Episode 37| Tales of…Semper Fi

Hey! Hi! It’s me MommaQueue. I welcome you to Moments in Queue. 

In Queue Today: Hi Why and Tales of… 

My father dropped some gems like his name was Spyro. Remember that game? Walk with me down memory lane as my father talk about country living,  sharecropping, and military. Ooooorah!

PS Yes the Marines are the Department of the Navy. Fun fact eh!?

Chapters

• 0:34 Interviewing Dad
• 5:15 Religious Upbringing and Childhood Memories
• 13:55 High School Presidency and Marine Life
• 25:34 Marriage, Children, and Regrets
• 29:41 Teaching and the Love of Driving
• 37:34 Complex Family Dynamic

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:35

M-O-W-M-A-Q-W-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E. That's my name. Mama Q. M-o-w-m-a-q-w-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e. That's my name. Mama Q, say it faster or slow, don't really matter, though the U-E gets a minute. Tongue tizzy. Yo, hey, kinda dizzy bro. Who is she? Mama Q? Mama gave birth little waste, no girth 60 years ago. No, I don't want.

Speaker 1: 1:02

Mo Q is a line and I tried to align this double end. Tundra petty, haha, it's one of my mantras. Mama Q, I'm the first one in and the first one out. Memphis, tend to Key is my whereabouts. Don't complain.

Speaker 1: 1:15

Main saying stick it to one topic. I reply your mind is very myopic with Mama Q. You need better optis. Picking and choosing to copy me. Are you inspired? Definitely. No need to whisper gracefully. I like it better off key. Now let's see. Do you remember me? M-o-w-m-a-q-w-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e. That's my name. Mama Q. M-o-w-m-a-q-w-e-e-e-e-e. That's my name. Mama Q. Hey, hi, it's me, mama Q. I welcome you to Moments in Q. In Q Today. Hawaii in Tales of Dot Dot Dot, hawaii. I give you the green of the day and I'm explaining the why of this episode. Fall will be here Saturday in some parts of the USA, definitely not in Memphis, tend to Key. It's still in the 80s. Maybe fall will arrive in October. We shall see.

Speaker 1: 2:21

I interviewed my father, which actually worked out to premiere this episode today, didn't have to wait too long to drop it. The interview was short in comparison to my other interviews. They say three times the charm, so I feel like this was my best interview to date. Mind you, like I said, it's only been three and I didn't have to break the interview apart. Yay me. My father and I talked about life for him as a quote unquote country bumpkin in the 1960s, his love life, marine life, simplified and he offered words of wisdom. I really enjoyed hearing my father relax, if only for a moment, talk about his emotions. Oora Tales of Dot Dot Dot.

Speaker 1: 3:04

I initially came up with tales of men and me from talking about men and me on my social media posts. That kid truly said, and still do say, some of the damnedest things. It made others and I shake our heads or laugh. I decided to call my interviews tales as well. During these interviews, I would ask people to share their lives and thoughts on who do, of course, and whatever else they're into. People perk up when you ask them about their hobbies. Do you remember the 21st night of September? Love was changed the mind of pretenders while chasing the clouds away. That was Earth, wind and Fire. September, because it's September 21st. Alright, anyway, I bet you are shiver with antisa-p-p-p-patient. So cue the germ roll cause. This interview is a real hit. Hey, hi, it's me, mama Cue. I have my dad here and we're gonna do an interview with him. Say hi, dad.

Speaker 2: 4:12

Hey hey, what's going on? I'm livin' in color, we're on that rolling color, but I'm loud.

Speaker 1: 4:20

Oh gosh, this is gonna be so fun. Okay, so we're gonna start the interview. As I have probably mentioned before, my dad was born in the 60s, like my uncle which, sidebar, we're not gonna talk about this but they knew each other and that's how I came into the world, anyway, but we're gonna hear his point of view of what he remember being a child in the 60s from a small town, but not the type of small town that all Dean talked about. Alright, so, dad, whenever I start my interview, I do an icebreaker and again, I understand that you don't practice what I practice, and that's absolutely fine, but I would like for you to talk about a time where you can't make this stuff up, and what I mean by that is a time where it was like, undeniably, that you just knew that there was a higher being that existed. Does that make sense? Alright, angle.

