INTERVIEW: Tessa Spencer Opens Up On Losing Her Son To Suicide & Talks Save Our Sons & Daughters SC + More

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Hold up, every day I wake up, wake yo ass up, The Breakfast Club. You want to finish or y'all done?

DJ Envy (0:08)

Morning, everybody, it's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha God, we are The Breakfast Club. Lauren LaRosa is here as well. We got a special guest in the building. Yes, indeed. We have Tessa Spencer. Welcome.

Tessa Spencer (0:19)

Thank you so much.

DJ Envy (0:20)

Good morning, Tessa.

Charlamagne Tha God (0:21)

If you're listening on Z93 Jams in Charleston right now, you're like, Tessa Spencer.

DJ Envy (0:26)

Okay.

Charlamagne Tha God (0:27)

Tessa, man, Tessa is, she's always been an inspiration to me. She did the morning show in Charleston, South Carolina when I first started in radio. Okay. And it was called The Breakfast Club with Baby J.

DJ Envy (0:39)

Oh, really? You know?

Charlamagne Tha God (0:39)

Yes, yes, yes. And Tessa, I talked about it in my first book.

Tessa was the first person who, she called into the hotline one day to tell me about a traffic accident, but she was like, Charlamagne, you sound good on the radio. And I was like, thank you. And she was like, you sound really good, like a natural. And that put a battery in my back that has carried me a very long way. So thank you, Tessa.

Tessa Spencer (1:00)

And you surprised me with that when you did the book tour and you sent me a copy of the book because I was going to host it in Charleston. And I was reading. When I got to that page, I started crying, I cried because that, you never know what you say to somebody and that sticks with them. And the fact that you remembered that, just like, no he didn't. And I appreciate you remembering that. And look at you now.

Charlamagne Tha God (1:29)

And that's one of the reasons I do it to other people, because I remember how much that inspired me. And that was 1999

Tessa Spencer (1:38)

1999, man, that was before Julian was born, because Julian was born in 2000 So that's a long time because I had just gotten back to Charleston from Nashville. So I was doing radio in Nashville then.

Charlamagne Tha God (1:49)

And I also heard you say once that hearing people's testimonies and understanding how God has worked in their lives is part of your purpose. So that's another reason I wanted you here this morning, because I want people to hear your testimony this morning.

Tessa Spencer (2:01)

Man, Charlamagne, it's, I've had so many.

But, and to save all of the back backstory because of how strong my faith is now is what has carried me over the past year since losing Julian. And everything that's written in the Bible, everything that God says that he is and can do, I witnessed that and I felt that. And he's carried me every step of the way, even in the midst of the grief that our family has been going through.

DJ Envy (2:34)

Now break down the story a little bit, because you mentioned Julian a couple times. And I don't know if people know who Julian is and what the story is. Julian is your son?

Tessa Spencer (2:40)

Julian is my son.

And I still talk about him in the present because I don't want to... Okay, if I cry, just bear with me.

DJ Envy (2:48)

We'll give you a tissue right now, Brandon. Brandon, go give a tissue. We'll cry with you now. We'll cry with you.

Tessa Spencer (2:53)

And Julian is my baby boy.

And he was always a very special child.

He told me, I was just sharing with my team, that he even told me that he remembered being born. That, I mean, I don't put anything past anybody or what their experience is, but I always knew that Julian was special. Where I would be getting ready to go, Charlamagne, going to a remote, I would be putting on my makeup and I had him in the baby carrier. And I just looked at him, I would just look at him, and he was like not even a year old. He was maybe five, six months old. And I said, there's something about you. And I said, who are you? And I would always just look at him and wonder, because I knew that maternal instinct maybe, that my child was different. And he was here for whatever purpose it was. And when he was six years old, and he would, whenever he, before he would say anything profound, he would always start with mama. And I would always answer, yes, Julian. Because I knew something was coming after that. And he said, mama, I said yes, Julian, because I was in his closet, you know, cleaning up. And he said, I want to go back to where God is. He said this at six, about six years old. And I got quiet for a minute. And I was like, hmm. I said, I don't think I'm ready for you to do that just yet. He said, no, no, no, mama, not to stay, just to visit. So I'm like, where, where's this coming from? Where's this knowledge coming from? We were in the line at a Zaxby's one time. He was in the back seat in the car seat. Mama, yes, Julian. He said, you know what I think? I said, what do you think, Julian? He said, I think God has this big book and he's reading about us.