March 25, 2025 • 42 mins
Nostalgia has powerful ways of shaping who we become. In this heartfelt conversation, we journey back to our childhood spring breaks, revealing how these formative experiences continue to influence our values, relationships, and even business decisions decades later.
Growing up in Alabama, "spring break" was originally known as "AEA week" - a time that wasn't about beach parties but rather cherished visits with extended family. For one of us, this meant a week in Ardmore, Alabama, working at an aunt and uncle's convenience store, making crafts, watching classic movies, and enjoying the simple pleasure of deli-sliced meat sandwiches (which would later inspire our business menu!). For the other, it meant road trips to Illinois to visit grandparents who introduced everything from tennis to community theater performances.
What emerges from these memories isn't just nostalgia, but profound gratitude for adults who invested their limited time to make us feel valued, teach us skills, and create spaces where we could develop confidence. The most powerful realization? Often it's the smallest moments - not grand vacations - that leave the most significant impressions on young hearts.
This episode offers a touching reminder of how fleeting time is and why making moments count with our loved ones matters so deeply. As we reflect on tornado warnings, Nintendo games, and Swedish restaurants, we discover that focusing on gratitude for good memories helps outweigh worries about tomorrow.
Take this journey with us and perhaps rediscover your own formative childhood experiences that continue to shape who you are today. What memories are you creating with the important people in your life right now?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to episode 10 .
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Welcome back, episode number 10.
Yeah, so, excited.
All right.
So here we are.
We're recording in anotherlocation.
We've got a.
We're at the big squarerectangle table in the in the
dining area.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Yeah, it's currently 1030 at night, so we're getting
a very late start, but it's justhow our days had to go, correct
?
Calvin has went through a ashift and scheduled change at
his work, and so we'renavigating that right now.
Probably by the time we getused to it, they may change it
again, because it's been thatway for about four times now in
(00:36):
a year.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It is good that all of my Sundays are freed up now
to be able to go to church.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
It is.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
We don't have to worry about if I'm going to be
missing in action or anythinglike that.
We're able to focus on ourworship, focus on our music and
really lead the service forChrist, you know, and really be
able to focus on it throughoutthe week and know that I'm going
to be there.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
So it's definitely had its positives.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
But it has its negatives too, which is with
everything.
But obviously our heart andsoul is in this business and the
podcast, all the differentavenues that God has, that he's
placed on our heart honestly.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, placed on our heart and opened up doors.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
And it's a lot and sometimes we're like you know
it's a lot to manage and handle,but I love all of it, but we
just want to do it well and Ihave to say I think we're
episode 10 in.
I have learned so much in thepodcast.
Today, when I did my run, Ilistened to our podcast and I
(01:39):
was like I learned somethingfrom myself.
I was like I want to be thatperson that I'm talking about.
You know, not that we're fakeor anything like that, but like
we struggle to.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
You know, it's like when we are giving I don't want
to say advice, uh, we're justwell, show me a motivational
speaker that is speaking aboutthings that they haven't
experienced and tell me youbelieve them, know what, if
they've they, if they've gotlife lessons and they've
experienced them, and they'retalking about it and just
sharing what their journey hasbeen, and you happen to be on
the same type of journey, or thesame type of struggles, or the
(02:14):
same victories or the outlook onlife or your business, whatever
it is.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
yeah, um, you'll hear it and you'll believe it yes,
well, you, well, you know, I,just I want to.
I always, I never want to be ahypocrite, you know, I want to
live what we do, what we say,you know, and we really are
trying hard to do that.
Or, as Yoda says, there is notry, you just do right.
Do or do not, and we've just hada conversation, like we don't,
(02:39):
because of the way our scheduleswork sometimes.
Sometimes the way our scheduleswork sometimes, sometimes we
don't have a lot of time to justsit and talk about things that
are really important.
You know like, hey, we're, whatabout our future?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
you know, and things like that.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
But you know we were just saying, you know we got to
get up and we got to do uh, wegot to do our laundry, just like
we just said last week in ourpodcast.
But today we're going to kindof have just a little break away
and have just a trip downmemory lane because Reminisce,
(03:20):
reminisce yes, but do youremember when it was called aea
week?
I do that's now.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Now, spring break obviously for me was a little
different, like aea week.
You know, my, my mother was ateacher for a lot of the high
school eras and we never went onlike vacation to the beach, so
that was like spring break.
We didn't really ring a bell aslike it did like the party
scene type thing.
You're like going down to thebeach for spring break.
You know did like the partyscene type thing, you're like
going down to the beach forspring break.
(03:46):
You know that like the thingfor college students and high
schoolers they wanted to do thatwe always had family stuff, you
know.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So AEA always registered as like it was just a
week to go see the family right, yeah, I know now that it was
some kind of Alabama EducationAssociation meeting or something
you know that people were at,maybe Alabama educators, don't
slap your kids break from school, right.
No, I actually think that theywere like meeting the actual AEA
(04:17):
.
Oh okay, I think but I could bewrong, but I think that they
were.
But anyway.
Anyway, that's what it wascalled.
But we?
I have a confession to make.
I don't want to say it'sconfession, but just a little
tidbit.
I have never in my life andI'll be 40 this year I have
never been to the beach atspring break we haven't been
(04:40):
like.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I know we've been down there when it's been really
busy, but it's never beenspring break, has it.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
No, we usually can't get away that early in the year
to go anywhere like that.
No, I'm talking about growingup.
We never went to the beach oranything like that during spring
break.
So I honestly only know thewild party scene spring break
from people that participated inthat like at school, like if
(05:08):
they came back in we're talkingabout it or they were not
talking about it yeah, it's likedon't talk about what happened
down there or what happens atspring break stays or just like
on tv.
You know mtv spring break, whichyeah that wasn't really on in
our house.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
That was always my exposure.
If you're over at like some'shouse or something like that and
guys.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
I'm not saying all this as a high and mighty.
I never did that.
I have no problem that I didn'tdo that.
I think it's fine that I didn'tdo that, but my parents would
not have let me gone anywherewithout them anyway, I'm kind of
glad you didn't.
Anyway, moving on.
But we did every year, likewhen I was in my elementary
(05:47):
years, and I'm trying to thinkwhen we stopped this, and it may
have been when my sistergraduated high school she was
five years older than me, so shewas a senior when I was in
seventh grade but we always wentto my aunt and uncle's house in
Ardmore, tennessee, for spring.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
That's like right on the state line, right For.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
AEA week or spring break?
Yes, it's like you can.
There's an Ardmore Tennesseeand an Ardmore Alabama and it's
like separated by this railroador whatever.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah, that's right, you go into the railroad tracks.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yes, but they live on the Alabama side of it and that
it was set in stone.
That's what we were going to do, I believe.
Like on the Saturday beforespring break, like we were out
of school, they would come downand pick us up and we would ride
home with them and then myparents would come up there and
pick us up to bring us back homethe following Saturday.
(06:35):
So we were there Saturday toSaturday.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
And we had the best time.
Like I looked forward to it somuch did they have they had a
gas station.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Did they have the movie rental place also?
Speaker 1 (06:51):
yes, the movie rental place was with the gas station.
Like you go to the gas station,you would go down this little
step down area where there was,like all the videos you know and
that was the dining area.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Now, that's not even the same store, oh my goodness,
okay.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
So do you remember when they had the movie rental
place?
I do remember that that was theoriginal store, okay, and then
they bought the one across theway.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And that one across the way used to be my
grandmother's restaurant.
There's just a lot there, butanyway, it was called Bethel
Grocery and so we knew that whenwe went there that we were, we
didn't like, they didn't justlike have all these things like
planned for us, like they werenot.
We're taking you to Six Flags,or we're taking you to this
place, or we're doing this.
You know, like we were home withthem yeah, just hanging out
(07:40):
right yes, and those were someof my first um experiences with
like nintendo, because my auntand uncle they did not have
children, so my sister and Iwere so spoiled, honestly, when
we went up there like all theirattention was on us.
My aunt was very crafty and shewould paint she could.
This is when like stencilingand sponge painting was in style
(08:03):
.
Like every time we went upthere her walls and stuff would
be different because she wasjust very creative and she
wasn't afraid to try new things.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Now, did she ever do the sponge thing on the wall?
Speaker 1 (08:13):
And we, brought that home to our house and did it
there too, and it was paint.
And my mom.
It didn't last long then, butanyway.
But we would make all thesedifferent, like wood crafts and
like paint them, and this islike the era when it's like
apples and watermelons and cowsand flowers and things like that
.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Not really roosters.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Mm-mm Were really popular and so we always made
some kind of cool craft that wewould paint with acrylic paints
and all this stuff we wouldbring them home.
So that was a huge memory to us.
But also we would go and helpthem work their store and as we
got older, obviously you wereable to do more.
(08:54):
But we got to go on the buyingtrips when they would go to
Sam's and get the things thatthey were going to sell, like
candies and all of those things.
So I got introduced to Sam likesuper early and was just like
man, this is like the coolestplace ever.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
You know little.
Did you know that you'd begoing there once a week?
Speaker 1 (09:10):
and absolutely dread having to go.