Speaker 2: 5:15

I think it probably happened in my early teens, somewhere between 10 and 12 years old. I was attending a church of God in Christ, and so my uncle he's no longer with us, but he wasn't really my, I don't know what relationship it was, but he was always called my uncle and he would just come and pick up me and my two younger siblings and would take us to the church of Christ every Sunday. And my parent, my mother shh God rest her soul too. She went to the Baptist church, but I got baptized probably when I was 12 years old and hadn't attended that church for a couple of years. I kind of began to feel like there was a greater being, and so I got baptized in church of christ and that was my practicing up for my young years, teens to 20s and 30s, and then later on, different congregation, but still christian.

Speaker 1: 6:09

Okay, cool, thank you for that. Okay. So another iceberg I like to do is, when you think of the word who do, what does that mean to you? You can say whatever, it's okay.

Speaker 2: 6:21

Unfortunately. The first thing, because my mind's voodoo I don't, because it rhymes, so it's not in personal, it's just voodoo. So I'm guessing it's a type of religion that I'm not that familiar with, but I'm sure it's a religion that deals with something of a greater being in connection to other people in the past and yeah, in the past.

Speaker 1: 6:41

Okay, so like, but okay, which, that's fine, that's a fine answer. So growing up my grandparents they didn't mention anything about who do or anything like maybe old wives tales or anything of that nature.

Speaker 2: 6:55

I think we had some practices, though that I could probably consider old wives tale. I can remember us putting an egg above the door. I remember that. I remember them saying that a man had to come to your house on January, the first for it to be a good year, and what other things we practice. Those are two most common ones, I remember.

Speaker 1: 7:19

Okay, cool. Yeah, it's not a wrong answer. Who do and voodoo are two separate things. Who do is a spirituality, although some people do consider it a religion, and the main tenet of that is venerating ancestors. And I do venerate your parents, which are my grandparents, so I have a picture of both of them on the altar. Which fun fact.

Speaker 1: 7:43

I don't know, it makes me laugh. I don't know if it'll make you laugh or whatever, but every time when I do the altar I'll shuffle up the pictures or whatever. And in the beginning I would say like it seemed like my grandparents didn't want to be on the altar together because they would always be on opposite sides. But now I'm laughing because maybe they're cool with each other now because sometimes they don't mind their pictures being next to each other. So I thought that was funny. But yeah, when it comes to who do, like I said, is mostly ancestral veneration and when it comes to voodoo, the correct pronunciation is voodoo and that deals with more of a religious portion of it. And I don't. I don't practice that, but because we're in the south, I always like to ask that question to see what kind of. What kind of old white quote, unquote old wives, tales and saints and rituals, if any, that existed growing up.

Speaker 2: 8:40

So yeah, the other thing I just thought about was you know, if they swept your feet, it means you don't get married, or something like that. So I remember that too, and I think that's one of the ones I can recall right now.

Speaker 1: 8:52

Okay, that's fine, okay. So, like I've said, you are a 60s baby and you grew up in the country. I know, and when we're recording this, my birthday is tomorrow. So I know turning 40, so I know dad feels extra old, but growing up in the 60s, what was it like growing up during that time that you can remember?

Speaker 2: 9:15

I think the most memorable part about it was as a you know, young single digit kid. My father was what we call a sharecropper, so he shared a crop with a lady Miss I forgot her name. I used to know her name but I forgot her name. So she lived about a quarter mile down the street from us and I guess she owned the property and we would sharecropp it and you know, it was probably 10 of us in a one, two, three, four room house. So you walked into the house, that was the front room. That's where my mother and dad slept in their bed, then to the right, the boys it was six of us. We slept in that room with two beds and these three boards in each bed, and then in the back, to the left, was the kitchen and then to the right, my sister's their room. It was four of them, so they, I guess, two to a bed, and so it was quite a bit, but I, even though we were, you know, obviously we were poor, but it didn't feel like we were poor. You know, I never really went to bed hungry or nothing like that, and we farmed the crop.

