"Holding on to Faith: A Visit with MaryAnn Riley"

In this heartfelt episode of The Lady in Red Legacy Podcast, we visit MaryAnn Riley during her stay in skilled nursing care. With resilience and unwavering faith, she shares her reflections on life, community, and her deep devotion to God. MaryAnn speaks about the struggles of adjusting to her new care environment, the challenges with her health, and her gratitude for the people who continue to support her journey.

As she views the new logo for the adult daycare center being opened in her honor, MaryAnn's excitement shines through. She hopes to witness its grand opening, demonstrating her fighting spirit and dedication to leaving a lasting impact. In an emotional moment, she joins in prayer with Jermaine and Jack, reaffirming her trust in God's plan and the importance of faith in times of adversity.

She also shares touching memories, her commitment to attending Mass daily via television, and her belief that America must return to faith. This conversation serves as a beautiful reminder of her lifelong mission to serve others and her legacy of strength, love, and conservative values. Tune in for this inspiring discussion, and join us in honoring a woman who has touched so many lives.

Listen now and be inspired by MaryAnn’s unwavering faith and dedication.

Transcript

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Look, handsome. Wow. We do dress up. You've got heavy dates, I'll tell you. Wow. How are you doing? Every day is a little different, you know. Some days are better than others. You know, you get some of these coughing spells, and it makes it hard to breathe. And so then we have to stop and get some of that taken care of. And then it settles down for a while, and it makes it hard because, you know, you're in with two people, and one likes it hot and one likes it cold, and this type of thing. So I just go along with the program. Food is terrible. The food is no good? No, no. Don't you have a certain diet that you're on? Well, they were supposed to have me on a diet, yes. And the first thing I told them when they came in, when I came in here on Wednesday, I'm allergic to seafood, I cannot have dark green vegetables because I'm allergic to iodine, and I gave them all this list of things that I don't like. That night, guess what the entree was? Everything you don't want. Fitch. Fitch. The next day, they brought me in a spinach. They brought me a sandwich with spinach. All right. Yesterday, they brought me kale. Now, you know, you wonder what happens if people are not aware of what they should be eating and should not be eating. I have a friend two doors down. I've known her for years, and it's Rick Beltram's mother. Do you know Rick? Yes, yes. So his mother is two rooms down Irma. And of course, I've known them for years. And she's having a lot of mental problems, you know, dementia and so forth. Now, I haven't talked to her. Wayne has. Wayne went over there and talked to her. But I haven't gotten out of bed yet. They just let me sit on the side of the bed and we do these things. But anyway, so what's going on? Well, I wanted to come and say a prayer with you, but I wanted to show you the new logo for the daycare and see what you think. Let me get my glasses. Thank you. Oh, my goodness, is that beautiful. I thought so, too. Oh, wow. I love it. I hope I stay long enough to see it. I know. You're going to be strong. I'm working on it, Eric. I really am. They've been coming in, and they've been doing some therapy with me twice a day. And so I didn't realize just it gets too heavy for me. It's a heavy little thing. You know, my friend Carol, my friend Lauren Floyd, sent me her two books. Alicia, it's over there on the table. Look at them. They're so beautiful. Aren't they gorgeous? Yes. Look, that one with Mother Teresa on it. Did you see the one with Mother Teresa? Oh, she does some excellent work. Isn't that gorgeous? Oh, that is gorgeous. I've been meaning to speak with Ms. Floyd. This is just a deception. But I can't lift it. It's too heavy. It's too heavy for me to lift. When they brought it to me and handed it to me, I couldn't lift it up. I had to have the nurse put it over there because I couldn't lift it. It was way too heavy. But I haven't had time to really go through it and look at it. Karen has been very, very busy working on these books. She's had this business now 10 years, and she's on the go constantly. I mean, I can't get a hold of her half the time because she's on the go. Yes, I was thinking about sending her an email first so I know how busy she is. Yeah. She's been out of town so much. She's been in New York, and she was overseas. But isn't that beautiful? It is. It's very beautiful. It sure is. So, Ms. Mary Ann, I want to say this prayer. Okay. Come on, Jack. I've got to have you, too. Heavenly Father, we come before You today lifting up our dear sister, Mary Ann Riley. Lord, You know her needs. You see her journey. And You walk with her every step of the way. As she transitions into skilled nursing care, we ask for Your covenant of peace, strength, and comfort to be upon her. Lord, surround her with