Latest / WriterCon / Guest Episode: UnFreakingBelievable!

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Guest Episode: UnFreakingBelievable! · WriterCon

0:02
Welcome to writer kN a gathering place for writers to share their knowledge about writing
0:06
and the writing world. Your hosts are William Bernhardt, best selling novelist and
0:11
author of The Red Sneaker books on writing, and Laura Bernhardt the Morning Files
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book series. Very special once a month offbeat episode of the podcast, but
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this time, instead of interviews, we're going to introduce you to the people
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behind my new favorite podcast, which is unfreaking believable. Did I say that
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right? Yes? Yes, Okay, I mean I know it's in your
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books, Betsy, but still, this is a terrific podcast, and we're
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going to talk a little bit and then we're going to share an episode so
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you can see how wonderful it really is. Betsy, let me introduce all
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three of you. It's Betsy Koulikowski and JB. Kaine, who I'm going
1:00
to be calling Jen unless I miss it up. And Jenny, we'll call
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you Jenny lebran ch Okay, Betsy, where did the idea for this podcast
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come from? Oh? We listened to I'm a copious podcast consumer. I
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listened to your podcast. I listened to probably about nine or ten different podcasts
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on a weekly basis. If i'm not writing, I'm probably listening to a
1:23
podcast somewhere. So I have done a lot of guesting on podcasts. I
1:26
really enjoyed doing it. I just like having great conversations. So Jenny and
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I were talking one night over Skype before writer Con and I said, you
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know, I've really been thinking about doing a podcast. She goes, oh,
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I'd love to do a podcast. It's like, yeah, we could
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throw something around, and so we started pitching ideas and I said, you
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know, well, if we're going to do it, we have to call
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it unfreaking believable. And of course she knew that was from my books.
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One of my characters says that all the time. And she's like, yes,
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that's it. But we really just didn't have all the pieces come together
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until we were at writer Con and we started talking to Jen and we just
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kind of put all the pieces together. Everything's just kind of fallen into place,
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and we've been working on getting this podcast ready to go. We've got
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a couple episodes in the can already and we have a lot of great things
2:10
coming up for listeners moving forward. Fabulous. That's so exciting. And I
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was I was going to ask who came up with the name. But you've
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just told us that so that he'll be a charge. Well, it came
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from your books, but was it your idea to steal that for the podcast.
2:28
Absolutely. I wanted to tell amazing stories that were just truly unfreaking believable.
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But we didn't know if it was going to be paranormal, if it
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was going to be the miraculous, and we found a way to bring all
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of that together them. That's very cool, and you're calling it UFB for
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sure, that's how short is. And I saw you're asking listeners what they
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want to be called. I'm behind the Unbelievables. I like that too.
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I love that it's like the Incredibles but not really that song from the nineties.
3:01
Yes, I love that because every time I hear Unbelievables, that pops
3:05
into my head. Yes, I mean too. Well, it's a good
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idea. Yeah. This being the writer Con podcast, you know we're going
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to grill you about writer Con and Bet'sy and Jenny have both been on the
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cruise and of course the conference. Betsy tell us about your cruise experience.
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So I went on the very first writer Con cruise back in twenty twenty February
3:30
before the bottom fell out, ten minutes before exactly. We barely got home
3:35
before all of that started. In fact, I think the day we landed
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back in Houston or back in Galveston was the same day that they quarantined the
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cruise ship in New Jersey. I mean, we missed it by that much.
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So I was just, really, you're not really selling the cruise get
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there, getting there, because this is the good part, okay. So
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I pitched what would become the Veritas Codec series, and that was the one
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series that I really never meant for anybody to ever read. It was as
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Atlantish as you could get. I wrote it thinking, you know, this
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is just for practice. Nobody's going to read it, so I can put
4:09
anything I want to in it. And I liked it so well that I
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had a couple of sequels already written, but I had never really done anything
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with it. So I'd been to writer Con, and at writer Con twenty
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nineteen, I had written in my notes, you know, I'm going to
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do one thing this year that's going to get me invited to come back and
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be a speaker at writer Con. And I didn't know what that was.
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I didn't know what it looked like. But then when I found out about
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the cruise, I came home I told my husband, I said, I
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really feel like this is where I need to be. I think this is
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where things are going to happen. And so he said, absolutely, let's
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go sign me up and he was on board. I was on board,
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and that that was where I found my calling. I mean, that's where
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the Veritas Codex came to be. And if it wasn't for the cruise,
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it wouldn't have happened. I don't think it would have happened. So it
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was just a matter of you know, having the courage to send that one
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book in that scared me the most and just sit back and just let it
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happen and just go with it. And so when it came time for the
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writer Con Cruise last year, I'm on board with that as well. Enjoyed
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every minute of it. I love the travel and it's just another way to
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write and travel and do all the fun stuff. That's right. I love
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everything about that. But I think my favorite thing that you just said without
5:18
saying, you were really writing from your heart. Yes, you didn't expect
5:23
anyone else to see it, so you were not inhibited by what would somebody
5:28
else think of this, which freed you up to just write your passion,
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write from your heart. And I love that. I think the question I
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asked you is is this too over the top? And you're like, no,
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this is terrific. Jenny. How about you? You've been on the
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cruise too, You're at a you came I think a year well last year
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walckdown. So it was probably like, yeah, okay, anyway, tell
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us about your cruise, all right. So I had already had one writer
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Con and one writer's retreat under my belt and going to you yes, and
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eight days on the high seas with my friends that I had already made from
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the retreat and from writer Con and making new friends, and it was such
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a spectacular, you know experience. I learned so much, I made new
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friends. It's all that you know, hardcore critical feedback that I need that
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pushes me forward. That I got to get plus game nights and got to
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sit down have a one on one with the agent, with agent Amy Brewer.
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So it was just it was one of the most with everybody. Yeah,
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brod who wants to just so much knowledge and education and fun, you
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know, Well, what's coming up next for you ladies? You were talking
6:48
about some of your already completed podcasts, but what's coming up next? Well,
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I think we're all working on different writing projects right now. So I
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know that Betsy and Jenny have both been knee deep in editing for the last
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month or so, and I'm working on writing the third of my trilogy series
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that's a y a paranormal series. So there's a lot of that kind of
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sorry ahead ahead, there's there's a lot of a lot of Ford progress going
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on. And I know that the three of us also have an additional project
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going on, sort of behind the scenes, even beyond the podcast, that
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involves some some co writing that we're working on together. So I don't know.
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Today I was going to say, I don't know, but should we
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Should we reveal our secret? We could give a little bit, not just
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not too much. You should probably save it for your podcast to be fair.
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Just know that we're working on a little something something that's cool. Give
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us a hint of a future guest. Oh yeah, who are you most
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excited about, because then you I'll go first. I've got Robert Degoni coming
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on. I've inta year, Yes, yep. We also have Kevin Tumlinson.
