May 16, 2025 • 51 mins
What makes a village, and why do we need one at every stage of life? In this profound conversation with Dr. Katrina Hall-Smith, we explore the enduring power of community across generations.
Dr. Hall-Smith's remarkable journey takes us from her roots in a close-knit Tennessee neighborhood to her 32-year military career, then to becoming a physician—all shaped by the villages that supported her along the way. Born two months premature with a pancreatic defect, her life was saved by a doctor who insisted she be transferred to a better-equipped hospital, inspiring her future in medicine.
To contact Katrina Hall Smith and It Takes a Village, check out the website! https://www.katrinahallsmith.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Check us out to hear the latest on life in the
volunteer state.
Yvonca and her guests discusseverything from life, love and
business with a Tennessee flair.
It's a Tennessee thing, alwaysrelatable, always relevant and
always a good time.
This is Talkin' Tennessee, andnow your host, yvonca.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
This episode is brought to you by the Landis
team, your go-to real estatefamily in East Tennessee.
If you are looking to buy orsell, we are the ones you should
call.
Give us a call at 865-660-1186or check out our website at
YvoncaSellsRealEstatecom.
That's Yvonca Y-V-O-N-N-C-ASalesRealEstatecom.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Welcome back to Talking Tennessee with Yvonne Ca
.
I am your host and I am herethis week with Dr Katrina
Hall-Smith.
Welcome to Talking Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Thank you so much for having me.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Most definitely.
Well, viewers, let me tell youwhy I'm having her on.
First, I met Katrina inLeadership Not so class and I
watched this person from afar.
Did not know her, we never metbefore, but it was something
about you that just made me wantto know more, so I want you to
(01:23):
know.
I watched you from you knowmaneuvering in the class and it
just made me want to know moreabout you and I was like she's
got a journey, she's got a storyto tell and I want to tell her
on Talking Tennessee.
So thank you for agreeing tocome on here.
So let me ask you your firstquestion who is Katrina Hall
(01:44):
Smith Without doctor, withoutall the different things that
you have done in your life isimpeccable and we'll talk about
it.
But who?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
are you Well?
Speaker 4 (01:57):
first of all, I'm a child of God.
Right, I am a true Southerner.
I am a true southerner.
I am a country girl.
That's a good thing.
I am my mother's daughter andmy father's daughter, you know,
and then also a wife.
These are all the things thatkind of make up who I am today,
(02:18):
but I will say that there's alot of different facets of
everyone.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yes, and.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I enjoy every one of them.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I agree with you on that, and throughout life, I
think that we try to accomplishas much as we can, but we always
have to remember you know whowe are and that's why I asked
that question, because it makespeople stop to think about you
know, because you do so much inthe community, you do so much in
(02:50):
life.
You know that type thing thatsometimes, when I ask that
question, some people will belike what?
You know that type of thingbecause they didn't stop to
think about it.
So let's let's go back to thefamily that you grew up in.
When I was reading about you, Isaw that me and you have
something in common we come fromeducated people, an educated
(03:13):
family and a family thatbelieves in college education.
Can you tell me what was yourupbringing and what made you
want to go to college?
Speaker 4 (03:24):
Well, for me it was never really an option.
So it was one of those dealswhere both my mom and dad they
attended Knoxville College.
They had the opportunitybecause of the sacrifices that
their parents made Right.
So both of my grandmothers ifanybody's seen the movie the
Help, right that was the type ofyou know, doing domestic work.
(03:48):
Both of my grandmothers did that.
Both of my grandfathers,ironically, worked for the
railroad, ok, and so mygrandfather Collier, my mom's
father.
He worked for the railroad.
He brought the family up fromGeorgia, so they were part of
that migration, of getting outof the South, and then
eventually a lot of his familywent further north.
(04:10):
OK but his place here inKnoxville was kind of like the,
the transition zone.
As folks came out of Georgia ontheir way to either Ohio or
Michigan or New York.
They kind of stayed here, gottheir footing and then took off
to go up north to go findwhatever fortune or job
opportunities that existed upthere.
(04:31):
But he was the root here inKnoxville.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
So, viewers, let me tell you how much this is weird
to hear you say that, because mygrandfather and I wonder if our
grandfathers were at KnoxvilleCollege at the same time.
Because didn't you tell me offcamera your grandfather was born
in 1915?
.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
So my grandfather was not college educated.
He didn't go to KnoxvilleCollege.
That was my dad.
Okay, your dad.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Okay, so my grandfather went to Knoxville
College as well, and all hisbrothers went to Knoxville
College.
So, that's why I was askingthat.
But back then you know, thatwas not something.
It was never given Right, theyhad to earn Exactly they totally
had to earn.
(05:18):
And you know, my grandfatheralways told me is what is your
legacy going to be when you dieand you go to heaven?
What is your legacy going to bewhen you die and you go to
heaven?
What is your legacy going to be?
And at the time he said it,katrina, I was too young to
understand what he was sayingthat type thing.
Now I do understand it, and soeducation, he always said, is
(05:39):
key and that's something thatcan't be taken away from you.
And so when I started readingabout you, I was like this is a
person that is college educated,she's a doctor in two different
areas, and I'm like but youwent in the military, you did
all those different things, butwhat was the one key thing that
(06:01):
you would say that could bringall that together in early age?
What was the one thing besidescollege that brought you into
going into service and doing allthe different things?
We're going to talk about allyour different things, but I
want to know was there a certainthing that you'd say well, I
went into the service because ofthis?
Speaker 4 (06:30):
So, going into the service, I want to go back to,
kind of, what was it thatbrought it all together?
I would say that in both of ourfamilies it was always about
giving back, right, I agree.
So, going back to mygrandfather, collier, he, though
he did not have a formaleducation, he was a very, very
intelligent man, right?
Um, he was always, uh, doingthings to help everybody else
(06:55):
out.
And so when you talk about whydid I join the military, what
was the service aspect of it,there's a funny story that goes
along with that, but we alwayshad a sense of keeping the
community together and doingthings to be able to help other
people within the community.
He used to take vegetables,right, because we lived out in
(07:17):
the county, out in the country,and so he would take vegetables
and he would put them on theback of his truck and he would
go down to Lonsdale,mechanicsville, because, you
know, there's not a lot ofgrocery stores there now there
certainly were not very manygrocery stores down there good
and so people wanted freshfruits and vegetables and things
like that.
So he put them on the back ofthe truck, go out there and give
them way off the back of thetruck.
(07:37):
He sometimes he'd sell them,sometimes he'd give them away,
but that was something he did,because that's the way he grew
up, but that's true evangelism.
If you really think about it.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
You know that was God's purpose.
True evangelism is in thestreets, it's in the community.
You know that type thing and Ithink that your grandfather and
great-grandfather and upprobably all taught you.
Community is everything youknow to give back and I always
tell every person that's been inthe service thank you for your
(08:08):
service.
She had 32 years in the armycorrect Correct In the army.
Talk about it.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Tell us about that experience so you would ask me
what was it that caused me to gointo the military, and it's
actually a kind of a funny story.
So when I was in high school Ihad a senior army instructor.
So I took junior ROTC overHolston High School and I had a
senior army instructor.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
So you went to.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Holston, I did yeah, holston.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
When it was still a high school right, yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
So he had challenged me to apply to the military
academy and I was like, first ofall, what?
Speaker 1 (08:48):
What are you talking about?
What you know?
Speaker 4 (08:50):
And so he told me a little bit about it.
And then I remembered thatthere was a gentleman two years
ahead of me, Paul McLeod.
He was in the band with me andwe dated a little bit.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
She says date a little bit.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Oh, you're in high school, so I'm just dating.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
You're really doing right Two or three days.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Exactly, exactly so.
But Paul had his entire lifekind of mapped out right.
He says I'm going to go to themilitary academy, I'm going to
do 20 years, I'm going to dothat, you know.
And he just kind of had it allplanned out.
And so when my instructor hadasked me, you know, I'd like you
to apply to the militaryacademy.
And so the little cockinessinside of me said, well, if Paul
(09:31):
can do it, I certainly can doit, and so it was just really
weird.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
So it was more, so I dare.
She's like listen, I can showyou, I can do it just like you.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Right, Right and it was just, it was, it was.
It wasn't like a deep desire togo.
It was just like it's anopportunity.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
So it's an opportunity I'm approved that I
can go in there, Right?
So so once you got approved togo in, so so little cocky me,
right.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
I didn't get accepted .
Okay, first try.
They offered me the prep schoolbecause I had not an athletic
bone in my body.
Yeah, she was like yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
That's right.
I'm trying to go in the army,exactly.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Exactly, my brother is like trying to teach me how
to do sit-ups and push-ups, andI hated running and I was just
like oh, my God, you know so.
So anyway, so I went to theprep school, which is in Fort
Monmouth, new Jersey, and whatthey do there is whatever area
that you need a littlestrengthening in that's what
they work on.
So when I got to the prepschool, it was every single
(10:36):
sport known to man.
I would be you had to learneverything yeah, lacrosse,
trying to learn how to swim.
Really, I didn't know that Track.
Basketball, volleyball, youname it.
Oh, you had to learn, I had tolearn.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
And so so, of the sports, which one did you like
the most?
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Volleyball.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Volleyball, okay, volleyball.
And basketball?
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Yeah, I didn't do.
I didn't play basketball,although both my mother and
father played basketball whenthey were in school.
I didn't play basketballbecause mom was concerned about
my grades and she said no, youknow, I don't think you should.
You should do that because youknow you said you wanted to do X
, Y, Z, so we're not going to.
You're already doing bands,You're already doing ROTC,
You're already doing this.
You're already doing that we'renot doing, not one more thing,
(11:24):
exactly.
So basketball and volleyballwere my two favorites.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
So when you got into the service, where was?
Speaker 4 (11:32):
you stationed at, so my initial assignment was in
Germany, germany, germany, yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Is that because I have brothers and one of my
brothers went to Germany and Iknow different people?
Is that one of the main thingsin army, that a lot of people
get stationed in Germany at thebeginning Because I know several
people that is winning theservice and that's the first
place they got stationed?
Or is that just a fluke?
It's?
Just no, it's just.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
OK, so when you got, to Germany.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
How was it?
Speaker 4 (12:04):
I loved it you loved it.
I absolutely loved it.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
How long was you there?
Speaker 4 (12:09):
I was only there four years, part of which was a
deployment, so but yeah, I wasin Germany at the time period
before the wall came down.
Okay, okay and so I got therein 1988.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
And.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
How many times have you been deployed?