No, no, it's okay, we've gottenpretty efficient at it yes, we
have, but um, so we would workin the store with them and, like
, help run the cash register.
And my uncle's sister alsoworked there like she helped.
I guess she was, like me, oneof their main employees.
You know, and this is alsowhere I was introduced to deli
(09:34):
sliced meat sandwiches and likewe would, it would just be plain
white bread and I would get theturkey and then it was wrapped
in like cellophane and it wasthe best sandwich ever.
And then we would get to goover to the chips and you got to
pick your chips and then theywould let you get dessert or
because that was another thing,like when we went there the
(09:55):
store was kind of ours for thepicking, like we could get
whatever food we wanted and Iremember when we were first
trying to figure out what all wewanted to offer here at
Sharecroppers.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
So like trying to figure out what food offerings
Like it wasn't a hey, we can dodeli, it was a.
I remember this and I want todo deli slice sandwiches.
Because, it was such anostalgic thing Like this whole
entire concept is built aroundnostalgia of memories from our
childhood and growing up it isand our history with our
families and that's a part ofyour history and that's the
(10:28):
reason why that meat slicer isin there.
You're like you called.
You called your uncle up andwas like hey, which one do I
need to buy?
Speaker 1 (10:33):
exactly and like because those sandwiches were so
good, like I looked forward toit.
I didn't have anything likethat, other than when I was
there, you know, we didn't.
We didn't really have delislice.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Buy sandwich meat?
We would buy sandwich meat, butthat's not the same thing.
Yeah, no, no.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Just so you know, our meat here is not the same as if
you went and bought a pack ofham at the store.
Okay, so you need to come andtry it for yourself.
But you know, we got to trythese new drinks and stuff.
You know, like you have allthese 20 ounce drinks in these
coolers.
You know, and you I mean ourparents did let us have things
like that, but it's like youwere really getting to like, I
(11:11):
don't know, just have your pick.
You know, can you imagine as akid, being in front of all these
snacks and sodas and just yummyfood and like, take what you
want.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well, like you know what A lot of times people have
like indecisiveness when itcomes to like their drinks, so
they always go with what they'reused to getting.
Yes, when you're a kid andyou're in that situation.
You don't have to worry aboutwhat you're used to getting Like
at home.
It's like you're going to pickbetween Coke or Sprite, because
those are the three literbottles back then.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
That's right counter.
We would get two three literbottles a week and it would be
the ones that my parents pickedout, and it was usually like a
dr pepper and a mountain dew ora coke, but there's so much to
choose from if you're in like agas station I would give
anything to see a three literbottle again yeah, the big old
lids oh yeah, oh yeah, as atoilet paper or roll?
you know yes but you know, as astime went on, you know, and he
(12:05):
would always pay us, like wewould get money at the end of
the week and we would alwayshelp her, like one day in the
house we would clean house andthings, and they, like this
wasn't some like looking back,it wasn't some kind of forced
labor or anything like that, youknow, like it was just like it
was fun they were teaching usskills and you know, when we
came home, we were better for itand they were like hey, when
(12:25):
you work, you get this.
And so I remember like we wouldwork and then, like on that
Thursday or Friday, we alwayswent out Like and we would go
shopping.
They would take us out to eatand we spent our money and I
remember like me and Kellyalways bought clothes or jewelry
and things like that.
And then it was like when myparents came back up there, it's
(12:47):
like showing them look what Iworked for.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
look what I bought the fruits of your labor.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And they'd be like, oh, that looks so good.
Now I will say there was onething that was a negative.
I hope Karen doesn't, Becausemy aunt and uncle their name is
Stanley and Karen but during allof that time Karen was a heavy
smoker.
I say heavy but I don't reallyknow how many packs she was
smoking, but I do remember, Uhoh, Because we would watch.
(13:16):
She introduces to a lot of oldmovies, Like my mom introduced
my sister and I to Doris Daymovies Like, and we love them.
Karen introduces to movies likeGone with the Wind, Singing in
the Rain, and so we would watchthose movies there.
Because, you have to thinkabout it, During this time
there's no streaming.
There wasn't a ton of cableeither.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Yeah, it's either VHS or like bunny ears.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
And so she had some of these things on VHS.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
From the rental store right?
Speaker 1 (13:40):
No, she had these in her own collection at the house,
and so we would watch them.
Oh my gosh, I loved it so much,but we would sit on the couch
and she smoked inside the housetoo.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Side note oh, because we were just talking about the
VHS.
Did you ever have to sit thereat the movie rental place and
rewind movies?
Speaker 1 (13:58):
I didn't, we always had them rewound.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Okay Because I rewound, okay because I was
always thinking about that.
You know like they would chargeyou they would charge you like
50 cents or something like thaton your next rental if when you
return something it wasn'trewound.
Yeah, because it was aninconvenience to the next
customer yeah I was justthinking about that.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I forgot about that okay, can I go back?
Yes, you can, okay.
So I remember like sometimes Ican see like where we were
sitting in the house andeverything.
But she would like light upthat cigarette.
Okay, this is anotherconfession.
I love the way a cigarettesmells when it's first lit up,
and I don't, and I think it'slike there's a child.
There's a memory there of agood time associated with it.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
After that I didn't really like the smell of it, you
know like when she's one thatwhen it started puffing, yeah, I
didn't, I didn't care for it asmuch.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Know like when she's one that when it started puffin
yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I did.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
I didn't care for it as much, but when she would
first light that up, I'm notgonna lie.
I may have scooted a littlecloser and was like Well, no, I
have.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
I have memories with on on my father's side.
His, his father, had like pipetobacco collection, so smelling
the different tobaccos fromdifferent areas, like not lit up
, but he always had a pipe.
You know he had a collection ofpipes and tobaccos and I
remember going through thosedrawers just smelling all the
(15:13):
different scents from all thedifferent tobaccos, because it
definitely smells different rawthan it does when you're burning
it so I can understand likethat connection with that
emotion when you're burning it.
So I can understand thatconnection with that emotion
when you're smelling that.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Whenever?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I smell pipe tobacco.
I go back to that moment whereI'm in his room all over again.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
But you know what, While we were there, I never
felt like, oh, I wish she didn'tsmoke.
Honestly, I didn't really haveenough education either to know
that that was bad for her.
And she quit and she has beenquit for a very long time and
I'm so proud of her.
But when we would come home andget all of our stuff out of our
(15:55):
suitcase, everything smelledlike cigarette smoke and I was
like I didn't even realize thatit smelled like that or whatever
, and that may be a weird memory, but it just it is.
And so, like I'm sorry, Karen,if, like, smelling cigarette
smoke makes me think goodmemories of you, but I guess
it's something good that cameout of the smoking, right?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Right.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
But yeah, and like they also like in their gas
station it was, I guess, more ofa convenience store, so they
would have things like cannedravioli and stuff like that, and
so I remember getting yes,getting that for lunch and
drinking Sundrops Karen lovesSundrops.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I had never even Sundrop, never even entered my
vocabulary, until your aunt anduncle would bring them down with
them.
Yes, when we would have familyget together she still walks in
with two to 20 ounce bottles ofsundrop.
You know, family get togetherbecause she's gonna have her son
.
There was another drink too.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
It was called double cola.
Now they didn't have that asmuch as my grandmother had that
one um, and I believe it's madeby the same people that make
sundrop.
I'm not sure.
I just always kind of put thosetwo and two together because
I'm like we didn't have eitherone of those drinks available
here down.
You know where we live andreally still don't.
I don't know.
(17:13):
Can you get sundrop here?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Yeah, you can.
Okay, you just have to look forit.
I just don't see it.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
It's very prevalent up there, though, like they,
it's like she brings a sun dropcake at easter or christmas,
like it, because people up theremake cake.
I thought you said keg but ifthere was a sun, drop keg I bet
you might want it cake, cake,but you know, but we would work
(17:38):
for the money.
They would take us shopping andjust, you know, spoil us, pay
attention to us.
I even remember, like when wewould go up there like my uncle
helping Kelly learn how to drivewhile she was there too, and
and they had the best animalsand dogs and stuff and
everything was just likewonderful and like there's not a
(17:59):
single bad memory and so likeand I know they're not perfect
people and I know thateverything might not have been
perfect then memory and so likeand I know they're not perfect
people and I know thateverything might not have been
perfect then, but to me it wasLike.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
I was safe.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
I had a great time.
It didn't require like havingto spend money on a big old
vacation or spending money ontaking somebody here or taking
them there, somebody here ortaking them there.
It was just being with our auntand uncle and spending time
with them and playing 1988olympics on the nintendo or
figuring out crash bandicoot onthe original playstation you
(18:33):
know, like there was another guyat work the other day that was
mentioning crash bandicoot like,like as a as a a memory from
his childhood and I was likeyeah, I remember that we, we.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
You introduced me to that with the old original
playstation, um, and then we'vebeen introducing that to like
jude.
You know like it's.
That's one of those nostalgicgames you know, um, but like,
like, when I go even backfurther, I'm thinking about like
atari and things like that Inever really played atari that
much but we grown up we alwaysgot, always got the game system.