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We have We've got some commitments from some other uh writer Conna lums like
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Bob Sands, Jen's got Campbell. Micah Campbell is going to be there.
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Jen's got some connections with the industry and film and theater in England, and
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so we've all got a little somebody kind of lined up that we're really excited
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about. A couple of episodes are already filmed or already recorded. I think
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one of my favorites coming up is going to be Sean Lehman from the Middle
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Aged and Creeped Out podcast. He has an amazing, unfreaking believable story that
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he's going to tell, and that's the kind of things that this podcast is
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going to bring us. That that I'm freaking believable story that just spawned from
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one inciting incident and launch somebody's life into a different direction or completely change the
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course of their careers. So that's the stories that we're trying to tell.
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And it's not just all paranormal based. A lot of people think that our
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show is based on the paranormal, but we have categories. When we send
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you a link to be a guest on the show, and you can select
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from it being a religious experience, a supernatural, paranormal, or other.
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We have a lot of categories that people can choose from. I think my
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favorite category is the dumb luck category. I want more of that. Yeah,
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we've got a couple of good interviews coming up that are going to be
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dumb luck moments. So love that. Well, thank you so much for
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joining it. And guess let me say, let me reintroduce you. I
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guess that's JB. Kaine and Betsy Koulakowski and Jenny Labranch and these are the
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people behind Unfreaking Believable and now we're going to share an episode of that with
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you. So sit back, get someplace comfortable and enjoy. Listen to Sean
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Lehman from Middle Asian Creeped Out and we have unfreaking Believable podcasts. Welcome to
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this exciting episode of unfreaking Believable. We invite you to pull up a chair,
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relax, and join in. For the next thirty minutes or so,
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we'll bring you guests who are going to share with you moments that made a
10:37
difference in their lives. And it's all because of one inciting incident. We
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believe that life is infinitely stranger than fiction, stranger than anything the mind can
10:46
invent. You might even say it's unfreaking believable. Welcome to the podcast.
10:52
We're your hosts. I'm Jen, I'm Jenny, and I'm Betsy, and
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I have to kick off the day with a hearty hello to my my friends.
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I have missed you guys since we last spoke, and I'm glad to
11:07
see you. Hopefully everyone is in good health. Everybody doing well? Yes?
11:13
Excited for tonight? Awesome? Are you ready to learn something? Always?
11:16
Yes? Okay, So I have a word for the day for you
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that is especially close to my heart today and that is a pun and you'll
11:26
see in a minute. The word for today is borborum. Barbaram okay,
11:33
borberum. Borberum is that that rumbling sensation when your tummy is empty that sounds
11:45
sad. It is sad, and I haven't eaten any solid food today,
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so I have a sense of barberum right now. That was why I chose
11:56
the word for the day. Yes, so all right, so I think
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Jenny has fun thanks for us. I do. I have three quick fun
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facts for us today, and the first one is the whole nine yards.
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Now, we've all heard this one, and it comes from back during World
12:15
War Two. Fighter pilots used a nine yard chain of ammunition, so when
12:20
a pilot unloaded all his ammunition on one target, he was given it the
12:24
whole nine yards. That's awesome. I always thought that was a football reference,
12:28
and it too, right, all right. The next one's quick and
12:33
simple. This one, it's spilled the beans. And this one dates back
12:37
to ancient Greek and it was an ancient Greek method of placing either a black
12:41
or white bean in a jar to cast your vote, and somebody spilled the
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jar, then the election results would be revealed prematurely. And none of us
12:50
wants to be spilling the beans, all right, okay, all right.
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And this next one, this last one, I think is quite hilarious.
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I never knew where this one came from. And it's my your own bees
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wax. And this dates back to the eighteenth and nineteenth century where women used
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to use bees wax the way we use foundation to cover blemishes, and if
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another woman got too close and started noticing, the wearer would show them away
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by saying, mind your own beeswax. I would never have guessed that me
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either, but I will flashing back to your second fact. I do live
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in Florida, and we we do occasionally have election problems here, and I
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think maybe maybe we should go back to the bean counting method, just saying
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I'm looking at you West Palm Beach. Oh that's a good one. I
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like that. All right, you guys ready to get started? Let's yes?
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All right, Well, this week is my pick, so I get
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to introduce our guest. Sean Lahman is the co host of the wild popular
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Paranormal, Middle Ages and Creeped Out podcast. He's originally from Cocomo, Indiana,
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and the graduate of Indiana University Allied School of Medicine and a member of
14:09
the American Occupational Therapy Association. His interest includes neurorehabilitation, orthopedics, inpatient acute
14:16
rehab and Sean is a husband and father and a friend of the show,
14:20
and we're honored to have him on. Sean, did I get any of
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that right? Those aes? Honestly? All lies? Okay? Well,
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I wanted to just pump you up so you'd feel really good going into this
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conversation. Did I did I do that? You did? You did?
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Great? You did. I'm glad you didn't mention the my involvement in the
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mafia, so that's all I cared about. Yes, I knew that I
14:43
did not want to get bumped off too soon. And I know that you
14:46
know a guy, so I'll edit all that out later, I promise.
14:52
Good word. I appreciate it. Well, welcome to the show. Sean
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is thrilled to get to visit with you. I always enjoy hearing your voice
14:58
and uh following you guys on middle aged and creeped out and here and what's
15:01
you're up to? I appreciate that greatly. And it's hard. You have
15:03
no idea how hard it is for me to stay quiet while you guys are
15:07
talking and I want to interject, and I'm like, nope, don't interject
15:11
yet. So well, the good news is you. You are now free
15:18
and loose and you can interject all you like on that edit button. Though
15:22
that's a Nate. I give him a workout most night. It can't be
15:26
worse than us. It's all right, all right, So we're gonna play
15:30
a little game called rapid fire this or that. I'm ready. So all
15:33
you have to tell me is which one of those you pick as quick as
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you can, So we're gonna start with an easy one. Cocher, pepsi
15:39
co paper or plastics paper. Waverley Hills are Indiana State Waverley, Waverley Hills.
15:50
I had a feeling that's what. That's hard. That's one of the
15:54
creepiest places you guys have ever been. And every time you guys talk about
15:56
that, I'm like, Oh, I want to go with them next time.
15:58
I love the iss too, though, to be fair, that's a
16:02
hard one. But yeah, i'd say Waverley. How far is Waverley from
16:04
where you guys live. You're just outside of Benion. Yeah, about two
16:07
and a half hours. Yeah, just drive south on sixty five. Basically,
16:12
I've driven by it. I've never been in, but I have driven
16:15
by it because I was. I was there for I was in town for
16:21
National Debate tournament a couple of years ago and we drove right by. It
16:26
was so worth the drive there. I've been trying to convince people to go,
16:30
including my wife, not overnight necessarily, although overnight is an amazing experience,
16:34
but it's like a fortress, it really is. But I highly recommend
16:37
it to anybody. We want to go back. For sure. See how
16:41
far is that from Oklahoma? Well it was ten hours to get to Indianapolis.
