← For Good
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- [00:00]
A
I didn't know anything about autism or motherhood. When I had my son, he got, I guess, discovered around the age of two and a half. He walked on time. You know, he sat up on time. He was eating. And then two and a half. My son, he went. He stopped eating. You know, he was babbling, but everything just went to a halt. And I went through a. A very deep depression during that time because I blamed myself. I was like, what did I do wrong? And I. For me, during that time, I. And still to this day, I am the village. So, you know, even though my late husband was present, he wasn't present because he was in denial, distractions and numbness. It just goes hand in hand. Healing is possible, and it's for the better for you and also for your children.
- [01:07]
B
Van Damme. Like, God damn Van Damme. Van Damme. Stop playing with them. Stay woke and drink Van Dammes. Today's episode is sponsored by Van Dammes, the luxury energy drink that keeps your grind sharp and your vibe clean. Premium energy, no crash. Level up your day with Van Dammes. What's good, everybody? It's your guy, Jojo Simmons. And welcome back to the For Good podcast, where we focus on the good, never the bad, and we're measured by what we do, not what we have. Today's episode is a good one. I'm joined by Alicia Lord, author of True Survivor, whose story is rooted in resilience, faith, and the kind of strength that's forged through real life adversity. Alicia's journey isn't just about surviving hard seasons. It's about what happens when you choose to keep going, even when life tries to break you. This conversation is for anyone who's ever felt stuck in survival mode, questioned their purpose, or wondered if their pain could ever be used for good. We're talking about healing, hope, faith, and what it really means to turn your story into something that helps others. Let's get into it. Alicia, thank you for coming on the For Good podcast.
- [02:09]
A
Yes, good afternoon. Thank you for having me.
- [02:11]
B
Of course. Of course. I'm excited to have this conversation as I always started out. You know, we do our homework here at the For Good Podcast, and we only speak to people that we feel have stories that people can be inspired by and relate to. And from what I'm understanding, you know, you've been through some stuff and you've. You've come out on top. So we'd love, you know, for us to discuss all of that and get into that and really just get to know who you are. For the viewers. So saying with saying that, my first question is for listeners who are meeting you for the first time. How would you introduce yourself?
- [02:46]
A
So my name is Alicia Lord. I am an author of Truth Survivor and also the founder of True Survivor llc. I am a mother of a special needs child. I'm a widow, and I'm just a woman of faith, of resilience.
- [03:00]
B
I love it. I love it. So you speak openly about generational trauma. When did you first recognize patterns you wanted to break for yourself and for your family?
- [03:11]
A
Just going through so many things in my life. I think I rediscovered it now that I'm in my 40s. Just really strengthening my faith, just dealing with so many things. Obviously the passing of my late husband, I through, you know, I have the Holy Spirit. A lot of things were revealed to me with witchcraft and things like that, and just my upbringing and things that I guess my parents went through. I just didn't want the same for my son. I wanted him to have a different type of life and be free from all these things that I experienced.
- [03:44]
B
But like, how do you begin healing wounds that were never openly talked about or acknowledged growing up? How do you do that?
- [03:52]
A
So I guess with my spiritual faith, I think that's where it started. Obviously, I didn't even know these things existed. I think none of us know these things existed until we start really getting deep in our faith and having that true relationship with God. And I think that's what where things started to be revealed to me about just things I thought I was healed from or things I think I just numb myself to or buried myself in just doing other things. Just distractions, basically, just to get. Get through the pain and just going through that. And then, you know, obviously being in my book and reading God revealed so many things to me and I didn't even know all these things were existed until I got rebaptized. I was reborn about a few years ago, and then I received the Holy Spirit the same day. And it was just an open door from there. Like God was revealing things to me that I didn't see for years back into my childhood. It was just amazing to see.
