February 18, 2025 • 57 mins
Meet Gerald, my spirited neighbor from Tennessee, whose Southern hospitality and zest for life have left an indelible mark on me since our first encounter—with him rescuing me from car trouble. This episode takes you on a captivating journey through our conversations about cultural shifts, hunting escapades with his Great Pyrenees, Tiny, and the remarkable tales of Gerald’s lifelong marriage. Together, we tackle the evolving dynamics of relationships and the perceived "war on men," weaving in Gerald’s own narratives of love, commitment, and the art of choosing the right partner for a marriage that lasts.
Gerald’s adventurous spirit and resilience shine through as we discuss his entrepreneurial ventures, from building homes and businesses to embarking on new projects well into retirement. His story is not just about defying age; it’s about challenging societal norms and embracing life with unwavering enthusiasm. With anecdotes of wildlife encounters and outdoor adventures in the heart of Tennessee, Gerald shares his passion for hunting and fishing, offering a peek into local traditions and the joy of fresh trout on the grill.
Our conversation turns to faith and service, delving into Gerald’s journey of overcoming health challenges with unyielding belief and a commitment to helping others. His life philosophy—that fulfillment comes from relationships and service, not profit—serves as a powerful reminder to live authentically. As we look toward the future, Gerald’s infectious optimism is a beacon of inspiration, suggesting that life’s greatest adventures often begin when you least expect them. Join us for a dose of wisdom, humor, and Southern charm, as Gerald shares what keeps him motivated at every stage of life.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Real People, real Life, where
everyday conversations lead toextraordinary insights.
We're all about digging intothe lives of regular people
who've achieved success on theirown terms.
From business andentrepreneurship to fitness,
politics, education and beyondwe cover it all.
(00:24):
This is Real People, real Life.
And now your host, ryan Sherow.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Well, welcome, gerald .
Thank you, Nice being here, soI've been excited to talk to you
.
I met you about three years ago, four years ago.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yeah, about that.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, we bought a.
My wife and I bought a place inTennessee.
We always loved Tennessee andwe owners reached out to me and
(01:05):
said hey, we'd like to give yourphone number to our neighbors.
They're great people.
Well, being from California,that could be one of two things.
Great people are either crazy,or they're actually great people
and we hadn't had anyopportunity to really meet
anybody from the South, orthey're actually great people
and we hadn't had anyopportunity to really meet
(01:26):
anybody from the South.
So we got your number and wetalked to you on the phone and
you know you were very nice andanything that we needed to help.
And then our first day there, Ithink I'd be dead if I didn't
meet you, right, why?
Well, the very first day I getup there and come out, my car's
(01:48):
got a flat tire.
Oh no, I think the very firstthing, the battery was dead.
So you come on down and youbring on.
I think you brought, I thinkyou just brought your truck.
I don't remember, but youjumped me, you got me going.
And then the next day I come, Icome, maricela, my, uh, my
(02:09):
tire's flat.
I called up Gerald and, uh, youtook one.
Look at that and you're like Ican fix that.
And remember we're, we're outin the middle of nowhere,
basically you know half an hourfrom town, and uh, so we got
enough air in it.
You brought the little canisterjust enough to limp it on over
to your house, back the car up,and you were able to grab your
(02:31):
tools, punch the hole, get thenail out and fix my tire for me.
I plugged it.
You plugged it, yeah, and firsttime I've ever seen that.
I figured you get a bad tire,you got to get a new tire, but
you plugged it and it was justreally.
It was neat for my wife and Ito see the unselfish neighborly
(02:54):
attitude that you provided totwo strangers, even though that
we were from California andyou're a little worried about
that, I bet.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Well, I remember telling you welcome to Tennessee
, but you can leave yourpolitics in California.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Which is why we actually were looking in
Tennessee.
Yeah, California has gottenreally crazy, but we've actually
talked about you on the podcast, so you're kind of famous
already.
Oh really.
So what we do, gerald, is wetalk to people from all
generations, and some people arestarting out in life, maybe
(03:30):
they're just going to college,maybe they've graduated college
and they have these plans,dreams, goals, and we just kind
of get their perspective on whatthey see what success is in
their own terms, on what theysee what success is in their own
terms.
And it's interesting to getthat from younger people versus
older people.
(03:50):
Now you happen to be in thatlittle category of the older
people.
I don't know if you know that.
Oh yes.
So how old are you, gerald?
83.
83.
So when I first met you, youwere 80.
And they said oh yeah, theneighbor's up the way 80 years
old.
So my vision of an 80-year-oldman is on.
You know, he's got his walkeror he's got his little go-kart,
(04:12):
little fat people go-kart thatthey drive around.
But no, here he comes runningaround better than I was.
You were in better shape than Iwas.
So I get a phone call.
We're there for a week and Iget a call about seven o'clock
at night it's still about duskand I think it was.
(04:33):
Yeah, it was you that called me.
You said Ryan, get your buttover here.
I got me a deer.
It's a runner.
Well, I'd never been huntingbefore and I was excited to do
this.
So I go on up to your propertywhere you had.
You had three deer blinds onyour property, right?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Three deer blinds.
So that night you were outthere and you were bow hunting.
What are you shooting up?
What kind of a bow do you use?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
I shot that deer with a crossbow.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
With crossbow and he ran because he wasn't.
He wasn't nowhere around no sotell, let me tell tell the story
when, when a good oldcalifornia comes on up there and
you go come on, let's go.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
We got to go find this thing well, it was getting
getting almost dark and uh, so Ihad a german shepherd that uh,
I I took down there and put onthe blood trail and he started.
No, it wasn't a German shepherd, it was I think it was tiny,
tiny.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, big Great Pyrenees.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah and anyway, he got on the trail and took off
and we lost him and so we keptlooking and finally we heard
tiny bark and started going downin there where he was barking
(05:55):
at, and we finally located thedeer and Ryan asked me how are
we going to get this thing outof here?
I said we're going to have tocarry it or pull it out of here.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well and remember, because at first you said, well,
we're going to field dress it.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
And then you start looking for your knife and you
happen to have left it up on theUTV.
Yeah, and you're like, oh man,I left my knife.
I said, well, what are we goingto do?
Well, what do you think we'regoing to do?
We're going to carry on.
Now, for those listening, we'reup in the Smoky Mounds.
So this is not flat ground.
We probably hiked down if itwasn't a quarter mile down the
(06:34):
hill, at least about a quartermile down the hill, down a steep
I mean heavy forest, can't youknow?
There's a tree every one foot.
And I'm already breathing hard.
And you said grab a leg.
So then what happened, gerald?
Speaker 3 (06:53):
well, we started pulling the deer back up the
hill and we got up to a littleuh, tram road there and then
there was about a six-foot bankon the other side and we started
up that bank and there wasgrapevines all over the ground
(07:14):
and either Ryan or myself onetripped over a grapevine and
fell backwards.
The deer fell on top of us andhere we are trying to get
untangled to get on up the hill.
So we were laying therelaughing at one another, and
he's asking me if I'm okay, andI said yeah, I thought I killed
(07:34):
you.
So we finally was able to getoff the ground and get a hold of
the deer again and we finallymade it up to where we had
parked, to UTV.
But by the time we got up therewe were give out.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, but you were doing better than I was.
That deer fell on top of me.
Now I had just met you.
I've already had you jump mycar, I've already had you fix my
tire, and then I'm out therehunting with you and I'm
thinking I just killed this80-year-old man with a deer.
I'm more worried about you.
And I wasn't laughing, you werelaughing hysterically, you were
(08:16):
just looking at me laughing Ihad blood all over me.
I look, I just came back fromwar.
You just thought it was thefunniest thing.
I'm like are you all right,gerald, are you all right?
You're like, I'm fine, are youall right?
So we get this thing into theUTV and we come hauling it back?
(08:36):
Well, your wife, nancy, isalready there, got the garage
open and I said what are wegoing to do next?
We're going to dress it.
I guess it's called Right.
And I said we're right now.
You had that thing hung andquartered.
Hung, hung, skinned, quarteredin about 40 minutes or less
(09:00):
probably.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yeah, about right.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I mean Probably yeah about right.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I mean just like no big deal.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You don't ever go shopping for meat, do you?
No, no, how?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
many freezers did you have up there?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
One, two, three, yeah , just full of meat.
Yeah Well, one of the things Ilike asking people and one of
the especially the silentgeneration.
So you're my first silentgeneration.
I've talked to Gen Z, gen X, ababy boomer and now the silent
generation what's your opinionabout men these days?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
What's changed Everything, this younger
generation?
They don't have respect forwomen.
Their language is terrible.
They don't want to work, theywant everything given to them.
(10:06):
There's no pride anymore, asfar as taking pride in your work
ethics.
It's just a complete differentgeneration than what I was
brought up in.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
And there's been.
You know, they always say waron women.
In this there has been a war onmen going on from the hard left
feminist movement basicallysaying we don't need men, men
aren't necessary.
You know, if it wasn't for men,the infrastructure that
everybody enjoys would fallapart.
Ninety nine percent of thepeople that actually keep the
(10:46):
infrastructure running in thiscountry and in the world are men
, and it's sad.
And I look at some of theyounger generation, the boys
that are trying to be men.
They don't have any clue ofwhat it means to be a man.
They haven't been through anyreal adversity.
You've seen how many wars.
They haven't been through anyreal adversity.
(11:09):
You've seen how many wars Three,four, you know four and they
haven't been through anythingwhere it would have to draw,
especially the Gen Zers, whereit had to pull them together and
come together as a country.
The last time anything likethat really actually happened
was 9-11, where we actually sawthe country come together and
(11:33):
people with differing opinionsactually started talking with
each other, and it was actuallya great place to be.
Now, when you talk to the youngpeople, they're fed crap like
the American dream is dead.
Well, no, it's not.
They just think that fromsocial media you do a 15-second
video and you're famous and theywant to have everything now
(11:55):
without doing the work.
What's the trick to beingsuccessful?
You've got to put in the hardwork.
You've got to be consistent thehard work.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
You got to be consistent.
Well, this younger generation,uh uh, they couldn't make it
back when when I was coming up.
I mean we had to raise our uh,most of our vegetables.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Um, they don't even know how to plant anymore no,
their meat comes from the storeand so does their vegetables.
They have no clue on how itactually.
You know, even when I was a kidthey would teach you how to
germinate seeds in class.