Speaker 2: 10:17

I mean, I remember gardens, we had gardens and I remember as a younger, I guess in the 70s chopping cotton, picking cotton um what else do we do? Picking strawberries, chopping strawberries and all that kind of manual field labor. So I do remember all that and we had two mules. As a matter of fact, I remember one time my brother I think it was like five of us was on on the wagon and the mules hit a ditch and they startled them. They took off running so everybody else jumped off except my younger brother. He stayed on it and he rode it over to the barn and my older brother, who was was controlling the mules. He ended up getting injured very seriously. I mean, of course he survived, but he got a big cut on his chest.

Speaker 1: 11:01

So that was kind of traumatic wow, okay, so um with the share cropping. Um. Was the lady white or she was black, or yeah, the lady who owned the property.

Speaker 2: 11:12

Obviously she was white okay huh, her name is on the tip of my tongue but I can't remember her name. But she would, uh, I don't remember. I didn't have a lot of deals with her. I can remember when I was probably eight, nine years old, going to her house and having to cut some, some beans, peas or something like that peel some beans for her, and she paid me. I don't know how much. She paid me a little bit, and the guy who was there was another guy, grew up with me, he was right down the street from us and so he came over and helped me out. So he got part of the pay and when I got home there was saying you supposed to do it by yourself. That way you get all the money. But you know, seven, eight years old, I didn't. It didn't bother me.

Speaker 1: 11:49

Okay, now I'm in elementary. If you, if you can remember back that far, was it segregated in elementary?

Speaker 2: 11:57

Actually in elementary school, my first to third grade it was Integrated, so I can. I can remember the action, specifically remember the third grade where the lady would call the role and I think lunch was like a dime or quarter I think was a dime. And of course now as an adult and I'm a teacher I know that we had free lunch but for some reason she always called the role and asked With the pet nickel or dime. And I can remember one day I had a nickel, I had a dime, and she called my name and actually paid the dime. I kind of felt good about it. But in retrospect I can see how she was. She was being wrong about that because you should not have Done that, because I was a little kid and and we were on free lunch anyway, so but that was kind of a little kind of pressure that she put on us for us to pay for our own meal, I guess.

Speaker 1: 12:45

Okay and um oh Well, no, I was in wait, that part was so it was integrated, so you never dealt with.

Speaker 2: 12:54

No, I was never in a segregated school.

Speaker 2: 12:57

Okay now I will admit that when I was in the from fourth to the eighth grade, our school was predominantly black Mm-hmm, but it wasn't that was segregated, I guess it just other white people just didn't attend the school. But the high school at that time that my brother, my oldest brother, attended and of course he's no longer with us either but his was segregated up until, I'm thinking, the 71 or 72, so I was about eight or nine years old and they finally segregated the high school where everybody attended the same high school, and then a lot of the white students went to the private school. Some some of them of course stayed at the segregated high school, but the other ones went to a private school.

Speaker 1: 13:36

Okay, cool, okay. So, as we're going up, okay, now we're gonna get to maybe high school and or college. How was that for you? Because I do know when eventually you got to college. You were in Memphis state at that time. But if you want to, you can talk about high school. Then we'll go to college.

Speaker 2: 13:56

Yeah, yeah, high school it was kind of this is the way they did it. So they would rotate the president of the class. So now, freshman year, the president was white, sophomore black, junior white and my junior actually yeah, junior it was black and then senior was white. So they rotated the Presidency because we voted on it. I think it was more blacks and white. So by rotating it allows the white people to get selected. And then for our cheerleaders they would update. The football players and basketball players voted on the cheerleaders, but they did the same thing there too, they it was even like maybe there was 12 or 14. So we're half black and half white. They didn't, they didn't allow it to be one way or the other. So that was kind of the controls they put in, I guess to get the white students some equality, because Majority of schools black and I would imagine if players voted that would vote majority black. So they kind of kept it segregated, not segregated, but they gave each person each raised equal number of representation.

Speaker 1: 15:00

Okay, okay. So how was it going to, from going to the country, as we call it, to the quote-unquote big city of Memphis, tennessee? How was that?

