Hello, I'm Zeke and welcome to the Zekely podcast. Let's talk Pennsylvania. The guest I have today is a lifelong Northeastern PA public servant raised by a working class family with strong union ties. He eventually went on to become a first generation college graduate. He's a small business owner, family man, and now he's running to be a state Senator to help flip the state Senate blue this year. Thank you so much for being here. Brian Wrightson.

I’m Zeke, a doctor, a Pennsylvanian and unapologetic supporter of Democratic values. You might have seen me on social media working my ass off for Democrats and meeting some pretty amazing people along the way - like President Barack Obama and Governor Josh Shapiro.

For years, I’ve knocked thousands of doors all over Pennsylvania and poured my heart and soul into supporting candidates and causes that make a difference—from local school board races to national elections. The personal is political, and I take every election in Pennsylvania personally.

Where the mainstream media has failed you, I will give you truth and independence. You’ll hear from Democratic leaders, candidates, and change-makers who are working to improve the health of the Commonwealth, and it won’t be boring as hell.

No matter where you are, I’ll meet you with hope and a plan to make your community better one day at a time. Welcome to the Zekely Podcast. Let’s talk Pennsylvania.

Thank you for having me.

I gotta say, Brian, I usually send out an email to people to get some background when I'm researching candidates and yours by far blew my socks off. I mean, it was just incredible, the stories that you told me. So I can't wait to share these with all my listeners and viewers because it was just great. So you're an amazing person with a crazy awesome backstory. So

going to learn all about you, play some games and have some fun. Are ready?

I'm

let's let's get right to it. OK, first question out of the gate. Why are you running for state Senate in Pennsylvania?

my children and my grandchildren deserve a better future. They deserve a future that they can afford things in. They deserve the opportunity to be able to own a home someday.

Opportunity is one of the biggest reasons. Look, my wife and I, we'd be fine. We'd be able to move it right through, but...

our kids, know, our five children,

and our six grandchildren are why I'm doing this.

Children need to have the opportunities. And right now the Republicans aren't allowing that in the state. They're blocking every piece of legislation that gets from the House to the Senate or good legislation in the Senate never makes it to the floor. And that's wrong. And this has been going on since the early 90s,

it's been almost 30 years, it is 30 years since the Republicans have had control of the Senate and it's time for it to change.

to do things that are for everyone in the state, not just the Democrats or Republicans, the billionaires, the millionaires. It needs to be everybody, the person who's literally living under the bridge who needs that service to the person who can afford

Look, I'm super excited that you're running. The last time Democrats had control of the state Senate, I was 12 years old. Okay, Brian, and it is long past due. You were a huge piece of the puzzle to flip the state Senate blue this year. And we need you, man. We need you in the state Senate. We need more Democrats, and I believe this is our year. So thank you for running. Thank you for bringing your democratic values to the table. It's what Pennsylvania needs.

We do.

Absolutely.

So Brian, your grandfather, Edward C. Giambetti, was extremely influential in your life. And I understand his obituary cost you nearly $2,800 to put in the newspaper because it was so long. I mean, that's insane. Most obituaries cost like 50 to $100.

Yes.

know, Zeke, how do you summarize 99 years of a person's life?

it's hard to summarize that up. But my grandfather...

accomplished things. know, he grew up through the Depression and he picked blueberries and he played professional baseball and he used to make his own baseballs and his own bats to learn how to play baseball in his own gloves. And it's a person

never forgot where he came

yes, both parents are still alive, but my grandparents and my grandmother raised me for a good portion of my life because my parents

he was just an amazing man he really was

I mean, it's incredible. Look, I read the entire thing. I did. And it was beautiful. it really did bring tears to my eyes. I mean, he really influenced you in all the right ways.

here's to the competition I'm planting the seeds for your kids Okay, your dad spent twenty eight hundred dollars on his grandfather because he's amazing. So pony up. Okay

Brian, the current Republican state senator serving in your district co-sponsored a bill to remove Pennsylvania's participation in the regional greenhouse gas initiative, which helps to reduce CO2 emissions. So how do you feel about that?

Look, if you want to know for sure that there is climate change and we're experiencing an environmental catastrophe down the road, go talk to a farmer.

