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Welcome to today's edition of the Rush Limbaugh Show podcast. Welcome to a special edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show with a very special guest. As I said on Friday, Rush had two great loves of his life, public and private, as it were. One was you, the tens of millions of listeners he found a third of a century ago and never broke faith with. And the other, the personal, private, enduring love he had to wait a little longer to find.

And when he did, they didn't get as many years together as they should have. But Rush's beloved Catherine is here today to take your calls on one 888 to 288 two. It's your chance to ask about the affair side of Rush. Thank you so much for being here, Catherine. How are you and the family doing at the moment?

Thank you so much, Mark. It's been a very difficult time, as it probably has been for everyone who's listened to all these years. But we know that that rush is in a good place. He's in heaven. He's looking down on us. And that gives us some element of comfort. But it has been a very difficult time.

And things are sort of complicated by the covid situation because people can't have normal memorial services anymore.

But you're planning a a virtual memorial service for us at some point in the next few weeks.

Yes, that's right. Unfortunately, due to covid, we can't to as many things in person as we would like, but we are in the initial stages of planning a celebration of life that will be able to be viewed by all of the audience and friends and extended family at some point in the near future. We don't have an exact date just yet. We're working on some of the logistics. But yes, that is something that we will have in the upcoming weeks to month.

Well, I hope you find someone to give a eulogy for Rush that was half as lovely as the one Rush gave late friend Kit Carson a few years ago because that was spectacular. And afterwards I went up and congratulated Rush on that. And he said that I assumed he'd done that for somebody or other every every couple of months, every year or at least every year or so. And he said, no, that was the very first funeral eulogy he had ever given.

And he gave a beautiful one ticket. And I hope we can find someone who does rush the same beautiful justice he did. Kit, we're going we're going to shoot for an hour and see how it goes. And if it's all a bit too much, will understand if you need to bail, Catherine. But let me exercise moderator's privilege and ask a first question to get us going back to when you first met, because as Rush tells it, you were working for the Gary Player Foundation.

Mr. Player is the legendary South African golfer, greatest South African golfer of all time, and his foundation raises a lot of money for children. And you were told to invite Russia to some event and you weren't particularly keen to do it because all you knew about Rush came from the lefty media. That's that's how Russia told it. Yeah. Is that your version of events, too? Unfortunately, that that is right. Yes. Well, I was working for Gary Player.

I had lived overseas the majority of my life, and I always loved South Africa and met Gary Player and loved all of what he was doing with children. And so, yes, I was running his foundation at the time and we were organizing a large celebrity golf tournament at the Floridian Wayne Hastings, former Floridian place. And and Rush was one of the guests that was introduced to me as a possibility to make the list of possible a listers.

And believe it or not, I put him down on maybe B or C just based just based on on what I thought I knew of him. I was raised overseas. So we were not as familiar with with some of Russia's politics and stature and all of that at the time. So at the time I thought, OK, well, I've heard a lot about him, but I will give it a shot anyway. So I invited him and he came into the Florida and I remember it as if it was yesterday.

He walked in. He was extraordinarily humble and kind. And I thought to myself, this isn't quite the person that I thought was going to be arriving. And from that. Men on I knew that everything that you read and hear is not necessarily accurate, and over the course of our marriage, he taught taught me and many others to to not ever believe anything and don't read anything by what you think it is on the outside. So from that moment, Rush and I became friends for many years before we actually we got married.

But we we were very, very close from the early, early days of that meeting.

And as you said, you put him on the scene and you kind of moved him up as you got to know him.

I don't think he's very happy if he's listening to me right now. But but he would say that to say, no, I'm not saying anything outside of school. But, yes, absolutely. There were there were others that perhaps were ahead. But over time, there could be no one else that would be higher on the the list than than Rush. Rush was extraordinary and in every way.

Well, that's that's certainly true. Let us take our first call.

We're going to do something I don't think has ever been done on the Rush Limbaugh Show, because as listeners know, Rush didn't always like to go to Coles early and certainly not in the first segment. But this is between you and Katherine today. Dan in Carson City, Nevada, you're live with Katherine Limbaugh. What's your question for Katherine?

Mark, thanks for having me on, Katherine. I just wanted to explain to you my proximity. Now, I'm going to be a little emotional, but I'm really going to try not to because I want to get out what I have to say. We've had two losses this year. We lost my mom 24 weeks ago, 25 weeks ago today to our Thursday to Parkinson's disease. About eight years ago. I was a lost kid. I would say, kid, because I'm only 47, right.

I was lost, Catherine. I come into work every day. I was hard headed, but I was strong. I believed in what I believed. And I wanted to be who I wanted to be, but I just didn't have direction. My Uncle Pat, who was a lifelong listener and I'm talking to these people that aren't lifelong listeners that are just years, you know, I'm just nine years and I'm going to miss out on so much. But a lifelong listener, he says, you know, you need to listen.

You're not listening to us, but you need to listen to this gentleman. I turned them on. And in the first five minutes, Katherine, I didn't know him physically. I'm sorry, but I felt him emotionally. And it was the first time I ever had a real father figure in my life. God bless my mom. She did the best she could, but we had somebody that we could relate to. We have somebody that could help us feel the words he was saying, and then we could put that to our everyday life.

He wasn't a politician. He wasn't this person that he was a he was us. He made us feel like he was us. And now now we're lost. Now we don't have that voice anymore. And I know Mark and I it's no no take away from the amazing guest hosts that he has. But I will have a sticker on my car forever. And I wish I had the original one that said Russia's right, because I remember my Uncle Pat always saying, man, Russia's right.

You need to listen. And it'll say Russia's right, 1951 to 2021 and forever. And so I just wanted to let you know how we felt here. I live in a small town in Carson City, Nevada, but his words changed our lives. And so I know my family has benefited from it. I know I have benefited from it. And Callie, I know that you have definitely benefited from it. So so God bless him. We love him.

His words were heard and they were felt and they're going to be felt forever. And we're never, ever going to forget our Rush Limbaugh. I'm just so sad that I only got a seven years with him. I feel like I'm going to miss out on a lifetime of of knowledge. But I just wanted to let you know that we we love them dearly and we're hurting, too, because we lost here not once, but twice in some cases.

Some people say even three times with all the craziness that's happened. But I just want to say that I know I didn't know him, but I felt him every time he spoke. So thank you, Rush me and I and I. And we love you. I love you, Mom. Thank you for turning me on to this amazing man and this amazing station and amazing people that help him every day because he recognized that, you know, sometimes his own life.

And we just forget about the people who help us. I always say my wife, Denise, is amazing because people always say, Daniel, you're a great guy. We love you. And I always say, you know. Behind every good man, there's a woman pushing the buttons. And so I believe that he think that that's very true.

Dan, thank you. Thank you very much for that thing, Catherine. There there are tens of millions like Dan. Yeah, they were particular's like. He lost his mother and he lost thrust in the same year. But basically, Rush had an immediate family of tens of millions of people.

Yes. And I'm very sorry, Dan, for your for your loss, both your two losses that you had. My my father passed away from pancreatic cancer not too long ago as well. And it is devastating when you lose anyone in your life and rush for all of us, for me, but also for all of you is a family member. And I know the other day when I when I came on to let you know of his passing, I very much felt that I was sharing that news with family.

So I hope you all know that I. I do fully understand the pain that you're going through. And I do believe that Rush is looking down and he's listening. And while he's very, very, very sad that we are suffering, I believe that he is also happy because he knows that we will carry on and all of us will find a way to honor Rush and everything that he stood for. Catherine Limbaugh on The Rush Limbaugh Show, we will have more of your calls to Katherine in just a moment.

The Rush Limbaugh Show with Rush's beloved Katherine in a very special appearance. Marc in Richmond, Virginia, your life with Katherine Limbaugh. First of all, Catherine, my wife and I would like to express our deepest condolences for the loss of Rush. Thank you. We loved him. We loved him from the bottom of our hearts. My question is, how did it how did Elton John evolve as the. Musical guest at your wedding? Well, that's a great question, mark.

Both Russia and I loved Elton John for for many years. And ironically, he happened to be singing in the exact same hotel as we were in Hawaii. We often went out to Hawaii to visit my parents who live there. We would go most Christmases every year for many years. And the year before we got married just prior, Elton John was staying in the same hotel as we were. In fact, I believe he was in the in the hotel suite in the floor above us.

And we were right below. And Russia and I were on the deck and we said to each other, how about we invite Elton John to perform at our wedding?