Speaker 2: 15:14

Okay, yeah, well, when I went to Memphis it was, it was, I guess it was a little different, but it's not felt felt like a small town. I had my little bicycle so I would ride it around and I had a car, also In in college as well, so I didn't, I just felt like a regular student. There were some kids that were there from my high school, so I felt comfortable there. Plus, my older brother was there as well, so it just felt. You know, I was just in school.

Speaker 1: 15:43

Okay, so it wasn't like a culture shock or whatnot.

Speaker 2: 15:46

You know they really not to not ever call, because I was also the same time I was a Marine reservist, so I was used to being around bunch of people and it didn't, it didn't? It just felt like school.

Speaker 1: 15:58

Okay. Okay, so you mentioned being a Marine, so how was that for you? Because I know you went from reservists to active duty.

Speaker 2: 16:06

So yeah, I spent the, you know, right out of high school. Maybe a week after high school I went to boot camp and then I came back and I spent another year and a half in the reserves and Of course that's why I met your mother when I was in college there. But it was. It was cool that I remember being cold in the winter time there. I can remember, you know Marines they teach it be tough, and so I can remember one day it was really probably in the 20s outside and supposedly if everybody didn't have a field jacket, no one could work, and one of the guys said oh, I'm okay, I'm okay. One of the older Marines said it's nice to be a Marine, but don't be a fool, it was because it was real cold outside. He was trying to be tough and he said put your jacket on. So we all put our jackets on and that's something that stuck with me about. You know, it's nice to be motivated. Don't be stupid in your motivation. Okay, so that kept stayed with me my entire life.

Speaker 1: 16:58

Okay, where's the live by? So we're gonna. I Wanted, I want to know more about, okay, marine life. Um, so do you think that the tough exterior even follows you many years later? I feel like it does, but I'm gonna ask you, yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:14

Yeah, yeah, I kind of feel like it does and, and you know, sometimes I see, I kind of I Kind of feel bad about being like that, because when I first started teaching I guess 20 or 23 years ago I started teaching and Kids would be emotional and I was telling me I've been the Marines, you just got tough enough. And these are middle school kids.

Speaker 1: 17:36

Yeah, so.

Speaker 2: 17:37

I didn't have that compassion Back then that I have now, and so they kind of probably messed up some of our relationships, some of the relationship with the students and Maybe something you know, my married life.

Speaker 1: 17:49

perhaps that messed up that as well, I'm sure, but it possibly could have yeah, cuz I remember growing up it was like I mean, I know we weren't around each other that often, but I just like the few times, or even from what was it 17, 18, up until now us being around each other, oh, it was just weird to me cuz I'm like, does he ever show emotions? I remember when you had called me to let me know my Grandma had passed away, which is your mom, and I had told my family and it was like, are you sure? I was like you know what I might have to call him back because he took it very well and Stuff. And it was just weird because for me I would assume that for someone to lose their mother to be able to have a full-blown conversation, no tears. And I remember when we would pass by their the cemetery or graveyard would have you and you would do the salute and everything, and there's no emotion. So even at their funeral it seems like everybody was crying and you just stone faced.

Speaker 2: 18:49

Yeah, I guess I can remember back. You know, 2002, I guess it was, and I Part of like I tell my current wife I said I kind of feel bad. Sometimes it because of the 20 years in the military where I didn't really you. They teach you not to separate or Come on compartmentalized stuff and so I just don't, didn't show you motions. And I remember I was driving one time when I was listening to a song by Shirley Caesar and it's about mom, and that's the one time I did finally cry, and that's probably two, three years after she had passed away. Wow, and it kind of hit me strong and I cried at that time.

Speaker 2: 19:28

But up until then I really didn't cry and I just looked at it, as that's the great circle of life and you know you suspected at some point your parents are going to pass away and hopefully in that order. It doesn't always happen that way, but basically in that order and so I just didn't cry and I had lost. I've lost two brothers. I don't recall crying then or my father. I don't recall crying either, maybe a little bit in my uncle passed a couple years ago. I didn't really cry too much there either.