You know they would always growa little bean plant or
something and you actually gotin and did this type of thing.
(12:37):
You'd see how they take you ona field trip to farms.
All of that stuff.
It just isn't being taught.
Self-sufficiency is just outthe window.
Nobody knows.
I don't know how Home Depotstays in business because nobody
knows how to fix anythinganymore.
You've been very consistent inyour life.
You've been married how manytimes?
(12:57):
Six times, seven times, onetime, one time, okay.
So when did you meet thisbeautiful bride of yours?
Speaker 3 (13:05):
One time, one time, okay.
So when did you meet thisbeautiful bride of yours?
I met her when I was 14 and shewas 12.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
14.
But you dirty dog.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
I met her in 1956.
And we dated until I went intothe service.
And when I went into theservice we broke up, stayed,
broke up for about a year andthen I come home on leave one
weekend and at that time Ididn't have an automobile and I
(13:43):
had to hitchhike, which I couldhitchhike faster than I could
drive back then.
Nowadays you don't even darehitchhike, but I would hitchhike
from Fort Knox, kentucky, toJacksonville.
And one weekend I just happenedto hitchhike in and I was going
(14:04):
to call my mom to come and pickme up.
I only had a dime.
That's when they had, you know,telephones, uh, on every corner
, and there was only a dime andI only had one dime left.
And when I went to call my momto come pick me up, I dialed her
number by mistake for, for real, it was a real mistake.
(14:26):
Yeah, fate, and I asked her whatshe was doing over at my mom's
house and she said I'm not, I'mat my house.
And I said, well, I thought I'dcall her.
And she said no, but I had justmemorized her phone number.
And I said, well, would youcall my mom, have her come out
(14:47):
here and pick me up?
I said I only had that one dime.
And she said no, she said I'llcome pick you up and that was
the start of it.
And that's been 62 years now 62years, nothing but marital
bliss.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Yes, what's the secret to 60?
I mean basically, basicallydivorce is expected.
People get oh I'm going to getmarried for a while and I'm just
going to get divorced.
I think that comes back.
I mean, I have a practice wife.
I got married young but there'sno stick-to-itiveness In
(15:23):
business.
I'm in business and one of thethings that they say a lot of
business, most businesses failand I think a big reason for
that is, like a relationship,you're excited to start the
business, you're excited to getit going, but, like anything,
that excitement starts to fadeaway and then the hard work
(15:45):
kicks in and people don'tunderstand that that's also the
same in relationships is that itis hard work to keep a
successful relationship, whetherit's friends or a marriage.
What would you say are the maintop reasons to keep a happy
marriage for 62 years andcounting?
Because I see you guys togetherand you guys are very, very
(16:11):
romantic with each other andyou're like boyfriend and
girlfriend.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Well, marriage is not 50-50.
Marriage is 100-100.
And and you just have to findthe right one, and I think I
found the right one.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Must have because of 62 years, but what would your
advice be to the young couplesout there seeing you at 62,
going on 63 and hopefully 80years?
What would your advice be whenthey are trying to find the
(16:58):
right one, because they'rebombarded with such nonsense
that they get they're all ontheir phones and social media.
What really is?
What should they be looking forwhen they are trying to find
that person they can spend 50,60, 70 years with, besides, you
(17:20):
know, finding a hot, smoking,hot wife, like you found.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Yeah, you got to be dedicated.
I don't know.
A lot of the people just think,well, I'm in love, I'm not
(17:47):
always in love.
I mean, I don't always like her.
I love her all the time, but Idon't always like her.
I love her all the time, but Idon't always like her.
And marriage is not somethingyou just jump into.
We dated for I guess what threeyears or so actually before we
(18:11):
got married, and when we gotmarried we decided we did not
want children, you know, for atleast five years in order to get
used to what our needs are.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Enjoy the honeymoon phase and get to know each other
.
One of my observations my wifeand I's observations of you and
your wife is you're like bestfriends.
You know no matter where Geraldis Nancy's close behind or
Nancy's right with you.
The other thing that I foundrefreshing was you don't leave
(18:52):
the house unless you get a kissGoodbye, and I love you.
Every day, every day.
See, that's important, you know, to let the people in your life
know how you feel about it.
People just take things forgranted and it does take hard
work and consistency.
You know we see you guystogether.
(19:15):
It's encouraging to see thesuccess in marriage and happily
married as well.
So you guys, you worked for thephone company.
Yes, you did that.
For what?
Two or three years 22.
You do everything long-term,don't you?
Yeah, you got that thing.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
And she done it for 35.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
So we both retired from Bell South.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
And how old were you when you retired?
Speaker 3 (19:42):
55.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
55 years old.
So again, perspective rightThinking I'm 55, going to retire
.
That's an early retirement, soyou're going to go ahead and
just sit on a rocking chair andenjoy the last 10 years of your
life and do not don't do muchwith it.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
No, my plans that I was going to spend most of my
time hunting and fishing.
Well, at that time I washunting up in South Carolina,
which I had been hunting upthere almost 23 years, and I
thought I'm just going to huntand fish.
(20:22):
Well, I got tired of killingand cleaning deer and so I got a
job.
I come back and I got a jobdriving a tour bus, and I drove
a tour bus for about a year andI got tired of that and I drove
tractor trailer hauling mail foralmost five years now, you did
(20:47):
that not out of necessity, justto to do something.
No, just something to do.
And I enjoyed driving a truck.
And then they went union and Idecided that I did not want to
work for another union company.
(21:08):
So I quit that and starteddoing home repairs.
And I'd done home repairs forfive years.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
And that was your own business.
Yes, and now?
How old were you when youstarted that?
Speaker 3 (21:27):
I was 61, I think.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
And one of the things I always tell people is throw
the rules out.
So many people say, oh, I'm tooold for this or I can't do that
because of this.
They make every excuse in thebook not to go out and do
something.
Throw the rules out If you wantto do it, figure it out.
We live in an amazing timewhere the information to figure
(21:57):
things out could never be easier.
You know you want to learn howto do anything.
The information is at yourfingertips.
You still got to do the hardwork to learn it, but at 61
years old, you decide, hey, I'vedone my military career.
I did my real career working forthe phone company, did a couple
of side jobs.
I know I'm just going to becomean entrepreneur, I'm going to
(22:20):
go do one of the hardest thingsthat there is out there.
And you did that with your wife.
It was you and your wiferunning that business.
Oh, yes, yeah.
And tell me about what youwould do.
What was the basic idea andwhat got you excited to go and
run that or start that business?
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Well, we had so many people, especially elderly women
, at our church and everythingthat needed jobs, small jobs
done that most big contractorsdid not want to do because there
wasn't enough money in it, andso we've done small, odd and end
(23:03):
jobs.
You know, sometimes I do aremodel job, but nothing real
big and you know what we uhcharged was reasonable and I
charged by the hour.
I didn't go give these bigamounts of uh estimates you know
(23:26):
, for uh doing a job.
I tell them I'm going to do thejob per hour, so much per hour
and that's what I'd done.
But it gave me something to do.
But it also helped people outand in fact it turned almost
(23:47):
into a full-time job.
I was keeping that much workgoing into a full-time job.
I was keeping that much workgoing and uh.
But then when we started goingto tennessee, um, I built a
house up there, so I kind of gotout of the home repairs.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
That's what you do when you're in your 60s, right,
you buy land and just startbuilding your own house.
Oh, it's 65, yeah, most 65 yearolds.
They get up and they say, yeah,I'm retired.
Now I think I'm going to buildmyself about an
1,500-square-foot house 1,700.
With a full basement.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Well, when I was 65, I had her on the tractor with a
ladder in the bucket, and I'm up22 feet in the air putting
siding on the house and she'sdown there taking pictures you
know and I said what's that?
(24:40):
For insurance purposes?
But it didn't stop you.
You decided hey, I want tostart a business.
You started a business.
You want to build a house.
You didn't.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
You didn't look you.
You decided, hey, I want tostart a business.
You started a business, youwant to build a house.
You didn't look at the rulesand say, well, gerald, you're 65
years old, you shouldn't bebuilding a house.
Hey, Frog, you want to be on?
You just said I want to build ahouse.
You didn't make any excuses.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Well, my wife told me I could.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Yeah, so you did.
She said you can do it.
How long did it take?
Five years.
How long did it take before youactually were able to move into
it?
Five years.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
No, we were able to move into it in about three.
We stayed in a camper for threeyears, so it took about three
years to actually move into itand it was not complete.
Then she said as long as I hada kitchen and a bedroom and a
(25:42):
bathroom, we'd move into it.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah, and a very nice house.
Jealous of the basement?
That's one thing I don't haveis a basement or a garage, but
I'm getting there, I'll getthere.
One of these Got to have agarage.
Yeah, so when you had yourbusiness, you were doing home
repairs, small project homerepairs.
Where did you build?
I mean you worked for the phonecompany.
I mean you didn't work inconstruction.
(26:05):
Where did you pick up theseskills?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Because I've seen some of your work and it's good,
I guess, hands-on.
I couldn't afford to hirecontractors to come in and build
, like our first house.
That we built was 2,800 squarefeet and that house took five
years to build.
It was a two-story.
It had a round foyer as youcome into the house it looked
(26:36):
like a barn, but it was quite aproject.
I mean, I had never builtanything and I didn't know how
to read the blueprints and I'dset up at night after I come
home from work and study thoseblueprints at night.
And then when we finally I gotthe foundation done, the floor
(27:00):
poured and everything, we had abarn raising.
I had people that I worked withat the telephone company and
people from our church wouldcome over every Saturday and we
would sometimes would haveanywhere from 10, 15 guys
(27:21):
working.
So we just had a barn raisingsomething like the Amish half
yeah, community getting together.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Were you ever intimidated by the project?
Oh yes, yes, oh yes.
What got you ever intimidatedby the project?
Oh yes, yes, oh yes.
What got you over some of thatfear?
Because one of the things wetalk about is fear is a
necessity in life.
It keeps us safe.
However, so much of it keeps usheld back and people tend not
to achieve success or anythingin life because they're just
(27:52):
scared.
What do you?
What did you?
I mean that's a massiveundertaking, never having built
a house.
What do you do when that voicein your head says Gerald, you're
in over your head?
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Well, when you have a wife saying you can do it, you
do it.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
You try the support.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Yeah, yeah, your wife .