That certainly won't be at all newsworthy. So that is exactly what we did. We we thought at first it was it was a bit funny and perhaps it wouldn't happen. But I wrote a letter to Elton John and and told him how much we loved and adored him and respected his his music and his career and asked if he might be available to headline at our wedding. And one thing led to another. And sure enough, he accepted very graciously and he was there and he was absolutely wonderful.

Rush and Sir Elton John kept in touch, as we did, and they spoke outside of the wedding. And it was a wonderful friendship. I would say there were actually quite a few similarities that might not come across on the surface.

That's that is that is very interesting. When you when you put it like that, Catherine, because people think that Elton is just another conventional cookie cutter, left wing rocker. But actually he's a much more sophisticated person and he's very decent and true to friends.

He doesn't abandon them. Absolutely. Absolutely wonderful man. Yeah.

And that's do you have a favorite Elton John song? I know the disc jockey side of RUSHY. He must he must have played a ton of Elton and his disc jockey days. But did you have a particular favorite?

We did. We had a lot of favorites that we were actually able to put into the wedding. But I will say that Russia's favorite song and mine as well is your song by Sir Elton John. And in fact, a little bit of inside baseball, as Rush would say. I played that for Rush in his final days and he was able to listen to that song. And we remembered our wedding and Elton John in particular.

That's that's a beautiful that's a beautiful thought, actually. Laurie in Shreveport, Louisiana, you're live with Catherine.

Hi, Laurie. Hello. Hello. So right to the point, I want Catherine to know that not only have they been in my prayers or continue to be in my prayers, I want to thank you so much for sharing with us. I know that. That. It's difficult at times, but we are so very grateful. I was one of the call Russians, too, way too nervous, as you can probably tell I am right now.

You don't sound nervous, as he would say. You don't sound nervous.

OK, great. My heart's racing like crazy. I knew I had to call today. I had to call if I couldn't talk to Russia. It my best girl. So one thing most people hate, Mondays is my favorite day the week, because I want to hear what Rush has to say about whatever happened over the weekend. It could have been something big. It could have been something that I needed to hear Rush's voice. I needed to know what was his take on the weekend.

And so every Monday morning for us, it's eleven o'clock when we hear Rush. And so every Monday turn on that radio, listen to that bumper music care contraption. So excited. And the other thing that I wanted to tell you about was that. So the rush of your books. Yes. They came out a little late for my children. So when my oldest daughter got married, one of the first things that I bought the Tribune, the great pilgrims sitting on a shelf for quite a while, my grandson is about to be three, so I'm getting close and getting close to where I can read them to him.

And I'm so grateful. I never even realized how grateful I am that when I read them, I've got Resh. Thank you. History from the greatest history teacher of my life. And I've got Rush and oh, thankful. And that day, no terrible day. Last week I went on the website. I just want the stuff to be there. I want to be on side. And of course, everybody the same thing. You know, I want to know, will the books still be available for years to come for us to get the rest of the books and and be able to read it for generations to come?

Yes. First story, I'm very sorry for your loss because this is a loss for all of us. And I can hear in your voice that you're very upset and and we all are. But as far as the books, yes. Rush and I don't have biological children. However, years ago, we wanted to be sure that the younger generations learned about the true history of our country. So we were in Hawaii again during one of our Christmas breaks, sitting on the deck again, as we often were.

And we just came up with the idea of why don't we reach out to the younger generation through a book series. And at first I was a little bit concerned and nervous that he wouldn't know how to do that because we don't have children. But it became a project of his that he absolutely adored. And he loved the idea of making complex American history easy for the younger generation to understand. So we introduced a horse named Liberty that could time travel.

And it was it was a wonderful a wonderful project of his and of ours to write this book. So, yes, they will continue on for years, I hope. Yes.

Rush loved Liberty, the chance to hold some of us. Yes. So got a bit resentful that he he loved the he love that that darn horse more that he loved the guest house.

But we'll we'll pick up that thought with Catherine LeBeau in just a moment.

Welcome along to America's number one radio show with a very special guest, the one and only Katherine Limbaugh. Kevin in Brick, New Jersey, you're live with Catherine. What's your question?

Hi, Catherine. I just want to say how much I love Rush. And he was like a grandfather to me. And I want to thank you so much for taking care of him this past year. I just wish God would let us listen to his radio show that we all know he's hosting right now in heaven. Yes, but my my question really for you is just a curious one. What was his daily routine like? Like what time you wake up when you go to the studio, when he comes home?

Stuff like that.

Well, Rush was an incredible creature of habit, as you can imagine. Being on the radio for so many years time was very, very important to him. In fact, if I ever asked him what time we should be ready to go somewhere, he would say 12, 17, as opposed to 12, 15 or 12 o'clock. But his routine was was often the exact same, even throughout this cancer period of time this last year. So what he would usually do is wake up in the morning, probably about eight, eight o'clock.

He would take a shower. He would feed his little cat, Ali, who he adored and still would be feeding her if he could. But he would head. The studio probably about 830, and he would do a show prep in the morning prior to the show coming on, but one thing about Rush is that he never stopped working. He joked about that often, but he really never stopped working from the moment that he got home. After the show, he may give himself 15 minutes or 20 minutes or maybe an hour of rest time.

But then he was right back at it. He was always preparing. He was always reading his iPad, paying attention to current events and so forth. So I would say he was always working. But the exact exact schedule started in the morning, about eight o'clock, and carried through to the show and on to the show itself.

Yes, he he he was amazing because in when he used to talk about show prep, in a sense, he was never not show prepping. He was taking something from somewhere all the all the time.

Absolutely. All all the time. And he would pick up things from TV, from TV shows, from mainstream news that he would occasionally watch, from iPad stories, from tech blogs. He was always, always, always on in some capacity. It was very difficult for him not to be engaged. He was so brilliant that I think he actively always had to be learning and preparing in some capacity.

Yeah, it's interesting.

I had the feeling that last question was tell me what Rush did so I could to look at my Mike Pence actually has a column.

I think it's over at Fox News today where he talks about when he did radio in Indiana and he describes himself as Rush Limbaugh on decaf, which that was his slogan, which I think would make me Rush Limbaugh on Ambien or something.

Yeah, I don't know whether we want to go too far into that.

You would you were talking about the Rush Revere books, which which which I think it's generally understood came from you. You push Russia down a couple of non-fiction books back in the early 90s and had no particular desire to go back and do that again. And you two co-wrote that Rush Riviere together.

Was that your little was that your special little project, the corner of Russia's professional life, that that you could carve out for yourself?

I believe so. We very much did it together. But I've always loved American history and knew that Rush was speaking to an audience that that maybe didn't quite know how to reach their children or to the younger generations in their family. And we wanted to provide a way for them to do so. And that's really how that that came about. I did to the majority of of the writing. But Rush was right there throughout the entire process and and every point of it we did, in a way, together.

And it was a huge project of of both of our lives.

Well, it was hugely successful. Here is Rush himself talking about the Rush Revere books a couple of years ago.

But I am holding here now in my formerly nicotine stained fingers the book number two, ladies and gentlemen, we inside refer to this book to Rush Revere. And the first Patriots is out. This is it. This is the day it's available. And I just want to tell your kids are going to love it. If they liked book one, they are going to like book two now, as you know. Well, maybe you don't know if you're a new listener.

These books are part of a mission.

I had done a couple of books in the early 90s, and since then people have been urging Vince Flynn, good friend, the late Vince Flynn Rush, you got to do another one running into 20, 2012. You got to do it now. Vince, I've been there, done that. Don't want to do it. Catherine came to me. You know what? You are very concerned about education in America and and what's happening, what's not being taught, what's being lied about?

Why don't you write the truth of American history for kids and that that turned the light on. I mean, that that was exciting on a number of levels. A, the purpose, but B, the challenge. Never written children's books before, never even thought about doing it. And so we were off to the races. And the first book came out last last October, Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims, the true story of the literally the first people seeking freedom to arrive in a new world.

And that story has been so bastardized and taught wrong and purposely mis told that the mission is educating young people to the truth of this country because it's a great country. The history of this country is wonderful. The history of this country is the blessing of God. The history of this country is something to be extremely proud of. Being an American is something to be extremely proud of. And there are too many people in the education system today who simply don't look at America that way.

They don't look at America as anything special. In fact, some of them look at it as a problem in the world. There are certainly people who do not believe the founding of this country was, as I believe, miraculous. I believe it was a miracle. And preserving it for people who will come after us is important.