(19:04):
That was like three generationsback because we couldn't afford
anything that wasn't two orthree generations old.
So when everyone else was likeNintendo and Super Nintendo, I'm
like Atari and just enteringinto that world.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I don't remember ever asking for one, though.
I'm not going to throw myparents underneath the bus, like
you never got me a game system.
I don't remember ever askingfor one, though so, uh, you know
I'm not gonna like throw myparents underneath the bus.
Like you never got me a gamesystem I don't remember ever
asking for one.
So we had.
We had a great life.
We did.
But you know just, I also doremember this too, like a lot of
times when they were takingsome, when we would go up for
(19:38):
spring break, there was alwayssome kind of storm system coming
through.
Like I remember one time therewas like tornadoes, literally
like just landing behind everylike we would come out of a town
and a tornado would hit it andwe and it was just going,
following us up the whole way.
And I remember one time, likewe actually got to their house
(19:59):
and as soon as we got there wewere in their kitchen and they
were throwing a mattress overthe top of us.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
It's crazy what I think about it.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Now, we just talked about this because we had some
storms come through here justthe other day.
We were talking about how itfeels like there are areas that
just get hit regularly and abouthow the Earth's topographical
design has something to do withthat.
About how the Earth'stopographical design has
something to do with that,because one of the local EMS was
talking about how where we live, it's kind of like a little
(20:30):
divot and they don't rememberany time where an actual tornado
has come through our actualcity.
It's like it touches before itand after it or goes around it,
and I don't know if there's anyweight to that, but I do know,
like we were talking about, ittouches before and after it or
goes around it.
Yeah, and I don't know ifthere's any weight to that,
right, but I do know.
Like we were talking about.
You know, there were somesubdivisions that consistently
get wiped out.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Oh yeah, right close to where they live, and I have
to say too, like that wastraumatizing growing up, like I
remember now this happened inDecember, but because my aunt
and uncle and my grandmother alllived up that way, we went
there every weekend or everyother weekend, so we were there
a lot.
(21:10):
Huntsville felt like a secondhome to me.
We always went there to shopand things like that.
But I remember specifically thetornado and I would have only
been four that came throughJones Valley or South Huntsville
and I just remember comingthrough there after it had
happened like maybe a week or so.
Well, actually, because thathappened in December and we
(21:33):
would have been coming up forChristmas and I remember looking
and was like where's all thoseplaces?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
What's going on?
No, were they already cleanedup?
Because we're going Likealready bulldozed over and
everything.
It was a mess everywhere.
Okay, it was still messy, itwas still messy.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
But you know right, when you're coming in the
overpasses into Huntsville, youknow, and as a four-year-old I
was just like what happenedBecause it looked like a bomb
had went off.
You know, and then, as theyears go by, like you, you would
still see that happen on ourthat journey that we would take,
(22:08):
coming up 231 and then goingout on 53 to go head towards
ardmore.
Um, so many places on 53 wouldget hit.
The subdivision, in particularanderson hill, I know got hit
twice in my childhood,devastating loss, and these are
like huge nice brick homes justdemolished, and so I it made me
have a huge fear of storms.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
It's gotten so much better now but, um, I was
deathly afraid of storms and Ithink it's because I saw what
they could do so too, because,like my experience with like
weather, we grew up in a trailerand we would go to our church
whenever there was going to be atornado warnings Like for sure
for sure.
We would go to our church inthe basement.
Yeah, and it was just likeparty.
(22:51):
You know Right, because youwere there with other kids.
Yeah, you got to hang out.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
And you're safe.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
You're safe.
And then when there was stormsat home, like we loved I loved
hearing it on the roof I wouldgo sit on the back porch and I'd
watch the lightning and try tosee what I could when it was
striking outside.
I'm taking back on it and I'mlike, yeah, I probably should
have paid more attention.
You know, we didn't have the tvon or nothing, it's just the
storm's coming through.
It's not a tornado warning,there's no alarm so I'm just
gonna hang out.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
And I remember, even you know so I didn't have that.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
I don't think I had that fear.
I never had that experience ofbeing thrown up under a and
technology changed too.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Like you know we.
I remember the days when wedidn't even have those tornado
sirens that would go off.
You know, you really were gluedto a tv, maybe with bunny ears.
We had an antenna.
You're hoping that it doesn'tgo out.
You're listening to theweatherman in your life, but now
it's just, it's so pinpointedand like we can watch it on our
phone and there's, there's justso much warning now, yeah, and
(23:47):
it feels like you're able to getprepared a lot better and that
was the whole purpose of them.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Now, has it always been like spring break has like,
has it changed the timeframe ofthe year?
Speaker 1 (23:58):
It's sometimes at the end of March.
I remember it being in April.
Some the last two years it'sbeen at the end of March.
I remember it being an Aprilsong.
The last two years it's been atthe end of March, which I think
is pretty good.
There's been times where it wasin early March and it's just
way too soon because sometimesit's just too cold.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
So I'm glad we have it, you know, in that last week
of March, but the original AEAweek I'm not sure.
I feel like it was April, butyou know I could be wrong.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
I was just thinking about, like, if it was like
quote unquote tornado season,like the season change, you know
, like it always kind of wouldbe, I guess.
Yeah, so that was like familyand then like full-blown on that
On our end was family also, butlike it was to go see extended
family up north, we would go toRockford Illinois.
(24:44):
That's where my grandparentsand my uncle.
And how long of a drive is thatand we would literally my mom
being a single mom in the oldfamily station wagon, it makes
me think of Christmas vacation.
We rode up in that old stationwagon.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
What kind was it?
Speaker 2 (24:59):
It was a Pontiac Parisian.
And it had the big door thatopens in the back of the window.
Let down, nice and like we would, even while we're driving down
the road.
Like we were bad kids, we wouldlike take fishing line and
dangle like toys out in the onthe road, dragging behind the
car you know, seeing how far wecould let that fishing line go
out, and I'm just thankful wedidn't get something snagged and
our finger ripped off, you know.
But but we would, we had.
(25:21):
I don't know if my mom everknew that you know.
Sorry, mom, if you're findingthis out now, but we ruined a
lot of toys by dragging thembehind the car.
You had to.
We would have been really fastbefore she made a turn, though.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
She probably had no clue.
She's probably like I'm asingle mom and I'm having a
moment just driving, but becauseof all that activity, we would
make it in two days.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
We would do it we, we would make it in two days, we
would do it?
We would do it.
Yeah, we would stay the nightand then the next day we'd get
to their house.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Did you have a specific spot that y'all would
stop at?
Speaker 2 (25:46):
There was at the very tip of Illinois, the bottom of
it, there was always like I'mtrying to remember the name of
the towns like Marion, and thenthere was Mount Vernon and I
think there was another one.
We might have stayed in Paducaha couple times.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Yeah, I think y'all did, but most of the time it was
Marion, or Mount Vernon that wewould stay in.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
But that was kind of the middle point.
It was a six-hour drive thereand then six hours the rest of
the way, basically.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
And we always had really fun.
It was really fun on the way upand on the way down, on the
last day on the way down and thefirst day on the way up,
because my mom would always dothis thing where she would have
a little grab bag and she wouldput a toy or something in that
bag for each kid.
And when you cross the stateline, you got to get out another
toy and open it up and playwith it.
(26:30):
It might be something simple,just a notepad and pen.
You know, like something simple.
You know it didn't cost a wholelot from the, from the dollar
store or something like that,and but it was something new to
to, to pique your interest, tobasically shut up and sit down
while I'm driving you know,leave me alone.
So and then when you got intoIllinois, it was like long
straight ways and whoever wassitting in the front was the
(26:50):
quote unquote navigator, so theyhad the map days, they had the
map.
Yeah, map skills are a lost artin my opinion with most of the
new generation.
Like we knew how long it wasgoing to take to get from one
place to the next, what the dotswere, what the numbers were,
what the lines were, like wewould look for landmarkers along
the way and we we'd.
Was you use a highlighter tohighlight where how far we're
(27:11):
going it?
was a game it was a game tofollow along with it, and we had
games that we would play likethe alphabet, you know, like on
the road signs.
You have to find the a find theb, find a, c and all kinds of
things like that.
But we went up there to visitour grandparents and now I come
from, I guess, a fairly decentline of educators.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
My mom's an educator, my brother, sister-in-law, both
grandparents were botheducators.
Now my grandfather he was ahistory teacher, so he was very
knowledgeable about history,loved government type stuff yeah
and uh, but my grandmother, shewas physical education yeah now
, this wasn't physical educationnowadays, where you it feels
(27:57):
like it's kind of can be acatching ground of we're going
to do this and we're going tolearn something a little here
and there, like when I was inschool it was you might do a
couple jumping jacks and thenplay dodgeball.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Yep, that's what we're good to do.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Or you might go do a couple of squat thrusts or
whatever that was, and then goplay on the playground.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
And then, like that, one week in the year it was like
you're going to take thephysical fitness test.
The year it was like you'regonna take the physical physical
test.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah, you're gonna you're gonna see how long it
takes you to run the miles.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
How many pools, how far?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
can you reach, how far can you reach, how high can
you jump, things like that.