16:45
Oh wow, Okay, Well I would have to take a plane,
16:48
But my sister lives kind of nearby, so I could go stay with her,
16:55
and I have no doubt that I could rope her in to go with
16:57
me. So count me in, Sehn whenever you go. And it's not
17:03
even just an awning aspect. The historical aspect of it is fascinating on top,
17:07
which I love that kind of stuff anyway, So you have to even
17:11
like I said, the daytime people would really love it, even just from
17:14
the history of exactly. So why don't you tell our listeners about the Middle
17:17
Age and Creeped Out podcast kind of how you guys got started and how you
17:19
got involved with it. Well, I still call the COVID baby. Back
17:26
in twenty twenty, basically when everything was shut down, Todd and I'd become
17:30
friends. And when I moved into the playfield area, which was in twenty
17:34
sixteen, our boys played baseball together. So in twenty seventeen he and I
17:40
started talking in the dugouts and you know, sharing stories about each other's our
17:44
sons and our families. And everything, and so our wives and so we'd
17:48
go out to dinner, and then he started inviting me to like guy stuff,
17:52
you know, so we do guide groups of stuff. Well, when
17:55
COVID hit, nobody wanted to go out. Nobody could go out. And
17:57
when things started slowly opening up, Todd, you know, he'd still invite
18:02
everybody, and nobody would come except for me. I'd tell him, I'm
18:06
like, I'll go wherever you want to go. I don't care. I
18:07
don't even care if people think we're out there, you know, boyfriends hanging
18:11
out or whatever. I'm like, we just need I'd love to get out.
18:14
So we would sit there and we talk and we have all these interesting
18:15
discussions. Some of the weird and paranormal stuff would come up. And then
18:21
he started telling me he was going to start a podcast. And he had
18:25
friends around the country, about like three at that time, and one of
18:27
them he'd gone to see you. That's Jerry and Tracy Polly from Hillbilly Horror
18:30
Stories. And he started telling me about that. I'm like, oh,
18:33
yeah, I know, they're amazing. They're like our parents' last grandparents.
18:37
In the podcast field pod and pod file you got it. And so he
18:45
had gone down there and like gotten on an episode with him, and he's
18:48
like, I got the bug, you know. So I had encouraged him
18:51
because he's a huge talker and he's very I'm funny because I'm extroverted, but
18:56
I'm an introverted extrovert and so I do wear down, but he never wears
19:00
down, like I mean, he's you know. But so I told him,
19:02
I said, you should do it. I'll be your first listener,
19:03
you know, I could be a guest whatever. And so he had gone
19:07
and thought about it, and he came back and he's like, I'm going
19:11
to do that podcast thing, but I want somebody to do it with me.
19:14
And he invited me to do it. And I came up with all
19:15
kinds of reasons not to do it, and I didn't want to, you
19:18
know, didn't have time and all that stuff. And the more we talked
19:22
about it, the more we talked thought about how we could do it,
19:23
and we talked to our wives, and we didn't have the Nate wasn't part
19:27
of it until a few days before we started. We had ordered everything,
19:30
we got that, my sister made the logo, We got all this planning
19:33
for it and we decided, like, we have no idea how to run
19:37
any of this stuff, and so Jenna had suggested I check with Nate because
19:41
he's been a friend of mine forever and ever and ever, and he's like,
19:44
yeah, sure, I'll come over. So he came over, just
19:45
picked up a couple of things, and you know, we just went with
19:48
it, and it was after the more we did it, it was just
19:51
like kind of magical. You know. We had Nate start talking and we
19:55
decided we wanted to do paranormal, we wanted to do Unexplained and all these
19:57
creepy things, but then we also wanted to give back and do the mental
20:02
health aspect, and so that was a big thing that we talked about,
20:06
like I want to do my middle Aged Moment, which has become the Middle
20:08
Aged Moment slash Dark Side, and it really focuses on the mental health.
20:11
We give out the information for people to get help who are struggling, and
20:17
all three of us have talked about our own struggles and so it's building a
20:19
community of mental health. So we record every Wednesday, you know, drop
20:25
episodes of Wednesdays and Saturdays just for people to enjoy. But then also,
20:30
like I said, it's a place for that support and mental health because people
20:33
do reach out to us and they tell us, you know, what they're
20:36
struggling with, but people also share their success in life and the positive things
20:41
that they're going through as well, and which I love that. You know,
20:44
it's good to have that ying and yang for sure. And you have
20:48
some really loyal listeners too. I mean I've definitely heard you know, you
20:53
have names of people that have become almost like long distance friends. It seems
20:59
like they're basically are captives. But yes, yeah, they're loyal, they're
21:03
locked up in Yeah they listen. No, I'm kidding, but we do.
21:07
Yeah, they come up. There's too many to count to name,
21:10
and I know if I start naming them, I'm going to leave them out,
21:12
so I won't do that. But yeah, some of them have we're
21:15
our friends or family, and some of them are. Yeah, we have
21:18
completely made connections across the country and around the world just to the podcasts,
21:22
and it's pretty impressive and amazing to us. So it's humbling. We're just
21:26
two and a half almost three years later, and we are I'm so shocked
21:32
that anybody outside of the three of us want to listen to the three of
21:34
us talk. Our wives remind us of that all the time. But yeah,
21:38
I never missed an episode. I'm one of those loyal fans, which
21:41
is one of the reasons why I wanted to have you on, Because if
21:45
I miss an episode, I feel like I've missed something important. So I
21:49
may not catch it right away, but I always go back and listen to
21:52
anything I might have missed because I don't want I don't want to miss a
21:56
moment. The guests are great, the chatter is great, the dynamic between
22:00
you and the guys is great, the mission is great. The whole mental
22:04
health thing, when I saw that, I mean, that's really one of
22:07
the things that drew me in because in my line of work, in my
22:11
day job, mental health is very important. That's something that we talk about
22:15
a lot in the safety profession. And so to see that, you know,
22:19
you know that call for action, reach out if you need help,
22:22
if you're struggling, We're here. That's special. And I hope you guys
22:26
realize that. Yeah, it is something that it's the openness and the honesty
22:33
that I loved about it too. Yeah, And that's what we try to
22:37
do. And people start telling us It is one of the things that people
22:41
start telling us within those first even ten episodes, that you don't hear guys
22:45
sit there and talk about the feelings and emotions and the need for mental health.