And she was you, you know, shewas behind me all the time and
uh, and that nancy believes youcan do anything.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Oh yeah, she told me yeah she said, if it can be done
, gerald can do it and my, mykids, they they're the same way.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
They said my daddy can do it I've seen it.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
You can, you got and we about earlier.
You got my ass out of a sling acouple of times.
But that support structure, youmentioned the church.
Has the church been importantin your life?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Very important.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
How has that helped mold the person that you are
today?
How?
Speaker 3 (28:52):
has that helped mold the person that you are today?
Well, you want to treat peoplelike you want to be treated and
we're put here on this earth tohelp people, and I get a lot of
(29:14):
enjoyment out of helping people.
I still, you know, try to helppeople too, you know, even at my
age, but I do what I can.
But this younger generation,they want everything.
Now and when I was coming up,if I wanted something, I would
(29:40):
get an additional job.
I would go out and get somemechanic work or something.
I'd paint a car or do somethingor get another job in order to
be able to pay for what I wanted, rather than going and charging
it or getting a loan and havinghigh interest rates.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
You're pretty much anti that.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
I never liked paying interest.
Well, your salvation helps, Iguess, in how you treat people.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
And your view on life .
Yeah, as a young man, were youborn in the church, or is that
something that came into yourlife later?
Speaker 3 (30:26):
No, well, my mother took me to church when I was
little, when we were living inNorth Carolina, but then when we
moved to Florida, I didn't goto church there because my
family did not go to church.
But then, in order to date,nancy, it's the only place that
(30:51):
I could take her was to church,so every Sunday we started going
to church.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
You weren't allowed to take her out on a regular
date.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Oh no, oh no.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
No, chaperones no no chaperones.
Oh really, you couldn't justtake her out to dinner?
Speaker 3 (31:09):
No, I couldn't take her out, uh-uh.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Not until, well, when I turned 16, I think we went to
the lake one time, but then,after I went into the service
(31:31):
and we broke up, then we gotback together.
I had a car that I had boughtin California and drove back to
Jacksonville.
Well, when Nancy and I becameengaged, her parents more or
less disowned her and they tookher car away from her.
So I gave her my car and Iwould hitchhike back and forth
(31:54):
from Fort Benning toJacksonville on the weekends to
see her.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
What was their reasoning?
I not.
Why didn't they like you?
Speaker 3 (32:05):
They didn't think I would ever amount to anything
because I didn't graduate highschool.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Oh okay, they didn't think you were good enough for
their daughter.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
No.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Hmm, well, you proved them wrong, and I?
Speaker 3 (32:16):
really didn't amount to much anyway, but she did
learn to like me.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Their mother.
That is, I love yourperspective on life, though you
have, you know, one of the firstthings that you said to me.
You looked at me.
You said let me tell yousomething Retire as soon as you
can.
You enjoy life.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
I do, I do, I do and we are well the reason I say
(33:01):
retire as young as you can.
You're still do, but I can'twalk as far as I used to.
I can't get out here and takehikes and stuff like that, but
we still get out and do thethings that we want to do.
We still go places.
We still go on cruises.
We still go places, we still goon cruises we still travel.
(33:23):
Yeah, I enjoy retirement.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
All right, little technical difficulties, but we
got that fixed.
No, it's fine.
This light's perfect.
So let's go back to how Godchanged your life and the
importance.
So at first it was just to getthe girl, because that's the
(33:51):
only place you can date her.
Yeah, it was in church, but itdefinitely has transformed your
life as a man.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Oh yes, it definitely has transformed your life as a
man.
Oh yes, when we first gotmarried we were kind of hit and
miss as far as going to church,and then, at 23, I accepted Lord
as my Lord and Savior.
She was saved when she was muchyounger, up in Virginia, but I
(34:28):
well.
I can remember when I was inservice and the Cuban conflict
was breaking out over there andthe Cuban Missile Crisis threat
was going and they extended melike for four months and I was
scared to death that I was goingto die.
They were going to send me overthere and I was going to die.
(34:50):
But after being saved, I don'tworry about dying.
I don't worry about dying here.
Let's see Well when I was 35years old, I had an aneurysm on
(35:11):
the brain and they gave me lessthan 10% chance of coming out of
it alive.
They said if I was alive, thatI could be a vegetable.
I'd never be able to walk again, I could be blind.
They did not know until afterthe surgery was over with and
(35:33):
they didn't tell me any of thisstuff.
But they were telling Nancy andthe doctor come in just before
they operated on me and he said,mr Brown, he said I've got to
tell you this.
He said, before I operate onyou.
He said you stand less than a10% chance of coming out of this
alive.
And he said we don't know whatyou'll be like if you are alive.
(35:57):
And I said, lord, if you'reready for me, I'm ready to go
you're 35 years old 35 years old, had two, two small babies.
And uh, there there was a voiceI guess it's the holy spirit, I
don't know but to me and saidyou are going to be all right.
(36:19):
And so when I come out ofsurgery, one of my neighbors he
was in the hall there and hesaid how are you doing GB?
I said I'm doing fine, dave,and the doctor looked at Nancy
and said he's going to be allright.
And so then, oh, here, sevenyears ago, I come down with
(36:47):
lymphoma cancer and ended uphaving to go through six
treatments of chemo.
Lord, pull me out of that.
I've been cancer-free for sevenyears.
Then, just before we moved backto Florida here a year and a
half ago, I had a mini-strokeand come to find out I had
(37:11):
clogged arteries in my carotidartery here and the Lord taking
care of that.
So I don't know why he's givenme 83 years, because I certainly
haven't done anything todeserve it.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
You're here for a reason.
In the short period of timethat my wife and I have known
you, you and your wife havebrought tremendous joy in our
lives.
You're just wonderful people tobe around.
One of the things when webought a house in Tennessee,
they said, well, you're going toget invited to church and
(37:47):
you're going to get yourneighbors coming on over.
Sure enough, within the firstcouple days, you guys going to
church and just thatold-fashioned neighborly caring
just right away.
Anything we needed, don't evenworry about it.
You need help take care of it.
There's no expectation forreturn.
(38:08):
Just that's what we do.
We help people out.
You know you started yourbusiness.
When you started your business,you said something that's very
wise.
I asked you what you did andyou said that you fixed things
and you did small home repairs.
But you also mentioned thatyour business grew to the point
(38:30):
where you had more work than youcould handle because you were
taking care of people.
You said you were doing itbecause people needed your help.
You know whether they're, youknow, didn't have the money or
they just needed some repairsaround the house, but you were
serving people.
(38:50):
One of the things that I tellpeople that want to start a
business is your motivationcannot be for money.
What you do is different thanwhy you do it and the people
that work with me.
I remind them weekly is that wehappen to fix heating and air
(39:11):
conditioning, but that's notreally what we're doing.
We're in the relationshipmanagement business.
Our job is to buildrelationships with other people
and serve them with humility,provide them the best possible
service that we can, and whenyour focus is on the people,
(39:32):
your business is going to grow.
You got to care about them.
You know, I don't think a houseever handed you a check.
When you finish fixing it, it'salways the person Never had an
air conditioner go, thanks forfixing me.
Here's a check.
And it's the focus on servingpeople, providing them with an
honest job within your skill setat a fair price.
(39:58):
That's what builds business.
That's why the rules don'tmatter.
You could be 62 years old andstart a business.
You can be 65 and decide I'mgoing to build a house because
my wife wants one, and havingthat support is really so
critical, especially for men tohaving the support from their
(40:19):
wives.
I mean, I take on a lot, andone of the things that my wife
always says is, once Ryan sayshe's going to do something, I
just prepare myself for the ridebecause I'm going to go out and
do it.
Does that mean it's going to besuccessful out of the gate?
No, she knows it's going to behard, it'll be ups and downs,
(40:40):
but she also knows that togetherwe fight through it and we will
achieve our goals.
And people think everything islinear Start on one and finish
here.
Nope, it's a mountain, up themountain, down the mountain
around the corner.
You got things coming at youfrom every direction, but to
have that support, especiallyfrom your spouse, and that's
(41:02):
what makes it strong.
We talked earlier what's thesecret to success?
And that's you said 100%, 100%,not 50-50.
You have to be able tocommunicate everything about
what your dreams are, what yoursuccess is, what your failures
are.
You know when you're failing.
You need somebody there to helpyou out and support you and say
(41:23):
, hey, get back up, dustyourself off.
We can do this.
We've already gotten this faron the house.
We can finish the house.
Hey, I'm going to start abusiness.
I'm 62 years old.
Okay, If you say you can do it,we're going to do it.
And that's the kind of optimismand tenacity that we need to
start seeing in some of theyoung people.
(41:44):
I have seen some lights, somebright lights, with the younger
generation.
I work with people of all agesand I see there's some lazy and
entitled.
And I see there's some lazy andentitled, but I also see some
of them that get it andunderstand that hard work is
necessary.
So you know, I think we'regoing to be all right, but yeah,
(42:28):
we definitely need to see moreof that attitude of I'm going to
break through the barriersrather than I'm going to just
let life happen to me.
Speaker 3 (42:34):
Got to get up there and make life happen for
yourself.
That's true, yeah, so huntingis you still do any hunting?
Oh, yeah, I still.
I still hunt, not like I usedto.
Um, I mean, for years and years, every weekend I was in the
woods, and now it depends on theweather.
If it's too cold, I don't go.
If it's too hot, I don't go.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
You've got to be comfortable.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
But no, I still hunt.
I hunt up in Georgia and I havea hunting blind with a heater
and all in it.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
Yeah, I saw your new blind here.
You moved down here to Floridafrom Tennessee a couple years
ago.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
About a year and a half ago.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
You got your blind built already.
Yeah, built it yourself.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
Yeah, built it yourself, yep, but the one I had
in Tennessee had a bench in itwhere I could lay down and take
a nap.
Speaker 2 (43:31):
That's when the deer would actually come.
When you were sleeping, theyknew when you went to sleep.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
They would come when I was sleeping.
And so I went to Harbor Freightand I bought one of those
driveway sensors and I put itdown there and when a deer
walked up it would beep on thesensor and I could wake up and
shoot it.
Speaker 2 (43:53):
What is your favorite All the years of hunting, what
is your favorite type of huntingand what's your favorite game
that you like to go after?