- [04:53]
B
I think you brought up a very important word there. You said distractions. And that's big for me. And I say it a lot. I speak about being distracted in life, trying to cover up for things you need to face most of the time or things you need to speak about or things you need to get out. We bottle ourselves up with so much emotion. We bottle ourselves up with so much. You Know things that we're really distracting ourselves with everyday life and avoiding the real conversations and the honest conversations we're supposed to be having with ourselves. To begin healing. I believe, you know, I've been a victim of distracting myself with work, distracting myself with all these other hobbies and extracurricular activities that I may have to do things. Avoiding talking to myself and really figuring out, you know, what. What is what. What are the things that need to be healed within me, you know? And I think a lot of the world, you know, they use everything, everyday life, to distract the real conversation. So, speaking about honesty, what role did honesty with yourself and others play in your healing journey?
- [05:58]
A
I think I'm just open. I'm raw, I'm vulnerable. I don't want people to think that Christianity looks like you all put together. No, that's not the truth. You are attacked heavily, even the more because you know, Satan don't want you to win. He don't want you to heal. He don't want you to be resilient and get through these things. And I think for you, just bringing up that thing, I think distractions for us is. Is a normal thing. It's our norm, because we don't want to feel the hurt. Nobody wants to feel pain. They don't want to feel their trauma. So distractions and numbness, it just goes hand in hand, you know?
- [06:35]
B
Yeah. Wow. I love that. Distractions and numbness go hand in hand. That's a. That's a bar. Distractions and numbness go hand in hand. They're best friends. So a proud mother. I know you are. I want to talk motherhood a little bit. Motherhood alone is a journey. We know I'm a father, and my wife is obviously a mother. How did becoming an autism parent reshape the way you see strength, patience, and love? Because before you jump into that, to be quite honest, my son is on the spectrum. He is speech delayed, and he has a couple other things going on. And I won't get too deep into that, because when it's my time to speak on it, I will. But I relate. And I know the patient's strength and love. It takes to do it every day, you know, and it takes a village, but it really takes the parents or the parent to really create a system for them. Right. So that they can succeed. And it takes a lot of patience, strength, and love. And I respect and honor any parent that wakes up every morning and does it with pride and does it every day when they're tired and when they're not tired. It's a hard job. So how did that reshape the way you see strength, patience, and love?
- [07:50]
A
Wow. So, I mean, obviously Amir is my. As his name is, my first child. I didn't know anything about autism or motherhood. When I had my son, he got, I guess, discovered around the age of two and a half. He walked on time. You know, he sat up on time. He was eating. And then two and a half, my son went cold circle. He went. He stopped eating. You know, he was babbling, but everything just went to a halt. I went through a very deep depression during that time because I blamed myself. I was like, what did I do wrong? And I think for me, during that time, and still to this day, I am the village. So, you know, even though my late husband was present, he wasn't present because he was in denial about dealing with that. So I was on my own with it. So it was. It was a lot going through it, and. But I think my son taught me patience. He taught me a different type of love. And I think one thing for me is I never give up when it comes to something that I'm passionate about. I'm like, I'm gonna do whatever it takes. I think for most parents, sometimes we are in denial or we going through things and we just. I don't want to deal with them, but I'm like, what's the sense? If he does have autism or he doesn't, why not get the help sooner? Because more help than less help. It benefits the child at the end. So I started the early intervention. I got him evaluated, and he was in school at two and a half, and I started from there, and my son dealt with. Obviously, he had autism. And then obviously after that, my husband passed of cancer. So I was dealing with both of the things back to back and grieving.
- [09:36]
B
Twice, because a lot of people don't understand when you are. When your child is diagnosed, it's the grieving error. You know, there's a grieving period, and not that you lost somebody, but you lost the vision of what you thought it would be. And, yeah, my wife and I, we went through that.
- [09:50]
A
We.
- [09:51]
B
We cried, we teared up. We. Because ultimately, we want the best for our kids. It's okay on the spectrum. They're on the spectrum, but we want them to grow older and be protected and be safe and be able to live their life the way they want to live their life. Right. And it's hard for them. So, you know, I feel for you. You know, you had to grieve the loss of your husband and then also grieve the fact that you were dealing with a child that needs a little bit more help, needs a little bit more push. So I hear you. I'm sorry to cut you off. Please keep going.