We were all born with golden opportunity and freedom, just as our parents and grandparents had found and they fought and they sacrificed and many of them lost everything to preserve the basic foundations, the institutions, the traditions that define America and its greatness. We want to do the same. We want to leave, I want to do the same. I want to do what I can to see to it that people who follow me have the same opportunities that I had.

And so that's the mission behind these books. These books are written for ages 10 to 13. But everybody will enjoy these books. Everybody that's read them does. In fact, even adults who have read these books have told us that they are learning things they didn't know about the pilgrims and things that happened either before they set sail, while they were enroute and after they got here. So here's the premise. Rush Revere is our logo icon for the best iced tea in America to if by tea dotcom, which, by the way, is where the adventures of Rush Revere and everything related to the books is found to invite Dotcom.

So Rush Revere, even though we work him hard as a spokesman, as an icon for two of my tea, is also a substitute teacher. Substitute history teacher, he has a horse named Liberty, it's a special horse, the horse talks. The horse is kind of a smart alec, our young readers. Favorite character is the horse Liberty also has the ability to time travel anywhere. That American history could take someone. Including Holon, including England.

And Rush Revere is able to take students, a few students with them on their time travel and Rush Revere. Is this not a brilliant concept or what, folks? I mean, this this kind of a vehicle provides creative opportunities galore. Rush Revere is able to take his smartphone, the built in video camera with him as they time travel back to American history. And they're able to videotape what actually happened to bring it back to the classroom. And without giving away that they time travel.

The whole class doesn't know this. Just a select few know it. And it's the mixing of the secret of the time travel with two or three or four students involved, everybody keeping it a secret and yet the truth of American history being taught in a genuinely fun, truthful, informative. Either way, look at I love very much what I do here, I'm very proud of what I do, but I want to become and I'm really proud of being an American, proud of what I believe, how to get it to him.

Bingo. Rush Revere and the first Patriot second book. And we should say that that talking horse is such a genius that he was able to get Rush Revere into Buckingham Palace with George, thatd just simply just simply you don't have to give away any secrets because the two of you are credited as co-authors.

Is is Liberty the talking horse, your creation?

Catherine, I'll say it's it's both of our creation, but definitely put life to liberty. He's the he's the one who had the voice behind behind Liberty. But we wanted to make it fun. You know, that was the one thing with American history. We knew it was out there, perhaps not accurate, but we knew it was out there in schools, but it wasn't told in a fun way. So we put our heads together and said, how can we come up with a way that will be really fun for young readers to experience and really understand American history as opposed to just memorizing for a test.

So Liberty, the horse was the vehicle to do that. And Liberty was very funny, actually.

I will say that our our old English sheepdog, Abbey, is probably the role model for liberty and maybe the inspiration.

Well, it's the incredible books I did. I took my hat off that Rush Revere actually getting through the doors of the palace. That was a great moment. It's Katharine Limbaugh on the Rush Limbaugh Show.

So very special edition. Your calls straight out.

The one and only Rush Limbaugh show. Nothing like it in a century of broadcasting in the United States. The Rush Limbaugh Show today with special guest Katherine Limbaugh. Gemma in Greensboro, Georgia. Gemma, your life with Katherine.

Thank you, Mark. First, my condolences, Katherine. And to you, Mark, in the passing of a friend, my I don't have a question. I had a little tribute, if you will, to compare Rush to the great Winston Churchill. While they were separated by continents, time and spheres of influence, each man had an uncanny ability to really see political figures and their ideologies. Both were great orators, passionate, patriotic men who loved their countrymen with abandon.

Their respective bodies of their life's work was extraordinary. And we all are the great beneficiaries of of their passion, their loyalty and their love. And I know Churchill told Parliament in his final speech, never flinch, never worry, never despair. So I guess my message is to all the rush listeners and mourners don't weary better times ahead. God bless you all and God bless Rush.

Thank you so much for that comparison. I should say that that's one that I have said about Rush many, many times privately. It's it's known within our family. In fact, we have a painting of Winston Churchill in Russia's library. And I would often say to him that he is America's Winston Churchill. And most recently in the harder days, he reminds me greatly of Winston Churchill during his trying times. And I am so glad that you said that for everyone to hear, because the comparison is is very, very, very accurate.

And, yes, also in terms of of how we go forward, I think that Rush would always be asked, is it time to panic? And the truth is, it's not time to panic there. There will be no other Rush Limbaugh ever. We all know that. But I hope that all of us will find it within ourselves to to carry on his message, his legacy and everything that he believed in in some way in our in our own lives.

Let's let's go quickly to Gracie in New York Gracie, what's your question for Catherine?

I have a comment. Captain, thank you so much for doing this for his listeners. We need this time together. I've listened to my rush since the first week. In July 1988. I told my husband that I had accidentally turned on the car radio and I heard the most beautiful, intelligent voice which articulated what I believe. You know, back then we conservatives thought we were the dummies Rusted said that it would take three to six weeks to understand him, but I was hooked by the end of the first week.

Catherine, if someone said something critical about my rush, I always ask them, listen, do you listen to him? And most of the time they say no. Well, I said, well, at least listen to his top of the hour monologue. He was a college professor who explained issues clearly and concisely. Catherine, thank you again for doing this for us. God bless you and keep you safe. I love Rush so much. And believe it or that, I got condolence calls because they know how much I love him.

No, I'll keep praying for you, Catherine. Thank you. Thank you.

God bless you. And in Gracie, he is your rush and he is all of our rush and forever will be. And I know we will have heavy hearts for for quite a long time. But as far as everyone who criticize or write things about him that are not accurate or not true, hopefully all of us in his rush army will be able to counter that and prove how incredibly brilliant and wonderful and unique he was and always will be.

Yes, that's that's right, Catherine. The Rush Army. And that is one mighty awesome, powerful army. This is the Rush Limbaugh Show with special guest Katherine Limbaugh. Katherine is going to stay over into the next hour or so.

Do call one 800 to eight two two eight eight to the Rush Limbaugh Show across the United States now in its thirty third. Yeah. And we aren't going anywhere. We will be in this time slot tomorrow and through all the days ahead.

We are blessed today with a very special guest, the love of Rush's life.

Katherine Limbaugh and Katherine will be back with us in the next hour.

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A young college grad gunned down while simply walking his dog. A mom, Michelle Parker, vanishes after she drops off her little twins as a babysitter.

An Indianapolis mass murderer leaves six dead. Nancy Grace here. These are just some of the cases we're investigating on crime stories. It's so easy to think it will never happen to you, never to my family. Right. That's not true. It does happen.

And we want to help everyday on crime stories, we break down the biggest breaking crime news and try to put the clues together. We speak with family members, reporters, investigators, police and specialists. Every day is a mission every day, a chance to stop crime and to keep one more person safe.

Join us, listen to crime stories with Nancy Grace on Thee I, heart radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you listen to your podcast. This is a special edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show with a very special guest, Rush's beloved Katherine, as Katherine told us in the first hour. Because of covid, you can't have a big memorial service with thousands of people, so Katherine is planning a virtual memorial service, as she told us, and we'll keep you up to date as the various dates and plans and all the details of that emerge.

Catherine has very kindly agreed to stay on and take a few more of your calls. So let's not waste any time. Let's go to John in St. Louis, Missouri, which is really Russia's neck of the woods. John, you're live with Catherine Limbaugh there and my condolences.

I really appreciate what you and your husband did, especially for us who retired military. I'm a retired military doctor. And from, as you heard from Russia's home state of Missouri. And I want to thank and a salute to both of you for the support of our active duty military and our retirees, as well as the veterans who had to stand in line for help for so many years.

Thank you very much, John, for your service. My father went to the Naval Academy, so we are a big Navy fans and I adore the military. Russia and I, from the moment we met, talked extensively about the military and how much it impacted both of us throughout our lives. And we we adore our United States military and know the sacrifice that they make and you make and their families make on our behalf. So we we will always continue to support the military through our foundation and other endeavors that we will do going forward.

But, yes, it was a very big passion of ours.

You know, the carry. John, my salute to both of you and to you, Mark, for always supporting us, you know, taking our fight for freedom. Thank thank you, John.

I just wanted to pick up on on John's point that because people may not not know this campaign, but it wasn't just military charities or public fundraising operations or when you did the Betsy Ross T-shirts and things like that, there's all kinds of old people who are just individuals whose plight happened to be brought to Russia's attention. And he did things for them without any publicity, without anybody knowing about it. Absolutely.

