RUSH: Michael in Philadelphia, welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. How are you?
RUSH: Fine. Thank you.
CALLER: Sir, I wanted to really kind of stay away from the political end right now, just because it is Friday, and I just wanted to tell you about my father-in-law, Doug. Now, the past few years he was a major listener, five days a week. And the last time he listened to you was on April 4th of this year, and on April 6th he passed away. And I want to let you know how much of an impact that you made on his life. Even on his death bed, the week before he passed away, all he could do was pretty much sleep on his side, lay on his side. He had leukemia. He was diagnosed New Year’s Eve of ’07. But he made sure he had his headphones on between the hours of noon and three.
RUSH: That’s just —
CALLER: But please know and understand my heart, sir. I thank you so much for not compromising. I thank you so much for just engulfing him with wisdom and basically got me over. I’ve been a Republican for a long time, but he really was like, ‘Michael, you need to listen to him. You really need to listen to him.’
RUSH: How old was your father-in-law?
CALLER: Sixty-three. He was young.
RUSH: Yeah, sixty-three, and he just found out he had it? On New Year’s Eve he was diagnosed?
CALLER: Yeah. I mean, during Christmastime, it seemed like every winter he would have what we’d think would be pneumonia. This past Christmas, he was different. Christmas morning he was here with our family, and, you know, he would try to play with the kids, but he really couldn’t. He was really tired, shortness of breath. When my mother-in-law pretty much forced him to go to the doctor’s, and they told him symptoms (of course, you know) leukemia. They try to rule things out first, get all the big things out of the way but, when they drew blood and basically the results came back, we thought we could fight it. Some things happened in the hospital that probably excelled his stay here. But nevertheless, I just remember him, you know, it’s like you got pictures of him on his side, laying down, in his bed, with his headphones on. He’d be listening so loud, that I could hear the radio program. I would walk into the room. Because he didn’t want to miss a sentence, sir. I wanted to thank you. You know, all politics aside — Georgia aside, Obama-McCain aside — I mean it. I’m so grateful that I got to you today. And, you know, I definitely want to see that new movie that you viewed the other day. But I want to thank you from our family.
RUSH: Well, you gotta see it. And I did not give it all away.
REPORTER: Did not give it all away.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: Do not believe these critics of mine who say I gave it all away.
CALLER: But from our family to you (voice breaks), thank you.
RUSH: Um, thank you back. You have no idea what stories like this do to me. You know, I sit here and I hear a story like yours, back to your father-in-law, and your father-in-law is like so many people. People like him are what make the country work. Here’s this guy out there going the extra mile to listen to this program and listen to me. (clears throat) It’s just very humbling. I’m glad you got through, too, Michael. I appreciate it. He’s calling from Philadelphia.