The Dark Side of Foster Care: A True Story With Andrew Anderson | Ep. 101 with Andrew Anderson
In this episode of the No Grey Areas podcast, host Pat McCalla interviews Andrew Anderson, whose life story is a true testament to ultimate resilience and redemption. Raised in the foster care system, Andrew faced unimaginable challenges from a young age— but despite the hardships, Andrew’s journey is one of hope, as he refused to be defined by the struggles he faced.
Throughout the emotional conversation, Andrew opens up about the obstacles that could have easily broken him, from feeling abandoned to coping with painful tragedies that occurred to him as a teenager. Instead of succumbing to a victim mentality, he chose a path of inner strength and determination, turning his experiences into a source of motivation to inspire others, even in his darkest times.
Anderson’s journey serves as a reminder that, no matter how difficult the road may be, there is always a way forward, and the human spirit within all of us is capable of incredible things. Lastly, more foster kids have a story similar to Andrew’s than we may think, so if you feel like you can help make a positive impact to a foster child, please reach out to Kim Vehon at kim@fosteraz.org at Arizona Foster Care. Their website is https://fosterarizona.org/
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No Grey Areas is a motivational podcast with captivating guests centered around how our choices humanize, empower, and define who we become. This podcast is inspired by the cautionary tale, No Grey Areas, written by Joseph Gagliano. Learn more about the truth behind his story involved with sports' biggest scandal at nogreyareas.com
Transcript
Host
Welcome back to the No Gray Areas podcast. I'm your host, Patrick McCullough.
::Host
Today
::Host
I sit down with one of the most resilient people I know and dear friend of mine, Andrew
::Host
Anderson. Andrew is on to share his personal story of growing up in countless
::Host
foster homes. The truth about aging out of the system, and how he has persevered to turn his life
::Host
into a transforming blessing
::Host
to those around him.
::Host
Here we go.
::Pat McCalla
Andrew Anderson, welcome to the No Gray Areas podcast. I love your shirt, by the
::Andrew Anderson
Oh. Thank you. Oh.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah. Your rep in the no gray areas. So let me just give the audience a little background. You and I met about ten years ago
::Andrew Anderson
and
::Andrew Anderson
Yes.
::Pat McCalla
Correct. And because of the situations that the audience is going to hear, you were you were a day away from being homeless, basically. And so someone called me and they said, hey, it was like
::Pat McCalla
young woman that you were in the school with.
::Pat McCalla
And she called me. She said, hey,
::Pat McCalla
this guy's about to be homeless, and I just feel like we should do something. And, so I felt God saying, all right, well, I haven't come over to your place, but this is the funny part of the story that I told you. I got your permission to tell this.
::Andrew Anderson
I didn't
::Andrew Anderson
at all.
::Pat McCalla
you come over that night because I just feel like God saying, hey, you need to invite him into your house. And so you come over. I got a I got, two sons in high school at the time that are still at home, and one of them was gone for some reason. But you come in that first night and we just start visiting a little bit.
::Pat McCalla
You remember, you unrolled your your knife set that you have is a chef. So you got all these big old sharp knives and they're they're laying on our kitchen table and you're showing them to me, and you're telling me about a little about what you're doing. Well, I go down the hall then and I say, hey, to my son, I go, son,
::Pat McCalla
I'm pretty sure he's okay, but I need you to lock your door tonight.
::Pat McCalla
So that's kind of how our journey started together. And then you ended up you were with this for, handful of months, and, then you ended up graduating from there, moving on in life. And we hadn't seen each other until a few days ago, for ten years.
::Andrew Anderson
Or ten years.
::Pat McCalla
we've kept up on social media some. But here's what I want to do.
::Pat McCalla
I want to unpack your story for our audience because, you had a really rough childhood. You were in a foster system, and, I don't think most of our audience knows what all that entails.
::Pat McCalla
The reason that you were almost homeless when I first met you is because you had no support system. That's what most people don't understand.
