Season 2, Episode 4, Part 4: Interview with Tim Harris & Ashten Mizell - "Funny Stories and Tim's Impact on Others"

Self-advocate Tim Harris and his best friend Ashten Mizell share funny stories and Tim's profound impact on others. Their twenty year friendship is close and profound. Tim Harris is famous for being the first person with Down syndrome  to own a restaurant. It was called Tim's Place and served breakfast, lunch, and hugs. Ashten Mizell does not have a disability. 

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Transcript

spk_0:   0:00
Hello, My name is Greta Harrison. Welcome to Born Fabulous Podcast Season two Episode four The theme for this season is Changing the World one friendship at a time. You will hear interviews with best friends where one person has a disability and the other does not. This episode is the fourth part of my interview with Tim Harris and his best friend asked In my cell. Tim is famous for owning Tim's Place, a restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and hugs. Tim is now a successful keynote speaker. He is 34 loves to travel and values his many friendships in a unique way. Tim just happens to have down syndrome. Ash in My Cell is 33. She is a proud wife and mother of three young Children. You will also hear that she is a very good and proud friend. Now, please enjoy the short clip of love. It's a potion. The lyrics are by Melissa Regio, who is the focus of episodes one through four in Season one. The music and voice are by Rachel Fuller. How about we go to a funny story? Tim, do you have a funny story about

spk_1:   1:55
Ashton? Well, I have all of it. What? What?

spk_0:   2:06
Which ones you like with funny stories? Never. How about I ask gassed in first and you can think about it. I I'll ask. Assen first suggested. I know you've got all kinds, too. I do have so many funny stories, I would say, probably making music videos. But it has to be at the top of our list because he makes us right out the lyrics. And then we have to chase a week behind a song that we like. That may change the words to the lyrics, and then we have to act out these music videos. So, um, if you're lucky, we'll put one on on the Web site for you. But they're all the production's hyper videos. And, um, it's just we have made the funniest, silliest moments. It means music videos. But that truly is Tim's far keep love singing. He loves your karaoke, a lovely to silly things I can and I can not seeing a tune, and it makes me sing these songs all hits and then a little loopy story. So we have made many songs over the years together, and there was one time we were in Tim's place and he decided to play our song over the loudspeaker in the restaurant and tell everybody in the restaurant this cessation song ash and singing And so everybody could see here my operable seeking a way to be sure that in the restaurants or that into here so often used to do that kind of stuff all the time. Any time I used to love going in the restaurant, his team would stand up on a chair and say, My best friend is here. She's in the restaurants. Oh,

spk_1:   3:48
yeah. Oh, yeah, I remember that. Remember

spk_0:   3:52
that? The Ranger used to do that, too. And Tim Tim worked at a lot of different restaurants here in town. In any time we come in, he makes sure that whole restaurant knows that we're there. Sometimes plays are embarrassing. No, there's no. Okay, Okay. And it sample. Do you have a funny story about Ashton? What funny stories?

spk_1:   4:15
Mmm. Going

spk_0:   4:17
late night movies. There was one time we went to bribe Rob until about We went to Red Robin where we usedto work. Went there late at night, student way, got dinner together, and then until late night movie was awesome. Yeah, we love being silly. We love, you know, going walking through Wal Mart together.

spk_1:   4:39
Yeah. Fun, bone shopping. It's always fun. Shocking fashion.

spk_0:   4:45
It is the least

spk_1:   4:45
I did got to cook with that. Became breakfast burritos. Loves making burritos, E. Yes, I think we made a You made some cheeseburgers way. Put green chilly inside the meat. They have these cheese puffs.

spk_0:   5:09
Don't tell the story of how you surprise me it in California for my birthday.

spk_1:   5:13
Oh, that was

spk_0:   5:14
a silly story teller about the banner that you need and put it

spk_1:   5:18
in my backyard. I made Is it something about monkeys? Yes.

spk_0:   5:23
And happy birthday monkey on it. And it was hanging in my bathroom. And I had a friend took me out. 10 had flown into California, and that had orchestrated this whole thing where they hit him at a friend's house. And then I went out with a friend, came back, and I see this banner hanging up in my backyard. And then all of sudden, Tim tops out from behind a bush, and he says, I

spk_1:   5:45
said you would be heard a wall. You had that his go throw in the middle of the video got me walking out from their eyes. This she was still pretty miss. Don't

spk_0:   6:00
know. I know. I was in my belly

spk_1:   6:02
of time. There. That was probably really video. Your stomach?

spk_0:   6:07
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it

spk_1:   6:11
was fun. E me kill. Was every bear hands too? That was a really special trip. It was a little truth.

spk_0:   6:19
Yeah, that was a fun, eh? You surprised me. Totally surprising to all California for my birthday. Oh,

spk_1:   6:26
yeah, I was out there a lot because I have family there too. Yeah, you got a Disneyland Don't takes me every year, and I'm going to expert did business. I, you know, I went to this place. Would be Where? Come about. Busy. There. There. Got to see ass soon, man. Got a place, and I actually enjoy playing some Legos with Kayla.

spk_0:   6:55
Yeah, downtown. Didn't. Theo Disney One night for dinner.