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Three.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Three times, okay, yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
So at that point it was Desert Shield, desert Storm,
and there's a funny story withthat one because you know they
talk about having.
In fact, it's kind ofinteresting given some of the
events that have happenedrecently in the news.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah, some.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
of the events that have happened recently in the
news.
So we were in Germany.
My boss, amazing guy, wastelling me hey, lt, I need you
to LT, short for lieutenant Ineed you to work on, get the
maintenance trucks together,make sure the defect is ready to
go, make sure that we haveeverything ready to roll.
And he said because my missionis to make sure that if there's
(13:05):
anything that's ever going tocome down, our company is
prepared to go forward.
And so he had written out allthese things that he wanted me
to make sure that I did.
And that's what we were workingon.
Little did we have any ideathat we were actually going to
deploy.
I get a phone call from mom andshe says baby, y'all are
getting ready to go over to thedesert.
(13:26):
And I was like mom, what areyou talking about?
We're already in Germany.
We're forward deployed already.
We're not going to go to thedesert.
Other other units may go, butwe're, we're here, we're
protecting Europe, right, we'renot going anywhere?
And she said baby, I'm tellingyou, I saw it on the news, y'all
(13:46):
going and I was like mom,you're like, that's just the
news.
I said mom, you're confused,right right so next morning I
get to work, commander says nexthole.
I was like sir he says getstuff together we're.
And I was like we're rollingwhere sir he said we're going to
the desert.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
And you're sitting there going.
Mom said, she said mom saidExactly, exactly so what was it
like the first time going andjust the experience.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
It was very interesting because at that
point in time we didn't havewell, we hadn't had a combat
mission since Korea, right?
So this is the early, very,very early 90s.
And so the question of whatwould be the role for women in
the military right.
So generally, we are in combatservice support, meaning you're
(14:44):
in those branches that would notallow you to actually get into
the big of battle, and that waskind of an uneasy feeling for
some, Right, but for me I waslike well, this is what our
mission is and this is whatwe're going to go do.
So, whatever jobs that you havefor me to do, that's what I'm
going to take care of, that's mymission.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
What made you go into the medical part of it?
Speaker 4 (15:08):
I wasn't medical at that point.
Okay, I was actually militaryintelligence.
Okay, and so we would dosignals intelligence, meaning we
would be in vehicles listeningto communications without
getting into too much detailright.
But to gather the informationand provide that to the
warfighters to be able toexecute their plans.
(15:29):
But at this point I wasassigned to a division
headquarters and I was the XOresponsible for a lot of the all
of the extra duties.
So the nuclear, biological,chemical officer, the supply
officer, the dining facilityofficer, the personnel officer I
had about, I think, sevendifferent hats at that point.
(15:51):
And then also, I was the personwho would go out and make sure
that when we were setting up theheadquarters it would send a
quartering party forward to kindof lay out.
When the trucks come rolling inthe trucks, the 577s, all of
the different vehicles came in Iwould direct where they were
going to be lined out to set upthe headquarters.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
You were basically in charge.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
No.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
She said no.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
I wasn't in charge.
No, I was not in charge, but Ihad certain responsibilities.
So, as a part of the quarterparty, go out and then identify
where these different areas weregoing to be and then where the
logistics portion would be Okay.
Generally that would not be anormal role but because of where
I was assigned, that was.
(16:37):
That was my role.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Right.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
So there came an instance during that particular
deployment where my commanderwas concerned for my safety and
he sent me on a mission to makesure, because let me, let me,
let me roll back.
There was a time period when wewere getting ready to go over
the berm and the female soldiersin our unit said hey, ma'am,
(17:02):
when they go over the berm, arewe going?
Because females don't go intocombat?
And I was like they're not justgoing to all of a sudden, stop
us from doing our jobs because,quote, females don to go into
combat.
We have a mission, we have togo forward, we have to do
whatever it is that we'reassigned to do to make sure that
the mission, that the company,is successful.
(17:24):
We have to do whatever.
That is Right.
And so they said are we goingforward?
And I said absolutely we'regoing forward.
And they were like OK, ok,forward.
And I said absolutely we'regoing forward.
And they were like okay, okay.
So didn't know that mycommander was concerned and
because of what my job was, hesent me on a boondoggle to go
back down to the log base whenthey were getting ready to go
(17:44):
forward, so that I wouldn't beable to go forward with them and
somebody else would have tostep in and do that particular
job, because he called himselfprotecting me yes and I was hot
as fish grease because youwanted to go.
Well, no because I was like howin the world is he going to do
this?
The soldiers were asking me arewe going forward?
And here it is.
It looks like I'm goingbackwards.
(18:06):
Yeah right, while they're stillhaving to go forward yes, and
how does that make me look?
right, yeah, and well, and howdoes make me feel, because
they're up there, scared?
Yes, because I'm not up there.
Yes, right, you know, because Isaid we're going Right.
So anyway, long story short, Iget down to the log base.
I get word that the unit isgoing forward.
(18:28):
So I beat feet heading to gocatch up with my unit, had to go
catch up with my unit.
Little did he know I was goingto do that.
Oh wow, because he had toldsomeone who didn't get the
message to me, had told someonedon't let her come back up here.
Yes, right, I didn't get themessage.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yes, so here I go and you was glad.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Here I go.
I go traipsing back up there,got separated from the unit.
Long story short, um, I endedup with a, a subunit of, uh,
third armored division, andactually did get to see like, at
that point in time, sawmultiple rocket launchers going
over and I mean, it was what anexperience it was it was amazing
(19:09):
, it was amazing.
And then, when I caught back upwith the probably exciting and
exciting at the same time.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Wow, well, god Right, but God Because?
Speaker 4 (19:19):
during that same time period, there were some
soldiers who did get brieflycaptured Right, some female
soldiers at that point in time,and they were all in the news
and thank God that was not meRight, but God.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
But Right.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
But God, but God, but God.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I'll say this the biggest thing, probably that
helped you is because you had arelationship with God, you know,
and that I think that's a bigthing.
No matter what you do in life,I feel like that you, you have
to have a true relationship withGod and you have to build your
faith and being deployed, ohyeah, oh, you got to have some
(19:59):
faith.
You have true faith, that typething.
So what made you go into themedical part?
So let's talk about it.
Let's talk about it.
So from the time period, BecauseI'm proud of my friend.
Yes, there is, so let's talkabout it.
So, from the time period, I'mproud of my friend.
So, uh, because there's notthere, you see more black.
(20:19):
Uh, blacks come going intomedical now, but think back when
you, it wasn't as many and itwasn't as open to the up to our
race.
Let's talk about it Well youasked why.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
When I was born, I was two and a half months
premature.
I had a defect in your pancreasand so basically, the doctors
told mom when I was born that Iwas not going to make it.
Okay and so when.
(21:01):
Thank God you did.
Walker normal be Walker.
I don't know if she is stillliving, but I thank her because
when she walked in the door thatmorning shout out to dr normal
be Walker, pediatrician, yes,she came in to round on the
babies that have been bornpreviously and she said what's
going on with this one?
And um, they said, well, she'sgot an aneuplancry, she's got
(21:22):
collapsed, you know, just namedoff all the things that was
wrong.
And she said, well, why don'tyou guys clean her up?
You know well, we don't havethe uh capability in this
particular hospital to be ableto take care of these things.
And so you, you got to rememberthis is the 60s, right.
So we have the black hospital orthe hospital where blacks can
go, and then we have the otherhospitals and so she said then
(21:43):
transfer her to Children's,where they can take care of this
.
And it's amazing they were likeand she said transfer her to
Children's and that probablysaved your life it did save my
life.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Yeah, it did save my life, that's why I truly believe
that God puts vessels on earth.
We're vessels and we'resupposed to do God's work, you
know, and whatever he sees fitfor us.
You know, and just imagine ifthat woman wouldn't have done
that, you wouldn't be sittingwith me, you wouldn't be the
doctor that you are and youwouldn't have served so much
(22:16):
time in communities, not justthis community.
You served in a lot ofcommunities and I know, with the
short time we've known eachother, I know when you left
those communities you made thembetter, because I'm good at
reading people and you have agiving heart and a giving heart
(22:36):
makes you want to build.
Community wants you to build.
It doesn't matter if it's inthe church, outside of the
church, in the workplace,whatever, and I have that heart
that I like to build.
I like to see people thrive.
I like to see people be happyin whatever their true happiness
is.
So yours was to see peoplethrive.
I like to see people you knowbe happy in whatever they their
true happiness is.
So yours was to become a doctor.
(22:59):
Yes, yes.
What pulled you together andsaid, okay, I want to be a
physician and I want to takecare of people?
Was it what your experience was?
Speaker 4 (23:08):
So, yes, growing up, knowing that, because Dr Walker
walked in the room and she askedthe question and then she made
it happen Right, and I was likewhen I grow up, I want to be
like that, I want to be able todo things and make decisions
that will help people and impactpeople's lives.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Exactly yes, so you became the physician.
How long was you?
Was you in the service at thattime?
So uh or, and where was you?
Speaker 4 (23:45):
out.
No, I got out you got out right.
So I uh, while I was in themilitary I I needed a few more
prerequisites because going tothe academy I did not have all
of the prerequisites Some peoplecould go directly out of the
military academy and a lot ofthem went to UCHU, the military
med school.
Right, okay, but let's just saythat I did not graduate at the
(24:07):
top of my class, but you stillgraduated, I did.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
And it still seems it's still the same graduation,
right?
So you so you served 32 yearsin the service came out and
became a doctor yes, is thatwhat you're telling me and then
went back in.
And then went back in.
That is amazing.
So tell me your opinion of whatmakes a village that's a term
(24:41):
that is so sad in our community,right, you know, it takes a
village to raise a child.
It takes a village to getpeople through things.
What is your definition of avillage and what do you say that
people need to do?
Speaker 4 (24:57):
So it takes a village , or a village is basically it's
a group or a community ofpeople who work together to make
sure that everyone within thatcohort is taken care of, and
that's kind of the way I grew up.
Yes, so you're a realtor.
Yes, right, I don't know if youare familiar with Rock Coulee
(25:18):
Village.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Say that again.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
Rock Coulee Village.
It's out in the county, it'soff of Harris Road.
Yes, yes, okay, yes, okay.
So so back in the day and thisgoes back to college educated or
middle class let's say middleclass families, in that time
period, late 60s, early 70sthere were very few communities
(25:47):
where people could actually buya home Correct Right, buy a home
, correct Right, and so that wasone of the communities that was
actually designed by a schoolteacher, and I want to think of
what was her husband.