::Pat McCalla
Kids who grow up in the foster care system, they age out at 18, like you, you're handed a bus ticket, and then it's like, you got to go. You got to go journey through life. And when something goes wrong, there's no one to call. So that was your story.
::Andrew Anderson
right?
::Pat McCalla
Let's go back.
::Pat McCalla
How did you end up in the foster system?
::Pat McCalla
So you were about six.
::Andrew Anderson
I was roughly, you know, six years old. I grew up in, North Carolina, and, my father at my, my and my mother were at that time, they were married. We're going through a divorce. So right after the divorce, my mother kind of met another guy who was also in the Marine Corps. And he moved into the house, where things, you know, started to change, actually kind of drastically, to the point where, there was, like, supposed to be home improvements on the house.
::Andrew Anderson
That never happened. But the mother of the house already had started to the point where there was always fights and arguments, and upstream, my mom and this guy, to the point where, you know, eventually, you know, we were getting punished for things and, and hit, for doing, you know, you know, just things that normally weren't out of the place just dealing with this guy's temper.
::Pat McCalla
when you, when you say punished, you're not talking about in a healthy way.
::Andrew Anderson
No. Very nice.
::Pat McCalla
way.
::Andrew Anderson
Very unhealthy. Like,
::Andrew Anderson
you know, there are many times we didn't need, we got pushed around, had, there was a time I got caught playing with the guys, tools and stuff. And so he body slammed me on the ground and put his boot on my head and,
::Pat McCalla
six.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
And told me that's why you don't ever touch anybody's stuff.
::Andrew Anderson
My sister also dealt with, you know, in a lot of the, stuff and in front of us and eventually, you know, I went to school, was going to school. We had cuts and bruises and scrapes and, a lot of stuff, you know, what's going on? And, the judge pulling me out of class, asking me questions.
::Andrew Anderson
You know, why do I get this? Why did I get that? But, I didn't know. I didn't want to tell him the truth at that time, I, you know, I remember making up a a story that I, you know, I got it running through the woods, you know, and I fell and tripped and so and so, I didn't know that later on, you know, and within that week, Child Protective Services and the Marine Corps, would be coming in and taking me and my sister,
::Andrew Anderson
from that house.
::Pat McCalla
A bit forced forcefully. Right?
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
Me mean my sister actually kind of playing. It was early morning, and I remember sitting on the couch, messing around with something and the front and the back door of the trailer. We stayed in a little trailer in a trailer park, on base, and, both doors got kicked in, and I don't know where you.
::Andrew Anderson
I mean, my kids, my sister started freaking out, and my mom, and they were arguing at that time in the back room and saying. And this lady grabbed me and my sister put us in a car, actually, in separate cars. And we drove away, and I'm just kind of like, looking back at the trailer, you know,
::Andrew Anderson
wanted to be with my mom.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah, yeah. And you were six.
::Andrew Anderson
I was 6
::Andrew Anderson
She was love about to you to almost three years older.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah, yeah. And was one of the difficult things in there. I mean, you'd watch her abuse, too. You'd seen that with your own eyes many times.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah,
::Andrew Anderson
Well, originally we. Yeah, we were. We were placed together in a foster home in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and, I don't know, they decided to split us up. And, it was actually a good foster home at that time. And we I got moved to another place that was in a different location, different city, where, I, I didn't feel like I was at as fortunate.
::Andrew Anderson
I was bullied by the other foster kids. I mean, also the actual parent, kids of the foster parents, who were their biological kids? I got picked on, bullied, messed with, sexually. And I even was Oded on my prescription medication at that time, I believe. Was like, like a Ritalin or something. But they gave me an excessive amount, to the point where, I was in school and prior to going to school, I didn't feel good.
::Andrew Anderson
And I ended up collapsing in school and waking up in an emergency room. And, Yeah, they told me that, you know, what happened? And then maybe a couple months after, not even a couple months, a month. Within that month, I got placed in another foster home. And it felt like, it was like that for for years, it felt like I was meeting new foster parents, new, you know, new schools.
