WEBVTT

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- [Jordan] I mean, it's also 1:55,

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so it shouldn't be too turbulent

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in the air right now.

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- [Susie] Jordan, you told me that one day

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you're gonna come here.

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Today's the day.

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- We're gonna go back in the air.

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- [Susie] Are you excited, Jordan?

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- Yeah, I'm very excited.

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I've been waiting for this time

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for a very long time.

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When I go up in the air,

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it's about freedom,
it's about exploration,

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it's about spreading
your wings and soaring.

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Well, it all started when I was young,

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and I wanted to seek my adventure,

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I wanted to explore, I wanted to travel.

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- As I remember the first
glimpse of his interest

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to become a pilot is
when my brother let him

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try on his flight suit
for the very first time.

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From that day on, that was it.

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Plus also, he watched the
movie called "Top Gun."

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That's one of my favorite movies,

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and more and more, he
got really interested.

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- I was ready for the challenge,

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I was ready for everything that came.

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The moment to be in flight school,

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to complete flight school, to be winged.

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I was there about two months.

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Two months, yep.

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I was just about to solo for IFS.

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- We start tonight with breaking news,

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eight people are now in
the hospital after a car

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hit a group of pedestrians in Perdido Key.

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Florida Highway Patrol says that one man

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is still in critical condition,
24-year-old Jordan Lo.

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Essentially, I was hanging
out with a bunch of guys

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who I commissioned with,
and we were walking

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to get some food in Perdido Key,

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and as we were getting
closer to the restaurant,

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a drunk driver comes from behind us

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and wipes us all down, mows us all down.

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I was in the back, so
I took most of the hit.

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On impact, I went into
a coma for three days.

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I had my MCL, ACL torn.

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My calf muscles torn.

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I suffered a left side hemiparesis,

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a weakening of my left side of my body.

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And so, I suffered a very
severe traumatic brain injury.

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- [Susie] There was not
one single spot in his body

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that did not have scratches or bruises.

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- They never thought I would
walk again, talk again.

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They thought I was
gonna be on a ventilator

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for the rest of my life, thought I'd be on

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a feeding tube for the rest of my life,

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that I'd never be independent again.

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Yes, life forever changed.

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- And I know that for a
fact, that he wanted to live.

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Something told me that
that's what he wants to do,

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and I was calmly at that
one point to tell the doctor

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that my son's not ready to die yet.

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- And from then on, that night, my father

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next to my bedside witnesses my arm move.

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And the nurse calls the
speech pathologists,

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the surgeons, the doctors,
they all come rushing in.

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"Jordan, if you can hear
me, give me a thumbs up."

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Nothing happened.

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"Jordan, if you can hear me,
give me the second finger."

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Nothing happened.

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And then, she said,
"Jordan, if you can hear me,

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"give me the bird."

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And so, I guess I knew
what that was in a coma,

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I flipped them all off.

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The doctor said "He
responded to a command.

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"We got a response, all options of pulling

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"the plug are off the table."

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And from then on, you know, I lived.

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So this jacket was gifted
to me by my command

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and all other eight guys
that were hit with me,

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wanted to come up with a call sign for me.

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They bring me this jacket, they say

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"Hey, this is your jacket,

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"and it has your call sign on it."

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And, you know, I'm from Phoenix, Arizona,

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so they hand it to me, and they said

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"Your call sign's Phoenix."

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And I'm like, "Get out."

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Like, have we not gone through enough?

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You're gonna call me Phoenix
because I'm from Phoenix?

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And they're like, "No, no, no, no, no.

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"Because you're gonna
rise from the ashes."

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And it's been fitting,
it's been the mentality,

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you know, the mentality
all along recovery.

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You know, your injury incinerates you

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to a certain point where
you are left in ashes.

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It gave me a spirit in
which, that I'm gonna

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fly again, I'm going to get up out of this

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pile of ashes, my own ashes, and I'm going

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to make a life that I want to live.