I don't know if he was anarchitect or not, but that name
rock Cooley.
It was Rachel Augustus.
(26:08):
I'd have to call my mom to getthe rest of it but that's where
rock Cooley came from.
It was named after them and theycreated a community for
minorities, minorities,african-americans specifically.
Okay, out in the county therewas another community that's off
of Dandridge, blanking on thename of that one, and then
(26:30):
there's also Morningside, butthere were two or three
communities where middle classfamilies, middle class minority
families, could buy a home, andso that was ours.
We were in Rockaway Village andeveryone worked together.
So my mom, who?
She was a pioneer in her ownright, she worked for Tennessee
Valley Authority, so she woulddrive out to Norris, tennessee,
(26:53):
26 miles each way, yes, so noone was there to get me off the
bus, right, right, so I wouldwalk over to Miss Kemp's house.
Miss Kemp was the neighborhoodlady.
There were two of them, missKemp and Miss McGee.
They were the ones who wouldsell the candy out of the, you
know, off the back porch orwhatever.
But she also kept me and mybrother after school until my
(27:16):
mom got home.
Then we had miss mitchell whowas up the street and, like mom,
didn't have time necessarily todo a lot of laundry, so she
would, mom would take the basketof clothes up the street and
she would wash, but she didn'thave time to iron, so she would
take the clothes up the streetand she would do the ironing to
(27:36):
help mom out.
Wow, yeah, exactly so, uh, youknow everybody and they just
kind of work together.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
I grew up in harriman and um, everybody took care of
everybody and no kids went unfed, you know.
And and I tell people this, I'mlike I guess I would say we
were poor, but we didn't know wewere, because my mom and dad
always made it happen.
(28:05):
We didn't lack things, like asa kid, because they got us what
we needed.
You know what I'm saying.
And so, even down to church, ifmy mom had to work, we were
still in church.
My grandmother took me tochurch, or the neighbor took us
to church, that type thing.
(28:26):
And so that's a village, youknow, even in sports, you know,
because I had a brother andsister and we were all in
something, and I don't know howmy mom shout out to my mother
rest in peace how she nevermissed a game Out of three kids.
I don't even I have Jaden nowand I'm like, okay, I'm over
(28:48):
trying to do this and Adrianhelps me with this and that, but
my mom did that, you know, andshe had people in our community
that stepped in when she could.
She didn't have no more gas togive, right, you know that type
thing, and I just think avillage is so important.
And everybody doesn't have one,right, I have learned that
(29:10):
Everybody doesn't have one.
I've learned that Everybodydoesn't have one.
So what would you say to ourviewers, when it comes to their
communities, of how to build avillage, how to, you know, help
their neighbor?
Speaker 4 (29:21):
So, first of all, it really just takes.
You got to know your neighbors,right?
Yes, okay, Because in knowingyour neighbors you know their
strengths, you know theirweaknesses, you know some of
their needs.
You know their strengths, youknow their weaknesses, you know
(29:58):
some of their needs.
They know some of your callfamily support groups who work
together when that spouse is nolonger there.
Right, If that spouse isdeployed, all of the other
spouses in the community theirsare deployed too.
So now you have people who havebasically single parents who
kind of pull together to makesure that everything is taken
care of while the other familymember is gone.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
So basically your upbringing helped you to when
you got in the military how toform.
You know villages within theparents and for the kids and all
that kind of stuff.
When someone got deployed,basically you keep building
villages.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
Well, that wasn't my idea, it wasn't your idea.
No, that was not my idea.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
But it was what you worked towards, right, you
worked towards a building.
You know, whatever surroundingsthat you had, you know, and
helping other people.
And I think the biggest problemI see with that.
I think we're taught nowadayseverything needs to be private,
everything needs to be private,you know it's either you're wide
(31:04):
open social media or everythingneeds to be private.
So a lot of people think, whenthey get home, I'm going home,
I'm going home to my family, sothey really don't know their
neighbors, they don't go andintroduce yourself.
Now I'll tell you, when I movedin my house, one thing that
stuck out to me.
(31:24):
Now, granted, it was seveno'clock in the morning and I was
sleepy before I tell the story,but when I moved in my house
seven o'clock in the morning,the welcome committee was at my
door and they had these oatmealcranberry cookies, katrina.
Okay.
And when I tell you thesecookies, world's best cookies.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Oh, really Okay good.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Oh my.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
God.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Yes, rest in peace, ms Fern, because Ms Fern passed
away a few years ago and Ms Fernshe was over the welcome
committee, she was two doorsdown and Ms Fern, she was over
the welcome committee, she wastwo doors down, and Ms Fern, her
and the group of women.
They came, they introducedthemselves, they brought me this
book of everybody's name,numbers and emails and how many
(32:05):
kids you had.
All that was in this book.
Okay, wow, yes, back when Imoved here 21 years ago.
So, anyway, I thought that wasthe coolest thing.
Now, keep in mind, ok, I'm inmy late 20s when I move here, so
I'm over here.
At first I was like peoplereally come at seven o'clock in
the morning.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
You know that type thing.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
But those cookies.
When I bit into the cookie Iwas like you can come anytime,
you know.
But I think it needs to be morepeople like Miss Fern.
It needs to be more people likeMs Fern.
It needs to be more people thatsays you know what?
Hey, I've retired.
How about?
You know, a welcome committee?
You know, build up a few of yourfriends and it doesn't even
have to be in your subdivision,it can be people at your church
that you know that theirhusbands have passed or their
(32:51):
wives have passed and you go andjust do a check-in.
You know that is knowing yourneighbor, that is knowing the
people that's in your communityand building up your community,
that type thing.
Every thanksgiving I make mykids uh, go to, we go to
kroger's, we buy pies, all thatkind of stuff and we go through
this subdivision.
(33:11):
Okay, to every house that weknow that there's only one
person living in it and it'slike a lot of different women
that live in my subdivision thathas been passed away and they
love it.
Okay, valentine's we're goingto go to certain houses and
certain women in our subdivisionwe're going to go go to and say
(33:33):
we just want to love on you.
It's valentine's day and I thinkthat's knowing your neighbor,
yes, and I think we need to havemore of that in um, even in the
workplace.
You know, um, you know we work,but there are still people in
in the workplace that needs anencouraging word, that just
needs, needs to hear.
You know what?
(33:54):
Hey, let me if you have alittle extra money that day.
Hey, can I buy you lunch?
I think if we had more peoplethat just sacrificed and
kindness yeah, just straightkindness that it would really
help a lot of people get throughhard times.
Because right now we're in ahard time world, through hard
(34:18):
times, because right now we'rein a hard time world and it's
not I know a lot of people wantto say it's because politics,
it's a lot of different reasonswhy we're there and I think that
we need to get out of what themedia says we're supposed to be
and get into what God wants usto be, and to know our neighbors
and care about our neighborsand just truly be God-fearing
(34:41):
people that want to be kind.
Do you agree with that?
Speaker 4 (34:45):
I agree with most of that.
Okay, right, I think if we canfind the commonalities that we
have, right, I agree, and a lotof times you're going to find
that within your community.
Case in point is when you talkabout the media and politics and
that kind of thing.
I've got a girlfriend, my armybuddy, right, she's down in
(35:08):
Mississippi, it's in Mississippi, right, but she she lives in an
area that's very rural, okay,and she was telling me when her
husband he's from Ghana, he wasin Ghana, he wasn't able to get
back.
When we have some difficultieswith bringing people back over,
(35:28):
he's a US citizen, he served inthe Navy, but anyway, he was in
Ghana visiting his family.
He couldn't get back and sothere was a whole eight month
period that she was there byherself on this big, basically
farm.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Right.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
And her neighbor, who has different political views
than she does, looks differentthan she does, but he's her
neighbor.
He made sure that when sheneeded wood there was wood
chopped in her and right therefor her to use.
When the grass needed cutting,he came and made sure the grass
was cut and she was so thankfulhe said sure thing You're my
(36:02):
neighbor, right.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
And see, that's what I love.
And I do understand thatpolitics is big right now.
It's a big thing, but I justthink that being kind to people,
no matter what their politicalviews are, that's what God would
want us to do, and I'm likewhere did we miss the mark on
(36:24):
that part of it that we allow anelection to take kindness out
of our hearts?
When you see somebody needing,you know, whatever their kids
needing clothes or whatever andyou can fill that void, you need
to step up, you know, and youneed to try to help when you can
.
And that's commendable for thatman to do that because he could
(36:47):
have, you know, been stayeddivided.
He could have stayed divided,and you know, but he saw that a
family needed help.
Speaker 4 (36:55):
It was his neighbor.
You are my people right.
You are my people right.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
So let's talk about caregiving, you know.
So what is your form ofcaregiving?
What is your biggest thingabout?
Speaker 4 (37:10):
caregiving.
So this goes back to thevillage, right.
So, before I was telling youhow the older ladies helped my
mom out when she was trying tomake a living and driving and
trying to raise kids, trying totake care of her parents and
then also having a career,having a career.
So the older generation becausethey had a little bit more time
(37:30):
, they were able to come downand help her.
Well, now I'm in a situationwhere both my husband and I are
very fortunate that our parentsare still living.
So we have my mom is 85.
My dad is 88.
His mom is 86 and his dad is 91.
I have a step-mom who's 70something we watched out her age
.
But you know, we're at a stagenow.
(37:53):
So, everybody's still living.
Everyone is still living andit's a huge blessing.
But also in that we also have,you know, we had careers and I
was very, very thankful that mymom was so super supportive of
me when I was all over the world, right, right, she was always
there.
She was always there to supportme.
So now it's my turn, right.
And during this time period inher life when she's you know,
(38:16):
she she's a breast cancersurvivor and, fortunate for both
of us, she got her diagnosisjust after I retired.
So I was home, so you was ableto be there, I was able to be
here.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
So I was home, so you was able to be there, I was
able to be here.
See, that's so awesome.
Yes, so both sides of theparents are living.
Do they all live in Knoxville?
Speaker 4 (38:36):
So that was part of the reason for coming home.
Okay, People say, well, why didyou come back home?
You know you've been herebecause, she's been all over the
world.
But I will tell you 32 years ofservice, but there's nothing
like people just don't realizesome people don't realize the
beauty of this area.
Yes, knoxville and Tennessee, Iagree Is just a wonderful place
(38:59):
to be.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
It really is and I think you know the cost of
living has went up.