::Andrew Anderson
And you,
::Andrew Anderson
New people every, every so often that, I never had friends.
::Andrew Anderson
Until, Yeah.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah, yeah. So your life from six years old, to your 18, you're bounced around from foster home to foster home, quite a bit
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
I love.
::Pat McCalla
and we were talking, you shared with me that you used,
::Pat McCalla
to this day, still blame yourself a little bit
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah. So
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah. There are there are times where.
::Andrew Anderson
I felt like it was my fault, you know, that I made it harder on my mom growing up, you know, because, you know, her trying to get us back. But it never happened. And, going outside one day, early morning, I wanted to play outside. I just, you know, was gonna be a kid, so I. I'm working on this, like.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah, yellow and red. We all the tricycle, you know, made out of plastic and things. And I was, like, kind of riding it by the road. And, a car came by and I was really close to getting hit, and, the car, like, pulled off to the side of the road and got out, and they're yelling and screaming and like, where's your parents?
::Andrew Anderson
You know, I'm calling child protective Services. And, of course I didn't know what that was at that time. And, yeah, it was within the, you know, two weeks that my whole life
::Andrew Anderson
changed.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah, yeah. You're 30,
::Andrew Anderson
I'm 34.
::Andrew Anderson
34 now.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Pat McCalla
So can I have permission to just, you know,
::Andrew Anderson
Yes. That's.
::Pat McCalla
I think the reason,
::Pat McCalla
I think the reason I get emotional is there's nothing that makes me more angry than to, see kids hurt.
::Pat McCalla
But this is the life I want to speak. And you with that?
::Andrew Anderson
Right.
::Pat McCalla
Andrew. And you. You don't need to hold that. You know, I would beg you to let that go. Is a six year old in a in a in a healthy world, in a healthy situation,
::Pat McCalla
you're not having to hold the responsibility of keeping a family together.
::Pat McCalla
It's not your responsibility as a six year old. That's a mom and dad's responsibility the mom and dad should be protecting. So, man, I just. I just want to say, Andrew, I, I, I will be praying. And I hope to God you can release that and let that go. Because wasn't your fault. No six year old has that responsibility.
::Pat McCalla
But but
::Pat McCalla
to to go back to your your story then you're you're in and out of homes. Longest when you were telling me when we were driving here today, the shortest stay was probably three weeks,
::Andrew Anderson
Maybe not the most.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
Sleeping in the same clothes or unless they give you clothes at the foster place. Yeah. None of your belongings.
::Pat McCalla
yeah. And then at 18 years old,
::Andrew Anderson
they have
::Andrew Anderson
right.
::Andrew Anderson
Nothing. No direction. Just my black trash bag with my, you know, belongings and.
::Pat McCalla
bus ticket. You told
::Andrew Anderson
a bus ticket.
::Andrew Anderson
To go somewhere. You know, I went back to where I knew my mother was.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah, yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
So I went back to where my mom was.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah. When I was, I, when I was, I was 15, 16. And it's just happened many times throughout my, my childhood and growing up at the most, I think the most scarring time of my life is, I was in a group home. It's actually one of the nicest group homes I was in,
::Pat McCalla
Yeah,
::Andrew Anderson
with that said.
::Andrew Anderson
But I was in a group home, and I remember, you know, I just calling my dad is like, dad, can I please come over with you? You know, and, you know, growing up the way that I did, you know, I, I guess he was scared. Or is. His wife was scared, and that was the excuse that I gave.
::Andrew Anderson
But he told me that I'm sorry. So you're gonna have to earn it.
::Andrew Anderson
I never did, I never did live with my father.
::Andrew Anderson
I don't really know him that well.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Pat McCalla
And one of the reasons he was saying that was that you were having some,
::Andrew Anderson
I had issues growing up.
::Pat McCalla
to be expected what you'd gone through and, and bouncing around between abusive homes. You're, you're acting out some ways
::Andrew Anderson
When I hear your
::Andrew Anderson
He did.