22:49
And we just thought that it was so important. It came out of
22:52
us naturally. When we would come to the end of these episodes, we
22:56
just had this energy blowing and I called it magic in a bottle. I
23:00
told him, I'm like, boys, we've got some magic here, and
23:02
it just it's just the way we're expressing ourselves is just really fun and something
23:07
that's natural for me. But you know, I normally share it with patients
23:11
and within family and friends, not so much, you know, with all
23:14
these people listening. But the more we did it, the more it just
23:17
felt very natural. But because we used to try to be a little more
23:19
polished and we wanted to sound professional, and we wanted to sound like we
23:22
knew what we were doing. And if you notice, as the episodes go
23:26
on, we kind of just started doing our you know, a little bit
23:30
more off the cuff and natural, and that's what we wanted to feel,
23:33
like, like three guys just in there talking and enjoying, because that's what
23:36
we're doing, and that seemed to work a lot better and we enjoy it
23:38
even more when we're not trying to. Like I had page after page of
23:42
research and really thought I had to stick that. We called the script not
23:45
script, and like I said, we started getting ourselves that freedom of just
23:49
let's have some fun with it. And that's really where we've gone with it
23:52
after all these years. And I think that's what helps to keep it a
23:56
f look too. Yeah, I think you found a happy media. It
24:00
seems like it's funny. When Betty and I first started about doing a podcast
24:03
and there were things we wanted to do on it, mental health was one
24:07
of the big ones I wanted to do. I'm a retired firefighter. I've
24:11
battled with PTSD. I still live with it. But that's when I discovered
24:15
you guys, because Betsy's like, no, no, no, you got
24:17
to listen to Maco. You know that you guys do that. And I
24:19
absolutely love the open and raw honesty with it. That is awesome because there
24:23
needs to be Yeah, there needs to be more out there. Jenny,
24:26
thank you for your service number one. I really appreciate that greatly, and
24:30
I understand the PTSD as well completely, So God bless you for that,
24:36
and right on, thank you. It's nice because you know that is like
24:40
we all are living these we're living in our stories. You know, everybody's
24:44
got their own story. You guys can obviously understand that completely because you guys
24:48
take that to people on which I love, and but we're all completing each
24:52
other's stories too, And it's just funny because some days we're the main we're
24:56
all supposed to be the main character and obviously the heroes, heroes and heroines
24:59
the verse stories. But sometimes like it's dull, you know, and it's
25:03
funny how we can like just connect with each other like oh it's not that
25:06
bad or it's not that dull or you know, it's just it's just funny
25:08
how it ebbs and flows. So I love the fact that, you know,
25:11
sometimes you know, I think, you know, even now, people
25:15
say, oh gods, it's so exciting and what you do and you know,
25:18
having a family and doing podcasts, But there are days where I feel
25:21
like am I really doing anything? So it's funny that you know, I
25:25
know that I'm impacting people, but it's really easy to let some of that,
25:29
either mental illness or anxiety, depression of the daily you know, stresses
25:33
get to you. So it's all of us, and it's truly affecting all
25:37
of us. So I like to bring light up well and Sean, I
25:41
mean that harkens back to a conversation you and I had when I was on
25:45
your show. We talked about imposter syndrome. Yes, and and that's something
25:52
that I think a lot of people in sort of the creative space deal with
25:56
on a regular basis. Definitely. Yeah, I've been doing a lot of
26:00
research and I'm writing some articles on imposter syndrome. I've done presentations on it
26:06
for writers. You know, there's always this little voice in the back of
26:10
our heads that say we're not good enough and we only got here because we're
26:12
lucky. But I'm also finding in my professional world that people who suffer with
26:17
imposter syndrome are also at very high risk for burnout. Yes, and there
26:22
are days when I feel very much burned out. But I always have to
26:26
revisit my mission and why am I doing what I'm doing, Because for me,
26:30
that's really what keeps me going in the safety profession, as I have
26:34
a mission to protect lives and in my writing, my mission is to tell
26:38
good stories and to help people get through their hard days. So when you
26:42
look at it that way, you have to put yourself aside and tell the
26:48
story that needs to be told. And that's what you guys do with your
26:52
podcast, is you tell the story that needs to be told. Yeah,
26:56
I appreciate that. That's actually a really cool way to think of that friend
27:00
of mine. She's the doctor she's becoming. She and I've been connected on
27:03
messenger, you know, even though we don't work together anymore. And she
27:07
does life coaching and she said, you know, I give you free sessions
27:11
and I can charge you for him if you want to be one of my
27:15
guinea pigs. And I was like, oh yeah, sign me up.
27:17
I've never done anything like that. So she said, I have to record
27:19
part of it, but we can talk a little before. We'll talk a
27:22
little bit after. But then the part that I record, I'm being graded
27:25
on and it was fascinating. It supposed to be half an hour and ended
27:27
up being an hour. And she's like, oh, I'm sorry that took
27:30
so long. I'm like, oh no, I love it. And I
27:32
told her about this and she said, please let me know when this drop
27:36
so she is. Her name is Ana Palma, by the way, she
27:40
the way she always told us to remember, her name is Arnold Palmer,
27:45
and she's awesome. I've known her for years, very very positive force out
27:48
there. But she and I were talking about the imposter syndrome as well.
27:52
She I went through and told her a lot and she had you and I
27:55
talked a little bit about the year and how it had been. But after
27:57
afterwards she's like, I'm really sorry because I don't think that I knew how
28:03
crazy your year was. And I was like, yeah, and I didn't
28:04
know how much to delve into it. But since it was the life coaching
28:08
session, which was awesome by the way I said, but it was it
28:11
was pretty amazing. And one thing she said, you know, I brought
28:15
up that I don't feel like I could be the superman I used to be
28:18
and I have the superman you know mentality, and I'm trying to find how
28:22
to do that again or how to be you know, find my standards.
28:26
And she's like, what if you're just you know, evolving into a different
28:30
hero or better than you were before. You know, that is like a
28:33
new thought because they all thought obviously isn't working for me, and so I
28:36
told her. She said, how's that working for her? To go,
28:38
it's not, it's not serving me anymore. So she's like, we need
28:41
to just figure out a new one and reprogram you. So yeah, that's
28:47
terrific, Yeah it really is. Yeah, So why don't we talk a
28:51
little bit about how your years gone, because that's really your unfreaking believable story.
28:55
Are you ready to tell it? I am? I am, all
28:57
right, all right, the floor is yours you. This is well.