But if you really think aboutit you still can have a build a
great family in Knoxville and itbe affordable.
I'm not saying everything isaffordable, I'm not saying that,
but I'm just saying that if youlook at other places across the
country and you compare it toKnoxville, you know our crime
(39:23):
rate is lower than a lot ofstates OK, a lot of the bigger
states we have a crime rate.
But if you look at, if youcompare them by different states
, okay, our crime rate is not ashigh as those bigger states are
in that type of thing.
And of course, they have morenumbers, you know.
But I think that you can live inKnoxville and raise a family
(39:47):
and really enjoy.
We have a lot of things thatare still free, versus in other
states.
You pay for everythingeverywhere you go.
You know Georgia I would notwant to live in Georgia.
You pay for everything.
You pay for the parking to goto a park.
I mean it's amazing Well, notamazing to me, it is
(40:11):
disheartening to me that you'vegot to pay for so many things.
I'm not saying that Knoxvillehas everything free we don't.
But we do have some parks thatyou don't have to pay for
parking, you don't have to payto get into the park, you don't
have to pay for those certainthings that you can just go walk
, you know.
Walk on a trail, you know.
Clear your mind, that typething.
We have the Dogwood ArtsFestivals, that type thing.
(40:33):
Now, yes, those cost, but it'sstill so much cheaper than other
festivals in other states andthere are so many things that
you can.
Leadership knocks.
Well what me and you both are in.
You know, yes, it's aninvestment, but at the same time
we both said off camera, we'llmiss it once we leave it,
(40:54):
because we've learned so muchand it's brought us out of
comfort zones.
Well, I know it brought me outof comfort zones and I needed to
be challenged and I canhonestly say that leadership
also has challenged me, honestlysay that leadership also has
challenged me.
It's challenged me to get toknow other people, get to
understand other people, to haveconversations, hard
(41:15):
conversations at times.
Speaker 4 (41:26):
Can you say, is there anything that you?
Speaker 1 (41:27):
could say that you've learned out of leadership in
Oxville.
Speaker 4 (41:31):
There's so much it's hard to kind of try to fit it
down to one thing, but I wouldsay just the opportunity to meet
with all aspects right, yes.
Understanding how differentsections of the city operate
right, Seeing it from adifferent perspective and then
also, yeah, from a differentperspective, and then from a
(41:51):
different lens, and then theneed to be able to have people,
in various aspects, be able towork together for a common cause
.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
I agree.
Right and so part of Knoxvillewe learned in leadership, and
also because there was a lot ofthings that I was like this is
in Knoxville.
There was a lot of things thatI was like this is in Knoxville
Right, you know, I've lived inKnoxville since 1986.
Speaker 4 (42:15):
And there's some things they pointed out, I was
like what Well, and a lot haschanged for me, because growing
up here, I left in 82.
I left in 82 and I would onlycome home to visit, and so I
moved back here in 2020, thevery latter part of 2022.
Okay, so so much has changed,even.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
You're right.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
In that time period Right.
Speaker 3 (42:34):
So 40 years later, yeah, 40 years later she's like
okay, I'm learning my city again, you know, and it's grown so
much.
And I want to touch on this ispart of caregiving.
But I want to touch on on, youknow, the importance of having a
wheel, having insurance, havingum, someone in place, uh, that
(43:00):
can look over you, and thereason why I'm bringing that is
because you're in that place foryour parents.
Can you speak on those typethings?
How important it is to havesomeone in place that can make
hard decisions for you inmedical or whatever.
Can you speak on that?
Speaker 4 (43:14):
Yeah, a little bit.
So you asked me before what isa village, and so that's kind of
the name of my group, right, ittakes the village and what we
do is we try to pull togetherall the best practices of what
you go through as a caregiver.
You know, like for me, thefirst time it happened to me I
(43:38):
was in Virginia still.
My husband and I were having ameal, we had just sat down, we
had the news on.
We were watching the news and Iget a phone call from my
stepmom who told me that my dadhad been out driving.
He has Alzheimer's.
Okay, he had been out drivingand she didn't know where he was
(44:00):
and it was getting late and itwas like maybe 7, 730.
That's a hard call.
Yeah, it's 7, 730.
And I'm like, okay, I'm inAlexandria, virginia.
What can I do at this point?
And at that point, to make along story short, I realized at
that point there were so manythings that I didn't know.
(44:20):
Like, I know he drives a truck,I know it's a Ford, but I
didn't know the make and model,right, I didn't know the license
tag number, I didn't know whathe had on at that point in time
when he got in the truck and hewent driving he couldn't operate
a cell phone, because everytime I would buy him a new cell
phone it operates a little bitdifferently.
He learned on the iPhone three,if you remember, he could
(44:41):
operate that one, but you know,the networks kind of progressed
so anyway.
So he didn't have a phone onhim either, and so it was like
how in the world can we find mydad?
Well, fortunately, when I didcall the police department, they
put out a I think it's a codegray, okay and they found out
(45:06):
where his truck was and saw thathe had been circling around.
He was trying, becauseKnoxville has changed so much.
Right, he was driving aroundtrying to find his way back home
.
He was on Dandridge and he wasover on UT campus because the
roads have changed and hecouldn't find his way back.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
But they got the cameras.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
They located where he was, police officers escorted
him home and everything was fine.
But I said that's somethingthat I didn't know and I wanted
to, that I didn't want that tohappen to anybody else.
Right.
That's why the village Right.
So you have a community ofpeople who are going through
similar things, who can sharebest practices like to tell you
that you need to have certainthings in place.
(45:48):
Best practices like to tell youthat you need to have certain
things in place If somethingwere to happen.
Whether you live here inKnoxville with your parents or
you don't.
Who knows what medicationsthey're on?
Who knows what theirphysician's name is?
Are y'all hearing what?
Speaker 3 (46:00):
she's saying.
These are very good points thatyou really need to stop and
think about, because think aboutif you got that call, that she
got, that her father was missingand the cameras.
Thank god for the cameras,thank god for the game, yeah,
yeah but keep going.
Speaker 4 (46:17):
So you know, do you know their medications?
Do you know that?
Do you know their medicalconditions?
Right, because there's ageneration where you don't talk
about those kinds of things, soyou don't necessarily know.
That's a good point um, cansomeone get into the house,
right?
Do you have a key that'sstashed somewhere, or is there
like a realtor's lock box that'son the side of the house that
(46:40):
only a certain number of peopleknow what the code is to be able
to get in?
But have you thought throughthose different things if you're
not there to make sure thatthey could be taken care of?
Do you have a will?
Do you have a living power ofattorney?
Do they have a will and livingpower of attorney or living will
, excuse me, power of attorney,a trust?
You know what happens, becausethose are some difficult
(47:02):
conversations that we have andsometimes we don't have them
until it's far too late.
Speaker 3 (47:08):
And I would say something I had to tell a friend
of mine that mother just passedaway.
Her sister had the power ofreturning, and so her sister
thought that she didn't need awill, they didn't need a will or
anything and said oh, I'll beover everything of mom's power.
Returning is only good whileyou're living, and so and I've
(47:29):
been trying to say this as manytimes as I can A power of
attorney is only during the timethe person is alive, the day
that they pass away, the minutethey pass away.
The power of attorney that powerof attorney is gone, correct,
okay, so you have to have.
That's the reason why a will iscalled a last will and
(47:51):
testament and that's why it saysit's the person's last word of
what they want their estate todo with, whatever their
belongings are or whatever thatthey possess.
That's what that means.
But I think a lot of timespeople think if I have a power
of attorney, I'm covered.
No, no, and I'll tell youanother thing is is just because
(48:14):
you have a power of attorneyover medical doesn't mean that
you have a power of attorneyover?
Speaker 4 (48:18):
everything.
Speaker 3 (48:19):
Right, okay, a general power of attorney.
A lot of people think thatbecause a lot of times people
get power of attorneys whensomeone gets sick, so they go
and they get that medical andthey think they can make
decisions on selling the houseor whatever.
Whatever you can't do that, youknow, and so it takes people
professionals in real estate orentitled to tell them that we
(48:41):
look like we're the mean peoplebut it's really.
That's the law, you know.
And so that's when I wasreading about you and the
different things that you'reinvolved in and what you believe
in the village and all that, Iwas like she needs to speak on
that.
You know, cause I don't thinkyou remember, but you told me
(49:02):
when you met David, when we wentto after hour, that about your
parents you said that yourparents were still living and
that you were taking care ofthem.
I didn't know, it was both sets.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
So yeah, I didn't know both sets.
Speaker 3 (49:16):
But think about that.
You've stepped in and said youknow what?
My mom and dad took care of me.
They made a way for me.
So now they can't take care oftheir self like they could years
ago.
So I'm going to take care ofthem, and I think more kids need
to realize yes, I understandyou have your own family and you
have all the dynamics of that,but take care of your parents,
(49:39):
because I'm without parents, andif God could give me five
minutes, just five minutes, youknow I would love on my parents
like no other.
There would be nothing above it.
And so it's commendable whatyou're doing with your family
and just keep doing that.
How can people get in touchwith you?
(50:00):
How can people get involved inthe things that you are trying
to do out in the community?
Speaker 4 (50:06):
So I have a website, go ahead.
It's called KatrinaHallSmithcomand it basically talks about.
It takes a village and you cancontact me through the website,
set up a phone call, join acommunity.
So yeah, I would.
I would love to hear and hearsome of the experiences that
(50:30):
others who are taking care oftheir parents are having and
then also provide a supportgroup for them, so that you can
find out some of the other bestpractices, have an ear to bend
when you're going through somechallenges and have some support
and then also learn about howto take care of yourself as well
.
Right, because you can get lostin it.
Speaker 3 (50:51):
You can Right.
I know that feeling.
You can get a little lost.
You never got sick, yeah.
Speaker 4 (50:56):
Yeah, yeah, and so it's nice to be able to have a
group to be able to talk toabout some of those challenges
that you may have.
Speaker 3 (51:05):
So can you tell them one more time your website and
how to get in touch with you?
Speaker 4 (51:09):
Yes, so it's KatrinaHallSmithcom.
Speaker 3 (51:14):
KatrinaHallSmithcom, and I recommend you to call her,
tune in every Friday to Talk inTennessee with Yvonca, because
we are here to serve you.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
Bye, guys.
Thanks for listening to Talk inTennessee with Yvonca.
Watch out for our weeklyepisodes from the First Family
of Real Estate and check us outon the web
wwwyvoncasalesrealestatecom.