- [10:18]
A
No, no, you're good. So I think for me, I just wanted to get to the nitty gritty of this. So I'm a person. I'm a research person. I'm going to research. You're my wife.
- [10:27]
B
You and my wife. And we got him an early intervention early. And she. There's waiting lists for this stuff and we need to keep on it. And you know, she caught it early and she was like, hey, I know he's not reaching this benchmark. So, like, you know, more power to the researching parent. For sure. Like that early.
- [10:45]
A
Right. But I think as my son was going through the aggression, he was breaking TVs, punching holes in the walls. We went through two years of not eating. He just went cold turkey, didn't eat for two years that he had to relearn to eat. In addition, it was just so much things going on. And I think I just got to the point, I was like, it's just a lot, you know, he didn't sleep, you know, for weeks and months at a time. This is also while going through grief. So it was a lot. But I think I was just determined to see what was on the other side. I'm like, it has to be something deeper than just the surface of autism. And that's when I switched. Switched over. I want to say Amir was maybe three or four. I did the holistic way of things, researching so much things of that along with, you know, heavy flare and, you know, just things started to open up. They told me my son would never talk, my son would never do this. My son is now talking as of May of this year.
- [11:51]
B
Congratulations. I know that's a great feeling. We're still waiting. We know it's coming. He sings a lot. I tell you that. He sings.
- [11:57]
A
Yes. Music is the way that's how we started. Yeah. So definitely started talking and I did the whole device thing too with him. Obviously when Covid shut down. That was during that time too. We have a device and myself. He taught himself because I was so inundated with just working as a full time mom.
- [12:19]
B
Good for him.
- [12:21]
A
And my son is literally night and day. Obviously he was deep dealing with so many things, allergies. I think a lot of parents need to test their children, especially autism. I was giving him things like fish and all these things, but come to find out he was allergic. So his body was not processing. Their bodies doesn't process food. And when they're uncomfortable as an adult, when we are comfortable.
- [12:42]
B
Right, right.
- [12:42]
A
How are you going to be able to just feel good in your body? Then you can't express yourself. And once I started going to this holistic specialist, which he still goes to, and started to take an extensive panel of blood test, stool samples, I started to see. I think I was that parent just giving him everything. And I said I had to shut down what his body was lacking. And then we started to fill in the gaps with the natural vitamins and things that his body was lacking. And obviously the gut is the big.
- [13:15]
B
Thing, but it's connected to the brain. Yeah, yeah.
- [13:19]
A
And probiotics is the big thing for them. And there's just so many different things. And I just, you know, kept searching and kept doing different things. So now he's on a strict plan. I give him more protein and vegetables than anything. Obviously, they don't process carbs a lot. They do love carbs. Right. My son loves fries.
- [13:38]
B
My son loves crunchy stuff, chips and all that. He's also big on vegetables and fruits. So we love.
- [13:46]
A
Well, that's a good thing.
- [13:47]
B
Oh, man. Went to aba. Like, we've never seen a kid go to town on celery the way your son goes to town on celery. He likes vegetables.
- [13:57]
A
Right. So I just think parents don't know. They push. I think the school systems more of the aba, the speech and the therapy, but they're missing the key point. And that's something I'm. I'm working on to teach in schools. That the holistic point, it really is a game changer. I would never have thought that, you know, I knew my son was going to talk because it was God's promise, but I never thought that I would have a son that's calm like he. It's just. I can't even explain it. It will get me emotional. But he's a. It's night and day, and it's something I. I am passionate about teaching other parents because I see so many parents deal with so many things, but it's because they're not healthy in their body. They're dealing with the information. The information and all these other things. And I just can't wait to teach parents about it. So even if you want to reach out to me, oh, we will be.
- [14:48]
B
We will be. You know, my wife. I think you and my wife will hit it off quite. You know, great. She's like, into it, like, like you are. She's researched everything. She, she knows it all. Like, she, she continues to teach me. And she's been the rock star of the house from day one in making sure that my little Joey, our little Joey is set up perfectly for the future. And we could, you know, continue to keep on keeping on. And so I love us to discuss, you know, what are the silent challenges autism parents face that people outside the outside world may not experience that they don't fully understand. Right. Like, what are some of the silent challenges that we go through?