Speaker 1: 19:57

Okay, um, all right, so some more during the Marines. Um, let me see how was it for you? Because again, I mean, I don't know. I could assume what it was like to live in the country and stuff and not have as as much things as the, the city did, and not to be able to do things, blah, blah, blah. So how was it for you before you got married? Um, how was, how was Marine life for you?

Speaker 2: 20:24

Well, the first, the first part of my from 83 to 86, I was stationed at a place called Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, in Jacksonville. So it was a small town like my hometown and so it wasn't much to to get used to that because again it was a small town. And then I had my sister and her husband. They were, they were in Fairville, which is on weekends, not every weekend but a lot of weekends I would just drive down there and visit them and so it wasn't as bad. Now I kind of miss my family, but it wasn't an adaptation, because my younger brother was in the Marines and he was stationed in Virginia so he was on a couple out, maybe a, I think, 45 in plain flight away, because I flew up there a couple times and then, like I said, my sister, she was in North Carolina so I was able to visit her and then had another sister was in Air Force at that time she was at South Carolina, so we would weekends sometimes we would all get together. And another brother was in the Army and he was stationed in Virginia too, so it was kind of a family of us all on the east coast. So we got a chance to visit, visit each other a lot, and then when I got transferred I went to Japan for a year. It wasn't that big of an issue. And then I got.

Speaker 2: 21:36

I was stationed in Southern California, in Irvine, which is a little bit south of LA, and my brother and I'm being stationed there a year later and so we had an apartment together and that was kind of different because it was the big city and a lot of traffic and it took a while to get adjusted to that. But once I got adjusted to LA, it was, you know, the military and it was just military life. And the thing with the military is especially the Marines is the smallest branch, so whenever you go to a different station you're always going to be someone that you've been stationed with before, and in my MOS, you know, we knew each other, so it was almost like a small family okay, what was your MOS?

Speaker 2: 22:12

it was 2542, which is a communication center operator. So we worked in the communications, tele-type communication initially and then when I got out it ended up being small systems repair, which we did networking and computers and send up the networks. We did messaging before the teletype messaging. So when general's talking to other generals or companies sending orders or sending strike orders and things like that, we got that. We made sure we delivered those and I had a top secret SCI clearance at the time oh, top secret.

Speaker 1: 22:46

Okay, I did not know that. Interesting, cool, cool, okay. Um so how was it like being married and in the military?

Speaker 2: 22:54

because you know there's that stereotype about military people being unfaithful well, you know, I think in the Marines, if not to say it's different, it's just that wasn't.

Speaker 2: 23:07

It wasn't as many women in the Marines as there were men oh yeah so we used to joke about a lady who would be, let's say, in regular society maybe a three or four. In the Marines she becomes an eight or nine because there were so many guys not really fighting, competing for her. So it was a little different. And then for me had when I was married, I was in, I was actually on recruiting duty, so it wasn't really like I was in the military because I was out in Dallas recruiting oh, I remember that yeah and that's when you came up doing it.

Speaker 2: 23:38

I had you running exercise here. You stuck with it. You could have been tough, but anyway that's.

Speaker 2: 23:42

Yeah, that's another story for another day and then I got transferred over to Japan and most of that, most of the ones of people we hung out with, they were married as well and then from Japan went to 29 Palms and 29 Palms was then another small town and so it was. You know, it was cool, it wasn't, it was a lot. It was around a lot of married people as well, so I don't have that problem too much okay, um, all right, so we're gonna, as we continue this timeline, let's see.

Speaker 1: 24:13

Okay, so you had mentioned about being married twice. What made you decide to do it again? Are you want? Because sometimes I feel like you're a hopeless romantic.

Speaker 2: 24:25

I don't know. I always I used to joke my first wife that if we ever got divorced, I never get married again. And then I don't know. Then I met my current wife. I just decided, you know, single life is cool but I'm more of a family person. You know, my family always like to hang out together and stuff like that. So I felt like it was probably time for me to get married again, but this time, if I ever get divorced again, that's it.

Speaker 1: 24:51

Wow, okay well, we're not. We're gonna make sure not to put that out there. Um, did you do any like, I guess, groan or healing between the first or second one, or do a a r of types to know, like, how to be a better partner?