The farmers know that their growing seasons are different. The frosts are different. They're seeing bugs that are never in this area before. Our trees are dying and they're having troubles. So taking us and denying the fact that we're in trouble environmentally, not just here in Pennsylvania, but in the United States and across the globe

it goes completely against my philosophy of leaving the next generation a better place than you were

We should be doing more to protect our environment. We should be adding more ways to produce clean and green energies that also promote our agricultural industries, promote our rural communities, and promote our urban areas. There's so much areas that we can expand in, and leaving a program that's protecting just a small modicum of our environment.

Not really acceptable to me.

I appreciate that. mean, it seems like deregulation is the name of the game for Republican politicians these days, whether it's in Congress or at the state level. So I'm grateful that you are going to make it a point to protect Pennsylvania and be a leader in the region to reduce our CO2 emissions and also help the farmers and the agricultural world to not just be better at what they do, but not sacrifice our environment by doing that.

exactly.

Brian, you've built telecommunication towers to help people gain access to the internet all across the Commonwealth. And many people may not know this, but 150,000 160,000 Pennsylvanians have no wired internet access at all. And about 1 in 10 Pennsylvanians, or about 600,000 to 800,000, cannot get a basic broadband plan. So how would you

this issue in Harrisburg.

broadband at one time was a luxury. Having good internet was a luxury. It is no longer the case and COVID proved that.

Back in COVID, we had children who couldn't get service. I couldn't get to them fast enough. So I made deals with farmers.

to allow me to put Wi-Fi units on their silos. So the school districts were able to tell the parents that, look, you can't download your kid's assignment at the house, drive to schoolhouse road, pull next to the cider mill, and the password is this. And you have access to internet, so your child can do that. And we did that because that's what you do.

That can be done though we should be focusing on getting

much better and adequate broadband out to our dirt roads and there's a better

No, I think it's great. mean, the fact that you went the extra mile to ensure that children had access to education during a very difficult time in America's history is just a testament to how you're going to treat people when you're in Harrisburg. You you really want to expand access to the internet. And to me, it's as vital as having fresh water and electricity and,

heat in the wintertime and air conditioning in the summertime. People need access to the internet. It is an essential part of living these days.

So I'm glad to know that in Harrisburg, you're going to work to make sure that every Pennsylvanian has the chance to have access to the internet to improve their

I still can't believe

The fact that you've climbed up these huge broadband towers. I mean, I am not a heights person, but I have to know what's the craziest thing that you've seen a couple hundred feet up in the air.

I mean, you have a line of sight is incredible. What have you seen up there?

yeah,

I've had

Army National Guard fly in two circles around a tower that I was on, waving to the guys out of the Chinooks. I've been on a tower where I've had an eagle land in the tree below me with a fish and sit there. I've had turkey vultures, like, land next to me and try to scare me off the tower.

I had to go and do a quick repair job. And from that spot on the tower that I was at, I can see the entire 40th district, the entire area that I will represent, I can see from one point in the air. And that's how, you know, the top of the mountain is at 2,500 feet and I'm up above it, right? So you could see forever.

huh.

crazy.

Yeah.

But I've been up on a tower and what do do when you get up there and all of a sudden the hornets come out of a piece of a pipe and you're 150 feet in the air and you're getting stung? As a doctor, I average on an average year about 135 to 150 bee stings a year. I've actually had to make the commitment

my God. ⁓ I'm getting chest pain just thinking about it,

⁓ God.

to fix something knowing I was gonna get stung. I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna calculate risk this. This would be like a 10 stinger. I gotta go and reach it and grab it. And yeah, I get wealth all over my body from it. But that's, that are the crazy things when it happens when you're 150 feet up in the air.

⁓

Well.

Brian, I need you to be safe. Okay, I appreciate what you do, but we need you to get to Harrisburg, okay? So no funny business up there. Get home to your wife safely and then straight over to Harrisburg, okay?

I am.

Yes.

Absolutely.

Hey, thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Zekely Podcast. And if you're enjoying yourself, please take a moment to rate my Podcast. Five stars would be great and leave a comment as well. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please hit follow. OK, back to the show.

As a teenager, you worked in a union book bindery and you had an accident where you severed part of your thumb. So I wanted to know what was the union's response to your accident?

I was 18 years old, I just graduated high school

I worked on a third shift in a book bindery and joined a union. And about six months into that, I was told by the foreman, non-union foreman to push books across an assembly line that had broken. And as I was doing that, the assembly line turned on, clipped the tip of my thumb.