caregivers filled with wisdom and compassion. Let every hand that touches her be guided by your grace. Strengthen her body. Renew her spirit. And remind her that you are always near, her ever-present, helping her in times of need. We claim your promise in Isaiah 41, chapter 10, verse that she will not fear, for you are with her. You will strengthen her and uphold her with your righteous hand. We thank you in advance for her healing, for your hand over her life, we trust you, Lord, and we give you all the glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you very much. It's beautiful. I'm so happy that you were able to come out, take the time to come over. I know you've got busy schedules while you're going to Wahalla. Yes, ma'am. And what are you going to be doing over there? Don Johnson, one of my closest friends, is being licensed as a minister with his mother's church. And he's going to be doing his first sermon. Today at 3 o'clock. And so we're going to give him support. Oh, how wonderful. Well, my prayers are with you and with him, too, that he has a very successful parish and thoughts in the future because we really need people to come back to God. It's a shame that people have left so many ways of not wanting to recognize God as an entity for us. And I don't know how people could live without God. I really don't. It's been so good. And I do Mass. You know, being Roman Catholic, I do my Mass on the television. I watch it. If I miss it at 8 o'clock in the morning, I watch it at noon. If I miss it at noon, I watch it at midnight. And so I want to make sure that I get it in every day. And so that God knows that I haven't forgotten him. And this is very important to me. And I said, I want him with me at all times. And I want my family and friends with me, too, to know that I love them. And I'm going to do everything I can to get well. And we'll see what happens. But I know you have to get on the road. What time is his? It's at 3 o'clock. Oh, you've got to go. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Thank you, sweetheart. You're precious. Yes, ma'am. And I'll keep you updated. Oh, thank you. I filed the corporation papers. They said they were supposed to be done by February the 25th with the name of the Mary Ann Riley Cure Center. So once that gets back, then I'll start that paperwork. And we're waiting on Isaiah to finish the design from when we met the people at the mall. Once he has that, then we'll start to negotiate with them about the price and the upfit of the location. So I'll keep you informed. Thank you. Thank you, Missy. Since you've been so busy all of the time. You two are really God's gifts to this world, and you have so many outlets that you have a hard time keeping up with all of you. But that's when you're young. I remember that time when I was doing that, too. It makes a difference now. So it does. So it does. And I'm going to try to order you some copies of your books so that you can have here so when people come to visit. So when I get back to the office on Monday, I'll order some and you'll have I'll bring them back to you. And Wayne send you a check and I'll take care of it then. Don't worry about it; we'll get that for you, and I'll come back and see you next week. That's fine. Safe trip over there because people are crazy out there. I just talked to a friend of mine; she was driving in snow up north, and she says it's snowing like mad, and she says people aren't paying any attention as to what they're doing or anything else. It's getting all over the place, and I said, 'Why go out?' I said, 'You know you don't need to be out sliding around.' But with the temperature dropping, and now we may have it here too, you know. We could have some right? But I have this cough, and they can't seem to get rid of it; so yeah, and she has it too. And I had pneumonia when I was in the hospital, and we thought that maybe that was it. But my lungs are clear, everything's clear and they don't know what's the matter with me. But the doctors are completely baffled, we have no idea what's the matter with you. You're just an anomaly, that's all there is to it. And I said, only to one person I'm not. And I said, he's going to take care of me. Amen. Well, you try your best to eat and keep your strength up. That's going to be key. I'm trying to do that. That's what I'm trying to do is to do my best and to eat now and then. Wayne's going to bring me a sandwich. The food here is terrible, as is most of these places. And they bring a whole plate full. I mean, you would think they were a farmer working in the field. That's how much they put on a plate. It's so wasteful. You know, you think about all the people out there that could use the food and we're wasting all of this food. And I said, 'they bring it in' and I look at it and I said, 'no', take it away. And so try your best to pick something through. You need your strength. That's how you're going to be able to fight and keep your immune system strong. Okay. But you guys go. Yes, ma'am. Safe trip then. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Take care of them. Thank you. Love you both. Take care. I love you.