Speaker 2: 25:07

that's, that's kind of, that's probably kind of. Maybe I'm I'm not gonna say regret, but probably situation with my first marriage is that we didn't do any counseling at all, and so I think a big thing was she said I was too controlling, I was like you married a marine you just expect. But I was, I guess I was kind of controlling, according to her. I didn't feel like I was, but that was her reason supposedly for us getting divorced. And so from that I said I'm never. If I once I did get married, I committed to the fact that I was gonna try to control what my current wife does. If she wants to do whatever she wants to do, I'm not gonna be person standing her way because I didn't want to be accused of that and I didn't do anything in terms of professional help or counseling, anything like that prior to getting married, or I didn't have religious counseling. I just I was, you know, kind of felt like I could, we could do it ourselves, or something like that.

Speaker 1: 26:01

So and again, I don't know whether I probably needed or not, perhaps I did, but I didn't okay, the reason I exist is because, um, that's what I do sometimes when it comes to relationships is that I give myself an AR on how I can improve myself for the next one, or take away the things that didn't work well or the things that I don't know, like, okay, yeah, the things that didn't work well or the things that did and I know you cannot apply it all the time to each one, because each relationship is different, even if you are the same person or evolved or whatnot. But I still sometimes take it with me so I can be like okay, I didn't like this in a relationship, so I'm gonna make sure not to allow that to happen again, or something like that.

Speaker 2: 26:47

Well, I kind of felt like one of the things I was saying is, if I was gonna get married again, that I wasn't gonna marry anyone that had a child. And the reason that was I didn't want at the time BJ was on the child who was in the house and I didn't want BJ to have to compete with somebody else's child. So I made that clear that I wasn't gonna. If I get married again, I wasn't gonna marry anyone with kids and so, fortunately, my caring wife she had had some kids, so it worked out perfectly and it was there. That was probably the only thing only deal breaker that I dealt with at that time.

Speaker 1: 27:26

Yeah, that's how I am. That's how I am like with my many me seeing how she is 16. When I got with the love of my life, that's what I call him. Yeah, before we got together and I already knew he didn't have children, but I just wanted to make sure that he didn't want anymore because of many me being 16 years old. There was no way, and plus my two charti. So there was no way that I was gonna have any other kids?

Speaker 1: 27:54

Yeah, but from what I heard it's you might as well just do IVF at that point and as you're getting up in age, blah, blah, blah. But I didn't want any kids, I was open to them and it never happened and so I got my tube side and didn't regret it, although a lot of people talk shit to me, saying that you know what if you give with somebody who don't have kids or whatever, and to be honest, I didn't even want anymore. I was hoping not to get with anyone that had kids and luckily it worked out that way and he loves my many me. But yeah, I can understand having non negotiables or deal breakers or etc. Like that. Okay.

Speaker 2: 28:33

I think she, I think my current wife kind of feels like I kind of betrayed her a little bit because I told her that I had had a vasectomy at the time and she had no kids and she felt like and I think I told her was reversible.

Speaker 1: 28:48

Yeah, I think I heard vasectomies are reversible.

Speaker 2: 28:50

It's reversible. But and she kind of feels like my saying that indicated that if she wanted children that we could have them together and she kind of feels like she could have had a child, we could have had children together or at least a child together, and I denied that of her and I kind of felt bad about that. But you know, I was like I really don't, don't really want kids. But I mean because you know at the time how old were you?

Speaker 1: 29:16

Probably. I think he was like 30. I'm saying you were 30.

Speaker 2: 29:22

And BJ was probably sixth, seventh grade at the time, probably eighth grade in 2012. So yeah, he was 14.

Speaker 1: 29:32

Yeah and no.

Speaker 2: 29:33

no, that would have been like 10 years, another 10 years apart, but I don't know. In retrospect I guess I was probably unfair to her.

Speaker 1: 29:42

But okay, so you mentioned earlier that you are a teacher. How is teaching life for you?