But but when she taught, shetaught like they.
She taught them all the sportsbadminton, ping pong, tennis,
swimming.
They had a swimming pool.
They their school was washoity-toity, I guess I mean it
was?
It was a large city schoolright so they had a swimming
(28:46):
pool.
They you know lacrosse and likeall the things that that were
sports.
She taught them to her studentsyou know so she knew everything
yeah so it was always.
We always look forward to goingup there, because we would
always do something artsy wewould always do something that
would pique our interest, likeon the art side, whether it was
(29:07):
a theater or whether it was aconcert or going to museums or
things like that, local things,even just community things.
A lot of it was community-based.
But then also on mygrandmother's side of it, she
always had a, like a huge tubthat she would drag up from the
basement and set it right on theback door.
The back porch was like ascreened in glass porch.
(29:28):
We that was like our hangout.
We would go out there and wewould play, cause we could be
loud out there and not disturbanyone in the house.
But she would have a huge tubout there, big rubber made, and
it had all the sports equipmentthat she was going to be using
while we were there and and wenever knew what was going to
come like.
That's where I learned to playcroquet.
You know, she'd bring all thatstuff and set it up and we'd
(29:49):
have it set up in the yard forlike a couple days and we'd play
on it for a couple days andthen she would set the badminton
net up there and y'all werejust talking about badminton.
The other day you and jude likeI'm terrible I think it's the
velocity of the bird and thesize of the racket head.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
You just haven't been able to make contact no I I
look like the goofiest idiotwhen I'm trying to play that
like jude's cracking up about itI'm shockingly bad like you,
you can.
You don't understand why at allI don't because you, because
you can hit a tennis ball.
Yes, I can hit a ping pong balland I can do um.
What's the pickleball?
(30:24):
Pickleball cannot do badmintonI don't know to save my life,
like if.
If they were like you've got tohit this or we're gonna kill
you, they're gonna kill me.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
I cannot hit it but they set up I needed your
grandmother to teach me.
Oh, and they lived right oneroad over from a middle school
that had tennis courts too.
Okay so that's where she wouldgo over there and teach us like
tennis stuff you know so that'swhere I got my first
introduction, and we had thewooden rackets too.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
My brother's got a couple of them up in his garage.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
We have one of them, yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
The wooden rackets.
Um, and it was like you knowyou, you're not allowed to hit
the ball across the court untilyou were able to bounce it up
and down a hundred times on thatracket and control it, you know
, like when we first startedplaying tennis.
Just hit it up and down, that's.
That's all you can do, and butI have a lot of memories when it
comes to going up there withthem, because their thing was
(31:16):
all about experiencing uh,together.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Right.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
You know, whether it was sports together or talking
about what you experience whenit comes to the arts, like my
first operas and ballets andthings like that.
I was exposed to a lot ofculture when I would go up there
and it would be community stuff, but it was always good Right,
because I didn't get that aroundhere and naturally there
(31:44):
probably is that stuff aroundhere that you can go to.
But there was a time thingthere was a single mother with
four kids and I remember AEA.
I'm looking back on this springbreak for my mother.
I cannot help but imagine howmuch of a relief that was for
her yeah.
Because she didn't have to thinkabout her students.
She didn't have to think aboutwhether or not her four kids
(32:06):
were going to be provided for.
I'm going to start tearing upon this.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
I remember her having lazy mornings.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Yeah, and she would lay in that bed Because she was
never getting up and she wouldread her Bible.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
And she would pray, and she would relax in the couch
and and that was like heropportunity to recharge.
Yeah, you know, and and shedidn't have a help me.
No, she had, no, she didn't.
And now my grandparents I fromwhat I understand, they did help
her out making I'm talkingabout having another, but having
(32:35):
another person when she wouldgo up there.
She got to have that help, meetthe help that was physical and
it was like like burdens liftedyes so I imagine her spring
break was much more of adifferent experience than ours
was because, ours was activitiesours was I mean we got to do
stuff.
We know we had crab apple treesand we take these rackets out
(32:59):
there and we'd smack them crabapple trees across the the
subdivision, that now we didn'thave subdivisions around here,
where I lived.
So it was nothing to hit crabsomething off into the woods and
not worry about if it's goingto bust someone's window out
yeah you know, thinking back onthat, I probably shouldn't have
been hitting the map because Idon't know where they landed.
You know, I mean we weresmacking the mess out of those
(33:19):
things and I don't know wherethey landed.
So I'm sorry if you got yourwindow busted and you hear this
many years down the road and youthink, oh, that was that kid
yes but but yeah, that was myspring breaks we.
There's so many memories that Ihave from from up there in
rockford that that I could havenever experienced um down here,
simply because um there was,there was thought put into it
(33:42):
and there was a phrase.
They always said this phrase wedon't normally have this or we
don't normally do this, so youknew when they would say that it
was special to them also.
So if you did go out to eat theStockholm Inn the Swedish House
coffee mug that I had when youwould go out to eat to that
place and they would say like no, we don't normally come here.
(34:05):
You know like this is specialfor you.
We're coming here for youbecause we want to treat you to
this and it really made it feellike they were pouring
themselves into us in that verybrief moment that they had us
while we were there.
They didn't have us 12 hoursaway.
They didn't have us but twotimes a year and they wanted
every minute of that to count.
(34:26):
And we were just talking aboutthis with our kids, about how
fleeting time is, and maybe thisis where we can really be
thankful and really think aboutwhat God has for us in this
podcast is that the time that wehave with each other is so
valuable and it's so importantand, even though there might be
the stressors in life and thethe running around and the going
(34:46):
and going, when we really thinkabout the time that we have for
each other, we have to make itcount because we're not promised
tomorrow and you know like I'mlooking across this, across this
table.
I'm like I want my time withyou to.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
And I want my time with my teenage boy that is
starting to really develop hisown personality, his own
character.
I still want those momentswhere he's going to lean up
against me and say I love you,dad.
You know like I still wantthose moments and I pray that
they never end.
Yeah, you know, and you justgot to latch on to those and say
do everything you can to makeit count.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
in that moment, I think we have to realize too
that we're building memorieseven in those small things,
because when I'm thinking backof some of the best things, it's
really small things.
It's not the trip to DisneyWorld, it's working at my aunt
and uncle's store and earningsome money and them taking us
out.
We would go to the movies too.
(35:43):
We saw a lot of movies withthem.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
It's a funny story because myaunt has said that I had to use
the restroom, and so she took me.
When we went to the restroom,the kids were big, and when we
came back they were strong, soyou don't know what happened.
Yeah, and when we came back.
They were strong, so you don'tknow what happened and she was
like thanks so much, holly andI'm like that's funny so that's
(36:07):
a good memory, but you know, I'mthankful that my memories are
good yeah, a lot of people don'thave that they don't, and a lot
of them do.
I want you to think back.
Sometimes it's it's easy for usto focus on the negative, but
(36:28):
think about all the good thingsthat that have happened and that
have shaped you, because youwouldn't think that deli sliced
meat is going to shape you.
Well, it shaped me like.
It made that memory, it createdan emotion in me that I wanted
to be able to give other people.
You know, I don't, and I don'tknow if it's going to do that
for anybody.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Well, here's, here's the thought.
People don't go to therapybecause of good memories.
They go to therapy because ofbad ones.
We need to focus more on thegood.
Now we were just talking.
Remind me what we were justtalking about a minute ago,
about, um.
There can't be something whenthere's gratitude, um there
(37:10):
can't be worry worry andgratitude can't be present at
the same time that's, that'swhat we said, because when, if
you're thankful for where you'reat it, it over, over at it,
outweighs the worry that cancome up because of what tomorrow
might hold.
And being thankful has got tobe at the top of the list in
(37:32):
your life.
And I'm thankful that I havethose memories of my
grandparents.
Now both of them have passed on.
My grandma almost, almost,almost almost, lived to be 100
and and I'm thankful for thetime that I had with her and and
I got a lot of funny memories,you know, with both of them, on
both fronts, and I'm justsitting here reminiscing in my
(37:56):
mind there's a hundred things Icould talk about, but I know we
don't have all night to talkabout it.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
I'm gonna tell you this too Gosh.
One of my favorite things aboutspring break was when my mom
and my daddy come and got meLike I was never, like I want to
be gone from here.
I've been here so long but Iwas so excited to see my mama
and my daddy and they were goingto be taking us home, because I
loved home too.
(38:19):
So I want to thank my mom anddad that they gave us a home
that I liked going home to youknow, yeah, thanks, mom and dad.
We're going to start crying nowbecause we just keep sitting
here thinking about memories.
But before we leave thispodcast, we have to talk about
our cups today, so we've gotsome old ones.
(38:40):
These are from the style thatmy grandmother would have, these
aren't?
I mean, I think she may havehad some like these, but these
are the pyrex, the old, classicpyrex see that pattern.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
We had milk glass we had that pattern in our some
plates, so this is a and this isa pour over.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
I don't know if any of you have um are wondering
what that is.
What's that strange?
