

the color scheme is. We can't go

4:39

off the color scheme. One year, you

4:41

actually did for breast cancer a

4:44

huge We did one inside and it had some

4:46

pink on it, and then outside you did a huge

4:48

tree out. Yeah that was all pink.

4:51

Yes, yeah, I remember that. It was

4:53

like really that was about a wee seen or twenty

4:56

seventeen, I think. I think was the first

4:58

year.

4:58

I do want toy like I do supply

5:01

the wrapping paper for everyone, so

5:04

I don't make people go out and get like their

5:06

own wrapping paper.

5:07

But that's so it'll be what you want

5:09

it.

5:10

Yeah, it looks so pretty when all the presents

5:12

are underneath and everything's like a little coordinated.

5:17

Maybe I'm a little OCD. No, I

5:19

think it's great. Everybody loves it. Everybody

5:22

comes and they whoever

5:24

it is, they always come in and they're like, this is

5:26

beautiful and it all just goes to the world together.

5:29

How did you do all of this?

5:30

See right from Mama

5:32

Rosa's mouth, she approves it's

5:34

all good. And we usually bake.

5:37

Yes, we still have to make cookies.

5:39

We haven't made our Christmas cookies yet. We have

5:41

a lot to do. We my

5:43

grandmother sends fudge, which is like very

5:46

good. I love Southern fudge.

5:49

Yeah, it's really delicious.

5:50

So we bake. We

5:53

figure out, like we don't just do cookies.

5:55

Sometimes we do like, you know, Christmas

5:57

cakes, and we used to do

5:59

a I

6:02

guess it's like vanilla cake with

6:05

a cream cheese frosting and

6:07

then cut it into the shape of a Christmas

6:09

tree and decorate it

6:11

with you know, some green glitter and

6:14

like bulbs and do the

6:16

whole thing with like candy and everything on it.

6:18

We haven't done that in a little bit.

6:20

No, we haven't. But we haven't had

6:22

like children really around as much as

6:24

we used to. A lot of friends got

6:26

married, they had kids, they've moved to different places.

6:29

Yeah, and Christopher took you know, my

6:32

two what I call my kids,

6:34

my two kids to Hawaii this year or so

6:37

there. Why you just didn't seem like Christmas.

6:40

No, we were going to go to Tennessee and

6:42

have a Christmas hay ride and have the hometown

6:45

Christmas parade. And then the tornadoes came,

6:48

so that kind of changed things. And the dog and

6:50

my dog got and the dog got sick. My dog got

6:52

sick. Yeah, it's

6:54

happened.

6:55

Anyway, We're in California for

6:57

Christmas, which is wonderful and amazing

7:00

sing and I

7:02

think this year.

7:03

It's about like.

7:05

Spending time with my brother and his

7:07

wife, and he has seven children,

7:10

and you guys, but only three

7:12

can make it this year. Two are in England

7:14

and two more are spending

7:17

it with their respective girlfriends and

7:19

their families. But I

7:22

do get three of the kids, and

7:25

so it's about I think for

7:29

me personally, I'm just so

7:34

thankful to be here for

7:36

another Christmas.

7:37

Well, we're thankful every day every

7:40

day, and we know there's years to come because

7:43

we have faith that science is

7:45

going to bring us up

7:47

there.

7:48

Yes, but I mean, you

7:50

know, it's been like the past couple of Christmases

7:53

have been a little odd and haven't

7:55

really felt like Christmas. I

7:57

won't get into the reasons why, but just hasn't.

7:59

It's it's been weird. So,

8:04

and Christmas has always been a big day.

8:06

It's my favorite holiday, not

8:10

only because of the Christmas decorations

8:12

and people being in a joyful sort

8:16

of mindset hopefully the Christmas

8:19

lights and the stockings and the tree

8:21

decorating and the food and family,

8:25

but also because of the meaning of

8:27

Christmas at Christmas,

8:30

Yeah, and like what it represents and

8:32

you know, Jesus, and so

8:34

it's definitely always been one of my favorite

8:36

holidays.

8:38

Yours two right, Yes, I love Christmas.

8:40

I mean I can't think of another holiday. Dad loved

8:42

Christmas.

8:43

Dad loved Christmas. Yeah, I can't

8:45

think of another holiday I like more than Christmas.