Speaker 2: 29:49

Actually I really enjoy it. I think I've selected the correct career after my military, because I tell a lot of people all the time that I really only had two jobs my entire life. That's a Marine and a teacher. And when I remember when I first started, I felt like I was. When I look back on it, I was probably too tough on the kids. I was, I would yell at them and I was very mean. But now I've got them and the kids didn't really approach me that much. Now it's more like I'm a grandfatherly figure and so they come up hug me.

Speaker 1: 30:18

I'm just a teacher and all that.

Speaker 2: 30:22

And so now it actually works out pretty fine. I really enjoy it. Some days and some classes, and sometimes it's tough, but for the most part it's been a joy. So at this point I've had over 2000 kids and now when I go around town and variable and with me someone that I know or that I taught, and they say hi to me. Of course I don't remember them, but yeah but it's just like that.

Speaker 1: 30:47

Okay, um, let's see. What else do you? Oh, okay, so you teach math. So was math your favorite subject back in the days, or?

Speaker 2: 30:57

Yeah, well, the way it ended working out. When I got ready to retire from the Marines, they called a career planner so you would meet with them and they kind of asked me well, what do you want to do? I was like I'm not sure and he said you know, they're looking for teachers. He said what's your favorite subject? I said math. He said you become a math teacher easily because I always, you know, growing up I always treat my younger siblings as if I was teaching them, or my nieces and nephews as a teacher. So I said you know what? That wouldn't be a bad idea.

Speaker 2: 31:24

So there was a program called troops to teachers program. So I signed up for that and I got out of the military. I had my undergraduate degree and then I got my master's degree in teaching and then from there on I've been teaching ever since. There was a smooth transition and I really never look back. It's like I talked to some people who miss high school or some people miss the military, and when I left high school I didn't look back. I mean, you know, I have friends but I didn't look back. And then when I left the military I didn't look back, say I missed the Marines and as teaching, you know I enjoy it. So I never really wanted kinds that look back and say I regret this or regret that.

Speaker 1: 32:01

Okay, we'll have a few more questions and that'll be it. Okay, so I always laugh at you because you love driving. What is up with you loving to drive like that?

Speaker 2: 32:11

Actually it's funny you say that we always said it was in my blood Because my dad I remember he used to like he was always gone. I was in the streets and my brother I had my brother was no longer with us. I remember him always Going. He was I'm going down the road, he would bring his girlfriend to the house, tells Gareford is going down the road and it'd be three, four hours later when he comes back. And so it was.

Speaker 2: 32:35

And then I think part of it being as I was in Camden June, north Carolina, which is like 12 hour drive and so some weekends get a 40 weekend I would drive home and drive back and I was stationed in California and I would come home Station in Texas and California, drive home in a weekend or own on our vacation, and so I was just got used to driving it. It was never a big deal. I can remember when my mother passed away we were coming back, coming here, coming home from California. I drove straight through and I can remember in that once what I was being transferred in 88 from from Okinawa, japan, to California. I can remember driving straight through and I think I stopped maybe for an hour or two to sleep and other than that I drove straight from Memphis to California straight 18 hour drive.

Speaker 1: 33:26

I know because I remember one time we did Memphis to Philly and I think I might have driven Like a little bit but you and if I'm not mistaken, was that 14 don't sound right, but with 14 to 16 hours.

Speaker 2: 33:40

It's probably yeah, cuz 10 to 24. Yeah, it's probably us. Yeah it's quite a bit of time because I, when we drove to to to New York, you drove to Virginia, was 10 hours, and then it may have been 20 Virginia from Virginia, new York was 4 hours. So yeah, about 14, 15 hours yeah.

Speaker 1: 33:59

Wow yeah, and I see you and I kind of and I kind of think quote-unquote I picked that up too because I mean, I've driven from well, I had no choice. But I've driven from Philly to Memphis before. But yeah, I don't mind driving now like which. I mean, I ended up being a truck driver for a little bit and I don't know, driving for me is always like therapeutic, just me on the road and stuff like that. I'll be in the 18 willow, which is very different from Regular transportation, like a car, jeep, fan, whatever. Blah, blah, blah. But yeah, I think I picked that up. So okay, on the next thing is you know seeing how you're getting up in age, or do they? Are you consider seeing your citizen yet, or?