See our videos on Yvonca'sYouTube channel or find us on
Facebook under Yvonca Landis andTwitter at Yvonca Landis, and
(51:49):
don't forget to tell a friendabout us.
Until next time.
Yvonca Landis and Twitter atYvonca Landis.
And don't forget to tell afriend about us.
Until next time.
Yvonca signing off.
Check us out to hear the latest on life in the
volunteer state.
Yvonca and her guests discusseverything from life, love and
business with a Tennessee flair.
It's a Tennessee thing, alwaysrelatable, always relevant and
always a good time.
This is Talkin' Tennessee, andnow your host, yvonca.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
This episode is brought to you by the Landis
team, your go-to real estatefamily in East Tennessee.
If you are looking to buy orsell, we are the ones you should
call.
Give us a call at 865-660-1186or check out our website at
YvoncaSellsRealEstatecom.
That's Yvonca Y-V-O-N-N-C-ASalesRealEstatecom.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Welcome back to Talking Tennessee with Yvonne Ca
.
I am your host and I am herethis week with Dr Katrina
Hall-Smith.
Welcome to Talking Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Thank you so much for having me.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Most definitely.
Well, viewers, let me tell youwhy I'm having her on.
First, I met Katrina inLeadership Not so class and I
watched this person from afar.
Did not know her, we never metbefore, but it was something
about you that just made me wantto know more, so I want you to
(01:23):
know.
I watched you from you knowmaneuvering in the class and it
just made me want to know moreabout you and I was like she's
got a journey, she's got a storyto tell and I want to tell her
on Talking Tennessee.
So thank you for agreeing tocome on here.
So let me ask you your firstquestion who is Katrina Hall
(01:44):
Smith Without doctor, withoutall the different things that
you have done in your life isimpeccable and we'll talk about
it.
But who?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
are you Well?
Speaker 4 (01:57):
first of all, I'm a child of God.
Right, I am a true Southerner.
I am a true southerner.
I am a country girl.
That's a good thing.
I am my mother's daughter andmy father's daughter, you know,
and then also a wife.
These are all the things thatkind of make up who I am today,
(02:18):
but I will say that there's alot of different facets of
everyone.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yes, and.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I enjoy every one of them.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I agree with you on that, and throughout life, I
think that we try to accomplishas much as we can, but we always
have to remember you know whowe are and that's why I asked
that question, because it makespeople stop to think about you
know, because you do so much inthe community, you do so much in
(02:50):
life.
You know that type thing thatsometimes, when I ask that
question, some people will belike what?
You know that type of thingbecause they didn't stop to
think about it.
So let's let's go back to thefamily that you grew up in.
When I was reading about you, Isaw that me and you have
something in common we come fromeducated people, an educated
(03:13):
family and a family thatbelieves in college education.
Can you tell me what was yourupbringing and what made you
want to go to college?
Speaker 4 (03:24):
Well, for me it was never really an option.
So it was one of those dealswhere both my mom and dad they
attended Knoxville College.
They had the opportunitybecause of the sacrifices that
their parents made Right.
So both of my grandmothers ifanybody's seen the movie the
Help, right that was the type ofyou know, doing domestic work.
(03:48):
Both of my grandmothers did that.
Both of my grandfathers,ironically, worked for the
railroad, ok, and so mygrandfather Collier, my mom's
father.
He worked for the railroad.
He brought the family up fromGeorgia, so they were part of
that migration, of getting outof the South, and then
eventually a lot of his familywent further north.
(04:10):
OK but his place here inKnoxville was kind of like the,
the transition zone.
As folks came out of Georgia ontheir way to either Ohio or
Michigan or New York.
They kind of stayed here, gottheir footing and then took off
to go up north to go findwhatever fortune or job
opportunities that existed upthere.
(04:31):
But he was the root here inKnoxville.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
So, viewers, let me tell you how much this is weird
to hear you say that, because mygrandfather and I wonder if our
grandfathers were at KnoxvilleCollege at the same time.
Because didn't you tell me offcamera your grandfather was born
in 1915?
.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
So my grandfather was not college educated.
He didn't go to KnoxvilleCollege.
That was my dad.
Okay, your dad.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Okay, so my grandfather went to Knoxville
College as well, and all hisbrothers went to Knoxville
College.
So, that's why I was askingthat.
But back then you know, thatwas not something.
It was never given Right, theyhad to earn Exactly they totally
had to earn.
(05:18):
And you know, my grandfatheralways told me is what is your
legacy going to be when you dieand you go to heaven?
What is your legacy going to bewhen you die and you go to
heaven?
What is your legacy going to be?
And at the time he said it,katrina, I was too young to
understand what he was sayingthat type thing.
Now I do understand it, and soeducation, he always said, is
(05:39):
key and that's something thatcan't be taken away from you.
And so when I started readingabout you, I was like this is a
person that is college educated,she's a doctor in two different
areas, and I'm like but youwent in the military, you did
all those different things, butwhat was the one key thing that
(06:01):
you would say that could bringall that together in early age?
What was the one thing besidescollege that brought you into
going into service and doing allthe different things?
We're going to talk about allyour different things, but I
want to know was there a certainthing that you'd say well, I
went into the service because ofthis?
Speaker 4 (06:30):
So, going into the service, I want to go back to,
kind of, what was it thatbrought it all together?
I would say that in both of ourfamilies it was always about
giving back, right, I agree.
So, going back to mygrandfather, collier, he, though
he did not have a formaleducation, he was a very, very
intelligent man, right?
Um, he was always, uh, doingthings to help everybody else
(06:55):
out.
And so when you talk about whydid I join the military, what
was the service aspect of it,there's a funny story that goes
along with that, but we alwayshad a sense of keeping the
community together and doingthings to be able to help other
people within the community.
He used to take vegetables,right, because we lived out in
(07:17):
the county, out in the country,and so he would take vegetables
and he would put them on theback of his truck and he would
go down to Lonsdale,mechanicsville, because, you
know, there's not a lot ofgrocery stores there now there
certainly were not very manygrocery stores down there good
and so people wanted freshfruits and vegetables and things
like that.
So he put them on the back ofthe truck, go out there and give
them way off the back of thetruck.
(07:37):
He sometimes he'd sell them,sometimes he'd give them away,
but that was something he did,because that's the way he grew
up, but that's true evangelism.
If you really think about it.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
You know that was God's purpose.
True evangelism is in thestreets, it's in the community.
You know that type thing and Ithink that your grandfather and
great-grandfather and upprobably all taught you.
Community is everything youknow to give back and I always
tell every person that's been inthe service thank you for your
(08:08):
service.
She had 32 years in the armycorrect Correct In the army.
Talk about it.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Tell us about that experience so you would ask me
what was it that caused me to gointo the military, and it's
actually a kind of a funny story.
So when I was in high school Ihad a senior army instructor.
So I took junior ROTC overHolston High School and I had a
senior army instructor.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
So you went to.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Holston, I did yeah, holston.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
When it was still a high school right, yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
So he had challenged me to apply to the military
academy and I was like, first ofall, what?
Speaker 1 (08:48):
What are you talking about?
What you know?
Speaker 4 (08:50):
And so he told me a little bit about it.
And then I remembered thatthere was a gentleman two years
ahead of me, Paul McLeod.
He was in the band with me andwe dated a little bit.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
She says date a little bit.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Oh, you're in high school, so I'm just dating.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
You're really doing right Two or three days.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Exactly, exactly so.
But Paul had his entire lifekind of mapped out right.
He says I'm going to go to themilitary academy, I'm going to
do 20 years, I'm going to dothat, you know.
And he just kind of had it allplanned out.
And so when my instructor hadasked me, you know, I'd like you
to apply to the militaryacademy.
And so the little cockinessinside of me said, well, if Paul
(09:31):
can do it, I certainly can doit, and so it was just really
weird.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
So it was more, so I dare.
She's like listen, I can showyou, I can do it just like you.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Right, Right and it was just, it was, it was.
It wasn't like a deep desire togo.
It was just like it's anopportunity.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
So it's an opportunity I'm approved that I
can go in there, Right?
So so once you got approved togo in, so so little cocky me,
right.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
I didn't get accepted .
Okay, first try.
They offered me the prep schoolbecause I had not an athletic
bone in my body.
Yeah, she was like yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
That's right.
I'm trying to go in the army,exactly.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Exactly, my brother is like trying to teach me how
to do sit-ups and push-ups, andI hated running and I was just
like oh, my God, you know so.
So anyway, so I went to theprep school, which is in Fort
Monmouth, new Jersey, and whatthey do there is whatever area
that you need a littlestrengthening in that's what
they work on.
So when I got to the prepschool, it was every single
(10:36):
sport known to man.
I would be you had to learneverything yeah, lacrosse,
trying to learn how to swim.
Really, I didn't know that Track.
Basketball, volleyball, youname it.
Oh, you had to learn, I had tolearn.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
And so so, of the sports, which one did you like
the most?
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Volleyball.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Volleyball, okay, volleyball.
And basketball?
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Yeah, I didn't do.
I didn't play basketball,although both my mother and
father played basketball whenthey were in school.
I didn't play basketballbecause mom was concerned about
my grades and she said no, youknow, I don't think you should.
You should do that because youknow you said you wanted to do X
, Y, Z, so we're not going to.
You're already doing bands,You're already doing ROTC,
You're already doing this.
You're already doing that we'renot doing, not one more thing,
(11:24):
exactly.
So basketball and volleyballwere my two favorites.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
So when you got into the service, where was?
Speaker 4 (11:32):
you stationed at, so my initial assignment was in
Germany, germany, germany, yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Is that because I have brothers and one of my
brothers went to Germany and Iknow different people?
Is that one of the main thingsin army, that a lot of people
get stationed in Germany at thebeginning Because I know several
people that is winning theservice and that's the first
place they got stationed?
Or is that just a fluke?
It's?
Just no, it's just.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
OK, so when you got, to Germany.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
How was it?
Speaker 4 (12:04):
I loved it you loved it.
I absolutely loved it.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
How long was you there?
Speaker 4 (12:09):
I was only there four years, part of which was a
deployment, so but yeah, I wasin Germany at the time period
before the wall came down.
Okay, okay and so I got therein 1988.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
And.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
How many times have you been deployed?
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Three.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Three times, okay, yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
So at that point it was Desert Shield, desert Storm,
and there's a funny story withthat one because you know they
talk about having.
In fact, it's kind ofinteresting given some of the
events that have happenedrecently in the news.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah, some.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
of the events that have happened recently in the
news.
So we were in Germany.