::Andrew Anderson
brought her in. No problem. Her cars.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
But, you know, nothing for me.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah. And then, Andrew, you just had some difficult things. Then since then, I know when we. You and I met, you lived with us for a while, and you were really. You were. You were doing. You're doing great. You still are. You're doing some some amazing things. We're going to get to that in a moment. But I know, you had gone after you graduated.
::Pat McCalla
You gone back home because you had kind of rekindled the relationship with your your mom and sister a little bit over the years.
::Andrew Anderson
Yes,
::Pat McCalla
and then, what happened there?
::Andrew Anderson
Well,
::Andrew Anderson
14 days into my graduation, I think it wasn't me. I was in my final, culinary school, and I'm doing capstone, capstone project in.
::Andrew Anderson
My sister, my sister committed suicide.
::Andrew Anderson
Yes. So instead of, celebrating during graduation, I, I, I did walk across the stage. And then I hopped on an airplane and, went to the funeral. My sister.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah. About five months after that, I was doing my first job after I. My sister died, and working at a ski resort, doing some cooking and, I finished the season, and I decided I'm going to go see my mom. And I went down to Acton, North Carolina, and I, booked a hotel room. And that's just in October.
::Andrew Anderson
And there was a hurricane coming up.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
So we kind of drove through the hurricane and, I woke up the next morning. Apparently my mom, fell asleep smoking a cigaret with, oxygen canisters on them. It breached the other canisters of oxygen in the room and incinerated the house.
::Andrew Anderson
Killing her. The roommate, the animals, and, all my belongings again.
::Pat McCalla
yeah. And. Andrew, thank you for your, your just your courage in sharing your story. But one of the things that we wanted to do with this and you would, you would agree to share your story as a wanted the audience to hear. Because again when we often hear in a lot of the audience didn't have this situation.
::Pat McCalla
And I learned from you, a lot of what kids in foster care go through, we don't realize that when they turn 18 and they age out. I mean, even, like your dad had already said, no, your your your mom and sister you had a relationship with, then you lose them and there's no support system and a lot, a lot, a lot of foster care, kids that are in foster care end up in that same situation.
::Pat McCalla
And the statistics are horrific. Actually, at the end of this podcast, we're actually give people an opportunity, a place here in Arizona that's doing some amazing work. They're they're dealing with kids in the foster system, but they actually have a program now for kids that age out at 18 that don't have that support system.
::Pat McCalla
With no support. But here's where I'm so proud of you, man.
::Pat McCalla
Andrew, you've done you done pretty darn well. You figure it out. I know when we had lunch the other day, you you shared with me, you said,
::Pat McCalla
And I've done all this work the last ten years. Traveled the world. We're going to we're going to share that the moment. But I've done all this work. But what do I have to show for it? And remember, we talked a little bit and I said, well, the good news is, let's say God gives you another ten years.
::Pat McCalla
You also get to choose what do you want? What do you want for the next ten years? You can you can make choices and do some things for the next ten years, but I did. I also said this. You got to look back and be so proud. I mean, you, you have, a wife and daughter now in the Philippines that you're helping to support what you're doing with your, your, seasonal work.
::Pat McCalla
You do a lot of seasonal work as a chef, so you move around to different places.
::Andrew Anderson
Right.
::Pat McCalla
And, you're figuring it out. You're figuring out. That's what I love about your story, Andrew, is there's you have every excuse. And a lot of people in your situation would have taken those excuses to either be in prison, to have given up on life.
::Pat McCalla
And here you are and you're fighting on. So, man, I just, you know, huge respect. And I know our entire audience feels the same. Just huge respect for you and where you're at, my friend.
::Pat McCalla
You know, that first night you were at our place two, not only did you unroll the, set of knives and surprise me with that, but you're also sitting there and again, I don't know you at all.
::Pat McCalla
And you're telling me. You're saying. You're explaining to me a little bit about the foster system, what it's like, and you're saying, yeah, you spoke before the Senate one time, and I'm like, I'm sitting there going, okay, but every kid. Yeah. And, you know, there was a, you know, I got some pictures with some famous people like Jamie Lee Curtis was there.
