tony reali-around the horn

Tony Reali returned to Around the Horn on Monday, weeks after he and his wife lost one of their twin boys and welcomed the other into the world. And when panelist Israel Gutierrez “won” the show to earn his “Face Time,” he gave his 30 seconds to Reali, who used the time to discuss the simultaneous joy and trauma he had experienced, while also speaking out against “children in cages,” an allusion to the United States’ border policy that has separated newly-arriving kids from their parents.

Below is emotionally charged full clip along with the full transcript via FTW.

“The notes and the condolences my wife, Samiya, and I have received have gone right into our soul, and I wanted to say that. Talking about the duality of losing a child near childbirth and then delivering another healthy one is impossible. I was talking about this yesterday on Twitter. How can you ever be whole again? Parents have had to go through this before. I’m going through this now.

“And I spent time pledging that it’s OK not to be OK. And for me, the recognition that I’ve come to is that life can be out of our control. And that’s OK. It’s how we respond and what we do — that’s what we have control over. So, here’s where I am today. Grief is part of humanity. Grief is proof of humanity. Parents dealing with loss or anybody dealing with loss, meet yourself where you are. Give voice to your feelings. Young men, young women watching, this can be how you grieve. Don’t bury your heart — keep it on the outside and look to other people. Because humanity can lift us. That has been my experience.

“But I need to say this now. More duality, if I’m brutally honest. Today my thoughts are with children in cages. That’s parents experiencing loss too. Humanity needs to be better. Amadeo, I’ll love you forever. You’re named for God’s love. May we all be craving it. May we all be giving it to each other. May we all be compassionate enough to give it to all.”

This was not the first Reali had said publicly about his situation. On Sunday, in honor of Father’s Day, the longtime ESPN host offered similar thoughts in a touching series of tweets.

Here’s wishing the best to Reali, his wife and his entire family.

[Around The Horn on Twitter]

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.