Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / 6-18-23 - My Father, John Garrett and My Dad Victor Fuhrman , In Their Own Words on Father's Day

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6-18-23 - My Father, John Garrett and My Dad Victor Fuhrman , In Their Own Words on Father's Day · OneLegUpAlex Media

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Here's your most Alex Garrett. All right, well, inside this podcast of
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the Alex Garrett Podcast Network, a little bit of a different father's day.
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It was an emotional one all day long. It was a bit of a
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roller coaster day. But I am sticking to one plan. I had to
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honor my dad, John Garrett, who passed on April fifteenth, and that
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is to play his own words. Now, keep in mind, he didn't
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really want to do a podcast. Okay, he wasn't willing to go on
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the record, if you will. But with the invention of the voice memo
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and the voice note on the iPhone, I kind of wanted to get some
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of his story on tape. And so August of twenty twenty two, that's
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what I did, and I got him talking about his trips Japan. So,
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yeah, when I eulogized my dad in a may, I said he
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was his own person. And I figured what a way to show I was
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an own person by playing for you not only his voice that we all knew
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for the last thirty one years and beyond, but also that he was his
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own person and he had his own travels. And so he told me about
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his trips to Japan. And elsewhere, and it went on for about nine
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minutes or so. And I want to start there with a little bit of
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stories from John Garrett. Well, when I was first going there, I
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was trying to find out how to get to a rotary duty. So of
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course I didn't speak a Japanese, was in and speakeetting English. So I
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really trying to keep this count. I had to get to the place by
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twelve o'clock the ample dudes, and he was running short, so he was
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a fire. But I showed this guy the book of the different it was
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a rutary directory of all the clubs with me when they sort of indicated.
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So they got there, but I was wait. But I went in there
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and they caught a couple of days before as they were leading in the Japanese
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tea. As they are very gracious, they had a special dinner for me
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that night, oh that at Guiche's, serving them and everything, and they
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were talking about again were talking about the difference between the American been in Japanese.
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So anyway, I stayed over though they had me going to one of
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these hot one of their fast before eating. It was so hot sever was
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like you know, to jumping into I took this stuff. So they saw
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my golf club soday course, they knew a lot of golfing sort. They
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took me up the next day of golf and this golfers was up. I
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never was on the golf course like that before. It was up on top
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of the hills. And when you were up there instead of being in the
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valleys right, the golf course was up on top of the hills. And
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it was a different experience because he had looked down the valleys or he had
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the clouds. It was that that was a nice uh. And of course
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I hope was that you know, I would played piece of which play was
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whenever here it was golfing w a s though a lot of golfing thought,
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although it was past a golfing plan where I was still doing it. But
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he got to this one hole whatever four people or so'll never see or four
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of them with it, and who's a part three of it? Who was
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down in the valleys the green and I was hoping that I wouldn't shake it
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or something to put it his regree, Oh here doesn't agree of us get
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a quickly see there, so I had to. But there it was a
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very coll and the other. Then I went on and put an under town,
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the older tea. But this was an interesting boat because of the lack
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of space. There was all these cheople. How do you twenty billions word?
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I don't know what it was about. Okay, everything was spaces at
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a previous But they're hot water system. Instead of having these takes of hot
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water, right, they took the water and when you wanted up on a
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hot bath, they rabbed this hot. They wrapped the ordinary water through a
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coil. The coil was totally heated, and it went in cold and went
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in and this col was about this long and it came out the other end
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is the hottested beef. And that's how they were. They conserved water and
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conserved and out of the bath. But they didn't use up a lot of
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Did you do the train system there? Did you do the trains over there
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too? Yeah? That was really interesting work. Okay. I took a
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couple of things. But the first one through Tokyo, I saw that.
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I saw my book. I was always greed. It was a train that
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went around Tokyo, took a part of the road. You know, you
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didn't see a lot that, But I was never so proud of the self
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of being able to communicate. So I go into the station, a huge
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station. There's a whole bunch of different tracks going different, said, I
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showed this guy in this book with a knee, some sort of book that
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I had to arrive. But within five minutes of walking into this big station,
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I was on the train, the right train. I went to the
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right thing, that to the right resolved that everything was in Japanese, to
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the blue. So that made me feel happy that you did that happen.