29:03
First of all, I told a little bit during one of our episodes after
29:07
it happened. It was a Saturday after it happened. And other than that,
29:11
I've mentioned it a few times in our podcast, and I haven't really
29:15
told a lot of people at length what happened, and I'll try to be
29:19
it would take probably hours to really delve into all of it, so i'll
29:23
i'll give you the shortened version. But I did actually tell a patient in
29:30
his daughter today because she brought up while I was treating him about losing her
29:34
son back in twenty sixteen from an underlying heart condition. So I decided that
29:40
I haven't told patients very much about this and just because it's very nice to
29:45
be able to say, I do understand what you're saying, and I've been
29:48
there. But it was funny because after I told her and I will tell
29:51
you guys, but she wanted to know. She said, you know what
29:56
the experience I had. It brought tears to her basically, and she was
30:00
comforted because she knew that her son was in a good place and he had
30:04
had a son himself, so she has a grandson who his legacy is being
30:10
carried on through that. And it reminded me why I do what I do
30:12
as an occupacial therapist to help people. But I was just supposed to be
30:17
there at that time to tell her my experience. So I kept thinking she
30:19
said something I told her. I said, I haven't I told a lot
30:22
of people this, And I said, I'm actually going to talk about it
30:23
tonight, and she said, you need to. You need to start telling
30:27
people. So this is this is my opportunity to do that. But on
30:32
February twenty second of this year, I had worked in a couple of days.
30:37
I had been feeling kind of bad, a little I thought was a
30:40
little bit of a stomach bug, and nothing to slow me down or you
30:44
know, no fevers or anything like that, nothing to keep me home from
30:45
work. And so it was a Wednesday night, which is a normal podcasting
30:51
night for us, and I'd had dinner with the with the kids and with
30:53
Jenna and my wife and kids, and they hadn't noticed that I really wasn't
30:57
feeling good, but I did. I felt a little bit spacey, and
31:02
I laughed to go podcasts. I had my bag with me and all that
31:04
kind of stuff, and I'm the one that has the computer that we record
31:07
on. And so I sat in the car and I just started feeling dizzy
31:12
and really cold. And I sat there for a good I don't know,
31:15
it seemed like five to ten minutes, and I thought I'm not safe to
31:18
drive this car. But I sat there and I thought, well, maybe
31:22
if I'd give myself a minute. And I really didn't know whether if I
31:25
put it in reverse, whether I go forward or backward. So I shut
31:29
the car off. I left the bag in the car, and I went
31:30
inside and I sat down, and Jenna said, I thought you already left.
31:33
What are you doing here? I said, I just don't feel right.
31:37
I just said, I'm feeling dizzy, I feel cold. I feel
31:38
like something's wrong, and she said, oh, it's probably just some indigestion.
31:42
You know, give yourself some time. Don't cancel on the guys yet,
31:45
you know. So I went upstairs. I don't really remember a whole
31:48
lot. After I went upstairs, it started. I started losing time.
31:52
I started like a lot of it's kind of if. It's almost like some
31:56
of it was like watching a movie and being an outside of the observer.
32:00
But apparently I had a conversation with Nate. I called him, told that
32:02
I didn't feel good. I told him I needed it. He says that
32:06
I said I needed a shower and I needed to go to bed, and
32:09
he said he didn't see any red flags. The kids kind of came by
32:13
and checked on me and were talking to me, like are you gonna go
32:15
in the podcast? And apparently I took a shower, put my pajamas on,
32:21
and I talked to Jenna, and Jenna was I guess. She said
32:23
she had been some of frustrating with me, like what are you doing and
32:27
what's going on? And am I supposed to take the computer over there?
32:30
Whatever? You know? And apparently I told her go ahead and take the
32:30
computer, and so she was over there and to go to Nate's about fifteen
32:37
twenty minutes away, so she went over there to run to the guys.
32:39
The guys were saying, hey, what's going on? And I really I
32:44
don't remember communicating with Nate. So my son was kind of watching out for
32:47
me, and my wife had told him like, hey, I'm some indigestion,
32:51
you know, find him some times or whatever. So he had helped
32:54
me to go to bed and I laid down and he was talking to my
32:59
wife and he's said, there's something wrong with dad. I guess I'd fallen
33:01
at some point too, and he helped me out. And so he helped
33:06
me in bed, and he facetimeed with She's like, well, FaceTime with
33:07
you know, he's fine, you know, And so he said my eyes
33:12
were fluttering and he said, you know, I just didn't look right.
33:15
So when facetimed with her, he she said, oh my god, you
33:20
got to call nine one one, like now, I'm heading home right now.
33:23
And so he called nine one one. And he's bigger than I'm not
33:27
a huge guy, but he's bigger than I am. And he just turned
33:30
sixteen, so he's fifteen at this time, and he helped to the nine
33:34
one one operator basically said, get him on a flat surface, take it.
33:36
You know he's in bed. Take him down to the floor and check
33:39
his heart rate and on the stuff. And my son said, his name's
33:43
Harrison, and he said, I don't know. His heart's going so fast.
33:45
I can't count how fast it's going. And I ended up. I
33:49
was in ventricular type of cardio, we later found out, and so he
33:52
had him do four sets of cardio pumping. And my son had only seen
33:59
this in health class. He's not trained in CPR or anything like that,
34:01
but he listened to his instructions. He stayed calm. The other kids apparently
34:05
were freaking out and yellen and screaming and crying, and so he got me
34:08
back and I came back up like the undertaker, and I think the kids
34:14
said that I said something like I had died and I was crying and I
34:16
was talking about seeing Jesus and asking for help. And what I remember in
34:24
that part, and I believe it was during this part, is that I
34:28
was in I had an air death experience. I was wrapped in white light.
34:31
I remember feeling very light, blissful place that I could have could have
34:37
easily stayed. I don't remember seeing anything though. I just remember being surrounded
34:40
by peace and loved ones and things like that, but nobody specific. He
34:45
didn't see, you know, God or Jesus or anything like that. But
34:49
I felt like that presence was with me, and apparently I was communicating with
34:52
it. So it's funny because I joke, and I tell this part of
34:58
the story too, that this really didn't happen. Some people thought that I
35:01
was I was being serious, but I said that I had a walk with
35:06
Jesus on the beach and he told me, you know, the good news
35:07
is that it's not your time, you're going back. The bad news is
35:12
you're going to have to deal with your wife. And I have no idea
35:14
what you're going to do. And I'm the one, the creator, you
35:16
know, And I met your wife, right And so it's funny because I
35:23
heard, I guess I came to I was able to answer questions with the
35:27
and teas. They were coming around and talking to Jenna, and they said,
35:30
you know, he's going to the hospital. So they helped me down
35:32
the stairs. I was able to walk downstairs on the stretcher. On the
35:36
stretcher, I went into the ambulance, and I do kind of remember my
35:42
daughter telling me that she loved me, our fourteen year old, which she
35:45
rarely talks to me. I feel bit disconnected from her. So I do
35:49
remember that, and I remember thinking, oh, she does love me,
35:52
you know, so that that was a nice moment of that. But once
35:54
they put me in the emergency or in the ambulance, I started going back
36:00
into ventricular tech accardia and had some more episodes and so any in the when
36:06
I got to the hospital, they I went into a coma. Basically I
36:10
was in a coma for five or six hours and they were they put me
36:15
into an MRI, and they said, if he's not out of this coma
36:19
after the MRI, I were going to put him on the bed. That's
36:21
what they told Jenna. So Jenna and Jenna and Nate's wife and they're both
36:24
nurses, they were in the in the emergency room. So it was my
36:29
mother in law, Harrison was there, and I think one other nursing friend
36:31
that we had, Jamie that I don't remember any of this, but Jenna
36:36
was doing a lot of like noxious stimuli, twisting me and pinching me and
36:43
yelling in my ear. She also, I believe she's threatening me, but
36:45
I don't know. She said, you wouldn't, but she said she said
36:49
that she would tell me like, I love you, please come back to
36:52
me, and come back to me. I'll be denies to you and all
36:52
that stuff, which she did renigg on all that, by the way,
36:55
But so I don't remember any of that. But she apparently they put a
37:01
catheter in me. She had a nasal trumpet that she kept twisting that it
37:06
is supposed to be very painful. None of that caused any like reactions for
37:08
me. But after the MRI, I came to basically, and my son
37:15
was there and they were all amazed that I was starting to come too.