::Pat McCalla
And I'm again inside. I'm like going, okay, you know, and then you pull out your phone and you show me pictures and I'm like, oh, you weren't kidding. You literally spoke before the Senate about this issue. And Jamie Lee Curtis was someone that had an event that day, right?
::Andrew Anderson
Yes.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Pat McCalla
How old were you?
::Andrew Anderson
I was, see, this is, May: ::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
And, yeah, I was working for, Youth Mentoring Company and,
::Andrew Anderson
they also, kind of helped me with my transition a little bit, you know, just trying to figuring out where to go and get my high school diploma and things like that. And so I started, kind of told them, you know, my story a little bit, kind of like I'm doing now.
::Andrew Anderson
And, I ended up going to Washington, DC and speaking at the Dirksen Senate Building, on behalf of the foster kids and, kids in the system, you know, that, have been on system their whole lives and don't know anything, don't know better that or, you know, either manipulated, to grow up, you know, with what they're taught or shown and, and just dropped out, you know, with no guidance.
::Andrew Anderson
And I wanted to change that because, you know, statistically, you know, foster kids aren't meant to survive. They're
::Andrew Anderson
given a lot of roadblocks. And I wanted to change that. And so I went to the Senate and I spoke before them, and I helped, bring an awareness that, you know, there's all these kids that don't have directions and they're just, you know, in the same shoes of, what do I do?
::Andrew Anderson
And, you know, putting pieces down as they go. But I feel like they could make better choices. And there could be companies out there that, you know, help the transition process that helped them continue to have a dream and realize, okay, these are the steps to get there. But, you know, and this is how as an adult, you get to this.
::Andrew Anderson
And so I spoke you know, I telling them my story and letting me know why it's important.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
help these kids the fund programs to, to support companies and, nonprofits that help
::Andrew Anderson
give these kids hope.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah,
::Andrew Anderson
I think that that's the, you know, one of the biggest thing for foster kids is, is hope, even if they don't realize it right then.
::Andrew Anderson
And in that moment, there's there's a small part of you that hopes that it's going to get better. It's going to I'm gonna have a big family. I'm going to be loved. I'm going to be able to live my dreams, go to college.
::Andrew Anderson
I'm going to be able to have a, you know, give a childhood like I always wanted to.
::Andrew Anderson
Another human being.
::Pat McCalla
my friend. I think you're right. That hope. I mean, I have to say, I think because I didn't walk in your shoes, I didn't live your journey. But, when you say there's just always that hope that there's that there's can things can get a little bit better or that someday you can do that and that and then and then why you want to get involved.
::Pat McCalla
And in fact, by the way, audience listening. It's why Andrew's here today.
::Pat McCalla
Because you shared with me the other day when we were sitting down and having lunch together that, you still want to figure out how to help those behind you. You know,
::Andrew Anderson
you you
::Pat McCalla
you look back and think what you came through and you go, I want to I want to turn around and help.
::Pat McCalla
And I said, well, what if you just told your story because you have such a powerful story and what have we we connected it to an organization that's doing that. And so we're going to we're going to, share about a local organization here in Arizona, foster, Arizona. Kim v harness, the, is the founder of that. And they do incredible work with foster kids in the foster system.
::Pat McCalla
And they actually have a program that they're starting. And that's what we're going to give people an opportunity, to give to, whether it's their time or their their treasure, whether it's the money that they just need financial resources, but maybe even as a mentor or going in and helping
::Pat McCalla
because that's your heart is, is is you want to continue to give these kids some hope.
::Andrew Anderson
Yes.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah. Now, Andrew, again, where I say, I'm so proud of you is what you've done. Like you, you got into cooking because first of all, you're an artist with food. Oh my goodness.
::Pat McCalla
the great thing about having you stay with us, other than just getting to know you and finding out that you're a great dude, was some of the meals you've made us.
::Pat McCalla
Wow, this guy can cook. And you, you literally are an artist with food. But you you got interested in food because.