My boss, amazing guy, wastelling me hey, lt, I need you
to LT, short for lieutenant Ineed you to work on, get the
maintenance trucks together,make sure the defect is ready to
go, make sure that we haveeverything ready to roll.
And he said because my missionis to make sure that if there's
(13:05):
anything that's ever going tocome down, our company is
prepared to go forward.
And so he had written out allthese things that he wanted me
to make sure that I did.
And that's what we were workingon.
Little did we have any ideathat we were actually going to
deploy.
I get a phone call from mom andshe says baby, y'all are
getting ready to go over to thedesert.
(13:26):
And I was like mom, what areyou talking about?
We're already in Germany.
We're forward deployed already.
We're not going to go to thedesert.
Other other units may go, butwe're, we're here, we're
protecting Europe, right, we'renot going anywhere?
And she said baby, I'm tellingyou, I saw it on the news, y'all
(13:46):
going and I was like mom,you're like, that's just the
news.
I said mom, you're confused,right right so next morning I
get to work, commander says nexthole.
I was like sir he says getstuff together we're.
And I was like we're rollingwhere sir he said we're going to
the desert.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
And you're sitting there going.
Mom said, she said mom saidExactly, exactly so what was it
like the first time going andjust the experience.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
It was very interesting because at that
point in time we didn't havewell, we hadn't had a combat
mission since Korea, right?
So this is the early, very,very early 90s.
And so the question of whatwould be the role for women in
the military right.
So generally, we are in combatservice support, meaning you're
(14:44):
in those branches that would notallow you to actually get into
the big of battle, and that waskind of an uneasy feeling for
some, Right, but for me I waslike well, this is what our
mission is and this is whatwe're going to go do.
So, whatever jobs that you havefor me to do, that's what I'm
going to take care of, that's mymission.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
What made you go into the medical part of it?
Speaker 4 (15:08):
I wasn't medical at that point.
Okay, I was actually militaryintelligence.
Okay, and so we would dosignals intelligence, meaning we
would be in vehicles listeningto communications without
getting into too much detailright.
But to gather the informationand provide that to the
warfighters to be able toexecute their plans.
(15:29):
But at this point I wasassigned to a division
headquarters and I was the XOresponsible for a lot of the all
of the extra duties.
So the nuclear, biological,chemical officer, the supply
officer, the dining facilityofficer, the personnel officer I
had about, I think, sevendifferent hats at that point.
(15:51):
And then also, I was the personwho would go out and make sure
that when we were setting up theheadquarters it would send a
quartering party forward to kindof lay out.
When the trucks come rolling inthe trucks, the 577s, all of
the different vehicles came in Iwould direct where they were
going to be lined out to set upthe headquarters.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
You were basically in charge.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
No.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
She said no.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
I wasn't in charge.
No, I was not in charge, but Ihad certain responsibilities.
So, as a part of the quarterparty, go out and then identify
where these different areas weregoing to be and then where the
logistics portion would be Okay.
Generally that would not be anormal role but because of where
I was assigned, that was.
(16:37):
That was my role.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Right.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
So there came an instance during that particular
deployment where my commanderwas concerned for my safety and
he sent me on a mission to makesure, because let me, let me,
let me roll back.
There was a time period when wewere getting ready to go over
the berm and the female soldiersin our unit said hey, ma'am,
(17:02):
when they go over the berm, arewe going?
Because females don't go intocombat?
And I was like they're not justgoing to all of a sudden, stop
us from doing our jobs because,quote, females don to go into
combat.
We have a mission, we have togo forward, we have to do
whatever it is that we'reassigned to do to make sure that
the mission, that the company,is successful.
(17:24):
We have to do whatever.
That is Right.
And so they said are we goingforward?
And I said absolutely we'regoing forward.
And they were like OK, ok,forward.
And I said absolutely we'regoing forward.
And they were like okay, okay.
So didn't know that mycommander was concerned and
because of what my job was, hesent me on a boondoggle to go
back down to the log base whenthey were getting ready to go
(17:44):
forward, so that I wouldn't beable to go forward with them and
somebody else would have tostep in and do that particular
job, because he called himselfprotecting me yes and I was hot
as fish grease because youwanted to go.
Well, no because I was like howin the world is he going to do
this?
The soldiers were asking me arewe going forward?
And here it is.
It looks like I'm goingbackwards.
(18:06):
Yeah right, while they're stillhaving to go forward yes, and
how does that make me look?
right, yeah, and well, and howdoes make me feel, because
they're up there, scared?
Yes, because I'm not up there.
Yes, right, you know, because Isaid we're going Right.
So anyway, long story short, Iget down to the log base.
I get word that the unit isgoing forward.
(18:28):
So I beat feet heading to gocatch up with my unit, had to go
catch up with my unit.
Little did he know I was goingto do that.
Oh wow, because he had toldsomeone who didn't get the
message to me, had told someonedon't let her come back up here.
Yes, right, I didn't get themessage.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yes, so here I go and you was glad.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Here I go.
I go traipsing back up there,got separated from the unit.
Long story short, um, I endedup with a, a subunit of, uh,
third armored division, andactually did get to see like, at
that point in time, sawmultiple rocket launchers going
over and I mean, it was what anexperience it was it was amazing
(19:09):
, it was amazing.
And then, when I caught back upwith the probably exciting and
exciting at the same time.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Wow, well, god Right, but God Because?
Speaker 4 (19:19):
during that same time period, there were some
soldiers who did get brieflycaptured Right, some female
soldiers at that point in time,and they were all in the news
and thank God that was not meRight, but God.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
But Right.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
But God, but God, but God.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I'll say this the biggest thing, probably that
helped you is because you had arelationship with God, you know,
and that I think that's a bigthing.
No matter what you do in life,I feel like that you, you have
to have a true relationship withGod and you have to build your
faith and being deployed, ohyeah, oh, you got to have some
(19:59):
faith.
You have true faith, that typething.
So what made you go into themedical part?
So let's talk about it.
Let's talk about it.
So from the time period, BecauseI'm proud of my friend.
Yes, there is, so let's talkabout it.
So, from the time period, I'mproud of my friend.
So, uh, because there's notthere, you see more black.
(20:19):
Uh, blacks come going intomedical now, but think back when
you, it wasn't as many and itwasn't as open to the up to our
race.
Let's talk about it Well youasked why.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
When I was born, I was two and a half months
premature.
I had a defect in your pancreasand so basically, the doctors
told mom when I was born that Iwas not going to make it.
Okay and so when.
(21:01):
Thank God you did.
Walker normal be Walker.
I don't know if she is stillliving, but I thank her because
when she walked in the door thatmorning shout out to dr normal
be Walker, pediatrician, yes,she came in to round on the
babies that have been bornpreviously and she said what's
going on with this one?
And um, they said, well, she'sgot an aneuplancry, she's got
(21:22):
collapsed, you know, just namedoff all the things that was
wrong.
And she said, well, why don'tyou guys clean her up?
You know well, we don't havethe uh capability in this
particular hospital to be ableto take care of these things.
And so you, you got to rememberthis is the 60s, right.
So we have the black hospital orthe hospital where blacks can
go, and then we have the otherhospitals and so she said then
(21:43):
transfer her to Children's,where they can take care of this
.
And it's amazing they were likeand she said transfer her to
Children's and that probablysaved your life it did save my
life.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Yeah, it did save my life, that's why I truly believe
that God puts vessels on earth.
We're vessels and we'resupposed to do God's work, you
know, and whatever he sees fitfor us.
You know, and just imagine ifthat woman wouldn't have done
that, you wouldn't be sittingwith me, you wouldn't be the
doctor that you are and youwouldn't have served so much
(22:16):
time in communities, not justthis community.
You served in a lot ofcommunities and I know, with the
short time we've known eachother, I know when you left
those communities you made thembetter, because I'm good at
reading people and you have agiving heart and a giving heart
(22:36):
makes you want to build.
Community wants you to build.
It doesn't matter if it's inthe church, outside of the
church, in the workplace,whatever, and I have that heart
that I like to build.
I like to see people thrive.
I like to see people be happyin whatever their true happiness
is.
So yours was to see peoplethrive.
I like to see people you knowbe happy in whatever they their
true happiness is.
So yours was to become a doctor.
(22:59):
Yes, yes.
What pulled you together andsaid, okay, I want to be a
physician and I want to takecare of people?
Was it what your experience was?
Speaker 4 (23:08):
So, yes, growing up, knowing that, because Dr Walker
walked in the room and she askedthe question and then she made
it happen Right, and I was likewhen I grow up, I want to be
like that, I want to be able todo things and make decisions
that will help people and impactpeople's lives.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Exactly yes, so you became the physician.
How long was you?
Was you in the service at thattime?
So uh or, and where was you?
Speaker 4 (23:45):
out.
No, I got out you got out right.
So I uh, while I was in themilitary I I needed a few more
prerequisites because going tothe academy I did not have all
of the prerequisites Some peoplecould go directly out of the
military academy and a lot ofthem went to UCHU, the military
med school.
Right, okay, but let's just saythat I did not graduate at the
(24:07):
top of my class, but you stillgraduated, I did.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
And it still seems it's still the same graduation,
right?
So you so you served 32 yearsin the service came out and
became a doctor yes, is thatwhat you're telling me and then
went back in.
And then went back in.
That is amazing.
So tell me your opinion of whatmakes a village that's a term
(24:41):
that is so sad in our community,right, you know, it takes a
village to raise a child.
It takes a village to getpeople through things.
What is your definition of avillage and what do you say that
people need to do?
Speaker 4 (24:57):
So it takes a village , or a village is basically it's
a group or a community ofpeople who work together to make
sure that everyone within thatcohort is taken care of, and
that's kind of the way I grew up.
Yes, so you're a realtor.
Yes, right, I don't know if youare familiar with Rock Coulee
(25:18):
Village.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Say that again.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
Rock Coulee Village.
It's out in the county, it'soff of Harris Road.
Yes, yes, okay, yes, okay.
So so back in the day and thisgoes back to college educated or
middle class let's say middleclass families, in that time
period, late 60s, early 70sthere were very few communities
(25:47):
where people could actually buya home Correct Right, buy a home
, correct Right, and so that wasone of the communities that was
actually designed by a schoolteacher, and I want to think of
what was her husband.
I don't know if he was anarchitect or not, but that name
rock Cooley.
It was Rachel Augustus.
(26:08):
I'd have to call my mom to getthe rest of it but that's where
rock Cooley came from.