And the union immediately came to my rescue per se, or came and had my back where the company was trying to say, I caused the injury and the union fought for me, made sure I got a little bit of workman's comp, make sure I had the right medical treatment taken care of for it. And,

my father was in a union growing up, but you didn't see the benefits to it other than him taking the paycheck home. But living the benefit made me really have an appreciation of what our men and women in our trades and in all of our unions.

Yeah.

stand for and I think that's an important part. I think we need to support that even more because there's going to be that next 18 year old kid who's told to do something that he doesn't know any better not to do and he's going to get hurt or she's going to get hurt if there's no union behind them backing them up they're on their own and that's

That's not right. We need it. You know, we need those protections in place and the unions do afford a lot of employees some protection.

we need to protect unions in Pennsylvania. And it is obvious that the only party that supports unions as strongly as you and I both know they do, the Democratic Party, right? So I'm glad you're a union man, your parents were union people, and you saw the benefits of that. So I really want to have my legislators and Harrisburg protecting unions because it's just the right thing to do. People deserve respect and dignity at work and unions provide.

Exactly.

Brian, I understand when you were 18 years old, you rubbed down a baby bear with Vic's VapoRub while the mama bear was six feet away. So I'm ready for the story. How did this come to pass?

So

there was a gentleman who used to be world renowned bear biologist in Pennsylvania. His name was Gary Ault. Gary was good friends with a gentleman that I worked with in the book bindery. And he asked me one day, do you want to come out and see bears? I'm like, of course I do.

the state would go in and find the mother bears that are denned up with their

would tranquilize the mother and pull the mother out of the den.

So they brought them out and you get to hold these little tiny bears. Well, they found out over the years, if they just put the bears back with the mother, when the mother would come out of her tranquilization, she would kill one of the bears because she don't smell only the humans and not her. So over the years, they figured if they covered the bear in peanut butter or Vaseline or not Vaseline and Vicks.

The mother would wake up, smell the peanut butter of the Vicks, smell that she liked, and she would lick it, and she'd put her smell back on the bear. So the bears wouldn't, the mom would not ever smell the human smell on her cub. So I got to rub a bear down in, it was either the Vicks or the peanut butter, but I saw it happen with both. And that was a pretty neat thing. And that was the last time that I ever decided to hunt for bear was when I got to hold one of those little tiny things.

Mm-hmm.

⁓

and they're cool. It was cool. It was cool. It Like I was a little human.

I'm just putting this story together.

that's incredible. Look, it's not ever going to be on my bucket list to either touch a bear or

VapoRub on its babies. But my God, that is an incredible story. So ⁓ we need that. We need that bravery in Harrisburg. So let's maybe maybe maybe you can rub some Vicks VapoRub on some Republicans and maybe maybe we'll start liking it.

Squeeze em out

All right, we're going to play Bear.

or a democratic politician. Have you ever heard of the saying, choosing the bear? You ever hear that? All right, so it's basically where women describe that they would be safer to be alone in the forest with a bear than a man. Okay, so it's called choosing, statistically speaking, it's called choosing the bear, okay? Since, you know, women are more likely to be hurt by men than a bear. So you're gonna tell me, are you gonna choose a bear?

I have not.

Okay.

or a democratic politician based on who would be safer to be around in the following scenarios, okay? So making rent or buying a house more affordable, would you choose a bear or a democratic politician?

Okay.

a Democratic politician.

I'm assuming that's a goal of yours in Harrisburg as a state senator is to make life more affordable in regard to renting or buying a

Absolutely.

Yes, absolutely it be. It goes right towards my children. You know, I want my children's life to be affordable and I want them to accomplish the same thing myself and my wife have had the opportunity to accomplish and affordability is absolutely a key to that.

Great, okay, so Bear is not safe from this scenario. Okay, I have a couple more. How about decreasing medical debt?

decreasing medical, I admire you, the democratic politician.

Absolutely safer than the bear. But we need, know, decreasing medical debt starts in so many different directions and it's got to be played to the middle. We need to bring in the insurance companies under control and we need to bring the cost of medical under

Is safer than the bear? Yeah.

And they are things that we as Democrats have always said, is a universal healthcare a possibility someday? It would be awesome.

Yeah.

based on the big bullshit bill that was passed in Congress, know, hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians are dropping their health insurance policies because they can't afford it. So I'm glad to know that you are safer than a bear in this situation. That's good.

Yeah.

I built you higher.

All right, here's one more. Fully funding SEPTA.