I think that's one thing about Russia, that it isn't as widely known because he didn't do things for the reason of fame or recognition or trying to get kudos anywhere. He did it because he truly cared. And I can tell you, countless numbers of people were directly helped by his generosity over the years. We did things in a small scale way or in a more grand public way, such as the stand up for Betsy Ross campaign. But yes, Russian never, ever forgot anyone along the way who helped him reach his pinnacle of success.

He heard stories of individuals that were going through perhaps cancer or other things in their lives, and he found a way to help them directly. And that's something that was not really highly told over the years or really publicized or written about. But it certainly should be part of his legacy. He's one of the most generous people and celebrities that you could ever find.

You know, I've had so many stories just in the last few days. People have bombarded me with them that I hope I'll be forgiven if I get some of the details wrong. But one of them was the father of somebody shipped out to Afghanistan. He's over there in some miserable barracks in Helmand Province where you can't step outside without everybody trying to blow you up. It's not the greatest place in the world to be. And somehow the dad got notice got notice of his son's shipment over to Rush.

And that kid out there in Helmand province got all this all these gifts sent directly from Rush and was emailing directly from Rush in the hell of Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

Nobody as I said, that's not a public thing. It's not a public campaign. Rush used to make jokes about all the people with all their virtue, signalling ribbons on on their breasts when they walk out on an awards show. This was just something Russia did privately that nobody knew about. Absolutely.

And that was him to the core. I would say that he donated millions and millions and millions of dollars over the years and did other things beyond just financial. To help people in various ways, but that was never publicized, particularly you'd hear about things now and again, but but not in the way that perhaps other celebrities receive the recognition. And Rush really didn't do it for that reason. But, yes, there were many, many individuals that he would personally call and talk to about what they were going through to either inspire them in in a way that he could financially or or just be there and support them by talking to them on the phone.

And yes, that's there's countless examples of that over the years.

Well, that was a great question from John, because there is certainly a special connection between Rush and the military.

And one thing I should say, Mark, as well, is that Rush and I established a foundation not too long ago, and we will continue to support the military, our police, our first responders. Those were all very, very, very important to Russia. And we will be continuing to support all of those individuals in any way that we can.

Well, that's terrific news, John. John rightly identified that special connection with the military and with law enforcement. And I think you may find this next question touches on matters rather closer to home. Catherine Beth from Alabaster, Alabama, you live with Catherine Libo. What's your what's your question for Catherine? Thank you, Catherine.

First, I wanted to thank you for doing the show today. It means so much to all of us. Ditto heads.

And maybe you can make this a monthly feature.

Well, I don't I don't know. I'm definitely not America's anchorman, but I will fill in now and again.

But it shows a different side of Rush that, you know, he's he was very proud of it and we appreciated that. But it's kind of neat to hear you and your your insight. I'm very nervous and I'm going to try not to cry. So I'm going to try to keep just fine. But I have been with Russia since day one, and my oldest son was born on his two year anniversary. So it's easy for me to know how many years Rush has been on.

And I also wanted to thank you for your courage. Last minute statement coming on the show to tell us yourself. Thank you. Made it so much easier to bear in some way. It was special to hear that hear the bad news that way instead of just hearing it on the news or somebody that didn't love rushed away. You do? Oh, but I have a girl question, my girl, could I have more than these questions that I decided on this and that's what I told them.

We would like to hear the Medal of Freedom story one day, but I got questions or what was your first date like and what was maybe your much unique date? Maybe gifts, too, if you want to expand on that. Sure.

Absolutely. Well, this question I probably am the right person to ask because I'm not sure if Rush would remember per say. So this is actually a great one for me in terms of a girl question. But first of all, I again, I'm sorry for for your loss. This is a loss for all of us. And we are we are all grieving. And I'm very happy to be able to be here with you and share directly with you, as I know Brushwood would want.

But in terms of our first date. So I know I told you earlier that he was on the C list when we first met and we were friends and he quickly became an A-list in my book. And so he invited me to dinner as just a friends. And we went to dinner here in Palm Beach at a restaurant, a favorite restaurant of his, and he drove separately from from myself. However, we met in the restaurant and he was such such a gentleman.

He from the moment that we first sat down, he did everything that you would expect a total gentleman to do. And he was very kind. He was so well-spoken. Obviously, he had a lot to talk about. And he was very intriguing from from the first moment we met, however, we were just friends. He would laugh at this story, but we were buddies. He called it the buddy rules. We were buddies for a period of time even after that date.

And it just flourished from from there. And we we became more than that. And in terms of you asked about unique gifts, he he really gave me many as a bit of a joke. He loved tech and he always tried to get me interested in tech. So I believe he always gave me an iPhone or something related to tech, which wasn't particularly romantic. But he did. He said supplement that as well with with very romantic gifts. And one of our favorite trips was we went to Monaco for one of our anniversaries.

And that was something that that Rush wanted to do. And I wanted to do. And I would say that was one of the most special trips that we had because he was able to be somewhat normal and not as well recognised there. So we went out to dinner together and he didn't have to hide as much as he would here. And it was wonderful. So I would say that was probably one of our most unique trips and gifts that he taught me.

Why why did he want to go to Monaco in particular? Catherine, I'm not sure.

It was just one that was on his bucket list. And he had been many places in Europe. And I grew up in Europe, partly in London and other places. And he just he always had Monaco on his mind. Possibly he wanted to dress up like James Bond and look look wonderful in a tux. I'm not sure. But did you go to the casino? We did. We did. We did. We dressed up. We did the whole thing.

We he he wore a tux. I wore a very nice dress. And we went to the casino and all of it. It was wonderful. Oh, okay. That's great.

We stayed right there in the square in Monaco. So our our patio was was overlooking the casino itself. It was beautiful. Yeah.

There's not a there's not a lot of it. It's just a couple of square miles. Right. It's it's like fun to find, as you said, for Rush. It's it's like a place he can go and he's not going to be pestered by people every five, every five foot or so as he walks through the street.

Absolutely. It took a while. He was he was noticed, but just not as instantly. Yeah, that's true. That's true.

It's pretty much anywhere on the on the planet for that. This is a special edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show with Katherine Limbaugh taking your calls on one 888 202 282.

And we'll have more straight ahead.

The Rush Limbaugh Show with special guest Katherine Limbaugh Del in Atlanta, Georgia. You're next with Katherine. What's on your mind?

Hi, Katherine. And thank you so much, Katherine, for giving us the opportunity to speak with you today. Know, it takes a lot of courage. Thank you. And I have a comment, really. Roche's voice will echo through the ages, Katherine. And the voice is not only of all the radio and and and other media voices that we hear, but it will also resonate. And in the tens of millions of voices that were, you know, part of the Russian army, it's our challenge now to continue the fight.

Never panic, never give up. And I have a battle cry as Russia strong. We all must continue the fight, as I know Russia would want. And once again, thank you so much for being there today. Well, thank you.

And you're absolutely right. I think the best gift that we can possibly give to Russia as he looks down on us from heaven is is to continue what he stood for in the best possible way and through all of you, through Russia's army. I know we can do that in various ways. You're you're 100 percent right. That's the best thing we can we can do is not panic, not give up and continue on his mission, in his honor. Let's go to Cindy in Winterhaven, Florida, Cindy, you're live with Katherine.

Hi, Katherine. I'm so happy to hear from you or talk to you. Rush was like a dad to me. He was the first person I listened to in 1988 when I was a junior in high school. And I was like, oh, my gosh. He sounds just like my dad is talking to me and my dad to me. I just listen to him every day and was just so thrilled because it was like I was still hearing my dad.

So I miss him and we love you and we pray for you every day. My question is, I'm a home school mom have been I homeschooled my four kids and I now homeschool my grandkids and they're five and eight. And we're working through the rest of your books. Have you been using your unit studies online and are you going to expand on them and will you expand your series at all? Because that would be amazing to be able to continue that with my grandchildren as they grow up.

Oh, thank you so much, Cindy. I really, really appreciate it. Getting right to the books themselves. We do hope to continue this series and expand on them, as Rush would like. We all are are also looking at possibly doing a cartoon that specifically focuses on fun, American history and true, accurate American history. So there are some things in the works we do want to continue that project on, since that was very much a passion of Russia's.

I don't know exactly when we will be able to, but we certainly hope to in the months and years ahead.