::Andrew Anderson
Well, I actually got interested in food. You know, in, in the foster care system. I was, well, we weren't fed that really good. And there's a lot of times we went and like I said, with our food a lot of times, or if we did get food, it'd be like frozen meals and, you know, just things that, wasn't really appetizing.
::Andrew Anderson
So I actually started cooking when I was like, you know, seven and I would make spaghetti bolognese, and I would always make it for me and the other kids, and the kids loved it. And, you know, it was like kind of the one thing that made me, I guess, more like the the
::Andrew Anderson
popular kid, you know, and once they realized, oh, this you can cook.
::Andrew Anderson
You know, we don't always have to, you know, we can always, you know, have good food now. And, I think that, you know,
::Andrew Anderson
that's kind of where it developed, you know, is the fact that I was able to do something that, you know, everyone else liked, you know, and, the fact that it was us, you know, it was us foster kids that, you know, were, you know, really doing something, you know, and I think that that's kind of where it grew.
::Andrew Anderson
And I was like, actually, I there's something I am good at. There is something I can do. And I totally, you know, lives in, I can do something. And so I, I took it from there and as I, you know, went through the foster care system and even till this day in my career, after graduating, I took the opportunity to, you know, learn, different foods and culture and.
::Pat McCalla
Around the world.
::Andrew Anderson
from around the world.
::Pat McCalla
Yes. You have.
::Pat McCalla
in fact, you were telling my family and I a story the other day where you you literally circled the globe. You started in Los Angeles.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
I went, flew in from. I was working Catalina. I went to San Francisco and had to fly to, flew to Hawaii. Was there for a while. Got this offer to go work in Qatar.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
We went to Qatar. You know, I got the offer to work for and, Middle East and help, develop a menu real quick, for the FIFA World Cup that was going there prior that year.
::Andrew Anderson
so I went to the Qatar and did that and decided that, I would go and visit my wife and my daughter in the Philippines.
::Andrew Anderson
So I continued on east and landed in, in the Philippines. And, spent about a month in some there and went to South Korea, then, flew from South Korea all the way back to, to Los Angeles.
::Pat McCalla
you literally circled the globe like some people say, I circled the globe and they mean, like, I went kind of half foot. But you literally circled the
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah, that's
::Andrew Anderson
Yes. A
::Pat McCalla
fascinating book. You can have some recipes in it and then some of your adventures. So
::Pat McCalla
you were at a camp in Alaska,
::Andrew Anderson
Yes, a
::Andrew Anderson
fishing, hunting. And
::Andrew Anderson
Oh, yes. Well,
::Andrew Anderson
Okay?
::Andrew Anderson
Yes.
::Andrew Anderson
So, I get off the plane and, they give me a quick tour. And the last thing in the tour is my my, my housing situation that, happens to be, a weather port tent.
::Andrew Anderson
And so I, I'm like, okay.
::Pat McCalla
all sleeping in cabins,
::Andrew Anderson
myself. Yeah, a nice wooden cabin. I get a little tent and
::Andrew Anderson
I open the door and I walk inside and, I look down, there's just pallets of pallets of dry food, rice and cereals and things like that. And I'm just, it all started to make sense, you know, why they, you know, off the plane handed me, some bear spray and a 44 Magnum with, like, a bear shot in it.
::Andrew Anderson
And,
::Pat McCalla
So you you go out there thinking you're going to be a chef
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah, yeah. I had to protect the food, you know, or, you know, there is, you know, we all starve to death. You know, that's part of the job, you know? And.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
if I don't do that, I lose my job.
::Pat McCalla
So tell us about that one night, because this is so, I mean, you, I, I can't tell you. My son in law. The next morning, he wakes up after he told us a story, and he's like, I can't believe I didn't have nightmares about bears last night. So what? What happened to you one night in the tent?