37:19
And my son knows that I like the Beatles, so he said, would
37:21
you like me to play the Beatles? And I said yeah. He said,
37:24
what do you want to hear? I told him across the Universe and
37:28
he said okay, and so we started playing it and he said, Dad,
37:30
why do you want to hear that? And I said because that's where
37:32
I was at. And so then it took another probably eleven twelve hours for
37:38
me to fully come out of it. But I remember there are a lot
37:42
of doctors that came to see us, and they remember the first one I
37:45
kind of remember talking to I said, you know what happened to me?
37:47
And they said, we don't know. They said, you basically went back,
37:52
you know, like back up to the cliff, did like a triple
37:53
lending off, and then you come back. We don't know why, but
37:58
we're glad you're here. And so it was one other thing. I got
38:00
put three and I had IVS in me, and I had people from work
38:04
coming. My mom came, my brother's sister came, you know, Jenna
38:07
was there. I FaceTime with the kids and you know, they drew me
38:10
pictures and all this stuff, and I did therapy and so I got to
38:15
go within a couple of days back home, and I in my mind,
38:19
I kept thinking, oh, I'll go back to work on Monday. I'll
38:21
be fine, you know. And they said, John, you're not going
38:22
to go back a door on Monday, and you might not come back to
38:25
work for a while. Well, I thought maybe like a week or two.
38:28
Then, you know, that seemed like a long time to me.
38:30
It was ended up being two and a half three months. So they were
38:32
looking they looked for what you know, they put me out a cardiac monitor.
38:37
They had me, you know, go to you know, all these
38:39
specialties and all this kind of stuff. So it ended up being Wolf Parkinson's
38:44
White syndrome is what they found. And that's a it's a rare condition that
38:47
caused me to go into ventricular tech of cardia rapid heart rate, and most
38:52
of the time that's not a big deal, but in my case it was.
38:54
It was almost fatal and I did that on the monitor, I guess.
39:00
And so they were going to do an ablation, they were going to
39:01
do a defibrillator, and they went through that. They they found I did
39:06
not need the defibrillator, which is awesome, but I was ready and prepared
39:08
for that. So I've been on hard medication and all that kind of stuff.
39:12
I did get back to work in June. I couldn't drive for a
39:15
little while, but I'm back to that and I tried. I've had to
39:20
kind of build up my stama. I'm still working on that, and I've
39:22
had to also, you know, kind of go through my own mental health.
39:27
Uh, you know, with the cardiology and the condition, I couldn't
39:30
be put on regular antidepressants and so for a while there was like is this
39:36
something I could take? Because this is a dark place it felt. I
39:38
would have described Ajena like being buried, you know, in underground and not
39:43
fully like you know, not dirt being thrown on you exactly, or not
39:46
being completely covered. But every once in a while somebody throw a dirt on
39:50
you and you're like, okay, it's maybody going to help me out of
39:52
here. You know. That's what it felt like. And and that's even
39:55
though you know, all this was turned out good, so Evince, they
40:00
did have me see a psychiatrist, and I've been on medication that's hurt safe
40:05
and then going through counseling because I told them, I said, this has
40:07
been an experience you know too. And there's not a lot It's not like
40:10
you can say, hey, you know, there are how many groups are
40:14
out there that have near death experiences and life changing you know things, and
40:19
but but I had had been through it, and for me, I think,
40:22
oh, you know, I'm just ready to go tell the masses and
40:25
be positive. And hey, look I overcame this and it's it's not really
40:30
been quite that magical, but I've been trying. You know. It's funny
40:35
because guys are like, hey, you still got to come and record,
40:37
you know, And Saturday just did in and I and Jenna had said.
40:42
I told her, I said, I'm not going to be up for it.
40:44
I'm gonna want to just rest. And she said, We'll just go
40:45
sit with them. That's not good, hurt thing. And so I went
40:49
there and I sat and they said, hey, do you want to say
40:51
a little bit? And I was like, yeah, yeah, I will,
40:52
you know, and so and then I ended up doing a couple of
40:53
episodes with them and it was really good for my soul. So but so
40:59
even through the difficult of it, and like I said, I feel like
41:01
I'm still doing that. I'm still kind of that phoenix trying to come out
41:06
of the ashes. But who knows what's going to come, you know from
41:08
all of that. But you know, I do. I know I need
41:12
to start telling the story more and making sure that I'm helping give people hope.
41:15
And like I said, that lady today that was she said, so
41:21
do you think my son was in that same place where you were at And
41:23
I said, I know. He was like, I know, that's exactly
41:27
where we all go. And I said, obviously it wasn't my time,
41:30
but my god, it was the place that I could have stayed and been
41:31
fine to stay, you know. I know my wife and kids and family
41:35
and friends needed me, and my time here wasn't done. But it was
41:38
kind as beautiful, you know, it really was. Yeah. I think
41:43
that a lot of people are under an assumption that when you go to to
41:47
the light, to the beautiful place, to the place that we're all distant
41:51
to go, that if you came back, that you would just be so
41:55
happy and you've seen heaven, and that that would be a beautiful and wonderful
42:00
place, you know, coming back. But the real truth is that most
42:05
people who do have experiences like that come back and they really struggle. Yeah,
42:07
so photos to you for working through it and getting help. Well,
42:12
my dad was a Vietnam vet, and it's funny because he had I always
42:16
heard my mom would say, well, he has survivors guilt, And I
42:21
think when the world was at it's wonderful to be alive. Why would you
42:23
ever have survivors against you know, when you see your friends and you know,
42:27
co patriots dying around you. And I never had experience that. I
42:30
don't know what war was like but I can understand what the you know,
42:34
the Survivors Guild is why me? Because I would hear like these stories about
42:37
people would die unexpectedly, you know, and accidents, and all of a
42:42
sudden, I think, Man, how come I got to be? How
42:45
come I got to live and they didn't? You know? And you do
42:46
you feel? Jenna would say, I don't know why you're worried about that,
42:51
like that seems so silly, But it was something that I've had to
42:53
work through for sure. I think it all comes back to that purpose.