Was that part of the original plan for the series, Catherine, that you'd you'd start off in colonial revolutionary times and then Rush Revere would be in the the Civil War and then in World War two and all just you'd basically be jumping around the entirety of American history.

Yes, it was we we stopped at the presidency, but we're going to continue on, we hope. But that that was the original plan that we would continue on in history from the early days of our founding on straight forward. So we have plenty of topics to cover and plenty of books to write at the right time.

Well, that's very good news. And I hope you I hope you will keep doing that because it's a it's a wonderfully original angle. It's a very clever angle on history, because you've you've got a contemporary perspective on ancient times because the because you've got a teacher and his pupils actually in the events they're studying. It's a very clever concept. Oh, thank you.

That's exactly what we wanted. We wanted the young readers or any readers to be able to go right to the scene of the action instead of just hearing about it. We hoped that they could time travel back to whatever was happening at that period of time and really learn about it by seeing it and witnessing it and even talking to some of the patriots of that time. So some of the young school children that travel this part of Russia, of your crew, they would talk to George Washington or they would talk to to others and be able to experience history firsthand in a fun way.

Now, your build on the cover of those books, says Kathryn Adams Limbaugh. Is that because you're a great, great, great whatever of of John Adams and those guys?

Yes. The great John Adams, I should add. No, yeah.

Yes. Actually, my through my mother's side of the family. We do. I'm originally from New England and my mother's side of the family is from New England. And yes, it dates back to to John Adams.

Wow. That's that's that's amazing. Because actually, Rush was serious about history.

Yes. And he and he thought that it lived it wasn't the past. It actually lived and breathed and taught us lessons right now.

Absolutely. In addition to Winston Churchill, I often said that Rush was a modern day founding father. And I think he he was in many respects that I could compare him to many of the founding fathers. But but, yes, he adored history as is today. So I hope that we certainly will continue writing the books and doing cartoons and other things.

Well, I hope you I hope you do, too. One of the loveliest things on this show the last few years has been when Rush has had a ten year old or a 12 year old on the phone with him talking about how much they they love those books.

That was a very that was a wonderful and completely unexpected from Rush and in a sense, a gift to the nation via rush from Formula One. A wonderful thing.

Katherine Limbo is with us on a very. Special edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Rush Limbaugh Show isn't going anywhere, we are right here, as we have been for over thirty two years.

Lots more still to come.

Markstein here, but with a very special guest, Katherine Limbaugh. As you know, about 15 minutes ago, it was suggested by one of our callers that Katherine should make this a regular gig and an amazing number. I've just been looking at Twitter, an amazing number of people and Bibles. People seem to be seconding that. So we may have to have Johnny Donovan do the America's anchorwoman or America's anchor lady. I don't forget. But let us go to Carrie in Wolf City, Texas.

Carrie, you're live with Catherine.

Hi, Catherine. Hi, Mark. I just wanted to offer my condolences. I know I've known Rashford since I was 10 years old, so I've known him my whole life. And but I feel his loss so deeply. And I was just wondering if there was a particular charity that I could make a contribution to or a donation to in his honor. I know it wouldn't even do justice to the way that I feel about him, but I just feel like I need to do something.

Thank you so much, Carrie. To hear the emotion in your voice really touches my heart, because I know that so many of you grew up listening to Rush. He's been in your homes, in your cars. And I know he's very much a part of your lives and your family. So it really touches me deeply that we can all be together and I can hear you directly. But in terms of a charity and a donation in particular, we didn't set something up, mainly because I know that Rush always was so thankful to his audience over the years and didn't want to do anything to ask for any more.

So I thought it would be best not to set up a specific charity. But if you would like to to donate, I would say the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation is one that we have supported for many years and love, and they would be very honored to have that donation. Well, make sure and do that then just. Thanksgiving really means a lot to me. Thank you very much. I know that they are starting a specific scholarship in Russia's name, so I think that would be wonderful and kind of you.

Well, thank you for taking my call. Thank you.

Tell us a bit about this foundation that that you and Russia started.

Yes, we started some years ago. And it primarily is to support younger people through scholarships and particularly people who are facing hardships or obstacles in their life. We wanted to inspire them by reviewing their entries and providing scholarships so that they could continue their their education. That's one focus. And then we also have been helping families of police and law enforcement specifically and also families who are enduring illnesses or hardships such as cancer in their life. And we plan to continue to do so.

And that's actually part of your background, isn't it?

Because as I mentioned at the top of the show, you were with the Gary Player Foundation and and he started up he's he's the greatest South African golf of all time. And he he started a foundation that is primarily for to benefit children.

Yes. And throughout my my life, I've been involved with with charity in some capacity. My my mother was a diplomat. My father was he went to the Naval Academy and was in business. So we lived overseas the majority of my life. And in those years we would do things with the local communities. And that started my passion for for charity and helping others. And and now we we continue to do so in various in various ways. But I absolutely see our foundation continuing and helping families and organizations that we that we love.

OK, that's that's that's great news.

The other thing I mentioned at the at the top of the show was the story behind how you met and his rush recalling that and also what he calls the happiest weekend of his life.

So everybody has been saying, what are you going to say about your wedding on the radio? And I really don't know. I'm going to figure out what to say when the microphone goes on. You know, I never plan things. We do things improv here. This was this was a private affair for Catherine and me and 400 of our friends and and associates.

And I have to tell you, I have people are telling me the people were at the wedding on Saturday night. They have never seen me happier while I was waiting at the altar for Catherine. And it took her forever, which I didn't. She took one step at a time, one step Porres, one step. And I'm saying, come on, come on. And I'm hopping up and down up there at the altar and everybody says, you have never looked happier, right?

Certainly you never looked happier. It never looked more radiant. I this was such a memorable affair. Nobody who was there will ever forget this. If I, if I, if I say so myself. I'm getting a bunch of echoes now from members of the highly overrated staff who were invited and and who were there. But we have not a lot of people. So where's the pictures? The same thing. We did not allow cameras. We allowed no cameras in some no personal cameras, no personal video phones.

The only the only pictures there are are those taken by the four or five professionals that we hired to run around at the Lual that we did on Friday night prior to the wedding on Saturday, and then during the wedding reception dinner and the after dinner concert. And we haven't seen the pictures yet. Now, folks, I have to a lot of you want to know about Catherine. Why didn't you say anything about this? Why? Again, you know, I've I've been on the radio here for twenty plus years, and a lot of what I've done in my private life has been lived in public.

And I just decided no more. We want to try to be as normal as we can.

Now we we know that we're not going to be able to live anonymously, but we can forestall some media attention by not seeking it. And we didn't in this case. But I have known Catherine for four years, six years. I met Catherine when she was running the foundation for Gary Player, and she part of the job was to put together celebrity golf tournaments for Gary Player at various places, and one of them was up at Wayne Rising his course in Palm City at the Floridian.

And for the first three years I went up there, I never met Catherine. It was always email. Invitations and I came to find out that she didn't even want to invite me, that it took a friend of hers, you got to get Rush Limbaugh, she said Rush Limbaugh. And she only knew of me as as I was portrayed in public. So hit the first time I actually saw Katherine was at one of these golf tournaments and all the celebrities were sitting on white folding chairs near the sand trap where Sevi by a staros was putting on a sand trap demonstration and botching it Sevi bias.

Theros could not get out of a sand trap to save his life. It looked like me and we're all kind of looking at each other as I'm sitting next to Patrick Duffy of Dallas and I'm the last one on the right side of the road. And I hear I feel a tap on my right shoulder. Well, when that happens, you look to the right. When I look to the right, there was nobody there. So I looked at my left.

Hi, I'm Katherine. So I looked to my left finally. And there she is in white slacks, long flowing blond hair. And I saw her from the rear first eye and she's congratulating everybody else in line saying hi to everybody. And one thing led to another, you know, working for the National Football League, liaising with the local host committees for Super Bowls every year.

And it just built overtime over six years. And folks, I know many of you have followed my life since we got to know each other. And I think. I know. I know I got it right.

I, like Winston Churchill said, never, never, never give up. If you're out there thinking all this kind of happiness is going to elude you, forget it. It will it'll either slap you upside the face or you'll find it one way or the other. But and I hope that you find as much happiness as I have. I would love to tell you some of the details about the wedding, but.

I wouldn't know where to start and I wouldn't know where to stop, we wanted to put on a grand two day party. In our in our hometown here for our friends and associates, and we wanted to do this and just blow it out and we wanted everybody to have the best time they've ever had. Katherine planned the entire thing, every detail. I mean, you've heard that Elton John performed at the at the wedding. This is all true. And I'll tell you about that in just a second.