Well, okay, absolutely, we're going to take the

Sitting up in Northeastern Pennsylvania, you know, that's like a whole other world to us. However, public

is an essential. It's a necessity that not only it helps

communities get from point A to point B and get there to work, it cuts down on the pollution, which increases our environmental

goals in the state. It helps with the quality of life because now somebody can get a better job because they can jump on a train out in Ardmore and take it downtown Philly

I wish we had like that type of transportation around here but

when the Republicans push back on any public transportation and any

it's because they don't care. It's not their

we need to fund.

Our public transportation systems in Pittsburgh, in Philly, in Lackawanna County, in Luzerne County, and throughout the state, they need more money. They need to be promoted more and they need to be part of the economic growth that is potential for Pennsylvania. And I think they play a big role.

No, I like that. I like that even though you are not personally using SEPTA or the type of public transportation that many people do across the state, you are not acting like these Republican politicians who are short-sighted and say, well, my constituents don't use it, so why should I care? You understand that your vote affects all Pennsylvanians and that the economic driver of transportation in Pennsylvania is huge. And it's just the right thing to do. People should not have to worry about how are they going to get to work, get to their doctor's appointments.

Yeah, it did.

get to college or their schooling or their jobs every day. You understand that. And so that is why clearly in all these situations, if you had to choose between a bear and a democratic politician, hopefully you soon enough,

we're gonna choose Brian Wrightson.

So, you

Brian, why are you a Democrat and why do you choose to represent the Democratic Party?

broke the local glass ceiling.

But I watched my mom get sworn in in January and sometime in late January or February, get the phone call that there was a sewer block down the street. And because the men on the council thought they were punishing her, they gave her the sewer assignment. She was in charge of the sewer. So she went in the middle of the night, dragged me along with my 12 year old self, went along with her. And I watched my mom climb into a

And the DPW workers were like, what are you doing? She goes, well, they're telling me I'm in charge of this. I got to know what you're doing because I want to learn and be able to support it. And I saw that as service and service above oneself as a Democrat

But the values of the Democratic Party fit better into who we are.

Their policies are more empathetic, as opposed

some of the Republican policies that they try to cut. The big ugly bill and all that stuff. They were designed to only help the billionaires and the people who already have money and the people who aren't marginalized.

And the Democrats fight for those who have money, but also fight for the marginalized communities and, you know, our brothers and sisters in the LGBTQ communities. And there are neighbors and that's what they are. There are neighbors treat them as such. And the Republicans don't

Yeah.

that.

I agree. Look, it is very apparent to me that you're a fighter and I would love to see your democratic ideals and your values in Harrisburg because we need more people like you in Harrisburg to work with other Democrats and spread those ideals across the Commonwealth and get good laws passed. And that's what we need right now. We need good laws passed in the Commonwealth to make life better.

And those democratic ideals are the only sensible ones right now between the two parties. And so I'm very grateful that you represent the democratic.

Thank you.

Brian, the current Republican state senator serving in your district voted to increase funding for charter schools in Pennsylvania from $160 million to $260 million instead of voting to increase funding of public schools. Would you vote to fully fund public schools in Pennsylvania?

100

It shouldn't be based on their zip code, whether they live on a dirt road, they live on a farm, they live on a pavement, that shouldn't matter. Every child in Pennsylvania should have the same opportunity to education. then putting money into private charter schools

is taking away from the hardworking teachers that we have who dedicated their, some of them have dedicated their entire life to doing

I'm glad that we're both on the same page about fully funding public schools. Every child in Pennsylvania deserves access to that, a fully funded public school, and also it decreases your property taxes. So if you're wondering why your property taxes are going up where you live, you have to ask yourself, what are they doing in Harrisburg? And it is quite evident that Republican politicians over the last 30 years have been doing everything they can to defund public schools in Pennsylvania. So I'm glad

True.

you are going to help us in so many ways in Harrisburg.

And

Brian, I understand you once delivered a cow. Was that before or after you started having children?

It was only about nine months ago, actually. ⁓ So I do rural broadband. So I provide internet to farms. I have a farmer who, at that time, when I first met him, was 83.

Wow.

And his wife wanted him to retire. His barn is two miles from his house. And he would literally drive down every two hours all winter long to make sure he wasn't missing the birth of a cow.

So I said to the wife, let's put cameras in. And she goes, everybody told me it can't be done. And I was joking around cocculately, said, you've never met me before. And so I said, you buy these cameras and I'll put them in for free for you. I said, the only thing I want to be able to do is watch and look at them and be able to say this is what I can do. And she's like, OK.

