Happy Birthday To Me, Kayden Gordon, I am 18! WOW! What the heck! Life goes on.. I’ve been through so much, and I feel this is the right time to do so..

 

Typically, John Graham, my producer, would go out and get recordings and surprise me, but this year is different, it’s special.. I wanted to pull the ropes on this year because I wanted to share my story and thank every single person who has been on this journey with me.. 

 

I spent since August piecing the puzzles together and have finally got my masterpiece, I’m ready to share it.

Before we get started, I want to see how many can wish me a happy birthday! So.. ALL MY FANS, FAMILY FRIENDS, TEACHERS, PROFESSORS and more, wish me a happy birthday! Let’s see how many people we can get to say Happy Birthday!! 

 

Finally, I’ve been asked - how can we give you a gift for all the hard work you do and especially because it’s my birthday. Well.. I wanna continue to promote the donation link because then you can give me your own little gift and a little cash don’t hurt, but don’t feel like you have too, a birthday greeting is ENOUGH! However, I would appreciate any gifts sent for me to the business account to be able to pay bills and maybe get myself something nice too, lol. I don’t tend to get myself anything nice it mainly goes to radio expenses lol

 

GO TO https://thekaydengordonshow.com/donate

 

PAYPAL: https://paypal.me/radioforacause

 

VENMO: https://venmo.com/radiocause 

 

Thank you for everything and enjoy the speech!

 

Intro:

 

Just a note: this speech will make me cry and you cry. Grab tissues immediately. Thank you.

 

I have been perfecting this speech for quite some time, since August of 2022, I know right? WOW. 

 

Part 1: Mom & Dad

 

Today, 02/07/2023 marks the year I turned 18 years old, WOW! What a crazy ride I’ve had! It all started back in 2005 (haha get it!! Seriously. It did. Couldn’t have gone any further.. LOL) , It was the year I was born by my amazing, crazy, funny, creative mother Ms. Stacey Marie Wilson and my adventurous, crazy, wacky father Mr. Allan Gordon..  If I had to describe my mother in more detail, I can come up with a million ways to do that.. My mother has been by my side since day 1, got me the support I needed at such a young age, and did everything to make sure I have a fantastic childhood. I’m very grateful for her and that is because she has never given up on me, she always has done everything in her power to get me everything I need, and I love her to pieces.. Seriously MOM THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING I KNOW I WASN'T AN EASY CHILD!!!! For my dad, he’s very outgoing and has his own way of looking at life, which that’s ok - I love him as well, but sometimes we don’t connect well, but I’m happy to call him my dad. 

 

Part 2: Mom & Dad’s Fiance’s & Grandparents

 

I would also like to mention my mom’s fiancé Patrick Sullivan, who has been there with my mother and the family for years now. I can’t remember how long, but he’s always making sure things are running properly around the home. Likewise, with my dad’s fiance Anna Bacigalupo who is VERY adventurous, sweet and caring.. Also a huge shoutout to my grandparents Lori Martin and Corey Wilson, one of the best people on the planet, they’ve been very close to me, they know how to cheer me up and I love them to pieces. My grandmother has also gone above and beyond for me, knowing that I had her to call anytime when something 

 

Part 3: Childhood

 

 I wanna take a moment to talk about my past history that some know but some don’t know in honor of remembering many moments throughout my childhood. At the age of 3, I was diagnosed with Autism. That didn’t change the dynamic of our relationship between my mother and I. She did what needed to be done, which was ABA and many other services to ensure that I can overcome the obstacles that were thrown in my life.

 

 At one point in my childhood, times were rough.. I just wasn’t me.. Inside, I knew that wasn’t how “younger Kayden” should have looked.. “Younger Kayden” was very smart and when I say smart, I was SMART.. Age 6 - knew how to search the web Age 8 - knew how to make an email Age 10 - tried publishing a book.. Yea, that last one might shock you.. 

 

I opened an email in 2012, (I have access to it to this day) and very quickly learned the ropes of how the email works. On top of that I created a very silly YouTube Channel called “Signt Anget World” meant to protect the “real” secret agency I “ran” called Secret Agent’s World, weird, am I right? 

 

Looking back, THAT was the real Kayden. The real Kayden wasn’t meant to be mean to people. I KNEW something wasn’t right.. In my younger years, I was always creative by having lemonade stands with my brother, doing tag sales, and even helping my dad out with numerous projects in those years. As the years came and went, it was time. 

 

Part 4: Taking On Challenges 

 

Time to make some changes that will impact the rest of my life. I went through hell times in my life, I can admit that.. My mood swings would go from happy to mean and thanks to incredible mental health counselors who have been with me since day one helped me to shape who I have become.. You’ll see what I’m getting at soon..

 

Part 5: Therapy

 

One of them being my therapist for the last 5 years Merra, Merra had her own way of doing things and she was very different from all of the therapists I’ve had, especially to Ivy who took over back in 2021 when Merra left.