It was named after them and theycreated a community for
minorities, minorities,african-americans specifically.
Okay, out in the county therewas another community that's off
of Dandridge, blanking on thename of that one, and then
(26:30):
there's also Morningside, butthere were two or three
communities where middle classfamilies, middle class minority
families, could buy a home, andso that was ours.
We were in Rockaway Village andeveryone worked together.
So my mom, who?
She was a pioneer in her ownright, she worked for Tennessee
Valley Authority, so she woulddrive out to Norris, tennessee,
(26:53):
26 miles each way, yes, so noone was there to get me off the
bus, right, right, so I wouldwalk over to Miss Kemp's house.
Miss Kemp was the neighborhoodlady.
There were two of them, missKemp and Miss McGee.
They were the ones who wouldsell the candy out of the, you
know, off the back porch orwhatever.
But she also kept me and mybrother after school until my
(27:16):
mom got home.
Then we had miss mitchell whowas up the street and, like mom,
didn't have time necessarily todo a lot of laundry, so she
would, mom would take the basketof clothes up the street and
she would wash, but she didn'thave time to iron, so she would
take the clothes up the streetand she would do the ironing to
(27:36):
help mom out.
Wow, yeah, exactly so, uh, youknow everybody and they just
kind of work together.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
I grew up in harriman and um, everybody took care of
everybody and no kids went unfed, you know.
And and I tell people this, I'mlike I guess I would say we
were poor, but we didn't know wewere, because my mom and dad
always made it happen.
(28:05):
We didn't lack things, like asa kid, because they got us what
we needed.
You know what I'm saying.
And so, even down to church, ifmy mom had to work, we were
still in church.
My grandmother took me tochurch, or the neighbor took us
to church, that type thing.
(28:26):
And so that's a village, youknow, even in sports, you know,
because I had a brother andsister and we were all in
something, and I don't know howmy mom shout out to my mother
rest in peace how she nevermissed a game Out of three kids.
I don't even I have Jaden nowand I'm like, okay, I'm over
(28:48):
trying to do this and Adrianhelps me with this and that, but
my mom did that, you know, andshe had people in our community
that stepped in when she could.
She didn't have no more gas togive, right, you know that type
thing, and I just think avillage is so important.
And everybody doesn't have one,right, I have learned that
(29:10):
Everybody doesn't have one.
I've learned that Everybodydoesn't have one.
So what would you say to ourviewers, when it comes to their
communities, of how to build avillage, how to, you know, help
their neighbor?
Speaker 4 (29:21):
So, first of all, it really just takes.
You got to know your neighbors,right?
Yes, okay, Because in knowingyour neighbors you know their
strengths, you know theirweaknesses, you know some of
their needs.
You know their strengths, youknow their weaknesses, you know
(29:58):
some of their needs.
They know some of your callfamily support groups who work
together when that spouse is nolonger there.
Right, If that spouse isdeployed, all of the other
spouses in the community theirsare deployed too.
So now you have people who havebasically single parents who
kind of pull together to makesure that everything is taken
care of while the other familymember is gone.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
So basically your upbringing helped you to when
you got in the military how toform.
You know villages within theparents and for the kids and all
that kind of stuff.
When someone got deployed,basically you keep building
villages.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
Well, that wasn't my idea, it wasn't your idea.
No, that was not my idea.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
But it was what you worked towards, right, you
worked towards a building.
You know, whatever surroundingsthat you had, you know, and
helping other people.
And I think the biggest problemI see with that.
I think we're taught nowadayseverything needs to be private,
everything needs to be private,you know it's either you're wide
(31:04):
open social media or everythingneeds to be private.
So a lot of people think, whenthey get home, I'm going home,
I'm going home to my family, sothey really don't know their
neighbors, they don't go andintroduce yourself.
Now I'll tell you, when I movedin my house, one thing that
stuck out to me.
(31:24):
Now, granted, it was seveno'clock in the morning and I was
sleepy before I tell the story,but when I moved in my house
seven o'clock in the morning,the welcome committee was at my
door and they had these oatmealcranberry cookies, katrina.
Okay.
And when I tell you thesecookies, world's best cookies.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Oh, really Okay good.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Oh my.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
God.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Yes, rest in peace, ms Fern, because Ms Fern passed
away a few years ago and Ms Fernshe was over the welcome
committee, she was two doorsdown and Ms Fern, she was over
the welcome committee, she wastwo doors down, and Ms Fern, her
and the group of women.
They came, they introducedthemselves, they brought me this
book of everybody's name,numbers and emails and how many
(32:05):
kids you had.
All that was in this book.
Okay, wow, yes, back when Imoved here 21 years ago.
So, anyway, I thought that wasthe coolest thing.
Now, keep in mind, ok, I'm inmy late 20s when I move here, so
I'm over here.
At first I was like peoplereally come at seven o'clock in
the morning.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
You know that type thing.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
But those cookies.
When I bit into the cookie Iwas like you can come anytime,
you know.
But I think it needs to be morepeople like Miss Fern.
It needs to be more people likeMs Fern.
It needs to be more people thatsays you know what?
Hey, I've retired.
How about?
You know, a welcome committee?
You know, build up a few of yourfriends and it doesn't even
have to be in your subdivision,it can be people at your church
that you know that theirhusbands have passed or their
(32:51):
wives have passed and you go andjust do a check-in.
You know that is knowing yourneighbor, that is knowing the
people that's in your communityand building up your community,
that type thing.
Every thanksgiving I make mykids uh, go to, we go to
kroger's, we buy pies, all thatkind of stuff and we go through
this subdivision.
(33:11):
Okay, to every house that weknow that there's only one
person living in it and it'slike a lot of different women
that live in my subdivision thathas been passed away and they
love it.
Okay, valentine's we're goingto go to certain houses and
certain women in our subdivisionwe're going to go go to and say
(33:33):
we just want to love on you.
It's valentine's day and I thinkthat's knowing your neighbor,
yes, and I think we need to havemore of that in um, even in the
workplace.
You know, um, you know we work,but there are still people in
in the workplace that needs anencouraging word, that just
needs, needs to hear.
You know what?
(33:54):
Hey, let me if you have alittle extra money that day.
Hey, can I buy you lunch?
I think if we had more peoplethat just sacrificed and
kindness yeah, just straightkindness that it would really
help a lot of people get throughhard times.
Because right now we're in ahard time world, through hard
(34:18):
times, because right now we'rein a hard time world and it's
not I know a lot of people wantto say it's because politics,
it's a lot of different reasonswhy we're there and I think that
we need to get out of what themedia says we're supposed to be
and get into what God wants usto be, and to know our neighbors
and care about our neighborsand just truly be God-fearing
(34:41):
people that want to be kind.
Do you agree with that?
Speaker 4 (34:45):
I agree with most of that.
Okay, right, I think if we canfind the commonalities that we
have, right, I agree, and a lotof times you're going to find
that within your community.
Case in point is when you talkabout the media and politics and
that kind of thing.
I've got a girlfriend, my armybuddy, right, she's down in
(35:08):
Mississippi, it's in Mississippi, right, but she she lives in an
area that's very rural, okay,and she was telling me when her
husband he's from Ghana, he wasin Ghana, he wasn't able to get
back.
When we have some difficultieswith bringing people back over,
(35:28):
he's a US citizen, he served inthe Navy, but anyway, he was in
Ghana visiting his family.
He couldn't get back and sothere was a whole eight month
period that she was there byherself on this big, basically
farm.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Right.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
And her neighbor, who has different political views
than she does, looks differentthan she does, but he's her
neighbor.
He made sure that when sheneeded wood there was wood
chopped in her and right therefor her to use.
When the grass needed cutting,he came and made sure the grass
was cut and she was so thankfulhe said sure thing You're my
(36:02):
neighbor, right.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
And see, that's what I love.
And I do understand thatpolitics is big right now.
It's a big thing, but I justthink that being kind to people,
no matter what their politicalviews are, that's what God would
want us to do, and I'm likewhere did we miss the mark on
(36:24):
that part of it that we allow anelection to take kindness out
of our hearts?
When you see somebody needing,you know, whatever their kids
needing clothes or whatever andyou can fill that void, you need
to step up, you know, and youneed to try to help when you can
.
And that's commendable for thatman to do that because he could
(36:47):
have, you know, been stayeddivided.
He could have stayed divided,and you know, but he saw that a
family needed help.
Speaker 4 (36:55):
It was his neighbor.
You are my people right.
You are my people right.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
So let's talk about caregiving, you know.
So what is your form ofcaregiving?
What is your biggest thingabout?
Speaker 4 (37:10):
caregiving.
So this goes back to thevillage, right.
So, before I was telling youhow the older ladies helped my
mom out when she was trying tomake a living and driving and
trying to raise kids, trying totake care of her parents and
then also having a career,having a career.
So the older generation becausethey had a little bit more time
(37:30):
, they were able to come downand help her.
Well, now I'm in a situationwhere both my husband and I are
very fortunate that our parentsare still living.
So we have my mom is 85.
My dad is 88.
His mom is 86 and his dad is 91.
I have a step-mom who's 70something we watched out her age
.
But you know, we're at a stagenow.
(37:53):
So, everybody's still living.
Everyone is still living andit's a huge blessing.
But also in that we also have,you know, we had careers and I
was very, very thankful that mymom was so super supportive of
me when I was all over the world, right, right, she was always
there.
She was always there to supportme.
So now it's my turn, right.
And during this time period inher life when she's you know,
(38:16):
she she's a breast cancersurvivor and, fortunate for both
of us, she got her diagnosisjust after I retired.
So I was home, so you was ableto be there, I was able to be
here.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
So I was home, so you was able to be there, I was
able to be here.
See, that's so awesome.
Yes, so both sides of theparents are living.
Do they all live in Knoxville?
Speaker 4 (38:36):
So that was part of the reason for coming home.
Okay, People say, well, why didyou come back home?
You know you've been herebecause, she's been all over the
world.
But I will tell you 32 years ofservice, but there's nothing
like people just don't realizesome people don't realize the
beauty of this area.
Yes, knoxville and Tennessee, Iagree Is just a wonderful place
(38:59):
to be.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
It really is and I think you know the cost of
living has went up.
But if you really think aboutit you still can have a build a
great family in Knoxville and itbe affordable.
I'm not saying everything isaffordable, I'm not saying that,
but I'm just saying that if youlook at other places across the
country and you compare it toKnoxville, you know our crime
(39:23):
rate is lower than a lot ofstates OK, a lot of the bigger
states we have a crime rate.