Uh-huh.

So I put 12 cameras in. Now the farmer sits there in his living room watching 14 asses of cows waiting to see the signs that one's going to deliver. Well, I happened to be at their house and I was having coffee and we're talking and they're lovely people.

Yeah

⁓ god.

he goes running out of the house and she goes, a cow must be getting ready to get born. And his helper wasn't around.

So she goes, can you mind if you just go watch him? It's icy out, just go watch him. Ingrid, I'll go. So I drive down and I walk in and he's getting set up and he's struggling. He's an older man, now he's in his

here we go, the cow starts coming out. He says, you ever do this? I'm like, no.

He goes, well, here, I'll tell you. So next thing you know, I got a 60 pound cow flopping out of a mom at me.

Night.

my god.

And it was a great experience. It was absolutely incredible experience. But it also gave me more perspective on our rural communities and how

The hardworking people in those rural communities are forgotten a lot of times.

don't know if you know this, but there are people who literally

broadcast animals being born all over the world, You literally could have these farmers be viral TikTokers if you just connect those videos up to online feed. So have you ever thought about doing that?

Hmm.

That would be funny.

No. My farmers and my friends are very private

If you were sitting next to me right now, I would let you watch the farmer. I get to watch them

Okay.

if they ever change their minds to be viral TikTok stars, You can plug it in right for them.

Brian, you have helped build and manage large scale network systems across the country. But after nearly 10 years in the private sector, you took a significant pay cut to serve in Lackawanna County government. So why did you decide to do that?

had an opportunity to go work for my local government. And this was the first time I had the opportunity to almost mimic what my mom did and give service back to the community. And that was the main selling point was, yeah, I was going to take a 19,000 another pay cut. But it wasn't about the money. It was about

Right, yeah.

getting things done, seeing my children,

helping as many people as I could through honest government work and giving back by working and doing what you're paid to do. because of that, you save tax dollars, right? So that was the main reason I took that.

And I just found that working for the people and working for the taxpayers meant something. It meant that you were fighting not just for yourself to bring a paycheck home, but your neighbor, your grandfather, your grandmother, your cousin, and the random people you never ever meet in your life.

So that was the main reason was, getting that opportunity to serve the people that I live with, my neighbors.

Yeah,

well, I mean, I'm sure you're making your mom proud by following her example and serving your community and hopefully soon serving Pennsylvania.

Brian, the current Republican state senator serving in your district voted twice to require a funeral.

or the cremation of abortion remains and voted to amend the PA Constitution to prevent poor people from having access to reproductive health care. Brian, how are you feeling about reproductive health care in Pennsylvania?

Wow, okay. I'm a father of three

and two

It is absolutely devastating that I wake up every day and my daughter's rights are eroded on a daily basis, not just here, but across this entire nation. That is bullshit and it should not be the case. A woman's right to choose and women's healthcare is not a political issue.

That young woman has to make a decision that is going to be the toughest decision probably of her life up until that point and maybe forever

and if they so choose to bring their partner into it, their God into it, their pastor into it, their family into it, then that's their choice to bring them in as their advisors but the ultimate say should be in that woman and her decision and her doctor's in some cases, okay? The doctor absolutely should play a huge role in that.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

when it comes to the medical side and the health part of it. But we should never be restricting a woman's right to any kind of healthcare, let alone her right to choose something that she feels is what needs to happen in her life.

my opponent has voted 17 times over her career.

to vote against her own rights, to vote against women's rights 17 or more times. That's what needs to be told, that she doesn't even have her own back, let alone how is she gonna have your back if she can't even have her own

Mm-hmm.

it needs to change. It needs to, it should not be a political issue, but it unfortunately is, so we need to codify it and make sure that our women,

Yeah.

have the right and they're not questioned and they're not ridiculed and they're not put down and they're not subject to the bullshit of people walking and calling them names because they're making a medical decision that's going to affect the rest of their life here

and in here.

Brian, you have been a volunteer umpire for over 20 years, and I understand you once heckled a woman in the stands for giving you a hard time. That's incredible.

If you go to a youth sports game, there's always that one, two parents that are just, it doesn't matter. They're just going to heckle the umpire. They're going to heckle the referee. So this lady was just, every time it was a ball strike, ball strike, it was questioned. So inning ended. I walked off the field. I went and sat in the bleachers. I sat next to her. I put my mask down on my right and I gave her my clicker.