 

 Ivy knew how to welcome someone, (even if it was over Zoom) she was very sweet, kind, very low-key and very easy to talk with. After Ivy went through some health issues, sadly she had to take a break and it was really sad news. I'm not too sure what happened afterwards because she never came back, my hope is that too this day she is doing okay and staying healthy. 

 

As the temporary therapist, Heather came in, she was awesome. I really liked Heather… she had a very laid back personality as well as she was still on an “internship” to become a therapist. Furthermore, to this day, I was assigned with Morgana and she’s amazing. I’m very happy with having her to support me through challenging times. Morgana was with me for the past couple of months, and then for some reason she has disappeared into thin air, with no word if she plans on coming back. Another temporary therapist came to the rescue, no surprise there and had the chance to work with Christina for a few weeks before she went into labor. 3 weeks later, Diane came to the rescue, not only did she absolutely amaze me with her skills and knowledge but she offered to mail some resources to me! What an amazing and sweet thought!  News finally came back and Morgana is finally coming back after 3 months of being out, so when I am done with Diane, I go back to Morgana which is exciting.

 

Part 6: John Graham - My True Bestie

 

 To this day, I couldn’t be happier, particularly with COVID-19. While that was a hardship for so many and it did have a hard time with me in 2020, I used the time to develop my show, my online presence. As 2020 went on, I’ve met some incredible people, one of them being my loyal, funny, amazing producer Mr. John Graham.

 

Part 7: Current Plans

 

 John also has autism and was also diagnosed at a young age. Together, we were able to create a business that unites together. In the next month, we will be announcing a new company John & I have been developing for the past few years. For those of you wondering? Where is Radio for a Cause gonna go.. Well, John and I have had multiple discussions about that and we are planning on keeping Radio for a Cause, however, this will be a brand new separate company still thriving in the mission of helping people with disabilities who wanna get in the media industry, on the side, our new company will specialize in promotions, with me, Kayden Gordon, being the Director of Promotions at this new company   and making our own NEW company. Name KJG Media & Promotions. BTW, we did a soft opening and started to make some changes!!! So exciting!! We got a logo, we got an email, life is GOOD! 

 

Part 8: Why I Love John 

 

I look at this as a blessing from God. My bestest friend and tech guy always saves me when there’s a tech issue or not quite sure what is going on and in panic mode whether it be about the business or personal life, he’s always there to support me.. I consider John a HUGE factor of my “work family” the #1 of the bunch, the one who knows to put me in a funny mood from being in an angry mood. Not only family, but he is a friend I will have those business arguments with. We sometimes don’t see eye-to-eye on things, but at the end of the day, he has a huge part of my success and I would like to thank him from the bottom of my heart for sticking with me and helping me out and seeing potential in me. 

 

Part 9: Sharon Pinkston 

 

This past November of 2021, I had the pleasure of meeting one of the most caring, and supportive artists.. I would like to give a HUGE thank you and gratitude to Ms. Sharon Pinkston aka Kentucky Banchee.. Sharon not only knows how to put a good song together, but she also has a heart. She always is on the lookout for me and I consider her to be one of my first promotional clients and her goal is to be apart of a record label. We’re gonna make that happen. I know it. Sharon also has another piece in my heart and I love working with her so much! 

 

She is always ready to help me whenever I need it, even though she is very non-techy, so she can’t help me with that. We talk almost daily, we have our laughs and our down days, she truly is one of the best.. 

 

Part 10: Writing Songs

 

I would also like to show my gratitude to my amazing co-writer on “Night Out” Ms. Annemarie Picerno. Annemarie was willing to teach me the ropes on how to write an amazing song. I had the idea, pitched it and she made it GREAT with legendary producer Bob McGilpin so thank you both for this incredible opportunity. I am also very happy that the song is considered for a Grammy so that was fantastic and great to hear! Recently, my song “Focused” with new-comer Nuvocoke to the industry is a good up-beat country-rock tune that just came out last week! In the coming months, estimating in June of 2023, I will be working with another new artist Danny With The Daylight, on my next song coming soon. 

 

Part 11: John Krondes 

 

Also a HUGE shoutout to Mr. John Krondes, who has been very respectfully, professional, and just a great guy overall to know as well as Mr. Noble Love - Noble is simply just the best guy you can ever work with. 

 

John is ready any day, any night of the week. I commend him for staying up at 2am most mornings, god I don’t know if i could do that. No one should talk to me the next day if I absolutely need to, I’m just saying….. Guess what, folks! I did it! Well.. not really, 1am is the longest.. Then, I was off to bed.. On 8/24/2022.. NOTED!! 

 

Part 12: Current Plans Cont. 

 

Huge shoutout to Don Gosselin from Big Machine Label Group for getting us Thomas Rhett tickets which I am so pumped about!! June 10th 2023 let’s go!! 

 

I would also like to thank Input Fort Wayne (Kara Hackett) Unicorn Jazz (Lisa Caperlli) , NECN (Avalon Greene & Sam Parker) WHDH (Stephanie Couto) , WLVI (Siobhan O’Sullivan) , Nashville Country Music Magazine (Dan Knight and Melissa Morgan) (Autumn Osborne from EIN Newswire) for all the press you have helped me get over these past years in the industry, and I am forever grateful for all you generosity and willing to feature me in your media organizations. 