::Andrew Anderson
So, one night in the tent. I'm,
::Andrew Anderson
probably halfway through. I wake up, like, a little margin, you know, kind of like waking up. And I look over to the guy, and I'm like, what are you doing? And, and he's, currently in there on his bed with his finger over his mouth. Do any, you know, just
::Pat McCalla
Like, telling you, be
::Andrew Anderson
And as soon as he does that, I feel a nudge in again. And I'm on my right side here, and, I kind of just kind of, like, glance over. I'm laying down on my cot, and I look over and I can just see this, this big, gigantic shadow. And I already know it's a bear. I hear it grunting and and, you know, smelling stuff and snorting and it, like, kind of keeps pushing, you know, the thing.
::Andrew Anderson
And I'm sitting there, I'm sleeping with the, 44 Magnum on me because we're all in bear country, and, I'm just like, I look over at him one more time and he's just assessing.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah, I shook my head is okay. And I had my hand up here, and I kind of close my eyes and it nudged me again and kind of move was like kind of moving around and, I don't know.
::Andrew Anderson
I just kind of grunted and and then it just started to walk on by and, I, can I exhaled and I breathed a little bit, and I looked over at him, and then I kind of glanced back, and I see a little baby bear shadow walking by, and I'm just like, I looked over, over at the guy, and he's just like, he's like, it's not over.
::Andrew Anderson
You know? It's just, you know, so, you know, that was
::Andrew Anderson
it was a long night. I don't think I actually slept that night.
::Pat McCalla
would imagine not.
::Andrew Anderson
but we learned real quick
::Andrew Anderson
to actually move our hearts from the edges of the tent to the scenario tent. So we were pretty close to each other. The remaining of the night.
::Andrew Anderson
But
::Pat McCalla
she didn't have to feel Bear's nudging.
::Andrew Anderson
you.
::Andrew Anderson
Right. And if they were to, like, rip it open, at least we have a little bit of.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
time.
::Andrew Anderson
maybe.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
I was
::Pat McCalla
And people that don't know bears or understand the whole thing with bears,
::Pat McCalla
a mama bear and her cub is about the most dangerous situation you can get.
::Andrew Anderson
Absolutely.
::Andrew Anderson
So
::Pat McCalla
when I, when that mama bear
::Pat McCalla
is, rubbing up against you with a tent wall between you, a little bit of fabric between you, that was not a good situation,
::Andrew Anderson
but now
::Pat McCalla
that is.
::Pat McCalla
And that's why I. That's why I'm saying you got to write a book someday. Because. Audience.
::Pat McCalla
Andrew had us just sitting there. We were sitting around the table the other night, my family and Andrew. And you were telling these stories one after another. Tons of great stories. When you get to Qatar, you've got a half a dozen great bear stories.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Pat McCalla
So I think all of us would love to read that book someday. And then I can promise our audience, you really want to eat some of the food
::Andrew Anderson
Yes.
::Pat McCalla
that you make and some of the,
::Pat McCalla
recipes that you've come up with.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah. So, yeah.
::Pat McCalla
Well, Andrew, we're going to we're going to leave it today with me just giving Kim with Foster Arizona a chance to share a little bit about what what they do and what she does because it was your your heart to say, hey, these kids just need some hope.
::Pat McCalla
And so this is an organization that I really believe in that does some great stuff. And, love and I know that your heart to write is to say, hey, get behind them,
::Pat McCalla
giving a little bit of money, maybe giving your time in some way can have a massive impact on some of these kids and give them some hope.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah. Anything. Anything really. I think, would definitely help, even if it's your attention, you know, because there's, there's a lot of that. They don't even get that as well. So I feel like, yeah, it's
::Andrew Anderson
definitely a step in the right direction.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Pat McCalla
Well, Andrew, thanks so much for being here today. I know when we get done sometime this afternoon, you can go for a walk. Right?
::Andrew Anderson
Thinking about it, I
::Pat McCalla
don't know what we're talking about. This dude loves to walk. I mean, it was a about 100 degrees the other day, and you said, hey, can you take me up to that?
::Andrew Anderson
The trailhead
::Andrew Anderson
last
::Andrew Anderson
yesterday.