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A life that I want for myself.

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- [Physical Therapist]
Okay, go ahead and lift up

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that left foot, pull up, pull up,

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pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull.

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- [Jordan] Thus, I was in a wheelchair

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and bedridden for about
16 weeks, and not walking.

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- [Susie] Today is August the 6th, 2017,

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and Jordan is walking by himself.

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It's been a little bit over

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three months from the accident.

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Jordan working every single day

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to get where he's at right now.

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- I can not explain how you never give up.

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As my nephew, as a fellow service member,

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you know, I mean, you are
what this country's about.

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- Yes, yeah, I was told
I'd never walk again.

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But that was a time I, you know,

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checked something off my list.

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A big one, too.

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Marty Party, that's what
they used to call him.

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- Yeah, Marty Party was my nickname.

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- With long hair...
- Nope, nope, nope.

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- A skateboard...
- No, no, no, no,

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we're not talking about
my high school days.

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Nothing about long hair or skinny jeans.

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Obviously, when it happened,

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I was completely devastated.

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Like, I've never been so devastated

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in my entire life, but I knew deep down

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somewhere within me that this was just

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a hump in the road for
him, this is, pretty much,

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it sucks, but, you know,
he's gonna obviously

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get better from it, it's
the way I looked at it.

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Like, it's almost like it didn't happen.

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I mean, it's, you know, he's walking like

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it never happened, it's, I mean,

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he's recovering at a substantial rate.

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- (mumbles)
- Brother!

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Love you, dude.
- Love you.

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Even though you go to U of A.

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- They said I'd never walk again,

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they said I'd never talk again.

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They said I'd be on a
ventilator feeding tube

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for the rest of my life.

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They thought I was gonna be a vegetable.

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And clearly, not.

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I believe it's fueled
by my desire to serve

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and my desire to return to a life in which

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I worked so diligently and hard for.

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This is, you know, why I joined the Navy.

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To be around this kind of culture,

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and see those planes
take off, see those guys

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and girls in the cockpit,
that's where I wanna be.

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I went into a coma wanting
to be a Naval Aviator,

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I woke up, wanting to be a Naval Aviator.

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Nothing has changed.

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Not for a second have I
ever, like, thought about

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another goal or mission.

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It all makes sense to you in recovery.

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You know, sure, why this happened to you.

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But also, why you have your
passions, and your desires

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that you want in life,
throughout your life.

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You know, being in the
Navy only for two years,

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but being so passionate about it to serve,

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and to wear the uniform proudly.

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It almost becomes a part of you,

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it almost becomes embedded into your DNA.

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- It goes like this.

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- Yeah. (laughs)

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- What would Tom Cruise, Maverick say?

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- For a long time, there was a lot of

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uncertainties and guesses

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of if I would ever be in the air again.

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And as I progressed in recovery,

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that answer become a little bit

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more clear to me.

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The first opportunity I had to go

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back in the air, I took it.

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It was a sense of freedom.

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I left all my worries and
concerns on the ground,

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and I went up there and spread my wings.

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It reminded me a lot of my time

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in Pensacola, flying out there.

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And it's a position and
a situation I wished

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and I worked so diligently for to regain.

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(uplifting music)

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Everything is geared towards getting back

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to Pensacola, returning
to flight training,

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and revitalizing a dream and a mission

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that I had before and I have now.

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- Cheers, buddy, happy birthday, man.

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I love you.

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- [Party Guest] Happy birthday.

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- I believe I have a greater sense

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of mental fortitude now
than I did when I was there.

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And to cherish every moment, and to

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live life to the fullest.

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It's a cliche saying, and I've heard

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it a thousand times, but I never really

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knew the worth in that saying.

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Because you don't want to get kicked off

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the mountain before you really

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realize that statement is true.

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- [Party Guests] Happy
Birthday, dear Jordan,

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Happy birthday to you!

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(cheering)

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(uplifting music)