Yeah, yeah.

And I said to the pitcher, play ball. And the pitchers looking at me, the coaches are looking at me. I'm like, no, go ahead and pitch. So the kid winds up, throws the pitch. Everybody's looking, dead silence. I turned to the lady and I said, ball or strike. She looks at me and she goes, how do I know? I said, I don't know. You knew every pitch I called from when I was over there. I thought it'd be easier to do it from over here. just trying to. So, yeah, we, I.

You

⁓ my god, that's amazing.

You know, try to make a point that this is a kid's sport. Let them go, let them have fun. And she, she chuckled. She stopped heckling for sure. Yeah. Yeah. She, she, she did. Yeah. And, uh, you know, I have, I have a, I had a reputation of if it's, if you're there, not there for the kids and go home, if you're not there for your child to have fun, go home.

good, okay, I was gonna ask, did she stop heckling you after you pulled that stunt?

huh.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I even, I know I didn't put this down on when I was telling you stuff, but I threw my father out of the baseball game. ⁓ Yeah, he was, he was a coach and he was very successful

Really.

I couldn't get an umpire to cover his game. I didn't want to do it. It was a Sunday, it was fall baseball, so it meant nothing. So I, leave Sunday dinner with my grandfather and I drive to the field with my dad and my mom and my brother is playing. And I go out and it's like the third inning and his kid is just being a complete ass out in center field.

Uh-huh.

And I'm like, hey kid, stand up, stand

so I'm about ready to throw his kid out. And my dad comes out and starts yelling at me about it. And I'm like, coach, back in the dugout. Now the other team knows he's my father. The other team, they know me, like, you know, and he goes back in the dugout and then he comes out and starts jabbering again. And I throw him out. Remember the first part of the story. He drove me to the game.

Uh huh, uh huh.

So now the game finishes. He's standing outside the property. I get back in the car with him. Now I'm sitting like a little kid between the seats with my mom in the passenger seat, him driving. Hey, Dad, you mad? He's pissed.

⁓ huh.

my God.

But yeah, so I had a fun time umpiring, man. I really did.

That's hilarious.

Now we have to bring that energy to Harrisburg. Okay. if you're not going to come show up for Pennsylvanians, get the hell out of here, right? To the Republican politicians and God, I mean, how many people want to throw their fathers out of a baseball game? mean, you know, you're not many. That's a, that's an amazing story.

Get the hell out of

Not many. Few, I would have feared.

Wow, you're still listening. Thank you so much. I want to make sure as many people in Pennsylvania as possible get to experience The Zekely Podcast. So to help spread the word, please take a moment to rate my podcast. Five stars would be great. Leave a comment as well. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please hit follow. Enjoy the rest of the show.

Brian, over the last eight years, you've painted roughly a thousand rocks and left them all over Pennsylvania. What inspired you to take up rock painting?

funny you asked that because I just did two of them.

Oh, there you

go. Oh, there's an owl there on a rock. Okay, that's one of them. And what's that? Oh, it's an elephant. Okay, that's very nice. Wow, that's very

Yeah.

20 miles from here. And we came out of the restaurant and Jordan found a rock sitting on the parking meter that was painted. And on the back it said, go to this Facebook page and take a picture, say where you found it.

So I grabbed it, I put it in my pocket, didn't think anything of it. Fast forward a few hours, 2.30 or so in the morning on September

Maria and I get the call that our kid is in an accident and we got to get to the ICU.

throw the same clothes on and you go, right? And three days later, you're still sitting there in the same clothes and it's time to go home and take a shower.

And I reach in and that rock is still there. So I'm like, okay, I take a picture of, do what it says and I hide it in a planter at the ICU.

And Zach passes that following Saturday on the 16th. And you you don't think about the rock anymore. And about a week or so later,

I'm sorry.

Facebook page pops up and it's the rock.

and it's somebody who found it. And they said they found it at the ICU. They must have looked up who posted it. you know, they, I'm sorry for your troubles, but the rock brought us hope and it brought us like a sense of a feel, like a good feeling. And it made us, and I didn't, and once again, it didn't, didn't go through my brain yet. You know, my, kid just died and, and

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I find myself a few months later sitting doodling on a rock and the end result are rocks like this. The owls, I do a lot of owls. There was a picture in his ICU room of an owl

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I draw, just draw. I see a rock like the elephant. not a Republican elephant, it's a real elephant.