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But then I was going out to it to another vod wire, but the
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trade I was going to taking then go to the town wood. So I
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got off and I was one of them in some guy comes buying a car
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and fixed me up and takes me there. And when it was over,
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everything one of the guy. So I got there halfway through the meeting or
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whatever it was, and didn't they it was over. They one of the
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guys. Uh, that guy took me and showed me, took me to
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want to vote for voters. I was tam Then have you ever heard of
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the bullet train? Yeah? So you dropped the offen the station to go
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back to Tokyo where it was and I was getting the local signing in the
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station with bullet film comes like zipping through one hundred and twenty fifty bulls and
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script There was any just a different experience. But that was the so I
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got it. I made as most much as as I could out of my
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travels as as I could. You know, it was driving with my own
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I didn't have anybody to tell you, I know, want to go there,
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or oh let's not do that, or so that was the But there
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was one other things I was going to say about right now, oh right,
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but I was after I was a I was going to go I was
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going to driving the cars, all the signs of old Japanese okay, oh
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yeah, So I go to this uh had of quickly scary roads just like
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it els on the other side of the road. You got to drive over
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the upside of the road. But when he got in, this guy at
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the Red League, are you gonna you're gonna rent this car? There's his
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brave drave Why because he figured out I didn't have any hope of oh understanding
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what he goes the brave when you're going to drive this car for we hear
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you. But I got stopped again. Oh, coming back into the Japanese
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over there, they cleaned up the side the countryside, but there there was
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no loose drappers or anything because he had people out They had grass along the
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side of him free ways or whatever you call him, huh, And they
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were out there people making sure that all this stuff is as clean as compete.
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But I guess I was speaking for somebody trusting structor, so I kept
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saying, and I kept saying, Oh, I rekind who love us the
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going people. But that was then you go to the coll of sam I
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thought you want to Oh, I was a rule. Yeah, that was
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my first when I when I went to Italy. Of course, I had
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no idea what I had driven down gone because to strip, through le,
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down through doctor during the Europe to Genoa where Marcos Marco or Ripto Rico Upus
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was love rose and stopped at Pisa pizza and see the leading power which was
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not over the people going into it, but I saw it anywhere. I
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went to Rome, and I had no idea because I didn't have a map
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of anything. I had no idea for you gold when I'd driving on,
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what did I shoot at in the mind in front of me? Because the
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coliseum, so I do the once I saw the call of seat, I
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got some barking that I could do. But I met a guy there was
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also done. I went to there on this convention I get it or rule
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and a guy there was another guy esn't who had a bat and I had
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a car, so I drove him back to the center of it was and
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I remember going year the battock was what a huge place that what did the
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call it? Saint Peter Square cooking. Yeah, that's where I can ask
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huge thing. I never went out to it that you didn't sad the cider
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was a figures a foot pain. And while I'm at it, a huge
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thank you to my dad Vic, who's been with us since what the nineteen
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nineteen ninety nine, and we've got a family here in Jamaica Queen's and he's
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helping us my mom and I together the last couple of months alone and of
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course the last many years. He's been the state will force of our family.
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And you all got to hear from him as well as I replay a
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little bit of our conversation on his show Destinations Unlimited, and as you could
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tell, one of the best hearts of the way the last couple of months
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went is that my dad's still remembered everything, everybody, every moment. I'll
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tell you a quick story. We had Pastor Berget call Or my dad's sort
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of last writes, I guess you'd say, on Friday, April fourteenth,
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and he's into her Via Zaine a Vita Zaine. He knew who it was
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and that was special. And then I want to give you a three minute
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exper of a conversation Vic and I had on his show Destination Unlimited about our
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family, my dad, vict my mom, and my pops. I'll post
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a link to the entire show in the podcast description as well, but here's
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our little conversation. It was a fifteen minute, fifty six minute long conversation,
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by the way, but here's a snippet of it from Destinations Unlimited,
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hosted by Victor the Voice Erman. He came my day. My name is
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Victor Ferman. Some call me of a Voice. I've always been fascinated with
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human nature, spirituality, science and the crossroads at which they meet. Join
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me now and we will explore these topics and so much more with fascinating guests,
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authors and experts who will guide us to destination unlimited. They say that
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in life, if we are open to it, there will always be a
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second chance. For me, that second chance came in the form of a
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synchronistic and beautiful love story that started twenty one years ago. It was then
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that a woman, an incoming student to the New Seminary of New York,
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heard me speak at the graduation and ordination ceremony. She was holding her six
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year old son, Alexander, and heard me honoring my courageous partner, Judy,
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who was also graduating and nearing the end of her struggle with metastatic breast
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cancer. Laurie Sue, Alexander's mom, was moved by my words that planted
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a seed in her heart, a seed that would fruition into family two years
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later. The first part of this new relationship was with Alexander. As Laurie
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Sue would bring him to the New Seminary related functions, he would see me
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flash this amazing smile and want to hang out with me. My amazing six
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year old pal was born with so many challenges, yet filled with joy and
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outgoing personality and a spirit that would warm your heart as life and love would
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have it. Two years later, his mom and I began our special journey
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and were married just before his thirteenth birthday, bringing me a new partner and
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a new son, a son of my soul. My dad is a very
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good job making sure I eat well, and so thank you for that.
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But no, so I have that issue and they did such a great job
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fixing that, and now it's up to me to self carrot. That's right.