- [15:28]
A
Danger, obviously I experienced that a few years ago, just putting his child in the hands of people who say they know what they're doing. And just an example he was going through to some kind of event where they take the children and go out to play. And I just needed, I guess it's called respite, right. To just take a moment to breathe. Come to find out my son disappeared and I had no idea. I'm in the house talking to the guy and I'm like, where's my son? I thought that he was with your partner. Come to find out my son was in the middle of the road, running down in the middle of the street into a major intersection of where we live. And I was in the building just going up and down the stairs and in the elevator looking for him. And something is telling me my son is not in this building because he loves elevators. And I looked out the window and I kept seeing people just pointing and I said, you know what? I'm going downstairs. Come to find out my son is like heading towards the intersection in the middle of the road, spinning. And God is so amazing. My neighbor didn't know it was my son at the time, just hopped out of his car while everybody's just like pointed and grabbed him, brought him back to the building. He said, I didn't even know this was your kid. And I think that's one of the things, like, they don't, they don't understand danger. They don't understand. They're just so free spirited, you know, they just want to be outside. They want to be in the elements. But that's a thing that a lot of us experience. That is a very heavy thing. And just putting your kids on a bus. Yeah, they're not vocalized. Just sending them to school. That anxiety as a parent is, is something I, I can't even explain, you know, So I have trackers in his bag and all these things.
- [17:17]
B
Yeah, Especially parents that deal with kids. That aren't speaking yet or just starting to speak. It's like they can't tell us. Yeah, they're feeling or what, you know, what happened today or what happened that made them upset or made them sad. So those, you know, I understand that fully. Fully, fully, fully.
- [17:34]
A
Yeah, that's something. I was grieving for a long time. Like, you know, how is he feeling? Like I'm just sending him to school. But you know, did someone abuse you that you wasn't able to speak about or hit you? You know, it's, it's all those silent things. I think for our parents it's a lot.
- [17:50]
B
It's a very emotional toll. And speaking of it being an emotional toll, like how do you care for your own emotional and spiritual well being while showing up for your child every.
- [17:58]
A
Day is the grace of God. Yeah, it's literally the grace of God. I think for me, I just fight through it. I fight through it. I'm a heavy prayer and that's it. Like I said, because I'm the village, so I'm the one that does everything. I'm a full time worker. I'm now an entrepreneur and it's just me and my kids. So it's, it's a lot. But I just try to take little moments and I think the moments with him means the most just be able to. He loves Family Feud. So just be able to and watch Family Feud and interact with the game with him or he just likes like things about science. I don't know. He's always researching stuff and just singing, singing songs together. I think those are the moments that I, you know, sometimes you tired, but those are the moments that just give you life, you know, I love that.
- [18:51]
B
So I realized that I know that God, church, faith is a core part of your story. How did your relationship with faith evolve when life didn't look like the way you expected it to?
- [19:04]
A
And that's one of the things I think for me, like I said, I don't want people to think. I think faith, people kind of shy away from faith these days because it's like you gotta look a certain way, you gotta act a certain way. I still have a little ghetto in me, you know, so, you know, I'm still me. And God wants the person. He doesn't want the person that's all clean and polished. He wants the person that's the messiest in the back because that's the person that he wants to show you that change is inevitable. So I think for me, I'm just me, you know, I'm me. I'm funny. You know, I also dj. I love music and things like that. I just feel as though God wants you to come as you. He doesn't want you to come polished or anything. And I think that's when my faith started to develop, when I just was honest with God. Like, listen, today I am pissed off. Today I am having a day. Today has been mentally depleting. Today my checking account is overdraft. $800. You know, like, I think for me, I just come as I am, and that's really it.
- [20:06]
B
Got to keep your faith. That's one of my favorite words. I speak about it a lot. So I guess you would say, in moments of deep adversity, God is what helped you hold on to purpose instead of becoming consumed by the pain.