It's you know, it is very instructive. It is very instructive to find out that all of these supposedly tolerant, loving, open minded people on the left. Have given him such grief for performing at our wedding, he is really caught hell for this.

He doesn't care. We've been in contact with him, but he doesn't he doesn't care. He's it was it was amazing what he did, the performance that he put on for us. It was 75 minutes. It was it was specifically tailored to our circumstances. This whole weekend was the product of months of preparation and the execution was just amazing.

And and I've had people come up to me who guests there that former producers for major networks, movie theatre studios and so forth. I've never seen a production like this.

There has never been a wedding that we have been to and there never will be any time anybody goes to a wedding from now on. That was that yours, Rush? They are going to never forget yours.

And it was it was memorable. Well, we what we wanted we wanted to make everybody a part of it, we wanted everybody to feel they were there because we love them.

Everybody there was there for a reason, because they mean something.

But even you certainly everybody there because they meant something special to us.

And I really I'm not trying to lay all this on to make you feel like, oh, what did I miss? I'm trying to share it with you after the fact. We did not want any news of this in advance. We didn't want any prying eyes. We we just didn't want a circus atmosphere, which is the only reason why there was no advance notice of this from me. I've got confidence in Katherine. Anything she says she's going to do is is going to happen.

I'm striving to have her look at me that way now that anything I say is. Anyway, quick time out. We'll be back. I'll tell you little about the ceremony and we'll move on. I'll tell you how the Elton John thing came about, since everybody is people who weren't there are commenting on why he did it.

It's it's been it's been amazing to see and all the criticism he's gotten from his side of the of the aisle. When we just elected a president who was all about unity, we were told we're supposed to join together, post partisanship. Well, here was some giant big time unity on the evening of Saturday, June 5th. And who the hell's mad at it? The left, yeah, it was a party, but it was a meaningful wedding, it was it was a heartfelt ceremony and so forth, and everybody involved had a wonderful time.

Know, these people have to run around and try to denigrate Elton John for deigning to do this.

It's very instructive, folks, very instructive about the left and who they really are and what they're all about.

I've always said that life, when you when you look back on your life, no matter what you have accumulated and no matter what you have acquired and achieved, life is about people and friends and the relationships you have with the people you love.

That's what life is all about. And when you look back, the nostalgic moments, the warm moments of your life always will be about that.

Always be about relationships that you have with people that you love, always will be about the events that you have experienced with with people that you love.

And so I would not I would be remiss if I if I didn't thank everybody who who showed up because it made it made our weekend for us.

I love the way Rush deploys Winston Churchill's words to back up His Majesty's dominions in the depths of war, to encourage you to go out and do what he did and find the great love of your life.

Catherine will take more of your calls.

Straight ahead, the Rush Limbaugh Show with special guest Katherine Limbaugh. Let's go to Zoe in Champaign, Illinois. Zoe, what's your question for Catherine?

Catherine, I just want to thank you for allowing your listeners to grieve along with you and to share in that and to acknowledge, as you have, what we're going through and how hard it is. And I not everyone would do that. And I just want to thank you for that. Your graciousness is amazing. And we do want more of the Katherine show. I just wanted to say really quickly how I came to I was with Rush from the very beginning.

Well, almost my mother was really in the beginning. And I was in the car with her one day in the very beginning, and she said, oh, you should listen to him. You would really like him. And all I heard was he was kind of loud and I it wasn't the politics or anything. And I said, Oh, I don't think so. Well, within about two days, I was completely on board because I took the time to listen to him and I found out he was just a lovable little fuzzball.

That's my son. Exactly right. He was incredibly charming. He hooked you in a couple of days. That's exactly right.

And I never, never looked back. And I just I just want to thank you. And and it's really helping me. I knew this day was going to comment, was going to be hard, but I didn't I don't think I really realized the grief that I would feel. And to know that the show is going to go on is such a comfort to some of us because many of us have said, what are we going to do now? And knowing it'll still be there, it's helping me to hang on.

Thank you so much, Katherine. You're welcome. Thank you. A little bit, too.

I knew you were very special to have come into Russell's life as you did. And now I know more about you. I'm so grateful for that, too.

Oh, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And I'm so happy to be here with you. And I think it it helps us both. So thank you very much. Penny, thank you very much, Zoe, and and thank you, Catherine, for spending these last two hours with us. As I said, I don't think it can be easy when you marry a guy who has a close, immediate family of tens of millions of people around you.

And in the end, you are a grieving wife like like any other grieving wife, except you have to share it with all these other people.

And that's not the easiest thing to do. And you've been incredibly kind to give us your time today.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. And again, I'm so sorry for everyone's loss, including mine.

Well, I took note of that song you mentioned that you inrush particularly liked. And we are going to get to that before today's show is half in limbo.

Thank you very much. We'll be back in just a moment.

Thank you so much to Katherine Limbaugh for spending the last two hours with us on the Rush Limbaugh Show for our final hour.

We will hear her. How do they say not bad enough. That's the missus. Isn't the not so bad.

If we are going to hear Rush his voice, a magnificent radio voice, a truly great radio voice, not just because of the vocal timba, because of everything he said as well. And so we're going to get in tons of rush in the last hour. And we will also have a little bit of a farewell to Catherine from me as well.

That's coming up on the one and only Rush Limbaugh show.

As you well know, Rush always said, you know, folks, this isn't about me. And by now he's probably up there yelling, hey, guys, enough about me. The stick to the issues crowd is going nuts out there. Well, we will get back to the issues soon enough because the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies, where I have been a somewhat, somewhat unimpressive foreign exchange student for many, many years now, I should have completed this degree something like 12 years ago, the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies.

It's not like your local grade school. We never close and we are never shut down, not by the Chike home, 19 or by anything else. The Rush Limbaugh Show isn't going anywhere, and Rush's irreplaceable voice will continue to dominate the airwaves. But we have been privileged to share some time with Katharine.

For these last two hours and learn a little about rush off the air when he was away from the golden EIB microphone and you know, Catherine was telling us that when Elton John saying at their wedding that both of them had a favorite song by Elton and it doesn't matter if you're the most famous guy in America, as Rush was, when you're in love, you just a courting couple like any other Colting couple, and you have your favorite song, whether it's the way you look tonight or it had to be you or whatever it is.

And for Rush and Catherine, there was a particular song by Elton that they loved to introduce it.

Here is Rush, the lovely Katherine about his best wife ever, my lovely wife, Catherine. Catherine, my lovely and beautiful wife, Catherine. Catherine looked radiant, just beautiful. Just got another message from Catherine, which says, Hi, babe, because she heard me talking about the note from the watch.

So now I'm going to reply to it.

Very cool. And sweetie, she has led a fascinating life.

She's grown up all over her parents. Her mother was a State Department diplomat and her father was a Naval Academy grad. She speaks a number of languages and has been in other places and is a fascinating person. Cafritz, why don't you to work for kids telling the truth about American history?

The only place I really want to be during all of this, aside from the side of my lovely wife, Catherine, is in the radio studio, the beautiful and gorgeous and just wonderful Catherine, Catherine, the beautiful, incomparable Catherine, Catherine, the lovely and gracious, the most beautiful.

She has just been a gigantic pillar of strength by virtue of her countenance and her being optimistic, happy, bouncy.

I have been defended. I've been made to look better than I am. My lovely wife Catherine has done so much in that regard. I could not be doing this without Catherine. I have never experienced anybody so selfless. I marvel at her selflessness. I don't know how she does it, Catherine and I.

Well, I know it's true for her too. I've never been happier.

It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside. I'd buy a big house where we both could live. I was a sculptor, but then again, you know, or a man. My gift is my song. This is your son. It may be quite simple, but. I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down. How Wonderful Life is by your hand over. Picked up the muswell. All of us say, well, they've got the meeting, but from.

But the sun's been quite high while I wrote this song. So excuse me, forgetting. You see, I've forgotten if they're green. Those are the sweetest guy I've ever seen. Now that it's done, I hope you don't mind I don't mind what I put down in the. I hope you don't mind, I don't mind. No doubt in the world. I was going to work. That is Catherine and Rush with All Love, their favorite Elton John song, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words how wonderful life is while you're in the world and beyond the world and for all eternity to, I don't know, Bernie Taupin, who wrote that song with Elton too well.