Speaker 3 (44:03):
Well, my favorite game is deer, but one of the
best hunts was a trip toColorado where I killed an
11-point elk and that was reallya fun hunt elk and that was
(44:29):
really a fun hunt.
Speaker 2 (44:29):
But um, now is that, uh hunting?
When you go elk hunting, isthat tracking the elk?
Or is it sitting in a blindkind of like with the deer?
Same concept or different typeof hunt?
Speaker 3 (44:37):
kind of same, the same concept, except there I was
just sitting on the ground,just leaned up against a tree,
waiting for them to come out ofthe bottoms down in there.
Speaker 2 (44:51):
And what's the excitement?
You get pretty excited when yousee them come on out.
Speaker 3 (44:54):
Especially when it's 11 point.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
What were you using to hunt that day?
Speaker 3 (45:01):
A 300 Win Mag a rifle yeah.
It shoots a bullet about thatlong one shot.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Oh yeah, that's all you get, because then they
scatter.
Was it a clean shot?
Yep how's that elk meat?
Speaker 3 (45:16):
wonderful, better than beef how do they?
Speaker 2 (45:19):
uh?
So when you shoot an elk inColorado and you live in
Tennessee or Florida, how do youget the meat back?
Speaker 3 (45:27):
Well, at that time there was no restrictions.
Now there's restrictions onbringing stuff back, not really
the meat.
You cannot bring any boneproducts back into Florida
because of CWD chronic wastedisease that deer have.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
It's in the bones.
Speaker 3 (45:52):
It's in the bones, yeah, and like in West Tennessee
, I think, they have chronicwaste disease and even in
Georgia you can't bring the boneback into florida.
You have to debone your meat upthere, put it in the cooler,
but you cannot bring any boneback and you can't bring any
(46:13):
brain or anything like that backnone of the organs.
Speaker 2 (46:16):
Yeah, wow, yep but um well, that sounds like a pretty
fun hunt.
I know you've taken me fishing.
You got that figured out prettygood I uh how many lures did I
lose?
I think I still owe you about 20.
That was trout fishing.
Yeah, we went you well, theyhad just stocked the creeks up
(46:39):
in tennessee and you said, let's, uh, let's go fishing.
You just happened to be in theneighborhood with a couple of
fishing poles in the back ofyour UTV and uh, so I went on
down there with you.
Um, I lost five or six lures,probably in about an hour, and
uh, promise you I'll buy yousome.
I think I still owe you some.
(46:59):
I don't think I ever got aroundto buying.
Matter of fact, the next timewe were ready to go fishing, you
had went and bought a whole setof lures.
That's right, I bought a bunchjust because you were going,
because I lost them.
Speaker 3 (47:09):
Something happened.
We didn't get to go.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
No, I wasn't able to go.
I don't remember.
I think my foot got hurt.
I made some excuse not to go,but you knew exactly where those
fish were at.
You said you throw it rightthere, you're going to catch it.
It was fun.
I had a great time and that was, I mean went down fished for a
couple hours, brought home lunchthat's living and then we
(47:35):
cooked that trout up.
It was so good.
You know the other thing youtaught me when I was in
Tennessee.
You said hey, we're having theRamp Festival.
I'm thinking what is a ramp?
Speaker 3 (47:46):
Well, explain what the ramp festival is and what a
ramp is, because I had to justlearn that a couple three years
ago, a ramp is similar to aspring onion, but rather than
having a hollow stem, it has aflat leaf-like blade on it and
(48:09):
they're kind of a cross betweena garlic and an onion, and you
just cut the bottoms off of themand just dice the rest of it up
and you put it in scrambledeggs, cook it with scrambled
eggs, or you can cook it withsliced potatoes.
Speaker 2 (48:34):
And this just grows wild.
Speaker 3 (48:37):
Yeah, they grow wild, or you can actually just cook
them in bacon grease.
Now Nancy fixed me some inbacon grease one night and I ate
those things.
She did not eat any and thenext morning she woke up and she
(48:58):
rolled over and she said youstink.
She said I'm going to town shoptoday, but they do leave, cause
you to have a bad odor.
Speaker 2 (49:11):
Yeah, they were actually, but I thought they
were great.
I know our neighbor Daviddoesn't really like them, but
he's, why would you root eggs?
Speaker 1 (49:19):
Why would you root eggs by putting that?
Speaker 2 (49:20):
ramp in it but they had a whole festival.
It was neat.
We went and you brought me tosome wild ramp patches.
We cut it all up, then webrought it down to the festival
and they cooked up eggs and allsorts of things with it, just
right out there in the wild.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
They have a ramp festival every year at the bear
club up there.
Speaker 2 (49:42):
Hey, you were part of the bear club.
Yes, and you guys hunt bear,right?
You ever get a bear yeah yeah,what's that like?
What's the process?
Is there a different processhunting bear than deer?
Speaker 3 (49:55):
well, in tennessee you can run bear with dogs.
In florida and uh, dogs.
In Florida and most states youcan't use dogs on bear.
But up there you can.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
Now you cannot run deer in Tennessee with dogs.
So when I see the trucksbecause I see them these guys
will have their trucks fullyoutfitted with kennels built
into their trucks and you seethem driving real slow around
the curvy roads.
Are they trying to sniff themout?
It's called rigging, rigging,okay.
Speaker 3 (50:42):
They put the dog on top of the dog box, or either
they'll chain him onto the hoodof the truck and, as they're
driving down the road, if a bearhas crossed that road, that dog
will pick up that scent andstart opening.
And when he starts opening,they'll turn him loose and put
him on the trail.
And when he starts barking realgood, they'll turn another pack
of dogs behind it, Run the bearuntil the bear goes up a tree
(51:08):
or either goes into a cave orsomething.
And if he goes up the tree thenthe dogs will all swarm around
that tree and bark and keep himup the tree until the hunters
get there.
Then they walk up underneathlike a squirrel hunting and
shoot the bear out, out of thetree, yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:28):
And then they had that building the bear club over
there in Del Rio.
They had the whole processingbuilding, skin and shed.
Yeah, and bear meat good, yes.
Speaker 3 (51:38):
It's a dark, grainy meat but it has a good flavor to
it.
How do you?
What's the what's a very commonway they prep it Barbecue.
Most, most of them do it inbarbecue.
I make a bear stew out of itand I have fried some.
It's good fried too.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
And what's the?
And this is black bear inTennessee, right.
And what's the?
How many tags?
What are you allowed?
Speaker 3 (52:06):
to One per person.
Speaker 2 (52:08):
One bear per person and you hunt just the male or
female, or both Either one.
Speaker 3 (52:13):
They try to kill only the males, but sometimes it's
hard to determine whether it's amale or a female.
But sometimes it's hard todetermine whether it's a male or
a female.
But if they can shoot anythingover 75 pounds, which I don't
really agree to, that, that'skind of small right.
Speaker 2 (52:33):
What's a full-grown bear?
Black bear weigh.
Speaker 3 (52:37):
For me oh.
Speaker 2 (52:40):
Full-grown mature.
Speaker 3 (52:43):
We've killed them up to 600 pounds up there.
Speaker 2 (52:45):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (52:46):
In Tennessee.
But I like 250 pounder.
The one I killed was only 150,but they were telling me
everybody that was under thetree there saying, oh, that's a
good 250 pound bear.
And when I shot it and it fellout I thought no, it won't go
(53:08):
150 pounds.
And we weighed it and it wasonly 150.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:15):
I remember.
Do you remember the lecturethat you had to give my wife
when we first moved to Tennessee?
Speaker 3 (53:20):
Which one?
Speaker 2 (53:27):
when we first moved to Tennessee.
Which one?
So when we at our place inCalifornia, you know we have
dogs and one of the nice thingsabout having dogs you never have
any leftover scraps.
You know you make a meal.
If there's any leftovers, thedogs are ready to enjoy some of
the human food.
Well, my wife thought thatwould be a great idea up in
Tennessee.
Well, my wife thought thatwould be a great idea up in
Tennessee.
(53:52):
So, unbeknownst to me, she'scollecting the scraps and she's
putting the scraps outside thefront door for the bears to come
and get.
So about 2 o'clock in themorning she hears some noise and
I'm asleep, and so she kind ofgoes out into the front family
room.
She opens the blinds on thedoor and she puts her face there
.
Right there with his face is abig black bear staring right at
(54:15):
her.
Where's my food?
About a week later, here comesGerald.
I need to talk to your wife.
I said what's going on.
He goes.
I think she's leaving food outfor the bears.
How did you figure that out?
Were your dogs coming to getthe food?
Somehow?
You knew?
Speaker 3 (54:33):
I think she told me about the bear and then I told
her.
I said you don't leave food outon the porches up here.
Speaker 2 (54:43):
No, and our door is a glass door.
Yeah, and I actually had tohang a sign right outside that
door that said do not feed thebears, so that she would be
reminded not to feed them.
You know they're cute andthey're adorable you see the mom
with the little cubs but youknow they're wild animals.
(55:05):
Oh yeah, they're dangerous.
They act somewhat docile to theblack bears and they're
supposed to be the most docileof the bears, but they're still
dangerous.
If they want something, they'regoing to get it.
Oh yeah, I know that the firstweek we have a little black
explorer and it's all dirt roadswhere we're at up there.
(55:26):
So you know, a black car iscompletely full of dirt and dust
within two minutes after youwash it.
I come outside and I'm alwayslike Ryan, come on, come on,
check this out.
There were bare paw prints allover, and the glass, the hood,
the trunk, everywhere.
There must have been 20 or 30paw prints everywhere on this
(55:50):
thing and we got excited.
Oh wow, I think we left thetrash in there.
I believe we had a bag of trashin there overnight and they
lucky we, they didn't breakthose windows open to get to it,
but they tried everything.
There was all the evidence thatthey were there.
They had paw prints everywhereand they are huge, huge paw
(56:11):
prints.
They're adorable to look atfrom a far distance.
Yeah, we had to kind of learnour way around not to get into
trouble.
Well, listen, gerald, this hasbeen fun.
I've been excited to talk toyou and I appreciate your time
and I think people are going tolove to hear your stories.
Speaker 3 (56:29):
I hope so.
Speaker 2 (56:30):
Yeah, absolutely, and we'll do it again when you hit
92.
No, 93.
We'll follow up on your 93.
That's only 10 years away.
You've already skated past acouple of near misses, so we'll
expect you, and then we'llcelebrate your 103 as well.