::Andrew Anderson
I was on the run. My house here
::Andrew Anderson
But
::Pat McCalla
before we go,
::Pat McCalla
two truths and a lie.
::Andrew Anderson
Okay,
::Pat McCalla
the irony of this.
::Pat McCalla
I'm asking a lie on a podcast called No Gray Areas. But
::Pat McCalla
I know you pretty well.
::Pat McCalla
I don't think you're going to stop me.
::Andrew Anderson
I've been thinking about these all night, so I've been kind of, like, stumbling on, But but, you know, I
::Andrew Anderson
been on over probably 40, 40 foster homes, 13 high schools or not just high schools, maybe 20 schools in general.
::Andrew Anderson
throughout my, my, my childhood. And I feel like that was so that's one, good, good one to go out there.
::Andrew Anderson
Let's see.
::Andrew Anderson
When I was a foster kid, I really, and not only enjoyed cooking, but I also like to, to do, experimental dishes. Some, you know, weren't so good. And, I knowingly knew they weren't good, but I honestly would just try to get reactions out of the the other kids.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah. So you'd make some dishes, some worked out the ones that didn't. You still fed it to them.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah, I like it.
::Andrew Anderson
And then,
::Andrew Anderson
throughout my years in, in the foster care system, I, I think that.
::Andrew Anderson
The funniest times, though, were always the unexpected little moments. And,
::Andrew Anderson
That's always been my biggest thing where, like, the small things in life, and because of the small things in life add up. So, yeah, true church family is not
::Andrew Anderson
my strong suit.
::Andrew Anderson
But
::Pat McCalla
that's pretty good, because those are all sort of like truths to me.
::Andrew Anderson
Okay, that's what I was going for I, I yeah, that's.
::Pat McCalla
really good, because I can't imagine that you weren't doing experimental dishes and you didn't mind feeding the gross ones to the to the to the kids,
::Andrew Anderson
That's actually
::Andrew Anderson
lie that.
::Andrew Anderson
Is actually kind of see, I was two where I would have been too worried, you know, like, you know, we're ruining my reputation, you know, is everybody coming to me for food
::Pat McCalla
makes sense. It makes sense. So you
::Pat McCalla
when you came up with an experimental dish, it wasn't good. They
::Andrew Anderson
know.
::Andrew Anderson
I said I would never eat. Mentioned it never happened. You know, I sometimes, you know, there are certain things that I would make that, you know, you that's it's.
::Pat McCalla
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
Kind of good. You know, but
::Andrew Anderson
I wasn't one to really experiment with the.
::Pat McCalla
nice job.
::Pat McCalla
And you, you stumped me on that one. So you do.
::Pat McCalla
And I do know this one. I definitely knew that three was, True. Because you do. If I've seen that in you, you love the unexpected moments and and the little things in life. You just celebrate those a lot, which I think is one of the beauty, the beautiful things that came out of your story is so because you didn't have a lot.
::Pat McCalla
You came from a tough background. You really do celebrate and love the little things in life, and I appreciate that about you. I think that's cool. And then 40 foster homes and about 20 schools.
::Andrew Anderson
roughly.
::Andrew Anderson
Yes.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah,
::Pat McCalla
more than that.
::Pat McCalla
And then imagine having to go to a new school multiple times in the middle of a year.
::Andrew Anderson
Yeah.
::Andrew Anderson
right?
::Andrew Anderson
Right.
::Andrew Anderson
Thank you. Thank you.
::Speaker 1
Wow,
::Speaker 1
what a heartbreaking yet miraculous journey Andrew shared with us.
::Speaker 1
Most foster kids have a very similar story to Andrew's, more so than you may think. So if you feel like you want to make a positive impact
::Speaker 1
to a foster child, would you
::Speaker 1
please reach out to Kim V at foster,
::Speaker 1
Arizona.
::Speaker 1
Her information is linked in the description on all of our
::Speaker 1
social media channels and this video on YouTube.
::Speaker 1
Remember,
::Speaker 1
you can make a difference.