Speaker 2 (39:01):
contraction, just a chemex, just a glass vase that
we put a filter in the top of ityeah, and makes really smooth
coffee.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Um, that we've been nursing throughout this.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
It's the kind of coffee that you can drink um
from hot to room temperature andit not really alter too awful
much, right, you know, becauseit's not as much particulates in
it that settle.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
You know, and thinking about this, like my
grandma, I didn't really spend alot of spring breaks with the
grandparents, like I had moresummers with grandparents and I
had some summers with aunt anduncle too, but spring break was,
it was them.
And I just looking back to you.
I want to just thank them fordoing that, that they loved us
enough that they wanted to spendtime with us.
(39:44):
Yeah, and maybe give, I don'tknow.
I wanted to talk to mom and dad.
What did y'all do?
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Oh, they partied oh they partied.
They both worked, obviouslyyeah.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
They worked, but you know.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
They probably turned the TV off and said let's just
enjoy the silence.
Because you were prettyrambunctious when you were a kid
.
I remember I saw a home videoone time and you were wearing
your dad's t-shirt and it wentall the way down to your ankles
and you were just all over thatroom.
You were like back and forthWith a baton in my hand.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Yeah, I had this old baton from Walmart.
It was rusted and the the endwas poked through it that's how
I learned how to twirl batontill I got like a real one, like
in fifth grade, you know.
But yeah, I, I would use thatthing at home.
I learned how to do it withthat thing that didn't weigh
anything.
I was like, if so, if you can,you can throw something that
(40:35):
weighs like an ounce up and it'dbe spinning and do tricks and
stuff with it.
You can do something that'sheavy.
So anyway, uh, thanks forhanging out with us and going
down memory lane.
Um, hopefully it makes you guysthink about uh great memories
that you have with your lovedones and be thankful for those
memories and make some new onesthis year yep and make your days
(40:56):
count, and we are so thankfulthat you are here with us and we
hope that the lord blesses youand keeps you and makes his face
shine upon you.
We'll see you next time.
Welcome to episode 10 .
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Welcome back, episode number 10.
Yeah, so, excited.
All right.
So here we are.
We're recording in anotherlocation.
We've got a.
We're at the big squarerectangle table in the in the
dining area.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Yeah, it's currently 1030 at night, so we're getting
a very late start, but it's justhow our days had to go, correct
?
Calvin has went through a ashift and scheduled change at
his work, and so we'renavigating that right now.
Probably by the time we getused to it, they may change it
again, because it's been thatway for about four times now in
(00:36):
a year.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It is good that all of my Sundays are freed up now
to be able to go to church.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
It is.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
We don't have to worry about if I'm going to be
missing in action or anythinglike that.
We're able to focus on ourworship, focus on our music and
really lead the service forChrist, you know, and really be
able to focus on it throughoutthe week and know that I'm going
to be there.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
So it's definitely had its positives.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
But it has its negatives too, which is with
everything.
But obviously our heart andsoul is in this business and the
podcast, all the differentavenues that God has, that he's
placed on our heart honestly.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah, placed on our heart and opened up doors.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
And it's a lot and sometimes we're like you know
it's a lot to manage and handle,but I love all of it, but we
just want to do it well and Ihave to say I think we're
episode 10 in.
I have learned so much in thepodcast.
Today, when I did my run, Ilistened to our podcast and I
(01:39):
was like I learned somethingfrom myself.
I was like I want to be thatperson that I'm talking about.
You know, not that we're fakeor anything like that, but like
we struggle to.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
You know, it's like when we are giving I don't want
to say advice, uh, we're justwell, show me a motivational
speaker that is speaking aboutthings that they haven't
experienced and tell me youbelieve them, know what, if
they've they, if they've gotlife lessons and they've
experienced them, and they'retalking about it and just
sharing what their journey hasbeen, and you happen to be on
the same type of journey, or thesame type of struggles, or the
(02:14):
same victories or the outlook onlife or your business, whatever
it is.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
yeah, um, you'll hear it and you'll believe it yes,
well, you, well, you know, I,just I want to.
I always, I never want to be ahypocrite, you know, I want to
live what we do, what we say,you know, and we really are
trying hard to do that.
Or, as Yoda says, there is notry, you just do right.
Do or do not, and we've just hada conversation, like we don't,
(02:39):
because of the way our scheduleswork sometimes.
Sometimes the way our scheduleswork sometimes, sometimes we
don't have a lot of time to justsit and talk about things that
are really important.
You know like, hey, we're, whatabout our future?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
you know, and things like that.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
But you know we were just saying, you know we got to
get up and we got to do uh, wegot to do our laundry, just like
we just said last week in ourpodcast.
But today we're going to kindof have just a little break away
and have just a trip downmemory lane because Reminisce,
(03:20):
reminisce yes, but do youremember when it was called aea
week?
I do that's now.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Now, spring break obviously for me was a little
different, like aea week.
You know, my, my mother was ateacher for a lot of the high
school eras and we never went onlike vacation to the beach, so
that was like spring break.
We didn't really ring a bell aslike it did like the party
scene type thing.
You're like going down to thebeach for spring break.
You know did like the partyscene type thing, you're like
going down to the beach forspring break.
(03:46):
You know that like the thingfor college students and high
schoolers they wanted to do thatwe always had family stuff, you
know.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
So AEA always registered as like it was just a
week to go see the family right, yeah, I know now that it was
some kind of Alabama EducationAssociation meeting or something
you know that people were at,maybe Alabama educators, don't
slap your kids break from school, right.
No, I actually think that theywere like meeting the actual AEA
(04:17):
.
Oh okay, I think but I could bewrong, but I think that they
were.
But anyway.
Anyway, that's what it wascalled.
But we?
I have a confession to make.
I don't want to say it'sconfession, but just a little
tidbit.
I have never in my life andI'll be 40 this year I have
never been to the beach atspring break we haven't been
(04:40):
like.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I know we've been down there when it's been really
busy, but it's never beenspring break, has it.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
No, we usually can't get away that early in the year
to go anywhere like that.
No, I'm talking about growingup.
We never went to the beach oranything like that during spring
break.
So I honestly only know thewild party scene spring break
from people that participated inthat like at school, like if
(05:08):
they came back in we're talkingabout it or they were not
talking about it yeah, it's likedon't talk about what happened
down there or what happens atspring break stays or just like
on tv.
You know mtv spring break, whichyeah that wasn't really on in
our house.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
That was always my exposure.
If you're over at like some'shouse or something like that and
guys.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
I'm not saying all this as a high and mighty.
I never did that.
I have no problem that I didn'tdo that.
I think it's fine that I didn'tdo that, but my parents would
not have let me gone anywherewithout them anyway, I'm kind of
glad you didn't.
Anyway, moving on.
But we did every year, likewhen I was in my elementary
(05:47):
years, and I'm trying to thinkwhen we stopped this, and it may
have been when my sistergraduated high school she was
five years older than me, so shewas a senior when I was in
seventh grade but we always wentto my aunt and uncle's house in
Ardmore, tennessee, for spring.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
That's like right on the state line, right For.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
AEA week or spring break?
Yes, it's like you can.
There's an Ardmore Tennesseeand an Ardmore Alabama and it's
like separated by this railroador whatever.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah, that's right, you go into the railroad tracks.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yes, but they live on the Alabama side of it and that
it was set in stone.
That's what we were going to do, I believe.
Like on the Saturday beforespring break, like we were out
of school, they would come downand pick us up and we would ride
home with them and then myparents would come up there and
pick us up to bring us back homethe following Saturday.
(06:35):
So we were there Saturday toSaturday.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
And we had the best time.
Like I looked forward to it somuch did they have they had a
gas station.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Did they have the movie rental place also?
Speaker 1 (06:51):
yes, the movie rental place was with the gas station.
Like you go to the gas station,you would go down this little
step down area where there was,like all the videos you know and
that was the dining area.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Now, that's not even the same store, oh my goodness,
okay.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
So do you remember when they had the movie rental
place?
I do remember that that was theoriginal store, okay, and then
they bought the one across theway.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And that one across the way used to be my
grandmother's restaurant.
There's just a lot there, butanyway, it was called Bethel
Grocery and so we knew that whenwe went there that we were, we
didn't like, they didn't justlike have all these things like
planned for us, like they werenot.
We're taking you to Six Flags,or we're taking you to this
place, or we're doing this.
You know, like we were home withthem yeah, just hanging out
(07:40):
right yes, and those were someof my first um experiences with
like nintendo, because my auntand uncle they did not have
children, so my sister and Iwere so spoiled, honestly, when
we went up there like all theirattention was on us.
My aunt was very crafty and shewould paint she could.
This is when like stencilingand sponge painting was in style
(08:03):
.
Like every time we went upthere her walls and stuff would
be different because she wasjust very creative and she
wasn't afraid to try new things.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Now, did she ever do the sponge thing on the wall?
Speaker 1 (08:13):
And we, brought that home to our house and did it
there too, and it was paint.
And my mom.
It didn't last long then, butanyway.
But we would make all thesedifferent, like wood crafts and
like paint them, and this islike the era when it's like
apples and watermelons and cowsand flowers and things like that
.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Not really roosters.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Mm-mm Were really popular and so we always made
some kind of cool craft that wewould paint with acrylic paints
and all this stuff we wouldbring them home.