That's only 20 years from now,I may have to have that walker
(56:52):
by 103.
Speaker 3 (56:53):
I know.
Speaker 2 (56:53):
I think you'll probably end up building another
house, or something.
In about a year from now,you're going to get bored here
in Florida and you're going tostart something new.
I already know it All right.
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (57:05):
You.
You're going to start somethingnew.
I already know it All right.
Well, thank you so much.
You're welcome.
You've been listening to RealPeople, real Life.
Our passion is to have realconversations with real people
who've made it.
Real people who've made it whodid it on their own terms.
We'll be back soon, but in themeantime, catch us on Twitter or
X, at RPRL Podcast and onYouTube at Real People, Real
Welcome to Real People, real Life, where
everyday conversations lead toextraordinary insights.
We're all about digging intothe lives of regular people
who've achieved success on theirown terms.
From business andentrepreneurship to fitness,
politics, education and beyondwe cover it all.
(00:24):
This is Real People, real Life.
And now your host, ryan Sherow.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Well, welcome, gerald .
Thank you, Nice being here, soI've been excited to talk to you
.
I met you about three years ago, four years ago.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yeah, about that.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, we bought a.
My wife and I bought a place inTennessee.
We always loved Tennessee andwe owners reached out to me and
(01:05):
said hey, we'd like to give yourphone number to our neighbors.
They're great people.
Well, being from California,that could be one of two things.
Great people are either crazy,or they're actually great people
and we hadn't had anyopportunity to really meet
anybody from the South, orthey're actually great people
and we hadn't had anyopportunity to really meet
(01:26):
anybody from the South.
So we got your number and wetalked to you on the phone and
you know you were very nice andanything that we needed to help.
And then our first day there, Ithink I'd be dead if I didn't
meet you, right, why?
Well, the very first day I getup there and come out, my car's
(01:48):
got a flat tire.
Oh no, I think the very firstthing, the battery was dead.
So you come on down and youbring on.
I think you brought, I thinkyou just brought your truck.
I don't remember, but youjumped me, you got me going.
And then the next day I come, Icome, maricela, my, uh, my
(02:09):
tire's flat.
I called up Gerald and, uh, youtook one.
Look at that and you're like Ican fix that.
And remember we're, we're outin the middle of nowhere,
basically you know half an hourfrom town, and uh, so we got
enough air in it.
You brought the little canisterjust enough to limp it on over
to your house, back the car up,and you were able to grab your
(02:31):
tools, punch the hole, get thenail out and fix my tire for me.
I plugged it.
You plugged it, yeah, and firsttime I've ever seen that.
I figured you get a bad tire,you got to get a new tire, but
you plugged it and it was justreally.
It was neat for my wife and Ito see the unselfish neighborly
(02:54):
attitude that you provided totwo strangers, even though that
we were from California andyou're a little worried about
that, I bet.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Well, I remember telling you welcome to Tennessee
, but you can leave yourpolitics in California.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Which is why we actually were looking in
Tennessee.
Yeah, California has gottenreally crazy, but we've actually
talked about you on the podcast, so you're kind of famous
already.
Oh really.
So what we do, gerald, is wetalk to people from all
generations, and some people arestarting out in life, maybe
(03:30):
they're just going to college,maybe they've graduated college
and they have these plans,dreams, goals, and we just kind
of get their perspective on whatthey see what success is in
their own terms, on what theysee what success is in their own
terms.
And it's interesting to getthat from younger people versus
older people.
(03:50):
Now you happen to be in thatlittle category of the older
people.
I don't know if you know that.
Oh yes.
So how old are you, gerald?
83.
83.
So when I first met you, youwere 80.
And they said oh yeah, theneighbor's up the way 80 years
old.
So my vision of an 80-year-oldman is on.
You know, he's got his walkeror he's got his little go-kart,
(04:12):
little fat people go-kart thatthey drive around.
But no, here he comes runningaround better than I was.
You were in better shape than Iwas.
So I get a phone call.
We're there for a week and Iget a call about seven o'clock
at night it's still about duskand I think it was.
(04:33):
Yeah, it was you that called me.
You said Ryan, get your buttover here.
I got me a deer.
It's a runner.
Well, I'd never been huntingbefore and I was excited to do
this.
So I go on up to your propertywhere you had.
You had three deer blinds onyour property, right?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Three deer blinds.
So that night you were outthere and you were bow hunting.
What are you shooting up?
What kind of a bow do you use?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
I shot that deer with a crossbow.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
With crossbow and he ran because he wasn't.
He wasn't nowhere around no sotell, let me tell tell the story
when, when a good oldcalifornia comes on up there and
you go come on, let's go.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
We got to go find this thing well, it was getting
getting almost dark and uh, so Ihad a german shepherd that uh,
I I took down there and put onthe blood trail and he started.
No, it wasn't a German shepherd, it was I think it was tiny,
tiny.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, big Great Pyrenees.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah and anyway, he got on the trail and took off
and we lost him and so we keptlooking and finally we heard
tiny bark and started going downin there where he was barking
(05:55):
at, and we finally located thedeer and Ryan asked me how are
we going to get this thing outof here?
I said we're going to have tocarry it or pull it out of here.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well and remember, because at first you said, well,
we're going to field dress it.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
And then you start looking for your knife and you
happen to have left it up on theUTV.
Yeah, and you're like, oh man,I left my knife.
I said, well, what are we goingto do?
Well, what do you think we'regoing to do?
We're going to carry on.
Now, for those listening, we'reup in the Smoky Mounds.
So this is not flat ground.
We probably hiked down if itwasn't a quarter mile down the
(06:34):
hill, at least about a quartermile down the hill, down a steep
I mean heavy forest, can't youknow?
There's a tree every one foot.
And I'm already breathing hard.
And you said grab a leg.
So then what happened, gerald?
Speaker 3 (06:53):
well, we started pulling the deer back up the
hill and we got up to a littleuh, tram road there and then
there was about a six-foot bankon the other side and we started
up that bank and there wasgrapevines all over the ground
(07:14):
and either Ryan or myself onetripped over a grapevine and
fell backwards.
The deer fell on top of us andhere we are trying to get
untangled to get on up the hill.
So we were laying therelaughing at one another, and
he's asking me if I'm okay, andI said yeah, I thought I killed
(07:34):
you.
So we finally was able to getoff the ground and get a hold of
the deer again and we finallymade it up to where we had
parked, to UTV.
But by the time we got up therewe were give out.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, but you were doing better than I was.
That deer fell on top of me.
Now I had just met you.
I've already had you jump mycar, I've already had you fix my
tire, and then I'm out therehunting with you and I'm
thinking I just killed this80-year-old man with a deer.
I'm more worried about you.
And I wasn't laughing, you werelaughing hysterically, you were
(08:16):
just looking at me laughing Ihad blood all over me.
I look, I just came back fromwar.
You just thought it was thefunniest thing.
I'm like are you all right,gerald, are you all right?
You're like, I'm fine, are youall right?
So we get this thing into theUTV and we come hauling it back?
(08:36):
Well, your wife, nancy, isalready there, got the garage
open and I said what are wegoing to do next?
We're going to dress it.
I guess it's called Right.
And I said we're right now.
You had that thing hung andquartered.
Hung, hung, skinned, quarteredin about 40 minutes or less
(09:00):
probably.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
Yeah, about right.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
I mean Probably yeah about right.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I mean just like no big deal.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You don't ever go shopping for meat, do you?
No, no, how?
Speaker 3 (09:13):
many freezers did you have up there?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
One, two, three, yeah , just full of meat.
Yeah Well, one of the things Ilike asking people and one of
the especially the silentgeneration.
So you're my first silentgeneration.
I've talked to Gen Z, gen X, ababy boomer and now the silent
generation what's your opinionabout men these days?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
What's changed Everything, this younger
generation?
They don't have respect forwomen.
Their language is terrible.
They don't want to work, theywant everything given to them.
(10:06):
There's no pride anymore, asfar as taking pride in your work
ethics.
It's just a complete differentgeneration than what I was
brought up in.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
And there's been.
You know, they always say waron women.
In this there has been a war onmen going on from the hard left
feminist movement basicallysaying we don't need men, men
aren't necessary.
You know, if it wasn't for men,the infrastructure that
everybody enjoys would fallapart.
Ninety nine percent of thepeople that actually keep the
(10:46):
infrastructure running in thiscountry and in the world are men
, and it's sad.
And I look at some of theyounger generation, the boys
that are trying to be men.
They don't have any clue ofwhat it means to be a man.
They haven't been through anyreal adversity.
You've seen how many wars.
They haven't been through anyreal adversity.
(11:09):
You've seen how many wars Three,four, you know four and they
haven't been through anythingwhere it would have to draw,
especially the Gen Zers, whereit had to pull them together and
come together as a country.
The last time anything likethat really actually happened
was 9-11, where we actually sawthe country come together and
(11:33):
people with differing opinionsactually started talking with
each other, and it was actuallya great place to be.
Now, when you talk to the youngpeople, they're fed crap like
the American dream is dead.
Well, no, it's not.
They just think that fromsocial media you do a 15-second
video and you're famous and theywant to have everything now
(11:55):
without doing the work.
What's the trick to beingsuccessful?
You've got to put in the hardwork.
You've got to be consistent thehard work.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
You got to be consistent.
Well, this younger generation,uh uh, they couldn't make it
back when when I was coming up.
I mean we had to raise our uh,most of our vegetables.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Um, they don't even know how to plant anymore no,
their meat comes from the storeand so does their vegetables.
They have no clue on how itactually.
You know, even when I was a kidthey would teach you how to
germinate seeds in class.
You know they would always growa little bean plant or
something and you actually gotin and did this type of thing.
(12:37):
You'd see how they take you ona field trip to farms.
All of that stuff.
It just isn't being taught.
Self-sufficiency is just outthe window.
Nobody knows.
I don't know how Home Depotstays in business because nobody
knows how to fix anythinganymore.
You've been very consistent inyour life.
You've been married how manytimes?
(12:57):
Six times, seven times, onetime, one time, okay.
So when did you meet thisbeautiful bride of yours?
Speaker 3 (13:05):
One time, one time, okay.
So when did you meet thisbeautiful bride of yours?
I met her when I was 14 and shewas 12.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
14.
But you dirty dog.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
I met her in 1956.