Yeah.

When I see, like, if you look at the rock, the rock was shaped like an elephant head. So when I see different rock and I paint

Yeah, yeah, it's 3D, yeah.

I want people to have the joy that I have when I see one.

And that's why I continue. It's very cathartic. When I'm feeling really, really low about my kid, I'll do a rock. Sometimes I might go six, eight months without doing one. And then all of a sudden, I get inspired and I just literally last week did two rocks.

Yeah.

your son's memory be a blessing. And I think it's great that you carry on his memory by painting those rocks. And I can just only hope that in the near future, you'll be hiding rocks all over Harrisburg and the Capitol building, okay? Because I believe that that would be a great way to carry on that legacy.

⁓ yeah.

Brian, what gives you hope?

We are still the greatest nation on this ever created. The United States of America is the most amazing experiment that will continue on because we will fight to make sure it does. But I do think there is a percentage of people who are starting to get louder and louder because they're getting fed up with this noise. And that's what gives me hope that there are

people like yourself and myself and my wife and my children who see a better future if we work at it and if we don't let what's happening in today's world steamroll us and just make us, not immune to it, but make us just indifferent. And I think that's what gives me hope. I truly do believe our better days are ahead of us in this country.

And I still, and I say this, this is the greatest. We never had to be made great again. We were great. We're going to continue to being great and we're going to have hiccups. Our history is filled with hiccups. Our history is filled with things that shouldn't have happened, but it did. But we got through it and we fought through it and we're, and we're better for it every step along the way. And we're going to be better. We're going to be better sooner than later. That's what gives me hope.

I appreciate that, Brian. And I say this every time I bring on candidates onto this show. And quite frankly, every person who's a Democrat is that you give me hope. People are constantly throwing their hands in the air saying, where are the leaders in the Democratic Party? And I'm talking to a leader right now. I'm looking at one. Brian Wrightson you are a leader, and you are a Democrat. And I'm just very grateful that you are running for this position, because we need more people like you serving in office.

Thank you.

Brian, my last question for you is, what are your plans to get you through these next few years?

I know, it's been rough. It's been a rough couple years. So what are you doing,

Yeah.

Well, personally, Lena, my wife, she is my harbor in the craziest storms of the world. know, she's been there through the most traumatic moments that a person could go through

But how are we going to get through this next is be a fighter and not allow everything to completely go into a tailspin that can't be pulled out of.

We all need to work on. This is a team effort to get through the next few years, but

As a person, what I can do is just fight, is fight every day for stability, common sense, common ground, compromise, and have a conversation with your neighbor that doesn't end up in a screaming match

it's a stage we're getting through. People will start getting, coming back together.

I guess that's all I can say. I'm just gonna fight for all of us. We need that. We need a bunch of people who can sit down and say enough's enough.

Yeah.

Brian Wrightson Democrat running for PA State Senate. Okay, this is the portion of the show where you come in close,

Josh Shapiro won your district by four points, okay? It is estimated that we will need 1,800 votes to flip it blue. People need to go to your website, okay? wrightstonforsenate.net

and if you live in these areas, I'm gonna try and say this in one breath, okay? If you live in.

Carbondale Clifton Covington Elmhurst fell Jefferson Madison Roaringbrook Springbrook Thornhurst Archibald Blakely German Jessup Mayfield Moscow Elephant Vandaling parts of Wayne County Canaan Cherry Ridge Dreyer Lake Lehigh Salem South Canaan Sterling Texas Honesdale or prompt in her way Mart, huh? you need to get off the sidelines and go to Brian's website and sign up to knock doors and Phone Bank and make a donation no matter where you live in, Pennsylvania

because this is going to be our year. If we want the trifecta, Brian Wrightson must win. And I don't want to hear, I don't want to hear that your vote doesn't matter. Every election is the most important election. And Brian, I want to see you in Harrisburg. I want tears of joy streaming down my face when after 30 goddamn years, we finally get it back and we start to deliver for Pennsylvanians again. Brian, I can't vote for you. I wish I could.

Thank you.

That's it.

But thank you so much for running. And I can't wait to see you cross the finish line November 3rd.

Thank you. And we got this.

We got this. Thank you so much, Brian.

Well, thank you so much for joining me here on The Zekely Podcast. Stay hopeful and get involved and until next time, let's keep building a stronger Pennsylvania