- [20:16]
A
You would say, yes, definitely. So I think, you know, with grief and autism hitting me at two times, I don't know what I would have done if faith did it really, like, really lock in. Like, my grandmother was the core of planting that seed, and I thank God for her. But just being able to lock in with a good home, a good church, and people that really take it seriously definitely has helped me heal from all these things. Yeah.
- [20:50]
B
I love it. What is. What does resilience look like? Whether you don't feel strong or when you're exhausted, overwhelmed, or uncertain? What does that look like for you? Like, what does resilience look like to you?
- [21:01]
A
Resilience means, listen, if today I want to just put it down or just say to heck with everything, that's resilience for me. That's it. You know.
- [21:12]
B
I love it.
- [21:13]
A
Like, you know, I don't feel good. And even up to today, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I'm gonna get on this podcast.
- [21:21]
B
I hope I'm not exhausting you. And we're having a great time.
- [21:24]
A
I love these conversations, but I'm just saying, this is the real life and things. You got so many things to do, a pile of paperwork to do for my son's school. It's. It's a lot.
- [21:34]
B
Yeah.
- [21:35]
A
So for me, resilience sometimes just look like, listen, take a moment and eat Netflix. And maybe I like, you know, whatever it is.
- [21:45]
B
Yeah, everybody should say, excuse my language. Fuck it one day. Like, sometimes, fuck it. I need to pour into myself. I need to take care of myself. I need to make sure I'm good so that everything around me is good. But if I'm not good, then it's all gonna crumble. So, you know, you have to have those days of boundary, I call them days of boundary where it's like cut off your phone, cut off the communication. As long as your family in the inside the home is good, you're good. You know what I mean? Like, I love that. So what does it mean to you for a family to truly thrive, not just survive emotionally and spiritually.
- [22:21]
A
Really thrive is just, I mean, show up, just try your best. It's never going to be perfect. I think sometimes with social media, people tend to paint this picture like, you know, everything is great, it ain't, it ain't great. And it's okay. It's okay. Some days you're gonna look at my, some weeks you're gonna look at some months you're gonna look a mess. But as long as the end of the day you're trying your best, you're putting your best foot forward, that, that's, that's all that matters because that's all you have, you know, at the end of the day. And I'm. Your child knows it, they see it and you show up. Just showing up is means more than anything. So that's it.
- [23:04]
B
Like just you saying your child knows it and they see it. I love that because my next question was, how do you create an emotionally safe space in your home, especially when life feels heavy. For anybody listening out there that wants to create an emotionally safe space inside of their home, how do you do it?
- [23:20]
A
So the thing is, for me, I think I had a husband that was very traditional and was raised, he was African. And I think one of the things I've always seen in the background is that black men are raised to be strong. You can't like be vulnerable. You can't cry, you can't. And I'm like, I'm not raising my son like that. Like, it's okay. You could be a man's man, but you still could express how you feel. You can love hard and just be you and still be an all around man. And you don't look different. I don't want to raise my, my son to feel like he has to be the man that has to be strong every day. No. Because it's not realistic.
- [24:01]
B
Thank you. You know, as young boys, they need that. I grew up in an era where vulnerability wasn't a superpower and holding it all in was the best. And you know, you fall, you don't cry, you go through and you don't cry. But I've grown up to be grown up to be the man to support, not no man being soft but being aware. I say it's being aware of who you are, being aware of your feelings and being aware of how to deal with those feelings. Because all a man does when they don't deal with those feelings is crash out in some type of way or form that isn't beneficial or healthy for them. And that's the only reason I tell men to be vulnerable and men to speak up and men to talk to other people about it, because it usually ends up in a really bad crash out for men. I had a guest on here that said usually those emotional traumas for men turn into bullets. Whether they're receiving them or giving them out. That's what they usually turn into. And I thought that was a powerful statement, because it's very true, especially in the black and brown community, is that's usually where it ends up with all that. All that trauma, all that emotion. All those emotions go into aggression. I think it's important to create an emotional safe space for not only boys, obviously, girl, you know, your daughter, you know, because I have a daughter and a son, but. But definitely for boys to create that emotional safe space. To say it's safe to. To feel, you know, it's safe to feel.