8:47

Just your birthday. Sometimes

8:50

sometimes I don't love my birthday. Well wait

8:52

till you're my age, and then somebody

8:54

keeps pushing birthdays at you.

8:57

I think, But yeah, when I throw you

8:59

some power and they're dj and dancing,

9:01

you like, as long as they're dancing, I'm happy.

9:17

So I think this year

9:19

is about just.

9:22

Being incredibly grateful

9:25

that we're here and

9:27

that we get to spend time

9:29

with the people that are,

9:33

you know, by our sides, through thick and thin, that

9:36

don't walk away, that love us unconditionally

9:40

and have the same sort

9:42

of beliefs

9:45

and morals and standards,

9:47

and people that have character. And I'm

9:50

just so thankful

9:52

really to

9:57

be here for it. And I even

10:00

got to schedule my like cancer infusions

10:02

where I would be recovered completely from

10:04

it for Christmas, which is great.

10:06

Absolutely, But our

10:08

friends are now family.

10:11

Your friends, my friends were That is family

10:14

because they love us. They're there

10:16

for us. Not they're always there for you, but

10:19

they're there for me too, and it's so special.

10:22

I agree, don't cry,

10:25

you know me.

10:26

I like here And so yeah,

10:28

so we're gonna have like my brother and his family

10:30

gets in on the twenty third, twenty

10:32

fourth, big family dinner,

10:36

twenty fifth, all the

10:38

leftovers.

10:39

All the leftovers that's really good. And

10:41

games games which

10:44

open packages which this year we've

10:46

actually been told we can only buy

10:48

one. But I

10:50

think somebody's already cheated. I think you've

10:52

already cheated. Not me. Oh yeah, you

10:55

just came this morning, said here, this was in your stocking

10:57

that was a stocking stuffer. Okay, well

11:00

gift didn't count. It was a stocking stuffer.

11:04

And I gave you your Christmas presents early, and

11:06

I gave you my Christion exactly.

11:08

So you and I are done. We cheated.

11:11

Well, you know, oftentimes what happens during

11:13

Christmas is we go shopping together and then I

11:16

see something that I really like for her, but

11:18

she's with me, and she sees something that

11:20

she really likes for me, but obviously she's

11:22

with me, and so we're

11:24

like, all right, here's your Christmas

11:26

present.

11:27

Yeah, but it's still exciting because we

11:29

get we have all that time to see

11:31

where we want to put it and enjoy

11:34

it. Hm, that's good exactly.

11:39

Yeah.

11:39

So that's our Christmas. Just you

11:43

know, reflecting on the ear, reflecting

11:45

for me, it's been.

11:49

A turbulent ear.

11:52

You know, some massive health struggles, some

11:54

massive personal

11:57

struggles, a lot of you

11:59

know, heartbreak and fear.

12:04

But with all of that, I

12:08

have found that it's

12:10

actually I was saying this to

12:12

myself the other day the

12:15

other night. Actually it's like, God,

12:17

I think I'm actually starting to

12:20

live like the happiest

12:24

version of my life. Interestingly

12:26

enough, like even though it's been such a contentious

12:30

year for me. For

12:32

some reason, it just feels

12:35

it's gotten a lot lighter lately

12:38

and a lot more positive

12:41

and energy in my house is amazing,

12:44

and the people that I'm hanging out with are amazing,

12:47

and my heart is you

12:49

know, opening back up, and it

12:53

just feels like the year

12:56

is ending well. And

13:00

as long as my dog is okay

13:02

and my loved ones are okay,

13:06

next year is going to be beautiful.

13:09

You're now surrounded with real love.

13:12

Yeah, So that's

13:14

what we're gonna do for Christmas,

13:17

and that's a way for each other, and that's

13:19

what it means to us. It's just reflection,

13:24

great joy, deep appreciation, absolutely

13:27

and opening presents and ah,

13:29

wait a minute, eating like pigs and

13:32

what else presents.

13:32

That's a whole nother thing. And that's another

13:35

thing that's maybe good that you have limited

13:37

the presence because even as

13:39

a little girl, you

13:42

thought you were pulling something really smart.

13:45

You're the best rewrapper I've ever

13:47

seen in my life because you would

13:49

go sneak under the tree, get your

13:51

presence out, unwrap them, meticulously,

13:54

put them back, wrap them again.