Speaker 2: 34:42

I don't know. I've never knew what to cut off. I think it's. I don't know. I get a ARP stuff since I was 55.

Speaker 1: 34:48

So you being considered a senior citizen or about to be one of, what do you see? I guess your golden years or whatever. How does that feel was they looking like? Because you know, usually around this time is when people start thinking about retiring or Traveling more, etc. Etc.

Speaker 2: 35:06

So you know it's the main thing and my wife talks about it too how she wants to travel overseas. And I was like I've been there, done that. I've never been a type that wanted to travel a lot. I like golfing, so I don't mind going to different places to golf, but I never had a desire to go to Europe or maybe maybe to go to Africa. Maybe I would want to do that, but I'm not in into playing flights.

Speaker 2: 35:27

My ex-wife I remember we flew a little. It was called a C 130. It's like a cargo plane, so we flew it from Japan all the way to Nebraska and we did area refueling and they showed it to us when we over Hawaii and why would flying? Probably over the Pacific Ocean, somewhere it dropped, maybe a thought, maybe not out of the feet, but it's just hit a air pocket and dropped and the scare is so bad and she was holding me so tight since then and that and and with the 9-1-1 situation I kind of got why I don't care much for flying and I couldn't, like some of my ex-wife kind of did it to me, even though I've flown a few times since then, of course, but I Just I'm not into flying, I don't mind driving. I was just talking about driving to. We just drove to Chicago Labor Day weekend and then I'm looking at maybe driving to Vegas for spring break, fall break, so I don't mind driving.

Speaker 1: 36:19

Yeah, I don't, yeah, and people looking me weird too, when, because I have a friend that lives in Shaitan and I don't mind driving that eight hours, there's no big deal. Because I kind of feel like, okay, when I'm, I can leave whenever I'm ready, versus like a train or a Plane, I have to leave when they want me to, etc. Etc. So at least I feel like I have a little bit more control over what I want to do. Oh darn, you had said something I wanted. That's what you're supposed to write down, I know. Oh my gosh, what did? Let me see, we were talking about flying, that wasn't it. Traveling, that wasn't it. I guess that's okay. Whatever it was, I guess it wasn't that important, all right, so before we wrap it up, do you have any words of wisdom for the people's out there?

Speaker 2: 37:11

I don't know. One of the things I tell my students always. I Always tell them at the end of each class we have a little saying stay positive, stay marine. And I tell them to say honor Curves in commitment, and that is I want them to be honorable beings, honorable person, committed to what they're doing and have the courage to stand up for others. So those kind of what our little words are on the carriage of commitment. There's a little side note. I want to tell you what I, what I met my first wife and she, of course she had a daughter and I kind of that kind of gravitated me towards her because of the me missing my, my biological daughter. So I was like that was kind of one of the reason I wanted to marry her was because she had a daughter. And then so because I miss my Owned order, my biological daughter, yeah, so.

Speaker 2: 37:55

I kind of the doctor not adopted, but she became my daughter as well.

Speaker 1: 37:58

So yeah, you probably never knew.

Speaker 2: 38:01

That did you?

Speaker 1: 38:01

know I didn't. That's beautiful dad Thoughts about that, but yeah, but even.

Speaker 1: 38:08

I mean, I might call her my step sister every now and again, just for clarification on stuff. But aside from that, she's my sister. I've known her for 30 something years. Her nephews are, I mean, not her nephews, I'm sorry. Her children are my nephews, like, yeah, I don't see no distinction, even when it comes to my brother, like, again, back in the days there was, like some, some animosity about them too, but eventually that became my brother as well, even though he clearly he is my brother. But you know, I claimed him and her, so it's no biggie. So okay, well, thank you so much. All right, dad, do you want to do your little simplify roof, roof, roof or whatever, before we?

Speaker 2: 38:50

go. No, you gotta say I Was like I said, the end of my little class teachings. I was a student, so you have enough information to be successful. May the force of nature shine brightly upon the stay positive Marine honor, courage and commitment. See ya.

Speaker 1: 39:10

And Q out oh.