So that was a huge memory to us.
But also we would go and helpthem work their store and as we
got older, obviously you wereable to do more.
(08:54):
But we got to go on the buyingtrips when they would go to
Sam's and get the things thatthey were going to sell, like
candies and all of those things.
So I got introduced to Sam likesuper early and was just like
man, this is like the coolestplace ever.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
You know little.
Did you know that you'd begoing there once a week?
Speaker 1 (09:10):
and absolutely dread having to go.
No, no, it's okay, we've gottenpretty efficient at it yes, we
have, but um, so we would workin the store with them and, like
, help run the cash register.
And my uncle's sister alsoworked there like she helped.
I guess she was, like me, oneof their main employees.
You know, and this is alsowhere I was introduced to deli
(09:34):
sliced meat sandwiches and likewe would, it would just be plain
white bread and I would get theturkey and then it was wrapped
in like cellophane and it wasthe best sandwich ever.
And then we would get to goover to the chips and you got to
pick your chips and then theywould let you get dessert or
because that was another thing,like when we went there the
(09:55):
store was kind of ours for thepicking, like we could get
whatever food we wanted and Iremember when we were first
trying to figure out what all wewanted to offer here at
Sharecroppers.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
So like trying to figure out what food offerings
Like it wasn't a hey, we can dodeli, it was a.
I remember this and I want todo deli slice sandwiches.
Because, it was such anostalgic thing Like this whole
entire concept is built aroundnostalgia of memories from our
childhood and growing up it isand our history with our
families and that's a part ofyour history and that's the
(10:28):
reason why that meat slicer isin there.
You're like you called.
You called your uncle up andwas like hey, which one do I
need to buy?
Speaker 1 (10:33):
exactly and like because those sandwiches were so
good, like I looked forward toit.
I didn't have anything likethat, other than when I was
there, you know, we didn't.
We didn't really have delislice.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Buy sandwich meat?
We would buy sandwich meat, butthat's not the same thing.
Yeah, no, no.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Just so you know, our meat here is not the same as if
you went and bought a pack ofham at the store.
Okay, so you need to come andtry it for yourself.
But you know, we got to trythese new drinks and stuff.
You know, like you have allthese 20 ounce drinks in these
coolers.
You know, and you I mean ourparents did let us have things
like that, but it's like youwere really getting to like, I
(11:11):
don't know, just have your pick.
You know, can you imagine as akid, being in front of all these
snacks and sodas and just yummyfood and like, take what you
want.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Well, like you know what A lot of times people have
like indecisiveness when itcomes to like their drinks, so
they always go with what they'reused to getting.
Yes, when you're a kid andyou're in that situation.
You don't have to worry aboutwhat you're used to getting Like
at home.
It's like you're going to pickbetween Coke or Sprite, because
those are the three literbottles back then.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
That's right counter.
We would get two three literbottles a week and it would be
the ones that my parents pickedout, and it was usually like a
dr pepper and a mountain dew ora coke, but there's so much to
choose from if you're in like agas station I would give
anything to see a three literbottle again yeah, the big old
lids oh yeah, oh yeah, as atoilet paper or roll?
you know yes but you know, as astime went on, you know, and he
(12:05):
would always pay us, like wewould get money at the end of
the week and we would alwayshelp her, like one day in the
house we would clean house andthings, and they, like this
wasn't some like looking back,it wasn't some kind of forced
labor or anything like that, youknow, like it was just like it
was fun they were teaching usskills and you know, when we
came home, we were better for itand they were like hey, when
(12:25):
you work, you get this.
And so I remember like we wouldwork and then, like on that
Thursday or Friday, we alwayswent out Like and we would go
shopping.
They would take us out to eatand we spent our money and I
remember like me and Kellyalways bought clothes or jewelry
and things like that.
And then it was like when myparents came back up there, it's
(12:47):
like showing them look what Iworked for.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
look what I bought the fruits of your labor.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And they'd be like, oh, that looks so good.
Now I will say there was onething that was a negative.
I hope Karen doesn't, Becausemy aunt and uncle their name is
Stanley and Karen but during allof that time Karen was a heavy
smoker.
I say heavy but I don't reallyknow how many packs she was
smoking, but I do remember, Uhoh, Because we would watch.
(13:16):
She introduces to a lot of oldmovies, Like my mom introduced
my sister and I to Doris Daymovies Like, and we love them.
Karen introduces to movies likeGone with the Wind, Singing in
the Rain, and so we would watchthose movies there.
Because, you have to thinkabout it, During this time
there's no streaming.
There wasn't a ton of cableeither.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Yeah, it's either VHS or like bunny ears.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
And so she had some of these things on VHS.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
From the rental store right?
Speaker 1 (13:40):
No, she had these in her own collection at the house,
and so we would watch them.
Oh my gosh, I loved it so much,but we would sit on the couch
and she smoked inside the housetoo.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Side note oh, because we were just talking about the
VHS.
Did you ever have to sit thereat the movie rental place and
rewind movies?
Speaker 1 (13:58):
I didn't, we always had them rewound.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Okay Because I rewound, okay because I was
always thinking about that.
You know like they would chargeyou they would charge you like
50 cents or something like thaton your next rental if when you
return something it wasn'trewound.
Yeah, because it was aninconvenience to the next
customer yeah I was justthinking about that.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I forgot about that okay, can I go back?
Yes, you can, okay.
So I remember like sometimes Ican see like where we were
sitting in the house andeverything.
But she would like light upthat cigarette.
Okay, this is anotherconfession.
I love the way a cigarettesmells when it's first lit up,
and I don't, and I think it'slike there's a child.
There's a memory there of agood time associated with it.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
After that I didn't really like the smell of it, you
know like when she's one thatwhen it started puffing, yeah, I
didn't, I didn't care for it asmuch.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Know like when she's one that when it started puffin
yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I did.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
I didn't care for it as much, but when she would
first light that up, I'm notgonna lie.
I may have scooted a littlecloser and was like Well, no, I
have.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
I have memories with on on my father's side.
His, his father, had like pipetobacco collection, so smelling
the different tobaccos fromdifferent areas, like not lit up
, but he always had a pipe.
You know he had a collection ofpipes and tobaccos and I
remember going through thosedrawers just smelling all the
(15:13):
different scents from all thedifferent tobaccos, because it
definitely smells different rawthan it does when you're burning
it so I can understand likethat connection with that
emotion when you're burning it.
So I can understand thatconnection with that emotion
when you're smelling that.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Whenever?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I smell pipe tobacco.
I go back to that moment whereI'm in his room all over again.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
But you know what, While we were there, I never
felt like, oh, I wish she didn'tsmoke.
Honestly, I didn't really haveenough education either to know
that that was bad for her.
And she quit and she has beenquit for a very long time and
I'm so proud of her.
But when we would come home andget all of our stuff out of our
(15:55):
suitcase, everything smelledlike cigarette smoke and I was
like I didn't even realize thatit smelled like that or whatever
, and that may be a weird memory, but it just it is.
And so, like I'm sorry, Karen,if, like, smelling cigarette
smoke makes me think goodmemories of you, but I guess
it's something good that cameout of the smoking, right?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Right.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
But yeah, and like they also like in their gas
station it was, I guess, more ofa convenience store, so they
would have things like cannedravioli and stuff like that, and
so I remember getting yes,getting that for lunch and
drinking Sundrops Karen lovesSundrops.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I had never even Sundrop, never even entered my
vocabulary, until your aunt anduncle would bring them down with
them.
Yes, when we would have familyget together she still walks in
with two to 20 ounce bottles ofsundrop.
You know, family get togetherbecause she's gonna have her son
.
There was another drink too.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
It was called double cola.
Now they didn't have that asmuch as my grandmother had that
one um, and I believe it's madeby the same people that make
sundrop.
I'm not sure.
I just always kind of put thosetwo and two together because
I'm like we didn't have eitherone of those drinks available
here down.
You know where we live andreally still don't.
I don't know.
(17:13):
Can you get sundrop here?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Yeah, you can.
Okay, you just have to look forit.
I just don't see it.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
It's very prevalent up there, though, like they,
it's like she brings a sun dropcake at easter or christmas,
like it, because people up theremake cake.
I thought you said keg but ifthere was a sun, drop keg I bet
you might want it cake, cake,but you know, but we would work
(17:38):
for the money.
They would take us shopping andjust, you know, spoil us, pay
attention to us.
I even remember, like when wewould go up there like my uncle
helping Kelly learn how to drivewhile she was there too, and
and they had the best animalsand dogs and stuff and
everything was just likewonderful and like there's not a
(17:59):
single bad memory and so likeand I know they're not perfect
people and I know thateverything might not have been
perfect then memory and so likeand I know they're not perfect
people and I know thateverything might not have been
perfect then, but to me it wasLike.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
I was safe.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
I had a great time.
It didn't require like havingto spend money on a big old
vacation or spending money ontaking somebody here or taking
them there, somebody here ortaking them there.