- [25:23]
A
I'm hoping to branch out, and I'm hoping that men would not just women reach out to me, but men, because I do want to open that safe space, you know, for men to feel like it's okay. Because if you're not okay, you can't get married and then think that your marriage is going to be healthy. Then you have children, and that's how the generational trauma just starts. It just keeps continuing. And. And I'm like, you know, we have to get to a point where it's like, okay, we want something different for our kids. And I think one of the things. We love the Incredible Hulk in this house. So when my son is upset, I tell him, you know, we gonna Hulk smash it. And we bang on anything.
- [25:58]
B
I love that.
- [26:00]
A
So we. We help smash everything in the house. And I'm like, this is how you deal with your anger. It's okay to say that you're angry, and if you want to bang on something, just bang on it. It's okay, you know, express your emotions. And that's what I do with him. So that he knows. He loves. He hugs all the time. And, you know, it's okay to be angry, too.
- [26:17]
B
Yeah, I see. I love that. And I like how you use the analogy to come to his world. Right. He likes to hulk. So we'll Use your world and we'll bridge it all together. Writing True Survivor required vulnerability, obviously, as we speak about being vulnerable. What healing came from telling your story publicly? That's hard.
- [26:38]
A
Yes, it was hard. I never woke up and thought I wanted to be an author. It was something I did in obedience. And it took me a while. This vision came in 20. I want to say 2019. It came about and then I officially started, I would say, two years ago, and I started writing. And I always used to write. I think that's one of the things for me when I'm feeling sad, I journal. I used to journal a lot. So I just had so many books full of so much content prior to this being a vision. And 2020 at two years ago, I started to say, okay, I'm gonna get someone to help me. I'm gonna figure this out and I'm gonna write. And then when I started writing, it was like, lord, what is this? I don't wanna write this. Like, I'm like, people are gonna look at me a certain way. You go through all those things, right? Like, this is a lot, you know, to really thing. And then I think the last year, I just buckled down and wherever I was, I just started to write. I started to write in my car and cry there. Wherever I was writing, I was just crying. For me, the water is tranquil for me. It's a place of healing for me. So I used to go by the water and just sit and write for hours and hours and just cry tears or sit in my car wherever time I had. And I was just like, okay, I'm a person. When I want to get something done, I'm going to get it done. I'm like, I'm just going to cry through this and we gonna get it done because it needs to be done, because my story can help so many different people.
- [28:14]
B
That's. I love the word you use, obedience. I speak about being obedient. I speak about that in my own life. Me wanting other things in life and not listening sometimes to what God's word is for me, and now finally stepping back and let God do what he do with me and just be obedient. Listen, like, that's why this podcast exists, because I'm being obedient. I was told to come speak to the world. I was told to spread positivity. I was told to. To speak to the masses in any which way possible that I can and to use my platform for good. And that's why this is called the For Good podcast, because I truly Asked God one night years ago, where do I go in my career? What do I do? How do I become the most authentic me? And, yeah, sometimes you are looking at yourself like, are you sure you want to do that? You know? You know, aren't you supposed to be this, you know, reality T star or rapper or whatever I want it to be? And it's like, no. You are a person that needs to share your story, share your vulnerability so that other men feel vulnerable. That's why I created this safe space called the For Good Podcast, for all walks of life to come on here and feel vulnerable and talk like you're talking to me about your life, about. About, you know, going through, being, you know, autism parent. These are vulnerable moments that I love creating here. I've had these moments with many people on this podcast because I was called by God to be obedient, to say, hey, speak for the people, through the people, to the people, and let the consumer take that in and let it be contagious to anybody that hears you or sees you. And that's why we're here. You know, that's why we're here. So obedience is a big word for me. It's a big word for me.
- [29:50]
A
Yes. And we thank. We thank you for this amazing podcast. And I was just like, I hope he sees me watching you.