13:56

That's why you are one of the best rappers.

13:59

I have ever seen today. You wrapped the most

14:01

beautiful passages. You had years of

14:03

practice. I thank you.

14:06

I can't believe I did that, Oh

14:08

you did. But it was it was fun.

14:10

It was joy knowing that

14:12

you thought you were really pulling this off

14:15

and you were so proud of yourself, and

14:17

we just went with that.

14:19

What about our I mean, we also do like a

14:21

that started when Dad was alive,

14:24

and it was like a one upmanship

14:26

thing with a present. So okay,

14:29

it would be, you know, here's all the presents. We

14:31

would get done opening and everybody was like,

14:33

okay, we're done, and then all of a sudden, I

14:36

would be like, oh, oh, oh,

14:38

I think there's one more thing here, and

14:41

I would present it to my parents and it

14:44

was like their real gift, like they're really nice,

14:46

nice, nice gift, and and

14:50

they call on to that after the first

14:52

time I did it, and the second

14:54

year I did it, and you

14:57

know, tears like blah blah blah.

14:59

They were so you know, overjoyed

15:02

or just it was a

15:04

lovely experience. And

15:07

I would be like, okay, all right, now, let's

15:09

go, you know, make Christmas breakfast,

15:12

and all of a sudden they would be like my

15:14

dad would start doing

15:17

his like laughing chuckle thing

15:19

where he almost

15:22

he would he would cry from laughing

15:24

so hard, but it would give him so much joy

15:27

to have

15:29

a leg up on me. So all

15:31

of a sudden it would be like, oh, oh wait,

15:33

what is this?

15:34

What is this?

15:35

And they would hand me something that was like beautiful

15:38

and meaningful. It could have been you

15:40

know, my dad's my

15:42

dad's football charm, remember,

15:45

yes, And it's

15:47

because my dad played football in college for a little

15:49

bit, so there was there's

15:51

always been that one up and ship

15:53

thing. That's pretty funny that it's a tradition

15:56

of ours that I said we're not doing this year. Yeah,

15:59

that's what she said. That

16:01

does not sound like you're adhering to it. If

16:04

you do not adhere to it. I've

16:07

good so far because it's the rain. It's

16:10

like I haven't been able to really get out and do

16:12

anything. Yeah. I like that.

16:14

Yeah, because I'm doing my little part time work.

16:17

Am I a happy place? So by

16:19

the time I get off, it's yeah,

16:22

it's good.

16:23

We're just going to keep her in

16:25

the rain so that she can't do any shopping

16:28

and there's no one upmanship. So

16:31

anyway, so that is our Christmas

16:34

and we

16:36

really, really really wish you all

16:39

a very merry Christmas, a very

16:41

happy holidays. Whatever

16:44

you celebrate, I hope

16:46

that it brings you deep

16:48

joy and close

16:50

to family loved ones, remembering

16:52

that family is, you

16:55

know, not always biological.

16:57

Sometimes it's just your friends that become

16:59

your family, like a lot of my friends

17:01

are.

17:02

And gratitude

17:04

for what we've all been given.

17:06

Yeah, yeah, and

17:09

peace, like at the end of the day that

17:12

we all have peace, and our peace

17:15

is a beautiful thing.

17:16

Acceptance of others.

17:19

And you

17:21

know, it's been a tumultuous

17:23

year for the world in general, and

17:28

my Christmas wish is that somehow

17:32

it ends in a

17:36

peaceful manner that where

17:39

people learn to love and accept one

17:41

another. And that's

17:44

it right now, guys, that's like season

17:46

three.

17:48

So anyway,

17:50

just.

17:50

Lots and lots of love to all of you out

17:53

there, and don't worry,

17:55

my mom will be back for another episode

17:57

that's not a Christmas episode talking

17:59

about about all things

18:02

Shannon, because she just told you a little story

18:04

about me being a kid on wrapping presents and putting

18:06

them all back together, so I'm sure she has a

18:08

lot more like that. Oh

18:10

maybe

18:13

so good luck to all of you this year. May

18:16

next year bring you an abundance

18:18

of love and joy and peace, and

18:21

thank you from me and Mama

18:24

Rosa.

18:24

Marry, Merry Christmas, everybody, Happy

18:26

Holidays,