42:57
You've got a purpose, You've got something you're meant to do, and and
43:00
you know it's going to take you to some time to take care of you
43:02
and then find that purpose. That's right. Well, one of the things
43:07
I was wondering, Sean, as you were telling your story is how is
43:10
your son dealing with his role in all of this and sort of the after
43:16
effects of that. How is he doing? He's doing very well, Thank
43:22
you for asking. Actually he handles it just like a regular teenage boy.
43:27
He doesn't. It's funny because he's a very humble kid, and he doesn't.
43:31
I've been amazed at like even like his football coaches and some of his
43:36
best friends, I didn't realize they didn't know or hadn't heard about it,
43:38
and they're like, oh my gosh, you did that, Harrison, you
43:40
know, or Harry. And he doesn't really talk about it much. And
43:45
it's funny because right after it happened, every day I grab him and hug
43:47
him and tell him and thank him for life. And I still do that.
43:51
It's kind of funny because I still have to pairt him, which is
43:53
interesting because you know, I mean, he could totally say, dude,
43:57
I save your life. You know, I don't. I'm down right,
44:00
and I think I'm going to this party exactly. But and I I've found
44:06
that balance out of still parent. But he's doing really really well, you
44:09
know, and we've been trying. We've tried to make sure that he you
44:12
know, has plenty of uh, you know, if he needs to talk
44:15
about it or you know, And I always I always want to know,
44:19
hey, I'm here and I'm going to be here as long as I possibly
44:21
can. If if I'm not, it's something meant to be. But you
44:24
know, I'm thankful to obviously be here, you know, to be his
44:28
father. But yeah, he's doing amazing. He really is he's an amazing
44:30
kid. You're giving inspiration to people with your I always refer to it as
44:36
like climbing out of a pit of darkness, right, you know, being
44:39
being chained to a wall watching the shadows. If I'm going to compare it
44:43
to anything, I'll go right to the allegory of the cave. But you're
44:46
giving inspiration with people for that. But also at the same time, how
44:50
about some physical health awareness that you know, you know me as an e
44:53
MT because I was a firefighter and an EMT. You know how many people
44:58
we found men, especially on the toilet, thinking it's intergestion and that's where
45:01
their life ended. So you're spreading a couple of messages here, you know,
45:07
awareness and positivity. Yeah, and it's you know, being forty four.
45:12
I sit here and think, you know, like, oh, I'm
45:14
too young to be that old, but you know, you know, you
45:15
just never know. And like I said, I hear some of these.
45:17
I've heard horror stories over the years as a therapist in the medical field.
45:22
But yeah, when it becomes you, it's like, oh crap, you
45:27
know, And but yeah, so no, I'm happy to do that as
45:30
well. And it's funny, Oh, I was gonna say one more thing
45:32
about Harrison. He was a center. He got to start. He's a
45:37
sophomore, but he got to start varsity this year as a center for his
45:42
school and playing field, and I was very very proud of that. Like
45:45
that is that was just awesome, awesome. And after every game, he'd
45:50
always come to the sideline He's looking for Jen and I and we'd always meet
45:53
him up there no matter what, and I'd grab him by the shoulder pads
45:57
that I bring him close and I tell them how much I loved him,
45:59
and I'd kiss him on the head and I said, I told him,
46:02
I said you embarrassed by that? And I said, is that And he
46:05
said, no, Daddy, He's like, I love that you do that.
46:07
So I just yeah, I had had. Yeah, that's that's something
46:10
special that we have. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. Well, I
46:14
just I just want to say what Harrison did was absolutely amazing. I teach
46:17
First Aid CPR, and every time I hear that somebody that are even if
46:24
it's not me that was the instructor, if it's one of the students that
46:28
came through our training center, that they when they save a life, we
46:30
try to recognize that because it's absolutely amazing. And I have done CPR once
46:37
in my life on somebody who was in distress and we got him back.
46:40
I broke ribs, So I hope Harrison didn't break any ribs but him ribs
46:46
will heal. And so you know, just to know that that he had
46:51
that ability and just the peace of mind and the calmness to follow instructions do
46:55
what he had to do, just shout out to him because that's not break
47:00
ribs. But my chest was sore for months after. He did a good
47:02
job. Yeah, oh I bet good. Good. Well, I mean
47:07
you had a center hike in your heart there, so that's right for two
47:16
exactly. I am grateful for it too. Well. I just think it's
47:22
it's such an amazing story, and I imagine being a person of faith,
47:27
that it's caused a great deal of introspection, not just for you, but
47:31
for your your whole family in terms of you know, really bringing your faith
47:38
into focus in very sharp relief. That's true, and it has It's interesting
47:45
because when I was fifteen, I wanted to be a minister. I was
47:50
one of the first occupations I thought I wanted to besides railroad engineer and dentistry,
47:53
which is a whole nother story. But I thought I wanted to be
47:57
a minister, and it was that my grandparent to my grandparents had died that
48:00
year, and so I really thought that was my calling. And and since
48:05
then I have obviously did not become a minister, but I have always had
48:09
a faith that has been something I've wrestled with though. I mean, I
48:15
admit that I've gone up and down and all around, but I think that's
48:17
what's good. It's a good thing to do with your faith, you know,
48:21
And but it did this year, it has has felt I've actually just
48:27
had this conversation with my mom not too long ago of where I had felt
48:30
forgotten for a little bit. And even with all these experiences, which is
48:34
a little strange to feel what you think as I forgotten? Did you know?
48:39
Because you do? You think you know, I've got purpose? But
48:42
after a while, you know, when you have those dark moments, in
48:45
those dark feelings you think you do, you feel disconnected from everybody else,
48:50
and you feel disconnected from God. And that's one of the worst depressions I
48:52
think you can have, is when you feel that disconnection. Totally agree with
48:55
that. All right, Sean, this is your chance. Why don't you
49:00
tell us about tell all of our listeners about the middle aged and creeped out
49:04
podcasts where they can find you, how they can listen to your podcast and
49:07
learn more about you and the guys, because y'all are awesome, So go
49:12
pitch, we'll do. We record our episodes. We have our regular episodes
49:17
are roughly about an hour and a half hour fifteena's hour and a half most
49:21
of them, and they drop on Wednesday nights at seven o'clock typically, and
49:24
then we have many episodes that drop on Saturday afternoons about three o'clock, and
49:29
we do that every every week. We're on every listening podcasts platform you can
49:35
find out there, so if you listen to it, we're on it.