And we dated until I went intothe service.
And when I went into theservice we broke up, stayed,
broke up for about a year andthen I come home on leave one
weekend and at that time Ididn't have an automobile and I
(13:43):
had to hitchhike, which I couldhitchhike faster than I could
drive back then.
Nowadays you don't even darehitchhike, but I would hitchhike
from Fort Knox, kentucky, toJacksonville.
And one weekend I just happenedto hitchhike in and I was going
(14:04):
to call my mom to come and pickme up.
I only had a dime.
That's when they had, you know,telephones, uh, on every corner
, and there was only a dime andI only had one dime left.
And when I went to call my momto come pick me up, I dialed her
number by mistake for, for real, it was a real mistake.
(14:26):
Yeah, fate, and I asked her whatshe was doing over at my mom's
house and she said I'm not, I'mat my house.
And I said, well, I thought I'dcall her.
And she said no, but I had justmemorized her phone number.
And I said, well, would youcall my mom, have her come out
(14:47):
here and pick me up?
I said I only had that one dime.
And she said no, she said I'llcome pick you up and that was
the start of it.
And that's been 62 years now 62years, nothing but marital
bliss.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Yes, what's the secret to 60?
I mean basically, basicallydivorce is expected.
People get oh I'm going to getmarried for a while and I'm just
going to get divorced.
I think that comes back.
I mean, I have a practice wife.
I got married young but there'sno stick-to-itiveness In
(15:23):
business.
I'm in business and one of thethings that they say a lot of
business, most businesses failand I think a big reason for
that is, like a relationship,you're excited to start the
business, you're excited to getit going, but, like anything,
that excitement starts to fadeaway and then the hard work
(15:45):
kicks in and people don'tunderstand that that's also the
same in relationships is that itis hard work to keep a
successful relationship, whetherit's friends or a marriage.
What would you say are the maintop reasons to keep a happy
marriage for 62 years andcounting?
Because I see you guys togetherand you guys are very, very
(16:11):
romantic with each other andyou're like boyfriend and
girlfriend.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Well, marriage is not 50-50.
Marriage is 100-100.
And and you just have to findthe right one, and I think I
found the right one.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Must have because of 62 years, but what would your
advice be to the young couplesout there seeing you at 62,
going on 63 and hopefully 80years?
What would your advice be whenthey are trying to find the
(16:58):
right one, because they'rebombarded with such nonsense
that they get they're all ontheir phones and social media.
What really is?
What should they be looking forwhen they are trying to find
that person they can spend 50,60, 70 years with, besides, you
(17:20):
know, finding a hot, smoking,hot wife, like you found.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Yeah, you got to be dedicated.
I don't know.
A lot of the people just think,well, I'm in love, I'm not
(17:47):
always in love.
I mean, I don't always like her.
I love her all the time, but Idon't always like her.
I love her all the time, but Idon't always like her.
And marriage is not somethingyou just jump into.
We dated for I guess what threeyears or so actually before we
(18:11):
got married, and when we gotmarried we decided we did not
want children, you know, for atleast five years in order to get
used to what our needs are.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Enjoy the honeymoon phase and get to know each other
.
One of my observations my wifeand I's observations of you and
your wife is you're like bestfriends.
You know no matter where Geraldis Nancy's close behind or
Nancy's right with you.
The other thing that I foundrefreshing was you don't leave
(18:52):
the house unless you get a kissGoodbye, and I love you.
Every day, every day.
See, that's important, you know, to let the people in your life
know how you feel about it.
People just take things forgranted and it does take hard
work and consistency.
You know we see you guystogether.
(19:15):
It's encouraging to see thesuccess in marriage and happily
married as well.
So you guys, you worked for thephone company.
Yes, you did that.
For what?
Two or three years 22.
You do everything long-term,don't you?
Yeah, you got that thing.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
And she done it for 35.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
So we both retired from Bell South.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
And how old were you when you retired?
Speaker 3 (19:42):
55.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
55 years old.
So again, perspective rightThinking I'm 55, going to retire
.
That's an early retirement, soyou're going to go ahead and
just sit on a rocking chair andenjoy the last 10 years of your
life and do not don't do muchwith it.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
No, my plans that I was going to spend most of my
time hunting and fishing.
Well, at that time I washunting up in South Carolina,
which I had been hunting upthere almost 23 years, and I
thought I'm just going to huntand fish.
(20:22):
Well, I got tired of killingand cleaning deer and so I got a
job.
I come back and I got a jobdriving a tour bus, and I drove
a tour bus for about a year andI got tired of that and I drove
tractor trailer hauling mail foralmost five years now, you did
(20:47):
that not out of necessity, justto to do something.
No, just something to do.
And I enjoyed driving a truck.
And then they went union and Idecided that I did not want to
work for another union company.
(21:08):
So I quit that and starteddoing home repairs.
And I'd done home repairs forfive years.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
And that was your own business.
Yes, and now?
How old were you when youstarted that?
Speaker 3 (21:27):
I was 61, I think.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
And one of the things I always tell people is throw
the rules out.
So many people say, oh, I'm tooold for this or I can't do that
because of this.
They make every excuse in thebook not to go out and do
something.
Throw the rules out If you wantto do it, figure it out.
We live in an amazing timewhere the information to figure
(21:57):
things out could never be easier.
You know you want to learn howto do anything.
The information is at yourfingertips.
You still got to do the hardwork to learn it, but at 61
years old, you decide, hey, I'vedone my military career.
I did my real career working forthe phone company, did a couple
of side jobs.
I know I'm just going to becomean entrepreneur, I'm going to
(22:20):
go do one of the hardest thingsthat there is out there.
And you did that with your wife.
It was you and your wiferunning that business.
Oh, yes, yeah.
And tell me about what youwould do.
What was the basic idea andwhat got you excited to go and
run that or start that business?
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Well, we had so many people, especially elderly women
, at our church and everythingthat needed jobs, small jobs
done that most big contractorsdid not want to do because there
wasn't enough money in it, andso we've done small, odd and end
(23:03):
jobs.
You know, sometimes I do aremodel job, but nothing real
big and you know what we uhcharged was reasonable and I
charged by the hour.
I didn't go give these bigamounts of uh estimates you know
(23:26):
, for uh doing a job.
I tell them I'm going to do thejob per hour, so much per hour
and that's what I'd done.
But it gave me something to do.
But it also helped people outand in fact it turned almost
(23:47):
into a full-time job.
I was keeping that much workgoing into a full-time job.
I was keeping that much workgoing and uh.
But then when we started goingto tennessee, um, I built a
house up there, so I kind of gotout of the home repairs.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
That's what you do when you're in your 60s, right,
you buy land and just startbuilding your own house.
Oh, it's 65, yeah, most 65 yearolds.
They get up and they say, yeah,I'm retired.
Now I think I'm going to buildmyself about an
1,500-square-foot house 1,700.
With a full basement.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Well, when I was 65, I had her on the tractor with a
ladder in the bucket, and I'm up22 feet in the air putting
siding on the house and she'sdown there taking pictures you
know and I said what's that?
(24:40):
For insurance purposes?
But it didn't stop you.
You decided hey, I want tostart a business.
You started a business.
You want to build a house.
You didn't.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
You didn't look you.
You decided, hey, I want tostart a business.
You started a business, youwant to build a house.
You didn't look at the rulesand say, well, gerald, you're 65
years old, you shouldn't bebuilding a house.
Hey, Frog, you want to be on?
You just said I want to build ahouse.
You didn't make any excuses.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Well, my wife told me I could.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Yeah, so you did.
She said you can do it.
How long did it take?
Five years.
How long did it take before youactually were able to move into
it?
Five years.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
No, we were able to move into it in about three.
We stayed in a camper for threeyears, so it took about three
years to actually move into itand it was not complete.
Then she said as long as I hada kitchen and a bedroom and a
(25:42):
bathroom, we'd move into it.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah, and a very nice house.
Jealous of the basement?
That's one thing I don't haveis a basement or a garage, but
I'm getting there, I'll getthere.
One of these Got to have agarage.
Yeah, so when you had yourbusiness, you were doing home
repairs, small project homerepairs.
Where did you build?
I mean you worked for the phonecompany.
I mean you didn't work inconstruction.
(26:05):
Where did you pick up theseskills?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Because I've seen some of your work and it's good,
I guess, hands-on.
I couldn't afford to hirecontractors to come in and build
, like our first house.
That we built was 2,800 squarefeet and that house took five
years to build.
It was a two-story.
It had a round foyer as youcome into the house it looked
(26:36):
like a barn, but it was quite aproject.
I mean, I had never builtanything and I didn't know how
to read the blueprints and I'dset up at night after I come
home from work and study thoseblueprints at night.
And then when we finally I gotthe foundation done, the floor
(27:00):
poured and everything, we had abarn raising.
I had people that I worked withat the telephone company and
people from our church wouldcome over every Saturday and we
would sometimes would haveanywhere from 10, 15 guys
(27:21):
working.
So we just had a barn raisingsomething like the Amish half
yeah, community getting together.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Were you ever intimidated by the project?
Oh yes, yes, oh yes.
What got you ever intimidatedby the project?
Oh yes, yes, oh yes.
What got you over some of thatfear?
Because one of the things wetalk about is fear is a
necessity in life.
It keeps us safe.
However, so much of it keeps usheld back and people tend not
to achieve success or anythingin life because they're just
(27:52):
scared.
What do you?
What did you?
I mean that's a massiveundertaking, never having built
a house.
What do you do when that voicein your head says Gerald, you're
in over your head?
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Well, when you have a wife saying you can do it, you
do it.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
You try the support.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Yeah, yeah, your wife .
And she was you, you know, shewas behind me all the time and
uh, and that nancy believes youcan do anything.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Oh yeah, she told me yeah she said, if it can be done
, gerald can do it and my, mykids, they they're the same way.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
They said my daddy can do it I've seen it.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
You can, you got and we about earlier.
You got my ass out of a sling acouple of times.
But that support structure, youmentioned the church.
Has the church been importantin your life?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Very important.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
How has that helped mold the person that you are
today?
How?
Speaker 3 (28:52):
has that helped mold the person that you are today?
Well, you want to treat peoplelike you want to be treated and
we're put here on this earth tohelp people, and I get a lot of
(29:14):
enjoyment out of helping people.
I still, you know, try to helppeople too, you know, even at my
age, but I do what I can.