- [29:57]
B
You're here. You are here. And I got. I. Everybody, anybody out there may very well be on this podcast at any given time, as long as my team sees you right now. Because everybody has a story, right? Everybody has a special story. Everybody has a relatable story just because, you know, the biggest stars in the world, they have stories, and we all are inspired by them, and they become rich and successful. But there's so many other people in this world that have been successful in so many different avenues of their life that they can share with people that are going through that tough time right now, right? That moment of finding out their child is on the spectrum. This is going to be a conversation for somebody that's going to encourage them that your child may very well walk, talk one day. You know, your child may very. Your child will blossom, your child will grow. You're talking to two parents that have kids on the spectrum that are telling you that it will progress if you put the work in. You know, it will happen if you care, it will happen if you love, right? So this conversation's important for people like that. These conversations, you know, that's why we're here. So I want to close out this podcast and, oh, Sorry, you gonna say something?
- [31:05]
A
No, I was saying I agree with everything you're saying. Than so much.
- [31:10]
B
So, last question. Cause I know I've had you here and we've been spilling our guts, but if someone listens to this episode and it takes one step towards healing or hope, what do you. What? Why? No, what. Let me reword it. What do you hope that step looks like for the person that comes in and watches this episode and they're trying to go towards healing and hope? What does that look like for them?
- [31:35]
A
Well, I guess everyone's journey is different. So, I mean, I think people don't allow themselves to heal again because of that pain. People don't want to admit to that pain. They don't want to deal with that pain. And I would tell people, yes, you have to go through the pain to get through the other end. I mean, suffering comes in the night, but joy comes in the morning. And it is the absolute truth. So you're gonna have to shed those things. You're gonna have to get delivered from those things in order to be reborn a new person. And you'll see how much lighter. Because the things that I used to desire then, I don't desire now. And I feel so much lighter than I've ever felt, you know, and it took me, you know, 43 years to figure it out, but still young, right? But nonetheless, I'm like, you know, I'm just hoping that, you know, my story, anyone else's story on this podcast will encourage people that healing is possible and it's for the better, for you and also for your children, because your children deserve a good mom, a better mom, a healed mom, so that they can be good husband, good wives, and they don't have to go through half of the pain that we suffered.
- [32:55]
B
So that's what I love that she said. Healing is possible. Guys, I want you to remember that when you. When you're going through a tough time and you feel like you won't heal and you're. You're. You're metaphorically bleeding out. Healing is possible, guys. You can be patched up. You can be healed. You know, what you're going through isn't the end of your story. It is only a chapter in your book. Thank you so much, Alicia, for coming on here and giving us your vulnerability and talking to us about being on the spectrum. Parent. I feel like I was in a room with a person that I need to be in a room with because I relate, and I love being in rooms with other parents that go through what I've gone through or what I go through, because it just makes the conversation so much better. It's like we understand each other. We know what it is. We know it's hard, but we know it takes resilience. We know it takes strength, patience, love. And I love that. I love that you're sharing your story with the world. And, you know, you want to inspire people, and that's. That's. That's the main goal, and that's the main thing.
- [33:57]
A
So I just want to leave you guys with this. So 2026, I want us to leave survival in the end and go to thriving. That's what I want to say.
- [34:05]
B
I love it. So before we get out of here, you seem very big on your faith and everything. I'd love to know, for anybody watching and listening, I ask this question every time at the end, what do you do or what have you done for your mental health lately that maybe somebody may be able to follow out there?
- [34:23]
A
I go to the gym when I'm angry, when I'm sad, when I'm depressed, I go to the gym. I go to the gym, I lift those weights. It's all my problems I'm lifting. Obviously, I start and I pray in the morning, but that's what I do. I go to the gym or I go to the spa, go for a walk, I read. You know, it's whatever, whatever you like. But for me, it's the gym. Love it.
- [34:46]
B
Likewise. I'm a gym goer as well. Thank you, Alicia Lord, for coming on the 4 Good podcast. This was an amazing episode. Everybody check in. I love you guys. Make sure you hit that subscribe button. We are rocking 2026. You already know what's going on. This is the 4 Good podcast where we focus on the good, never the bad. And we're measured by what we do, not what we have. It's your guy, Jojo Simmons, signing out my homegirl, Alicia Lord. Peace till next time.