49:38
We have a email address, It's Makeup podcast at gmail dot com. Two
49:44
as I should know this stuff like you, Yeah, this is not the
49:46
script on script, so I normally have to read it. I can do
49:49
this part exactly right. And we're on what However, many social medias are
49:53
out there Facebook, well not all of them actually, because we don't do
49:57
like snapchats and all that we should at some point Facebook Instagram, Twitter,
50:02
which is what x now and TikTok so it's makeup podcast on all of those
50:08
or Midilation creeped Out. If you look it up, you'll find us.
50:10
We have groups out there that you can join, especially Facebook, that's one
50:15
of our bit most interactive and where people actually reach out to us to get
50:19
get help. We try to post I post every day about something normally inspirational,
50:24
sometimes a little funny or you know, off the cuff, but we
50:28
try to bring some light to people's life every day that we can. We
50:31
make ourselves pretty accessible, so and we do. We have that mental health
50:35
support and we always give out the information for that nine e to eight and
50:39
you know texting seven four one seven four one. So it is it is
50:44
something that is like that. It hits close to home with us and then
50:47
sharing our lives with everybody is a lot of fun. But we do.
50:51
We enjoy talking about Paranormal Creepy unexplained. We have guest chats on there.
50:58
We've had you know, obviously several authors. You guys have been awesome to
51:01
come on there. Jenny, we got to have you on there, and
51:06
so you're right, we you know, we helped plug each other's podcasts,
51:09
and I'm so excited for you guys to be in the podcast arena because it's
51:15
awesome and you guys are going to have a great time. So I applaud
51:19
you guys from starting. You guys are going to do amazing. Just give
51:22
it time, don't rush it, and just let your audience, I promise,
51:25
is out there and it'll grow just naturally. It's a very organic thing.
51:30
So, like I said, kudos to you guys. You're part of
51:34
the community now right on. Thank you so much. We appreciate that,
51:38
and we're part of the community because of people like you and the guys at
51:42
make Go. Because I think when I was on your show, I specifically
51:45
said, you know, I'm thinking about doing a podcast. I wanted to
51:49
kind of be like yours. Not exactly. We have a script, not
51:52
script, but you know, we do our shout outs, we have our
51:57
picks, but for the most part, it's not like you, but it's
52:00
like you because we love you and we appreciate you guys and everything that you
52:04
do in the podcast community. So thank you for that. I appreciate that.
52:07
And the funny thing is is that you guys, I love you guys
52:08
as work, and it is I may you know, I geek out with
52:15
you guys, and so it's kind of I have to pinch myself to be
52:17
talking to what I consider you guys are a big deal. You know,
52:22
we joke about being a big deal, but the three of you are a
52:24
big deal. And the fact that you're starting this together is you're going to
52:28
be the new trifecta and watch out exactly exactly, Well, we want to
52:37
thank you for being our guest today on unfreaking Believable Sean Layman from Middle Aged
52:40
and Creeped Out podcast. Thank you for sharing your unfreaking believable story. I'm
52:45
so glad that you are with us and that we are able to share this
52:50
with our audience and with your audience because I really think it's an important message.
52:53
And again, thank you for being here. Thank you for doing everything
52:57
that you do. I want to thank my love like co host my lassies,
53:00
who are also sassy girls, thanks for being with us today. Uh,
53:05
this is our girl time, this is our mental health and you know,
53:08
we we've been having a lot of planning meetings and you know, just
53:12
kind of collaborating on some things, and so I really want to thank them,
53:15
and thank you everybody for listening to the show and thanks for being here.
53:20
I was going to say one more quick story if I can, and
53:22
you can either edit the seer end or however you want, but I have
53:25
something that I wanted to share. If you guys are okay with it,
53:29
absolutely It is so Harrison, my oldest son. I have four wonderful kids.
53:35
They're all wonderful. So if I'm only talking about a couple of them,
53:37
that's but I do. I love them each one. But Harrison had
53:40
a football banquet on Sunday and it was really cool because his coach got up
53:49
and he's not much of a talker. They were trying to kind of get
53:52
you know, all the recognition for the varsity players, and you know,
53:55
they all had their ties on, they were dressed up, they looked like,
54:00
you know, young men, and so it was a fun afternoon.
54:02
But at the end he said, you know, I had the boys read
54:05
this book and he said, I'm going to read a little excerpt from it
54:08
and I'll give you just say, you know, kind of an overview of
54:12
what he said. But it was it was really cool because he said this,
54:15
I want to impress this upon you. Know everybody here in this room.
54:20
But he talked about the book, was talking about the Old West and
54:24
the specifically, what he was talking about was that cows in the Old West
54:29
when storms would hit the planes, the storms would you know, be impossible
54:35
to outrun, but the cows would try it. That's what they're They instinctively
54:39
would run away from the storms, and it was it didn't happen. They
54:44
would always get caught up with and they would have injuries, and they would
54:46
have death fatalities, right, and so there was all kind of carnage.
54:52
The buffaloes in the in the planes would have the opposite reaction. They instinctively
54:58
would run to the storm and they would do it as a herd and they
55:01
would really try to just go to the heart of it. And it's interesting
55:07
because they said doing that, the storm would pass over them quicker, they
55:10
would have less injury, less, no fatalities, and they would literally weather
55:15
the storm together as a group. And so he said, you know,
55:19
men, I want you to be buffaloes. And I told Jen, I
55:22
said that really hit me hard because I said, you know, there have
55:25
been some days where I felt definitely like a cow. I'm not talking about
55:29
because of wait, but the you know, I want to continue to be
55:34
that buffalo that I know that I can be and run into the storm.
55:37
But it's interesting to you guys doing this together too, that you guys are
55:39
being buffaloes running directly into the storm. So that to me was just a
55:45
beautiful story and I wanted to share that with you listen as well. Maybe
55:46
that's your new hero instead of being the hero, the superman, your story.
55:51
You found your spirit animal. I'm the buffalo now right, yes,
55:58
but you remember that right on? Yeah? I like it, And again,
56:01
thank you so much for joining and for our listeners too. If you
56:06
enjoyed this podcast, please rate and review it on whatever platform you listen on,
56:10
and you can also join us our Unfreakin Believable Facebook group and follow us
56:16
on TikTok and Instagram. And you can also visit our website at www dot
56:22
UFB podcast. And if you have an unfreaking believable story, reach out to
56:28
us at ufbpodcast at gmail dot com because we'd like to hear your story too.
56:35
Hey, Betsy, you want to send us out with a quote of
56:37
the day, I do. I had two of them picked out, but
56:38
I think I know exactly which one I need to use, just based on
56:43
our conversation. And this comes from Emory Lord, and he said, my
56:46
dark days made me strong, or maybe I was already strong, and they
56:52
made me prove it. Love that. I love that, all right,
56:55
everyone, thank you for joining us for yet another episode, and remember as
57:00
you go out into the world these next couple of weeks, don't just be
57:04
awesome, be unfreaking believable. And we'll see you all next time. Bye.