But this younger generation,they want everything.
Now and when I was coming up,if I wanted something, I would
(29:40):
get an additional job.
I would go out and get somemechanic work or something.
I'd paint a car or do somethingor get another job in order to
be able to pay for what I wanted, rather than going and charging
it or getting a loan and havinghigh interest rates.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
You're pretty much anti that.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
I never liked paying interest.
Well, your salvation helps, Iguess, in how you treat people.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
And your view on life .
Yeah, as a young man, were youborn in the church, or is that
something that came into yourlife later?
Speaker 3 (30:26):
No, well, my mother took me to church when I was
little, when we were living inNorth Carolina, but then when we
moved to Florida, I didn't goto church there because my
family did not go to church.
But then, in order to date,nancy, it's the only place that
(30:51):
I could take her was to church,so every Sunday we started going
to church.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
You weren't allowed to take her out on a regular
date.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Oh no, oh no.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
No, chaperones no no chaperones.
Oh really, you couldn't justtake her out to dinner?
Speaker 3 (31:09):
No, I couldn't take her out, uh-uh.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Not until, well, when I turned 16, I think we went to
the lake one time, but then,after I went into the service
(31:31):
and we broke up, then we gotback together.
I had a car that I had boughtin California and drove back to
Jacksonville.
Well, when Nancy and I becameengaged, her parents more or
less disowned her and they tookher car away from her.
So I gave her my car and Iwould hitchhike back and forth
(31:54):
from Fort Benning toJacksonville on the weekends to
see her.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
What was their reasoning?
I not.
Why didn't they like you?
Speaker 3 (32:05):
They didn't think I would ever amount to anything
because I didn't graduate highschool.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Oh okay, they didn't think you were good enough for
their daughter.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
No.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Hmm, well, you proved them wrong, and I?
Speaker 3 (32:16):
really didn't amount to much anyway, but she did
learn to like me.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Their mother.
That is, I love yourperspective on life, though you
have, you know, one of the firstthings that you said to me.
You looked at me.
You said let me tell yousomething Retire as soon as you
can.
You enjoy life.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
I do, I do, I do and we are well the reason I say
(33:01):
retire as young as you can.
You're still do, but I can'twalk as far as I used to.
I can't get out here and takehikes and stuff like that, but
we still get out and do thethings that we want to do.
We still go places.
We still go on cruises.
We still go places, we still goon cruises we still travel.
(33:23):
Yeah, I enjoy retirement.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
All right, little technical difficulties, but we
got that fixed.
No, it's fine.
This light's perfect.
So let's go back to how Godchanged your life and the
importance.
So at first it was just to getthe girl, because that's the
(33:51):
only place you can date her.
Yeah, it was in church, but itdefinitely has transformed your
life as a man.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Oh yes, it definitely has transformed your life as a
man.
Oh yes, when we first gotmarried we were kind of hit and
miss as far as going to church,and then, at 23, I accepted Lord
as my Lord and Savior.
She was saved when she was muchyounger, up in Virginia, but I
(34:28):
well.
I can remember when I was inservice and the Cuban conflict
was breaking out over there andthe Cuban Missile Crisis threat
was going and they extended melike for four months and I was
scared to death that I was goingto die.
They were going to send me overthere and I was going to die.
(34:50):
But after being saved, I don'tworry about dying.
I don't worry about dying here.
Let's see Well when I was 35years old, I had an aneurysm on
(35:11):
the brain and they gave me lessthan 10% chance of coming out of
it alive.
They said if I was alive, thatI could be a vegetable.
I'd never be able to walk again, I could be blind.
They did not know until afterthe surgery was over with and
(35:33):
they didn't tell me any of thisstuff.
But they were telling Nancy andthe doctor come in just before
they operated on me and he said,mr Brown, he said I've got to
tell you this.
He said, before I operate onyou.
He said you stand less than a10% chance of coming out of this
alive.
And he said we don't know whatyou'll be like if you are alive.
(35:57):
And I said, lord, if you'reready for me, I'm ready to go
you're 35 years old 35 years old, had two, two small babies.
And uh, there there was a voiceI guess it's the holy spirit, I
don't know but to me and saidyou are going to be all right.
(36:19):
And so when I come out ofsurgery, one of my neighbors he
was in the hall there and hesaid how are you doing GB?
I said I'm doing fine, dave,and the doctor looked at Nancy
and said he's going to be allright.
And so then, oh, here, sevenyears ago, I come down with
(36:47):
lymphoma cancer and ended uphaving to go through six
treatments of chemo.
Lord, pull me out of that.
I've been cancer-free for sevenyears.
Then, just before we moved backto Florida here a year and a
half ago, I had a mini-strokeand come to find out I had
(37:11):
clogged arteries in my carotidartery here and the Lord taking
care of that.
So I don't know why he's givenme 83 years, because I certainly
haven't done anything todeserve it.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
You're here for a reason.
In the short period of timethat my wife and I have known
you, you and your wife havebrought tremendous joy in our
lives.
You're just wonderful people tobe around.
One of the things when webought a house in Tennessee,
they said, well, you're going toget invited to church and
(37:47):
you're going to get yourneighbors coming on over.
Sure enough, within the firstcouple days, you guys going to
church and just thatold-fashioned neighborly caring
just right away.
Anything we needed, don't evenworry about it.
You need help take care of it.
There's no expectation forreturn.
(38:08):
Just that's what we do.
We help people out.
You know you started yourbusiness.
When you started your business,you said something that's very
wise.
I asked you what you did andyou said that you fixed things
and you did small home repairs.
But you also mentioned thatyour business grew to the point
(38:30):
where you had more work than youcould handle because you were
taking care of people.
You said you were doing itbecause people needed your help.
You know whether they're, youknow, didn't have the money or
they just needed some repairsaround the house, but you were
serving people.
(38:50):
One of the things that I tellpeople that want to start a
business is your motivationcannot be for money.
What you do is different thanwhy you do it and the people
that work with me.
I remind them weekly is that wehappen to fix heating and air
(39:11):
conditioning, but that's notreally what we're doing.
We're in the relationshipmanagement business.
Our job is to buildrelationships with other people
and serve them with humility,provide them the best possible
service that we can, and whenyour focus is on the people,
(39:32):
your business is going to grow.
You got to care about them.
You know, I don't think a houseever handed you a check.
When you finish fixing it, it'salways the person Never had an
air conditioner go, thanks forfixing me.
Here's a check.
And it's the focus on servingpeople, providing them with an
honest job within your skill setat a fair price.
(39:58):
That's what builds business.
That's why the rules don'tmatter.
You could be 62 years old andstart a business.
You can be 65 and decide I'mgoing to build a house because
my wife wants one, and havingthat support is really so
critical, especially for men tohaving the support from their
(40:19):
wives.
I mean, I take on a lot, andone of the things that my wife
always says is, once Ryan sayshe's going to do something, I
just prepare myself for the ridebecause I'm going to go out and
do it.
Does that mean it's going to besuccessful out of the gate?
No, she knows it's going to behard, it'll be ups and downs,
(40:40):
but she also knows that togetherwe fight through it and we will
achieve our goals.
And people think everything islinear Start on one and finish
here.
Nope, it's a mountain, up themountain, down the mountain
around the corner.
You got things coming at youfrom every direction, but to
have that support, especiallyfrom your spouse, and that's
(41:02):
what makes it strong.
We talked earlier what's thesecret to success?
And that's you said 100%, 100%,not 50-50.
You have to be able tocommunicate everything about
what your dreams are, what yoursuccess is, what your failures
are.
You know when you're failing.
You need somebody there to helpyou out and support you and say
(41:23):
, hey, get back up, dustyourself off.
We can do this.
We've already gotten this faron the house.
We can finish the house.
Hey, I'm going to start abusiness.
I'm 62 years old.
Okay, If you say you can do it,we're going to do it.
And that's the kind of optimismand tenacity that we need to
start seeing in some of theyoung people.
(41:44):
I have seen some lights, somebright lights, with the younger
generation.
I work with people of all agesand I see there's some lazy and
entitled.
And I see there's some lazy andentitled, but I also see some
of them that get it andunderstand that hard work is
necessary.
So you know, I think we'regoing to be all right, but yeah,
(42:28):
we definitely need to see moreof that attitude of I'm going to
break through the barriersrather than I'm going to just
let life happen to me.
Speaker 3 (42:34):
Got to get up there and make life happen for
yourself.
That's true, yeah, so huntingis you still do any hunting?
Oh, yeah, I still.
I still hunt, not like I usedto.
Um, I mean, for years and years, every weekend I was in the
woods, and now it depends on theweather.
If it's too cold, I don't go.
If it's too hot, I don't go.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
You've got to be comfortable.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
But no, I still hunt.
I hunt up in Georgia and I havea hunting blind with a heater
and all in it.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
Yeah, I saw your new blind here.
You moved down here to Floridafrom Tennessee a couple years
ago.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
About a year and a half ago.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
You got your blind built already.
Yeah, built it yourself.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
Yeah, built it yourself, yep, but the one I had
in Tennessee had a bench in itwhere I could lay down and take
a nap.
Speaker 2 (43:31):
That's when the deer would actually come.
When you were sleeping, theyknew when you went to sleep.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
They would come when I was sleeping.
And so I went to Harbor Freightand I bought one of those
driveway sensors and I put itdown there and when a deer
walked up it would beep on thesensor and I could wake up and
shoot it.
Speaker 2 (43:53):
What is your favorite All the years of hunting, what
is your favorite type of huntingand what's your favorite game
that you like to go after?
Speaker 3 (44:03):
Well, my favorite game is deer, but one of the
best hunts was a trip toColorado where I killed an
11-point elk and that was reallya fun hunt elk and that was
(44:29):
really a fun hunt.
Speaker 2 (44:29):
But um, now is that, uh hunting?
When you go elk hunting, isthat tracking the elk?
Or is it sitting in a blindkind of like with the deer?
Same concept or different typeof hunt?
Speaker 3 (44:37):
kind of same, the same concept, except there I was
just sitting on the ground,just leaned up against a tree,
waiting for them to come out ofthe bottoms down in there.
Speaker 2 (44:51):
And what's the excitement?
You get pretty excited when yousee them come on out.
Speaker 3 (44:54):
Especially when it's 11 point.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
What were you using to hunt that day?