But I know Tim Rice, who's been a dear friend of mine for years and wrote the lyrics to With Elton the songs for The Lion King, Can You Feel the Love Tonight? And Hakuna Matata and all those. And Elton always wants the lyric first. He always wants the words first, which lyricists hate to do because it can all come out tum tum tum tum tum ti.

And what happened in that partnership, both with Tim and Elton and with Bonnie and Elton is what you just heard there, that a guy sat down, wrote some words on paper, and then Elton set them magically in ways that that lyric writer would never have expected.

And that is the favorite song from the Elton and Bernie songbook performed at the wedding for Rush and Katherine. And we played it again.

They're not not just not just for Katherine because she was talking about it earlier, but also for Rush, because the disc jockey in him survived, as we heard on Friday, show the disc jockey in him and the disc jockeys approach to doing radio survived in him all through the years.

And that's one reason why he was a better talk guy than anything than anyone else. Apart from that, as I said, the Rush Limbaugh Show isn't going anywhere. The Excellence in Broadcasting Network isn't going anywhere and Rush's voice isn't going anywhere.

So you need not have any fear of that. This is Markstein in four rush. That's all it's ever been. Markstein in four rush through all these years. It's been the greatest privilege of my life in these United States to guest host for Rush, because this is surely one of the jobs that Americans will do.

And Rush has been very indulgent of a kind of an effete foreigner and letting him anchor this seat.

We're going to hear lots from Rush in the remaining part of today's show. Do stick with us.

The Rush Limbaugh Show on the Excellence in Broadcasting Network. You know, during this last year, as you know, if you read his editorials in the Limbaugh letter, Rush, in a certain sense grew more profound about the things he talked about or grew.

That's not strictly true. He grew more openly profound. Rush was a man of faith, but he wore his faith lightly.

He wasn't a public God Balthrop as as they say in in the Anglican Communion, where I happen to be situated mainly tribally.

But but Rush wore his faith lightly. However, however, once in a while he did explicitly address the question of God and truth in a very profound way.

Micah in Milwaukee, thank you for calling. Micah, how are you?

I'm doing well, Russ. And as a young conservative, I am deeply concerned with the heart and soul of America and Americans. As I see all that's going on and the issues being brought up. I'm concerned that truth needs to be known and be told. And that's the only way this generation, the next generation is going to survive is by knowing the truth. I mean, we've outlawed God. We have taken all these things out of our culture and made unimportant things important.

And truth needs to be known. We need to see this next generation know the truth. And as a bus driver also, I interact with these young people and I'm concerned. There's obviously bright ones out there, but I see that they aren't being taught like they should and they aren't being taught about God. That concerns me. It's not just they're not being taught about I mean, God is being systematically eliminated now to people who might not everybody believes in the same God.

There are a lot of religions that believe in a god. The left actually does not believe in a God much like you and I would their god can be the environment or it can be a concept like gay or whatever.

But the reason for no God on the left is with no God, there's no morality and there's no right or wrong. And anybody else gets to proclaim.

And that's the great source for me of societal dysfunction. It may sound silly, but, you know, one of the primary. Fuel for religion is eternal life that there's more to this than just this, there's more to all of this than just there's more to this than Earth, and nobody will ever have any proof for it. It's faith, trust in God. Everybody comes up with their own ways, plus their religious teachings to try to believe it and have faith in it.

But then you're faced with people who think it's all bunk and they just want to disregard all of it and they want to laugh and make fun of and impugn people who have such beliefs. And with it, they take away morality. They take away the concepts of universal right and wrong. And you talked about truth. They even obliterate that and then they get to replace it with whatever they want, whatever advances, whatever they care about, and at the same time ridiculing and laughing at people who don't believe in the process.

The entire foundation of of culture and society is whittled away. I have the same fear. You do same fear. And I've had it for much longer than you because I'm a little older than you are.

Sure it gets riskier when you talk about truth? Because who gets to define truth? Well, I know our founders, they all believed in God and the Bible and they maybe didn't believe it. No, I did not. Let me see if you can you can find the right leftist and he'll tell you, no, that's a myth. The founding fathers were a bunch of atheists and they didn't believe in God and they didn't care about God.

And so this is taught you know, your version of truth is is going to be countered by somebody else's version of truth. And then the definition of truth becomes something over which people argue, just like facts have become what's what's needed is massive educational exposure to things where people have much more information and input to be able to make up their own minds.

But that's what the left fears. People making up their own minds, people left to their own devices are not going to choose what liberalism forces on people. Rush is absolutely right about that every society needs a transcendent meaning to life, otherwise you just circling around in a hyper present tense, that is that is by definition, shallow.

Why why do men plant trees that they will not live to see grow to their glory? Why in medieval Europe did people start to build the most beautiful buildings, the most beautiful cathedrals to the glory of God, knowing that they would never live to see those buildings completed and to worship in those big buildings?

And Rush is absolutely right there, that if you cease to have faith, there's not a lot left except government and the state.

And it was interesting to me through this last terrible year to hear Rush reflect profoundly and honestly on his faith now by means of contrast and to demonstrate the range.

This was always a feature I loved on The Rush, his list of his ten most favorite ladies names that he used to say from time to time.

And here is a caller taking rush to task over those top ten ladies names.

I want to grab Jeff in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Welcome, sir.

Great to have you on the program, Rush. Thanks for taking my call. Yeah, you bet. I was calling with regards to your top 10 female names. Oh, yeah. Well, I. I've got a lot more than 10, so I was wondering if I could run through it with you real fast.

What? You're claiming that I have more than ten. Yes. Top ten favorite female names. Yeah.

So I have Jenny, Melanie, Janet, Megan, Sarah. Now you could have said Sharon, but Allison, Amy, Morgan, Jennifer, Jenna, Tanisha, Jill, Jane, Nina, Marcia, Kaitlyn, Laurie, Cheryl, Francesca, Ashley, Natalie, Isabella, Lauren, Misti, Alexis and Alyssa. Well, all I can tell you is that when I when I mentioned each one of those names, it was in a list of 10 at the time.

OK. But I was wondering why Laura wasn't on there by who? Laura wasn't on there. I don't know if I've ever had a call from somebody named Laura.

No, OK, because it's a good name and it's a, you know, a great Johnny Mercer song as well.

Yeah, it is a great a lot of a lot of women with the classy women have the name Laura. I mean, it's it's it is tough having a top 10 list of favorite female names. That's true.

So all of this is about the fact that you think I'm discriminating against Laura.

Oh, no, no, no. I just. I just started noticing that there just seemed to be more than 10, so I started writing them down. Did you really did started writing them down? Well, I have some dates if you want the dates. Oh, no, I totally believe you.

I'm not going to deny this. I just some days, you know, I was I was super host. Other days my mind was not totally different. Answer this. Like James Comey was the best of my recollection. I've never been more than 10. Now, some people have said it's more than 10. Might have been.

I can't say for sure, but they're all great names. That's what's important. They are they are lovely. But thanks for everything you do, Rush. We appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you, Jeff. I really, really appreciate that. That's a great open line. Friday call a great breaker of tension.

And it's it was a great open line Friday call. It's like the hit parade. There are names that are just bubbling up to the top ten and then there are names that suddenly mysteriously drop out of the top ten. You will notice the name that wasn't on that list, though, and that is Catherine, because sometimes there are names you want to keep just for yourself.

This is the one and only Rush Limbaugh show on the Excellence in Broadcasting Network, the Rush Limbaugh Show on the Excellence in Broadcasting Network.

Most of today's shows show has been devoted to you and Katherine.

And obviously there were a lot of people who couldn't get through to speak to Katherine. So we want to pick up a couple of them right now.

Before we close it out for today, let's go to Dave in Pittsburgh, where almost half a century ago, Rush was a disc jockey on the radio in that town. Dave, you're on America's number one radio show.

Great to have you with us. Hi, Mark. I just wanted to call and share how I've always felt about Rush Limbaugh. I started listening to his show in 89. I saw his TV show, which I think I had to step up to like two or three o'clock in the morning to watch the show, setting my alarm on going to college to do that. And I listen to the show constantly since the early 90s, late 80s. If somebody were to ask me during, what many years if you had the chance to speak to anyone in the world, anybody, anybody, who would it be?

It wouldn't have been the president of the United States, anybody. It would have been Rush. And, you know, finally, years two years ago, I got the guts to call. I got through and I got to talk to Rush on the air. And that was a moment.