But if you look at, if youcompare them by different states
, okay, our crime rate is not ashigh as those bigger states are
in that type of thing.
And of course, they have morenumbers, you know.
But I think that you can live inKnoxville and raise a family
(39:47):
and really enjoy.
We have a lot of things thatare still free, versus in other
states.
You pay for everythingeverywhere you go.
You know Georgia I would notwant to live in Georgia.
You pay for everything.
You pay for the parking to goto a park.
I mean it's amazing Well, notamazing to me, it is
(40:11):
disheartening to me that you'vegot to pay for so many things.
I'm not saying that Knoxvillehas everything free we don't.
But we do have some parks thatyou don't have to pay for
parking, you don't have to payto get into the park, you don't
have to pay for those certainthings that you can just go walk
, you know.
Walk on a trail, you know.
Clear your mind, that typething.
We have the Dogwood ArtsFestivals, that type thing.
(40:33):
Now, yes, those cost, but it'sstill so much cheaper than other
festivals in other states andthere are so many things that
you can.
Leadership knocks.
Well what me and you both are in.
You know, yes, it's aninvestment, but at the same time
we both said off camera, we'llmiss it once we leave it,
(40:54):
because we've learned so muchand it's brought us out of
comfort zones.
Well, I know it brought me outof comfort zones and I needed to
be challenged and I canhonestly say that leadership
also has challenged me, honestlysay that leadership also has
challenged me.
It's challenged me to get toknow other people, get to
understand other people, to haveconversations, hard
(41:15):
conversations at times.
Speaker 4 (41:26):
Can you say, is there anything that you?
Speaker 1 (41:27):
could say that you've learned out of leadership in
Oxville.
Speaker 4 (41:31):
There's so much it's hard to kind of try to fit it
down to one thing, but I wouldsay just the opportunity to meet
with all aspects right, yes.
Understanding how differentsections of the city operate
right, Seeing it from adifferent perspective and then
also, yeah, from a differentperspective, and then from a
(41:51):
different lens, and then theneed to be able to have people,
in various aspects, be able towork together for a common cause
.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
I agree.
Right and so part of Knoxvillewe learned in leadership, and
also because there was a lot ofthings that I was like this is
in Knoxville.
There was a lot of things thatI was like this is in Knoxville
Right, you know, I've lived inKnoxville since 1986.
Speaker 4 (42:15):
And there's some things they pointed out, I was
like what Well, and a lot haschanged for me, because growing
up here, I left in 82.
I left in 82 and I would onlycome home to visit, and so I
moved back here in 2020, thevery latter part of 2022.
Okay, so so much has changed,even.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
You're right.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
In that time period Right.
Speaker 3 (42:34):
So 40 years later, yeah, 40 years later she's like
okay, I'm learning my city again, you know, and it's grown so
much.
And I want to touch on this ispart of caregiving.
But I want to touch on on, youknow, the importance of having a
wheel, having insurance, havingum, someone in place, uh, that
(43:00):
can look over you, and thereason why I'm bringing that is
because you're in that place foryour parents.
Can you speak on those typethings?
How important it is to havesomeone in place that can make
hard decisions for you inmedical or whatever.
Can you speak on that?
Speaker 4 (43:14):
Yeah, a little bit.
So you asked me before what isa village, and so that's kind of
the name of my group, right, ittakes the village and what we
do is we try to pull togetherall the best practices of what
you go through as a caregiver.
You know, like for me, thefirst time it happened to me I
(43:38):
was in Virginia still.
My husband and I were having ameal, we had just sat down, we
had the news on.
We were watching the news and Iget a phone call from my
stepmom who told me that my dadhad been out driving.
He has Alzheimer's.
Okay, he had been out drivingand she didn't know where he was
(44:00):
and it was getting late and itwas like maybe 7, 730.
That's a hard call.
Yeah, it's 7, 730.
And I'm like, okay, I'm inAlexandria, virginia.
What can I do at this point?
And at that point, to make along story short, I realized at
that point there were so manythings that I didn't know.
(44:20):
Like, I know he drives a truck,I know it's a Ford, but I
didn't know the make and model,right, I didn't know the license
tag number, I didn't know whathe had on at that point in time
when he got in the truck and hewent driving he couldn't operate
a cell phone, because everytime I would buy him a new cell
phone it operates a little bitdifferently.
He learned on the iPhone three,if you remember, he could
(44:41):
operate that one, but you know,the networks kind of progressed
so anyway.
So he didn't have a phone onhim either, and so it was like
how in the world can we find mydad?
Well, fortunately, when I didcall the police department, they
put out a I think it's a codegray, okay and they found out
(45:06):
where his truck was and saw thathe had been circling around.
He was trying, becauseKnoxville has changed so much.
Right, he was driving aroundtrying to find his way back home
.
He was on Dandridge and he wasover on UT campus because the
roads have changed and hecouldn't find his way back.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
But they got the cameras.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
They located where he was, police officers escorted
him home and everything was fine.
But I said that's somethingthat I didn't know and I wanted
to, that I didn't want that tohappen to anybody else.
Right.
That's why the village Right.
So you have a community ofpeople who are going through
similar things, who can sharebest practices like to tell you
that you need to have certainthings in place.
(45:48):
Best practices like to tell youthat you need to have certain
things in place If somethingwere to happen.
Whether you live here inKnoxville with your parents or
you don't.
Who knows what medicationsthey're on?
Who knows what theirphysician's name is?
Are y'all hearing what?
Speaker 3 (46:00):
she's saying.
These are very good points thatyou really need to stop and
think about, because think aboutif you got that call, that she
got, that her father was missingand the cameras.
Thank god for the cameras,thank god for the game, yeah,
yeah but keep going.
Speaker 4 (46:17):
So you know, do you know their medications?
Do you know that?
Do you know their medicalconditions?
Right, because there's ageneration where you don't talk
about those kinds of things, soyou don't necessarily know.
That's a good point um, cansomeone get into the house,
right?
Do you have a key that'sstashed somewhere, or is there
like a realtor's lock box that'son the side of the house that
(46:40):
only a certain number of peopleknow what the code is to be able
to get in?
But have you thought throughthose different things if you're
not there to make sure thatthey could be taken care of?
Do you have a will?
Do you have a living power ofattorney?
Do they have a will and livingpower of attorney or living will
, excuse me, power of attorney,a trust?
You know what happens, becausethose are some difficult
(47:02):
conversations that we have andsometimes we don't have them
until it's far too late.
Speaker 3 (47:08):
And I would say something I had to tell a friend
of mine that mother just passedaway.
Her sister had the power ofreturning, and so her sister
thought that she didn't need awill, they didn't need a will or
anything and said oh, I'll beover everything of mom's power.
Returning is only good whileyou're living, and so and I've
(47:29):
been trying to say this as manytimes as I can A power of
attorney is only during the timethe person is alive, the day
that they pass away, the minutethey pass away.
The power of attorney that powerof attorney is gone, correct,
okay, so you have to have.
That's the reason why a will iscalled a last will and
(47:51):
testament and that's why it saysit's the person's last word of
what they want their estate todo with, whatever their
belongings are or whatever thatthey possess.
That's what that means.
But I think a lot of timespeople think if I have a power
of attorney, I'm covered.
No, no, and I'll tell youanother thing is is just because
(48:14):
you have a power of attorneyover medical doesn't mean that
you have a power of attorneyover?
Speaker 4 (48:18):
everything.
Speaker 3 (48:19):
Right, okay, a general power of attorney.
A lot of people think thatbecause a lot of times people
get power of attorneys whensomeone gets sick, so they go
and they get that medical andthey think they can make
decisions on selling the houseor whatever.
Whatever you can't do that, youknow, and so it takes people
professionals in real estate orentitled to tell them that we
(48:41):
look like we're the mean peoplebut it's really.
That's the law, you know.
And so that's when I wasreading about you and the
different things that you'reinvolved in and what you believe
in the village and all that, Iwas like she needs to speak on
that.
You know, cause I don't thinkyou remember, but you told me
(49:02):
when you met David, when we wentto after hour, that about your
parents you said that yourparents were still living and
that you were taking care ofthem.
I didn't know, it was both sets.
Speaker 2 (49:13):
So yeah, I didn't know both sets.
Speaker 3 (49:16):
But think about that.
You've stepped in and said youknow what?
My mom and dad took care of me.
They made a way for me.
So now they can't take care oftheir self like they could years
ago.
So I'm going to take care ofthem, and I think more kids need
to realize yes, I understandyou have your own family and you
have all the dynamics of that,but take care of your parents,
(49:39):
because I'm without parents, andif God could give me five
minutes, just five minutes, youknow I would love on my parents
like no other.
There would be nothing above it.
And so it's commendable whatyou're doing with your family
and just keep doing that.
How can people get in touchwith you?
(50:00):
How can people get involved inthe things that you are trying
to do out in the community?
Speaker 4 (50:06):
So I have a website, go ahead.
It's called KatrinaHallSmithcomand it basically talks about.
It takes a village and you cancontact me through the website,
set up a phone call, join acommunity.
So yeah, I would.
I would love to hear and hearsome of the experiences that
(50:30):
others who are taking care oftheir parents are having and
then also provide a supportgroup for them, so that you can
find out some of the other bestpractices, have an ear to bend
when you're going through somechallenges and have some support
and then also learn about howto take care of yourself as well
.
Right, because you can get lostin it.
Speaker 3 (50:51):
You can Right.
I know that feeling.
You can get a little lost.
You never got sick, yeah.
Speaker 4 (50:56):
Yeah, yeah, and so it's nice to be able to have a
group to be able to talk toabout some of those challenges
that you may have.
Speaker 3 (51:05):
So can you tell them one more time your website and
how to get in touch with you?
Speaker 4 (51:09):
Yes, so it's KatrinaHallSmithcom.
Speaker 3 (51:14):
KatrinaHallSmithcom, and I recommend you to call her,
tune in every Friday to Talk inTennessee with Yvonca, because
we are here to serve you.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
Bye, guys.
Thanks for listening to Talk inTennessee with Yvonca.
Watch out for our weeklyepisodes from the First Family
of Real Estate and check us outon the web
wwwyvoncasalesrealestatecom.
See our videos on Yvonca'sYouTube channel or find us on
Facebook under Yvonca Landis andTwitter at Yvonca Landis, and
(51:49):
don't forget to tell a friendabout us.
Until next time.
Yvonca Landis and Twitter atYvonca Landis.
And don't forget to tell afriend about us.
Until next time.
Yvonca signing off.
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