Speaker 3 (45:01):
A 300 Win Mag a rifle yeah.
It shoots a bullet about thatlong one shot.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
Oh yeah, that's all you get, because then they
scatter.
Was it a clean shot?
Yep how's that elk meat?
Speaker 3 (45:16):
wonderful, better than beef how do they?
Speaker 2 (45:19):
uh?
So when you shoot an elk inColorado and you live in
Tennessee or Florida, how do youget the meat back?
Speaker 3 (45:27):
Well, at that time there was no restrictions.
Now there's restrictions onbringing stuff back, not really
the meat.
You cannot bring any boneproducts back into Florida
because of CWD chronic wastedisease that deer have.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
It's in the bones.
Speaker 3 (45:52):
It's in the bones, yeah, and like in West Tennessee
, I think, they have chronicwaste disease and even in
Georgia you can't bring the boneback into florida.
You have to debone your meat upthere, put it in the cooler,
but you cannot bring any boneback and you can't bring any
(46:13):
brain or anything like that backnone of the organs.
Speaker 2 (46:16):
Yeah, wow, yep but um well, that sounds like a pretty
fun hunt.
I know you've taken me fishing.
You got that figured out prettygood I uh how many lures did I
lose?
I think I still owe you about 20.
That was trout fishing.
Yeah, we went you well, theyhad just stocked the creeks up
(46:39):
in tennessee and you said, let's, uh, let's go fishing.
You just happened to be in theneighborhood with a couple of
fishing poles in the back ofyour UTV and uh, so I went on
down there with you.
Um, I lost five or six lures,probably in about an hour, and
uh, promise you I'll buy yousome.
I think I still owe you some.
(46:59):
I don't think I ever got aroundto buying.
Matter of fact, the next timewe were ready to go fishing, you
had went and bought a whole setof lures.
That's right, I bought a bunchjust because you were going,
because I lost them.
Speaker 3 (47:09):
Something happened.
We didn't get to go.
Speaker 2 (47:12):
No, I wasn't able to go.
I don't remember.
I think my foot got hurt.
I made some excuse not to go,but you knew exactly where those
fish were at.
You said you throw it rightthere, you're going to catch it.
It was fun.
I had a great time and that was, I mean went down fished for a
couple hours, brought home lunchthat's living and then we
(47:35):
cooked that trout up.
It was so good.
You know the other thing youtaught me when I was in
Tennessee.
You said hey, we're having theRamp Festival.
I'm thinking what is a ramp?
Speaker 3 (47:46):
Well, explain what the ramp festival is and what a
ramp is, because I had to justlearn that a couple three years
ago, a ramp is similar to aspring onion, but rather than
having a hollow stem, it has aflat leaf-like blade on it and
(48:09):
they're kind of a cross betweena garlic and an onion, and you
just cut the bottoms off of themand just dice the rest of it up
and you put it in scrambledeggs, cook it with scrambled
eggs, or you can cook it withsliced potatoes.
Speaker 2 (48:34):
And this just grows wild.
Speaker 3 (48:37):
Yeah, they grow wild, or you can actually just cook
them in bacon grease.
Now Nancy fixed me some inbacon grease one night and I ate
those things.
She did not eat any and thenext morning she woke up and she
(48:58):
rolled over and she said youstink.
She said I'm going to town shoptoday, but they do leave, cause
you to have a bad odor.
Speaker 2 (49:11):
Yeah, they were actually, but I thought they
were great.
I know our neighbor Daviddoesn't really like them, but
he's, why would you root eggs?
Speaker 1 (49:19):
Why would you root eggs by putting that?
Speaker 2 (49:20):
ramp in it but they had a whole festival.
It was neat.
We went and you brought me tosome wild ramp patches.
We cut it all up, then webrought it down to the festival
and they cooked up eggs and allsorts of things with it, just
right out there in the wild.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
They have a ramp festival every year at the bear
club up there.
Speaker 2 (49:42):
Hey, you were part of the bear club.
Yes, and you guys hunt bear,right?
You ever get a bear yeah yeah,what's that like?
What's the process?
Is there a different processhunting bear than deer?
Speaker 3 (49:55):
well, in tennessee you can run bear with dogs.
In florida and uh, dogs.
In Florida and most states youcan't use dogs on bear.
But up there you can.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
Now you cannot run deer in Tennessee with dogs.
So when I see the trucksbecause I see them these guys
will have their trucks fullyoutfitted with kennels built
into their trucks and you seethem driving real slow around
the curvy roads.
Are they trying to sniff themout?
It's called rigging, rigging,okay.
Speaker 3 (50:42):
They put the dog on top of the dog box, or either
they'll chain him onto the hoodof the truck and, as they're
driving down the road, if a bearhas crossed that road, that dog
will pick up that scent andstart opening.
And when he starts opening,they'll turn him loose and put
him on the trail.
And when he starts barking realgood, they'll turn another pack
of dogs behind it, Run the bearuntil the bear goes up a tree
(51:08):
or either goes into a cave orsomething.
And if he goes up the tree thenthe dogs will all swarm around
that tree and bark and keep himup the tree until the hunters
get there.
Then they walk up underneathlike a squirrel hunting and
shoot the bear out, out of thetree, yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:28):
And then they had that building the bear club over
there in Del Rio.
They had the whole processingbuilding, skin and shed.
Yeah, and bear meat good, yes.
Speaker 3 (51:38):
It's a dark, grainy meat but it has a good flavor to
it.
How do you?
What's the what's a very commonway they prep it Barbecue.
Most, most of them do it inbarbecue.
I make a bear stew out of itand I have fried some.
It's good fried too.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
And what's the?
And this is black bear inTennessee, right.
And what's the?
How many tags?
What are you allowed?
Speaker 3 (52:06):
to One per person.
Speaker 2 (52:08):
One bear per person and you hunt just the male or
female, or both Either one.
Speaker 3 (52:13):
They try to kill only the males, but sometimes it's
hard to determine whether it's amale or a female.
But sometimes it's hard todetermine whether it's a male or
a female.
But if they can shoot anythingover 75 pounds, which I don't
really agree to, that, that'skind of small right.
Speaker 2 (52:33):
What's a full-grown bear?
Black bear weigh.
Speaker 3 (52:37):
For me oh.
Speaker 2 (52:40):
Full-grown mature.
Speaker 3 (52:43):
We've killed them up to 600 pounds up there.
Speaker 2 (52:45):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (52:46):
In Tennessee.
But I like 250 pounder.
The one I killed was only 150,but they were telling me
everybody that was under thetree there saying, oh, that's a
good 250 pound bear.
And when I shot it and it fellout I thought no, it won't go
(53:08):
150 pounds.
And we weighed it and it wasonly 150.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:15):
I remember.
Do you remember the lecturethat you had to give my wife
when we first moved to Tennessee?
Speaker 3 (53:20):
Which one?
Speaker 2 (53:27):
when we first moved to Tennessee.
Which one?
So when we at our place inCalifornia, you know we have
dogs and one of the nice thingsabout having dogs you never have
any leftover scraps.
You know you make a meal.
If there's any leftovers, thedogs are ready to enjoy some of
the human food.
Well, my wife thought thatwould be a great idea up in
Tennessee.
Well, my wife thought thatwould be a great idea up in
Tennessee.
(53:52):
So, unbeknownst to me, she'scollecting the scraps and she's
putting the scraps outside thefront door for the bears to come
and get.
So about 2 o'clock in themorning she hears some noise and
I'm asleep, and so she kind ofgoes out into the front family
room.
She opens the blinds on thedoor and she puts her face there
.
Right there with his face is abig black bear staring right at
(54:15):
her.
Where's my food?
About a week later, here comesGerald.
I need to talk to your wife.
I said what's going on.
He goes.
I think she's leaving food outfor the bears.
How did you figure that out?
Were your dogs coming to getthe food?
Somehow?
You knew?
Speaker 3 (54:33):
I think she told me about the bear and then I told
her.
I said you don't leave food outon the porches up here.
Speaker 2 (54:43):
No, and our door is a glass door.
Yeah, and I actually had tohang a sign right outside that
door that said do not feed thebears, so that she would be
reminded not to feed them.
You know they're cute andthey're adorable you see the mom
with the little cubs but youknow they're wild animals.
(55:05):
Oh yeah, they're dangerous.
They act somewhat docile to theblack bears and they're
supposed to be the most docileof the bears, but they're still
dangerous.
If they want something, they'regoing to get it.
Oh yeah, I know that the firstweek we have a little black
explorer and it's all dirt roadswhere we're at up there.
(55:26):
So you know, a black car iscompletely full of dirt and dust
within two minutes after youwash it.
I come outside and I'm alwayslike Ryan, come on, come on,
check this out.
There were bare paw prints allover, and the glass, the hood,
the trunk, everywhere.
There must have been 20 or 30paw prints everywhere on this
(55:50):
thing and we got excited.
Oh wow, I think we left thetrash in there.
I believe we had a bag of trashin there overnight and they
lucky we, they didn't breakthose windows open to get to it,
but they tried everything.
There was all the evidence thatthey were there.
They had paw prints everywhereand they are huge, huge paw
(56:11):
prints.
They're adorable to look atfrom a far distance.
Yeah, we had to kind of learnour way around not to get into
trouble.
Well, listen, gerald, this hasbeen fun.
I've been excited to talk toyou and I appreciate your time
and I think people are going tolove to hear your stories.
Speaker 3 (56:29):
I hope so.
Speaker 2 (56:30):
Yeah, absolutely, and we'll do it again when you hit
92.
No, 93.
We'll follow up on your 93.
That's only 10 years away.
You've already skated past acouple of near misses, so we'll
expect you, and then we'llcelebrate your 103 as well.
That's only 20 years from now,I may have to have that walker
(56:52):
by 103.
Speaker 3 (56:53):
I know.
Speaker 2 (56:53):
I think you'll probably end up building another
house, or something.
In about a year from now,you're going to get bored here
in Florida and you're going tostart something new.
I already know it All right.
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (57:05):
You.
You're going to start somethingnew.
I already know it All right.
Well, thank you so much.
You're welcome.
You've been listening to RealPeople, real Life.
Our passion is to have realconversations with real people
who've made it.
Real people who've made it whodid it on their own terms.
We'll be back soon, but in themeantime, catch us on Twitter or
X, at RPRL Podcast and onYouTube at Real People, Real
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