It was an honor that was such a good time to get to talk to Rush after listening to all those years, you know, that say that there's a lesson there day if you feel like that, because you said you started listening, 1889, something like that, and you finally called him. What was that eight years ago? Is that right?

I'm not sure what I think it was more recent than that. I think it might have been in 2016 or so or. No, maybe.

Okay. So so like so basically it took you a quarter of a century to pluck up the courage to dial.

Well, you go to college and I was a national show. And I just think, you know, I don't know if I'm going to get on a national show on Rush Limbaugh. I got so many devoted listeners and millions of people are listening.

Well, you know, Rush would have told you that that's one of the greatest and most basic of all Rush Limbaugh lessons.

When you when there's something you want to do, you don't think of all the obstacles that are in the way to achieving it. You just go for it and do it. So. So thank you for I'm glad I'm seriously glad you finally got through, Dave.

But, you know, you could have you could have called in 1989 and 1990, 1991, and maybe you would have got through that. And that is that is a lesson. One of the core lessons of life that Rush taught is don't think. Don't think. Oh, it's a national show. I'll never get through. I'll be behind Betsy from Press Style Maine and Mabel from Juneau, Alaska. And they're never going to I'm never going to get through.

Just go for it. And that was how Rush lived his life. He went for it and he achieved it. And he wants the same for you, Dave. So. So don't leave it another quarter century next time. OK, Mark, thank you. Thank you so much for that for that call. We, you know, we were joking about that, but it actually is a very good lesson. And Rush taught Rush taught innumerable good lessons over these decades.

The tone. You know, I won't disguise it. The tone changed in the last year, there were there were far too many appearances by US guest hosts. And when Rush was here, as I said, he often had deep and profound thoughts on his mind.

Here is Rush from his last show before Christmas. It would be his last Christmas show. And he was rushed talking about what he has learned over the previous grim 12 months.

Folks, I want to tell you at the outset here, to me, this is a very important program I have very much. And I want to say to all of you today, and I'm feeling very pressured, not pressured, I'm feeling stagefright kind of thing. I so much I want to say and I want to say it correctly. I want to convey my feelings and I want to do it right. I want to do it to the to the best of my ability.

And I have found in circumstances like this that the best thing to do is not to think about it. Don't don't make it more pressure packed than it already is. But it's very important. You all are very important. My family is very important to me. I've had I've had a year now to reflect on the things that really matter a year to reflect on the things that are completely relevant and important to me. And all of you were in that large.

Conglomeration of people and things. That are very important to me. My feelings of thankfulness always surface, my feelings of great gratitude always surface at the Christmas time of year. And it's no different this year now. In January of this year, toward the end of the month. I received a diagnosis, you all know, but there's something I want to say about it. Stage for advanced lung cancer. Terminal diagnosis. The objective of everybody involved was to.

Extend life. For as long as possible, as enjoyably as possible, now, many of you have been through this. Lots of you have been through this as individuals, as families. And you know what that means? Medical treatment that is designed to. Attack the disease. As greatly as possible while maintaining a quality of life that makes it worth it. Some people can't deal with the side effects of chemo or other forms of treatment. Well, back in late January, when I received this diagnosis and I was shocked.

I was stunned and I was in denial for about a week. I mean. I'm Rush Limbaugh, I'm. I'm Mr. Big, the vast right wing conspiracy, I mean, I'm indestructible. If it can't be right. But it was. And what I didn't know. At the time that I learned later in the course of the year. Was that I wasn't expected to be alive today. I wasn't expected to make it to October and then to November and then to December.

And yet. Here I am and today. Got some problems. I'm feeling pretty good today. God's with me today. God knows how important this program is to me today. And I'm feeling natural in terms of energy, normal in terms of energy. And I'm feeling entirely capable of doing it today. I have been blessed, I mentioned to all of you back in the early days sometime, I guess this might have been in February, it was around.

It was, I think, either during or shortly after I had received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. At this year's State of the Union address by President Trump in the House chamber. Well, when I got my diagnosis and when I began to. Receive all of the outpouring of. Love and affection from everywhere in my life, from from so many of you. In so many ways and and from my family who. And they have supported me my entire career even.

During times, it would have been understandable and easy for them to say, Rush, who we don't know this guy, but that never happened. I mean, I've been totally supported by virtually everybody in my family. I've been propped up. I have been defended. I've been made to look better than I am. My. My lovely wife, Catherine, has done so much in that regard. She has done so much with Rush Limbaugh, Dotcom and with the.

Charitable efforts that we have engaged in and all of it has been to my benefit, all of it has been for the. And yours, it's the benefit of people who are the recipients of our efforts. So many people have put me first. In all of this, I understand now. What Lou Gehrig meant, because I certainly feel like that I feel extremely fortunate and lucky. And because I have outlived the diagnosis, I've been able to receive and hear and process some of the most.

Wonderful, nice things about me that. I might not have ever heard. And I've I've gotten sick. Again, think how many people. Who passed away, never hear the eulogies, never hear the. The thank you is. I've been very lucky folks, and I can't tell you how many how many ways. My point in everything today that I share with you about this is to say thanks and to. Tell everybody involved how much I love you from the bottom of my sizable and growing and still beating heart.

And there's room for for much more. All because. I have I've learned what love really is during this. You know, I have a philosophy there's good that happens in everything. It may not reveal itself immediately and even in the most dire circumstances, if you just wait. You just remain open to things the good in it. Will reveal itself, and that has happened to me as well. In countless, countless ways. You know, I mentioned Catherine, don't misunderstand, she's done much more than.

Just redesign Web site in the. And Shepherd, the Rush Limbaugh NORCOM store, she shepherded the charitable efforts to Betsy Ross stand up for Betsy Ross. That amount of money we generated for the Tunnel to Towers organization just. Incredible stuff, and it was all done for me. Well, and the beneficiaries that it was all done for me, all of this was done. For me, so many people have done things this year for me. And it's I know it's not embarrassing, it's just gratifying and it has helped me to see.

So much so clearly not the goodness of people. And their and their decency, and it's confirmed so much of my instinctive beliefs about people. Thank you so much for being with us today and and thank you for for being part of this audience for 30 years, 30 to whatever it is.

It's just mind boggling.

The Rush Limbaugh Show on the Excellence in Broadcasting Network. Let's go to John in Sinora, California, possibly Sanora, California. John, great to have you. Great to have you with us. I think I was forages in the air on that pronunciation. What's on your mind today, John?

Well, excuse me, Mark. From my bride and my bride and me, we love you dearly. Linda really got me going on you. And you're incredible. And there's nobody better than you with your Whitney humor, your.

Oh, well, let's let's all get into it. Let's not get into that, Joan. I'm honored to be. It's such a great it's such a great privilege.

You have sat in for us through all these through all these years from from the from my bride and me. Linda, our deepest and sincerest condolences to Catherine.

America has lost a huge chunk of her heart, but yet he is still with us and he will be eternally Russia.

He said that he has talent on loan from God and there has to be a little correction there. That talent that he has, Heavenly Father, has blessed him with that eternally. He will always have it. In 1993, August, I had a single coronary bypass and our daughter, Tanya Lynne called me and said, Poppa, you got to turn the radio on and listen to Rush Limbaugh. He is incredible. You and he think exactly alike. And I did.

And we've listened to him ever since. He was an incredible man. He has given so much to this nation. And I feel so honored to have to have known who he is. He and Clarence Thomas are my two big heroes, incredible men.

Thank you. Thank you very much for that, John. That is the last word. We couldn't put it any better than that incredible and that brilliant knack that millions of people found.

Suddenly there's someone on the radio talkin exactly like I think, as nobody has done for all the decades before.

Thank you for that, John. We'll close to that in just a moment.

That is it for the first show of the 1710 second week of The Rush Limbaugh Show. That's my rough mental arithmetic. Thank you, as always, to the best team in radio, to Mr. Snidely, to Craig and Bryan in Palm Beach, to Ali and Mike in New York. And I would also like to thank our late friend, Kit Carson, who was Russia's chief of staff for decades and helped nursemaid me through my first eight or nine years behind the Golden EIB microphone.

And probably not enough time at that, I think, especially Katherine, for today's show. She was so brave and generous with her time and she is planning a virtual rush memorial that we will bring you more news of right here. And above all, I want to thank Rush, who will be heard tomorrow and Wednesday and Thursday and through all the days the Excellence in Broadcasting Network goes on.

Do not miss tomorrow's Rush Limbaugh Show.