 

I love my job so much. I wouldn’t hand the job off in a million years. Talking to celebrities, indie artists, promoting artists, DJing on the BEST stations EVER, writing music, (my first one hitting the Grammy nominees), and by the way, the independent music family is just incredible when we have leaders like Linda Marks representing ISSA for the Boston/New England area, and  we have Jay Dellasola, the man of country music and raising money for those who have cancer, and myself one of the New England leaders of country music and all over the world.
 

I love doing “The Kayden Gordon Show, Today’s Best Country Mix” and just as a note, we’re over 150+ stations now! Never in a million years I would expect to be on that many stations. I also am honored to be DJing on Static X Radio Reloaded, thank you to George Reynolds, Lynsday Reynolds and Carl Ward for still keeping me around, I love being apart of the Static family. 

 

Part 13: Promoting Artists

 

From a promotional standpoint,I would like to give a  HUGE thanks to Angela Easley, Linda Marks, Amy Jack, John Krondes, Lauren Glick, Abby Grace, Wayward Transmissions, Kentucky Banchee, CaptC, Jordana Bryant, Kimberly Ward, Ariana Molkara, Michael Botte, Richie Mullins, Ron Mallow, Will Ludford, The Hammond Brothers, Kristi Kalyn and Chuck Hancock, Richard Michael Hancock, Patrick Campbell, Marshall McLuhan, John David Daily, Jessy Howe, Frank Trousdell, Frankie Carvalho, Beth Holli, Dave Nudo, Jenny Spear, Andrew Wooten, Jeff Malloy, Caruso, Aaron Bozwell, Mick J Clark, Todd Barrow, Jason Carruthers, Monique Sherrell Brown, Emma Davis, James Hawkins, Amy Di Bartolomeo, Johny Nashville, Patti Dixon, Sheila and The Caddo Kats, Dawn Rix, Cassidy-Rae, Tofte Family, Nuvocoke, The Wong Quadruplets, Robert Abernathy, Jorie Blake Rosen, Danielle Wooten, Monk Owens, Sonny Morgan, and finally Tenderhooks for allowing me to honor radio stations with the beautiful, soothing, rocking, funny, smart, musicians that produce well-done tunes, as well with managing projects for you such as booking interviews, giving me the privilege to interview you and play your music. It is truly an honor. 

 

Part 14: Education

 

I would also like to personally thank the teachers I’ve had from DAY ONE 

 

Ran out of room to give everyone a long message so I’ll shout out everyone as well on the show!

 

Murdock High:

 

Ms. Caitlin Smith - Ms. Smith has been in my life for 4 years now, since 2019, and I cannot tell you how freaking grateful I am for this woman, and how much respect I have for her.. Back then, I had the opportunity to meet the teacher who was gonna work with me for two years or so, and it was so long ago I can’t remember her name, but we worked together for a while during the summer one year, and I found out probably a week before school started (mind you my freshman year of high school) so I was a bit nervous going in not knowing anything about anyone now, but I happened to be introduced to her and at first I was anxious, but she did incredible with me and the 4 other students who was in the classroom at the time, she made everything feel so painless, and relaxed. She has gone above and beyond as the special education teacher for freshman year to welcome freshman with a less frightening experience, and particular during the COVID-19 pandemic, I remember her going out of her way to make Zoom meetings happen (again, out of school hours) to help myself and students thrive in their education. During the last two years, I have not had her classes as I moved up to all inclusion classes, however, with the bond we made freshman and sophomore year, we could not stop checking in. Last year, she was hired to be Special Education Coordinator for Murdock High School, making it difficult to see her very often, which leads us to this year which she is not Assistant Director of Special Education for Winchendon Public Schools, which makes this year an extreme busy year for her having to be at meetings in all four schools in the district, and manage so much on her plate. This brings me to the reason on why I am so proud, she keeps her chin up, and keeps on rocking the day, no matter what gets thrown her way, likewise with my next two people I wanna shout out Ms. Jessie Fitzmaurice and Mrs. Nicole Heroux, I’ve witnessed it first hand as being an intern in their office, I’ve witnessed how hard of a job it is for all three of them, and I’m very happy to make a huge shout out and my own little award for Ms. Caitlin Smith as Best Support System Of The Year Award! 

 

 Ms. Wanda Skelley-Haney Ms. Katie Berthiaume, Mr. Casey McNally, Ms. Stephanie Rondeau, Mr. Hunter Foster, Ms. Heidi Bevaquca, Ms. Rachael Weinhold, Mr. Douglas Sochovka, Ms. Melissa Becotte, Mrs. Mary Jane Rickson, 

 

Worcester State:

 

Dr. Charles Brownlee, Dr. Jennifer Avery, Dr. Cara Powers, Dr. Jason Hardin, Dr. Ashley Chagnon