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He was born without a real esophagus. They actually had to assemble an
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esophagus out of two pieces, and it is narrow, and once in a
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while, when you were younger and ate without thinking and swallowed food before chewing
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it, it would get stuck and you'd have to be hospitalized. Yes,
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and that was very traumatic for me. I do remember beyond the operating table,
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just minutes away from anesthesia, freaking out. My mother had to come
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in multiple times to calm me down, and thank god she did. But
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you know, those are traumatic experiences. So even as I got older,
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I still didn't I guess understand from those experiences. But now that I'm older,
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I'm working to not be on that operating table. You appreciate the circumstances
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of your mechanics and you wander them by eating properly and show your food so
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that you can swallow it and digest it properly. That's great. Now.
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I remember your mom sharing that some around her at the time of your birth
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suggested that she institutionalize you, but she would not have that and for you,
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along with your dad, John Garrett, worked diligently to bring you along.
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How does that make you feel? Well, my parents are my rock.
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You are my rock as well, and I know that wasn't going to
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be the choice from them because they believed in me. I think they had
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a lot of faith in the Lord's power and they were not going to give
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up on this. And that's my mother. She doesn't give up on any
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thing. You know. We watched her take care of my grandmother for eleven
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years, and I saw that as I got older, how her caretaking my
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grandmother was basically what she did for me. She didn't give up on her,
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and she certainly didn't give up on me. So I just think my
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mother is the strongest woman on this planet and I love her so much and
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I do too, and I shared that belief in her tenacity, her spirit,
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her indomitable spirit, because that's who she is, that really is who
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she is. And also your pop John Garrett also encouraged you by doing a
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lot of travel activity when you were just an infant. When I was just
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an infant, yeah, I mean he tells me stories of how we would
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go to plays like Oakland when I was months old. We went to New
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Orleans when I was months old. We went to different places. I remember
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one time when I was three or four years old, he brought me to
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Washington, DC to see new Ingridge get you know, swarning a speaker.
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So I mean he was always out there. He was always traveling, having
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me travel, and the both of them in their own ways. And we're
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not going to let you just sit at home and do nothing. We're going
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to have you out. We're gonna put you into this world. And I
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mean it started at a very young age. My mom and dad would have
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me up at Saint John the Divine and then after that at Tom's Restaurant,
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which is the exterior for Seefeld, But they would have me propped up on
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the table like they were just showing me off. And they didn't have to
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do that, but they wanted to do that. And I don't think to
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be honest with you, many parents would be that open to sharing their child
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in public who has so many needs, like because we're living in this world
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now where everybody has to be a certain way, everybody has to be this
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way in that way, and if they're not, we're not going to show
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them to the world. I don't believe in that, and they didn't either.
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And thank god, I've been surrounded by people who would just see me
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from me wonderful. Then a cap this Father's Day. Addition off, I
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want to play an excerpt from the Arthur Idella Power Hour which will make you
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miss the eye as much as it made me missy eyed when Arthur Idalla,
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of course, the high profile criminal defense attorney in New York and hosts of
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the Arthur Idalla Power Hour on AM nine time of the Answer, a show
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I have the privilege of working on at times if Matt Sanbolino was not in
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the office, I get to sit behind the board and work with Arthur.
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But that being said, his father Hadre Lou Idalla Lewis Idalla said this message
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on Friday night which got me misty eyed. And maybe you two think about
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your father and how he provided for you. The opportunity to be what you
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are today and also in spite of what other people may think. And a
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disc also goes for your mother. While you have them here, every time
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you see them or go but leave them, kiss them on boat chicks,
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you're expressing your respect and your love for them and for what they did to
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provide for you when you were young. And you know what, when they're
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not here anymore, you'll be happy. Thank your picture. All right,
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all right, no one's going anywhere. Slow down. Well, yeah,
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because you went to Sicily without me to sell you. My parents dupe me.
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They tell me in March that we want to go to Sicily and we
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can't do it alone, so aught do you come with me? Come with
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us? So Maryan says, okay, take your parents. I block off
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the whole last week of July to take my parents to Sicily. I'm all
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excited. And then they say, oh no, we found a tour and
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we're gonna go and we're taking Nicholas and you're out to listen, guys,
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had a chipola. You have to give the man a great dealing credit professor,
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and he has a twelve like he's doing twenty eight years wonderful all these
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people ranging from young Nicholas of nineteen years of age to the woman Nancy ninety
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one and down. She was able to do it, and it inspired me
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to say I could do it. Also get a lot of walk, you
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know. So of course, yes, I love the gems that our elders
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provide. And as Padre Leu advised, tell your father I'm Father's Day,
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how much you love him, and remember to respect and appreciate and cherish all
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those in your life, all your loved ones and your life at this very
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moment while you can. I'm Alex S. Garrett on the Alex S.
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Garrett Podcast Network. Have a blessed Father's Day, twenty twenty three,