spk_1:   7:03
I enjoy the fun. Yeah, we're fine. We set out on a man who looked like that Disney characters

spk_0:   7:11
e Tim describe Aston in one word. Hey, totally awesome. Hey, tours, go ahead and tell me why

spk_1:   7:30
she's so totally awesome. Because she made my life. Means my life. Really, really happy. Hmm. Acid is my rock A me e Remember, I gave Aston a birthday present and he waas the move. Your It was a movie, but water. And she got so surprised. I mailed after her and she sent me a video, sent me a video opening. Her birthday presents were awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Ashton, go ahead and give us one word for Tim.

spk_0:   8:18
My word for 10 would be unbelievable, because I feel like people believe certain things about, um, people that have amazing abilities, like 10 does put them into a category and think they can only do these certain things. But Tim has blown all of those things out of the water. I mean, truly he has. He has to find all the odds of everything he is. He surprised everybody around him. He's done the unbelievable, the unthinkable. He's done incredible things. Um, and I just think the way that he lives his life, the way he has its relationships, the way he does everything is truly unbelievable. I mean, he said he was gonna own a restaurant, got started. He opened a restaurant. He said he's gonna go speak in front of people. He goes and speaks important. Thousands And those two people, Usual president. He just He does the unbeliever, and he's just been unbelievable in in my life,

spk_1:   9:27
you know, it's so beautiful. Your friendship is so beautiful. Honestly, we really amazing, awesome.

spk_0:   9:38
Your friendship is so important and it's it's extended to your families. And obviously, math is your family now to Ashton. So let's talk about how Tim is part of Matt's life a little bit, you know, maybe if it extends to Hiss career or let's talk about that, Yeah, so totally it has, you know, changed our perspectives and our lives. And, um, we met Hiss has used him in a matter pastor. And so, um, he's had Tim come too many of our churches that we've been apart of different messages. That he has just talking about the way that tin lives his life and how he loves people and how he is more alike has been different. And it has truly been so impactful. Before we moved back to New Mexico, we were youth pastors and said we worked with med school and high school kids for years. That night did that her got about 10 years. We've done a mid school high school ministry, and so just getting to teach these kids and for them to get to see our wives and our story with Tim and how he was part of our wedding and, um, and then having Tim come up when he's gotten to be there. And we've got to talk about our relationship and our friendship and how to truly love people. I kid you not. We still have students tell us that that message and that memory is burned into their memory and, um and they will never forget it. And they say 10 change my life, but and that unless it's changed my life and so have to be done, that's a team does. So it truly has changed, you know, not in the way that we want to love people, that they want to show love and and there's no better way than staring tin story. And so it has just impacted so much so that is our hope. I feel like you know, I have a left for animals, but I feel like God has just given me this love for Tim and other people with these amazing abilities and getting them involved and more included in church and more on giving church of us a safe place for them to be and then to be a part of it. And we have a lot of special needs people with needs in our area that don't come to our church. And so it's been really shocking for us. And so I do feel like I'm in the next couple years eyes something I want to do. I know for sure that I want to have some sort of involvement in that. That's kind of changed my direction. What I want to do, um, with my life. And so I feel like Tin and people that do have down syndrome have just shown me, um, this amazing side of life that I want to be a part of, and I want more kids to have experiences like tinder have had and half friendships like we've had, and so I do feel like a message. The story is to get out there more, and, um, that's my hope. I hope that people can be more ball, so that's kind of our story. That's my direction. I just feel like it's gonna do something with that, and that's the way I'm going to go. I don't know what that looks like, but, um, I know I want to do something with that. So it's been a huge part of our lives in the direction that we want to go. We want our church to be a place that people with all needs all abilities can come and be a part. Well, I think Tim has a motto about that. What's your motto, Tim? Tim, what's your motto?

spk_1:   13:11
If you can dream it, you can do it,

spk_0:   13:15
Aston. I know you can do it. I e o Tell me about some of those experiences. It mats church. How did you feel about that? Was that fun? Wasn't exciting.

spk_1:   13:29
It was going on was the years ago. Then the levee got me onto to the States. Talk about friendship.

spk_0:   13:38
And then what happened after the message? Do you remember the line of people that you had to meet you? Oh, we went there for two out. Her church was over because we have a line of kids. I mean, you're talking middle school and high school kids, but stood in a line. And I remember we had parents coming thinking, who came to our church tonight? I like what I was a kid doing waiting to talk to this kid. They walked in and one of their picture, Winton. And, um, I could you I mean, we just moved back to California last week and we had students who are in college now who still talk about at night and meeting him in the impact that I feel like those kids were so impacted that night. But if I went back to their high school and probably looked at kids and looked at the world a little bit differently after that, so that story was really powerful. Team had such a powerful impact on those people.

spk_1:   14:30
It's people is, by the way, Ashley has had always banned the over in there in her home. That's right, we do because us yeah, it's hurtful to people like us. Like me. Yeah, into my friends, right? I decided to sign a petition to get rid of the Arbor day. I I told her to be in the armor so they didn't abandon their home, too.

spk_0:   15:01
Yeah, and that's what we talked about that night. Just the R word and the importance of No, I'm using it. And how it can be hurtful right on those kids. Yeah. Yeah. And you told those kids from your heart how

spk_1:   15:13
Tim I did.

spk_0:   15:14
I guarantee those kids never use that word again.

spk_1:   15:19
It wasn't fine after all that talk. Hey, I had a dancing competition. They broke dance on the floor and I went on a one. A package of start

spk_0:   15:30
of stars service. Stubborn. You remember? You remember

spk_1:   15:39
the establishment.

spk_0:   15:41
Oh, guys, that is so funny, so