It was just being with our auntand uncle and spending time
with them and playing 1988olympics on the nintendo or
figuring out crash bandicoot onthe original playstation you
(18:33):
know, like there was another guyat work the other day that was
mentioning crash bandicoot like,like as a as a a memory from
his childhood and I was likeyeah, I remember that we, we.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
You introduced me to that with the old original
playstation, um, and then we'vebeen introducing that to like
jude.
You know like it's.
That's one of those nostalgicgames you know, um, but like,
like, when I go even backfurther, I'm thinking about like
atari and things like that Inever really played atari that
much but we grown up we alwaysgot, always got the game system.
(19:04):
That was like three generationsback because we couldn't afford
anything that wasn't two orthree generations old.
So when everyone else was likeNintendo and Super Nintendo, I'm
like Atari and just enteringinto that world.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I don't remember ever asking for one, though.
I'm not going to throw myparents underneath the bus, like
you never got me a game system.
I don't remember ever askingfor one, though so, uh, you know
I'm not gonna like throw myparents underneath the bus.
Like you never got me a gamesystem I don't remember ever
asking for one.
So we had.
We had a great life.
We did.
But you know just, I also doremember this too, like a lot of
times when they were takingsome, when we would go up for
(19:38):
spring break, there was alwayssome kind of storm system coming
through.
Like I remember one time therewas like tornadoes, literally
like just landing behind everylike we would come out of a town
and a tornado would hit it andwe and it was just going,
following us up the whole way.
And I remember one time, likewe actually got to their house
(19:59):
and as soon as we got there wewere in their kitchen and they
were throwing a mattress overthe top of us.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
It's crazy what I think about it.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Now, we just talked about this because we had some
storms come through here justthe other day.
We were talking about how itfeels like there are areas that
just get hit regularly and abouthow the Earth's topographical
design has something to do withthat.
About how the Earth'stopographical design has
something to do with that,because one of the local EMS was
talking about how where we live, it's kind of like a little
(20:30):
divot and they don't rememberany time where an actual tornado
has come through our actualcity.
It's like it touches before itand after it or goes around it,
and I don't know if there's anyweight to that, but I do know,
like we were talking about, ittouches before and after it or
goes around it.
Yeah, and I don't know ifthere's any weight to that,
right, but I do know.
Like we were talking about.
You know, there were somesubdivisions that consistently
get wiped out.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Oh yeah, right close to where they live, and I have
to say too, like that wastraumatizing growing up, like I
remember now this happened inDecember, but because my aunt
and uncle and my grandmother alllived up that way, we went
there every weekend or everyother weekend, so we were there
a lot.
(21:10):
Huntsville felt like a secondhome to me.
We always went there to shopand things like that.
But I remember specifically thetornado and I would have only
been four that came throughJones Valley or South Huntsville
and I just remember comingthrough there after it had
happened like maybe a week or so.
Well, actually, because thathappened in December and we
(21:33):
would have been coming up forChristmas and I remember looking
and was like where's all thoseplaces?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
What's going on?
No, were they already cleanedup?
Because we're going Likealready bulldozed over and
everything.
It was a mess everywhere.
Okay, it was still messy, itwas still messy.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
But you know right, when you're coming in the
overpasses into Huntsville, youknow, and as a four-year-old I
was just like what happenedBecause it looked like a bomb
had went off.
You know, and then, as theyears go by, like you, you would
still see that happen on ourthat journey that we would take,
(22:08):
coming up 231 and then goingout on 53 to go head towards
ardmore.
Um, so many places on 53 wouldget hit.
The subdivision, in particularanderson hill, I know got hit
twice in my childhood,devastating loss, and these are
like huge nice brick homes justdemolished, and so I it made me
have a huge fear of storms.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
It's gotten so much better now but, um, I was
deathly afraid of storms and Ithink it's because I saw what
they could do so too, because,like my experience with like
weather, we grew up in a trailerand we would go to our church
whenever there was going to be atornado warnings Like for sure
for sure.
We would go to our church inthe basement.
Yeah, and it was just likeparty.
(22:51):
You know Right, because youwere there with other kids.
Yeah, you got to hang out.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
And you're safe.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
You're safe.
And then when there was stormsat home, like we loved I loved
hearing it on the roof I wouldgo sit on the back porch and I'd
watch the lightning and try tosee what I could when it was
striking outside.
I'm taking back on it and I'mlike, yeah, I probably should
have paid more attention.
You know, we didn't have the tvon or nothing, it's just the
storm's coming through.
It's not a tornado warning,there's no alarm so I'm just
gonna hang out.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
And I remember, even you know so I didn't have that.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
I don't think I had that fear.
I never had that experience ofbeing thrown up under a and
technology changed too.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Like you know we.
I remember the days when wedidn't even have those tornado
sirens that would go off.
You know, you really were gluedto a tv, maybe with bunny ears.
We had an antenna.
You're hoping that it doesn'tgo out.
You're listening to theweatherman in your life, but now
it's just, it's so pinpointedand like we can watch it on our
phone and there's, there's justso much warning now, yeah, and
(23:47):
it feels like you're able to getprepared a lot better and that
was the whole purpose of them.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Now, has it always been like spring break has like,
has it changed the timeframe ofthe year?
Speaker 1 (23:58):
It's sometimes at the end of March.
I remember it being in April.
Some the last two years it'sbeen at the end of March.
I remember it being an Aprilsong.
The last two years it's been atthe end of March, which I think
is pretty good.
There's been times where it wasin early March and it's just
way too soon because sometimesit's just too cold.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
So I'm glad we have it, you know, in that last week
of March, but the original AEAweek I'm not sure.
I feel like it was April, butyou know I could be wrong.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
I was just thinking about, like, if it was like
quote unquote tornado season,like the season change, you know
, like it always kind of wouldbe, I guess.
Yeah, so that was like familyand then like full-blown on that
On our end was family also, butlike it was to go see extended
family up north, we would go toRockford Illinois.
(24:44):
That's where my grandparentsand my uncle.
And how long of a drive is thatand we would literally my mom
being a single mom in the oldfamily station wagon, it makes
me think of Christmas vacation.
We rode up in that old stationwagon.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
What kind was it?
Speaker 2 (24:59):
It was a Pontiac Parisian.
And it had the big door thatopens in the back of the window.
Let down, nice and like we would, even while we're driving down
the road.
Like we were bad kids, we wouldlike take fishing line and
dangle like toys out in the onthe road, dragging behind the
car you know, seeing how far wecould let that fishing line go
out, and I'm just thankful wedidn't get something snagged and
our finger ripped off, you know.
But but we would, we had.
(25:21):
I don't know if my mom everknew that you know.
Sorry, mom, if you're findingthis out now, but we ruined a
lot of toys by dragging thembehind the car.
You had to.
We would have been really fastbefore she made a turn, though.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
She probably had no clue.
She's probably like I'm asingle mom and I'm having a
moment just driving, but becauseof all that activity, we would
make it in two days.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
We would do it we, we would make it in two days, we
would do it?
We would do it.
Yeah, we would stay the nightand then the next day we'd get
to their house.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Did you have a specific spot that y'all would
stop at?
Speaker 2 (25:46):
There was at the very tip of Illinois, the bottom of
it, there was always like I'mtrying to remember the name of
the towns like Marion, and thenthere was Mount Vernon and I
think there was another one.
We might have stayed in Paducaha couple times.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Yeah, I think y'all did, but most of the time it was
Marion, or Mount Vernon that wewould stay in.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
But that was kind of the middle point.
It was a six-hour drive thereand then six hours the rest of
the way, basically.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
And we always had really fun.
It was really fun on the way upand on the way down, on the
last day on the way down and thefirst day on the way up,
because my mom would always dothis thing where she would have
a little grab bag and she wouldput a toy or something in that
bag for each kid.
And when you cross the stateline, you got to get out another
toy and open it up and playwith it.
(26:30):
It might be something simple,just a notepad and pen.
You know, like something simple.
You know it didn't cost a wholelot from the, from the dollar
store or something like that,and but it was something new to
to, to pique your interest, tobasically shut up and sit down
while I'm driving you know,leave me alone.
So and then when you got intoIllinois, it was like long
straight ways and whoever wassitting in the front was the
(26:50):
quote unquote navigator, so theyhad the map days, they had the
map.
Yeah, map skills are a lost artin my opinion with most of the
new generation.
Like we knew how long it wasgoing to take to get from one
place to the next, what the dotswere, what the numbers were,
what the lines were, like wewould look for landmarkers along
the way and we we'd.
Was you use a highlighter tohighlight where how far we're
(27:11):
going it?
was a game it was a game tofollow along with it, and we had
games that we would play likethe alphabet, you know, like on
the road signs.
You have to find the a find theb, find a, c and all kinds of
things like that.
But we went up there to visitour grandparents and now I come
from, I guess, a fairly decentline of educators.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
My mom's an educator, my brother, sister-in-law, both
grandparents were botheducators.
Now my grandfather he was ahistory teacher, so he was very
knowledgeable about history,loved government type stuff yeah
and uh, but my grandmother, shewas physical education yeah now
, this wasn't physical educationnowadays, where you it feels
(27:57):
like it's kind of can be acatching ground of we're going
to do this and we're going tolearn something a little here
and there, like when I was inschool it was you might do a
couple jumping jacks and thenplay dodgeball.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Yep, that's what we're good to do.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Or you might go do a couple of squat thrusts or
whatever that was, and then goplay on the playground.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
And then, like that, one week in the year it was like
you're going to take thephysical fitness test.
The year it was like you'regonna take the physical physical
test.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah, you're gonna you're gonna see how long it
takes you to run the miles.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
How many pools, how far?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
can you reach, how far can you reach, how high can
you jump, things like that.
But but when she taught, shetaught like they.
She taught them all the sportsbadminton, ping pong, tennis,
swimming.
They had a swimming pool.
They their school was washoity-toity, I guess I mean it
was?
It was a large city schoolright so they had a swimming
(28:46):
pool.
They you know lacrosse and likeall the things that that were
sports.
She taught them to her studentsyou know so she knew everything
yeah so it was always.
We always look forward to goingup there, because we would
always do something artsy wewould always do something that
would pique our interest, likeon the art side, whether it was
(29:07):
a theater or whether it was aconcert or going to museums or
things like that, local things,even just community things.
A lot of it was community-based.
But then also on mygrandmother's side of it, she
always had a, like a huge tubthat she would drag up from the
basement and set it right on theback door.
The back porch was like ascreened in glass porch.
(29:28):
We that was like our hangout.
We would go out there and wewould play, cause we could be
loud out there and not disturbanyone in the house.
But she would have a huge tubout there, big rubber made, and
it had all the sports equipmentthat she was going to be using
while we were there and and wenever knew what was going to
come like.
That's where I learned to playcroquet.
You know, she'd bring all thatstuff and set it up and we'd
(29:49):
have it set up in the yard forlike a couple days and we'd play
on it for a couple days andthen she would set the badminton
net up there and y'all werejust talking about badminton.
The other day you and jude likeI'm terrible I think it's the
velocity of the bird and thesize of the racket head.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
You just haven't been able to make contact no I I
look like the goofiest idiotwhen I'm trying to play that
like jude's cracking up about itI'm shockingly bad like you,
you can.
You don't understand why at allI don't because you, because
you can hit a tennis ball.
Yes, I can hit a ping pong balland I can do um.
What's the pickleball?
(30:24):
Pickleball cannot do badmintonI don't know to save my life,
like if.
If they were like you've got tohit this or we're gonna kill
you, they're gonna kill me.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
I cannot hit it but they set up I needed your
grandmother to teach me.
Oh, and they lived right oneroad over from a middle school
that had tennis courts too.
Okay so that's where she wouldgo over there and teach us like
tennis stuff you know so that'swhere I got my first
introduction, and we had thewooden rackets too.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
My brother's got a couple of them up in his garage.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
We have one of them, yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
The wooden rackets.
Um, and it was like you knowyou, you're not allowed to hit
the ball across the court untilyou were able to bounce it up
and down a hundred times on thatracket and control it, you know
, like when we first startedplaying tennis.
Just hit it up and down, that's.
That's all you can do, and butI have a lot of memories when it
comes to going up there withthem, because their thing was
(31:16):
all about experiencing uh,together.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Right.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
You know, whether it was sports together or talking
about what you experience whenit comes to the arts, like my
first operas and ballets andthings like that.
I was exposed to a lot ofculture when I would go up there
and it would be community stuff, but it was always good Right,
because I didn't get that aroundhere and naturally there
(31:44):
probably is that stuff aroundhere that you can go to.
But there was a time thingthere was a single mother with
four kids and I remember AEA.
I'm looking back on this springbreak for my mother.
I cannot help but imagine howmuch of a relief that was for
her yeah.
Because she didn't have to thinkabout her students.
She didn't have to think aboutwhether or not her four kids
(32:06):
were going to be provided for.
I'm going to start tearing upon this.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
I remember her having lazy mornings.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Yeah, and she would lay in that bed Because she was
never getting up and she wouldread her Bible.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
And she would pray, and she would relax in the couch
and and that was like heropportunity to recharge.
Yeah, you know, and and shedidn't have a help me.
No, she had, no, she didn't.
And now my grandparents I fromwhat I understand, they did help
her out making I'm talkingabout having another, but having
(32:35):
another person when she wouldgo up there.
She got to have that help, meetthe help that was physical and
it was like like burdens liftedyes so I imagine her spring
break was much more of adifferent experience than ours
was because, ours was activitiesours was I mean we got to do
stuff.
We know we had crab apple treesand we take these rackets out
(32:59):
there and we'd smack them crabapple trees across the the
subdivision, that now we didn'thave subdivisions around here,
where I lived.
So it was nothing to hit crabsomething off into the woods and
not worry about if it's goingto bust someone's window out
yeah you know, thinking back onthat, I probably shouldn't have
been hitting the map because Idon't know where they landed.
You know, I mean we weresmacking the mess out of those
(33:19):
things and I don't know wherethey landed.
So I'm sorry if you got yourwindow busted and you hear this
many years down the road and youthink, oh, that was that kid
yes but but yeah, that was myspring breaks we.
There's so many memories that Ihave from from up there in
rockford that that I could havenever experienced um down here,
simply because um there was,there was thought put into it
(33:42):
and there was a phrase.
They always said this phrase wedon't normally have this or we
don't normally do this, so youknew when they would say that it
was special to them also.
So if you did go out to eat theStockholm Inn the Swedish House
coffee mug that I had when youwould go out to eat to that
place and they would say like no, we don't normally come here.
(34:05):
You know like this is specialfor you.
We're coming here for youbecause we want to treat you to
this and it really made it feellike they were pouring
themselves into us in that verybrief moment that they had us
while we were there.
They didn't have us 12 hoursaway.
They didn't have us but twotimes a year and they wanted
every minute of that to count.
(34:26):
And we were just talking aboutthis with our kids, about how
fleeting time is, and maybe thisis where we can really be
thankful and really think aboutwhat God has for us in this
podcast is that the time that wehave with each other is so
valuable and it's so importantand, even though there might be
the stressors in life and thethe running around and the going
(34:46):
and going, when we really thinkabout the time that we have for
each other, we have to make itcount because we're not promised
tomorrow and you know like I'mlooking across this, across this
table.
I'm like I want my time withyou to.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
And I want my time with my teenage boy that is
starting to really develop hisown personality, his own
character.
I still want those momentswhere he's going to lean up
against me and say I love you,dad.
You know like I still wantthose moments and I pray that
they never end.
Yeah, you know, and you justgot to latch on to those and say
do everything you can to makeit count.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
in that moment, I think we have to realize too
that we're building memorieseven in those small things,
because when I'm thinking backof some of the best things, it's
really small things.
It's not the trip to DisneyWorld, it's working at my aunt
and uncle's store and earningsome money and them taking us
out.
We would go to the movies too.
(35:43):
We saw a lot of movies withthem.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
It's a funny story because myaunt has said that I had to use
the restroom, and so she took me.
When we went to the restroom,the kids were big, and when we
came back they were strong, soyou don't know what happened.
Yeah, and when we came back.
They were strong, so you don'tknow what happened and she was
like thanks so much, holly andI'm like that's funny so that's
(36:07):
a good memory, but you know, I'mthankful that my memories are
good yeah, a lot of people don'thave that they don't, and a lot
of them do.
I want you to think back.
Sometimes it's it's easy for usto focus on the negative, but
(36:28):
think about all the good thingsthat that have happened and that
have shaped you, because youwouldn't think that deli sliced
meat is going to shape you.
Well, it shaped me like.
It made that memory, it createdan emotion in me that I wanted
to be able to give other people.
You know, I don't, and I don'tknow if it's going to do that
for anybody.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Well, here's, here's the thought.
People don't go to therapybecause of good memories.
They go to therapy because ofbad ones.
We need to focus more on thegood.
Now we were just talking.
Remind me what we were justtalking about a minute ago,
about, um.
There can't be something whenthere's gratitude, um there
(37:10):
can't be worry worry andgratitude can't be present at
the same time that's, that'swhat we said, because when, if
you're thankful for where you'reat it, it over, over at it,
outweighs the worry that cancome up because of what tomorrow
might hold.
And being thankful has got tobe at the top of the list in
(37:32):
your life.
And I'm thankful that I havethose memories of my
grandparents.
Now both of them have passed on.
My grandma almost, almost,almost almost, lived to be 100
and and I'm thankful for thetime that I had with her and and
I got a lot of funny memories,you know, with both of them, on
both fronts, and I'm justsitting here reminiscing in my
(37:56):
mind there's a hundred things Icould talk about, but I know we
don't have all night to talkabout it.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
I'm gonna tell you this too Gosh.
One of my favorite things aboutspring break was when my mom
and my daddy come and got meLike I was never, like I want to
be gone from here.
I've been here so long but Iwas so excited to see my mama
and my daddy and they were goingto be taking us home, because I
loved home too.
(38:19):
So I want to thank my mom anddad that they gave us a home
that I liked going home to youknow, yeah, thanks, mom and dad.
We're going to start crying nowbecause we just keep sitting
here thinking about memories.
But before we leave thispodcast, we have to talk about
our cups today, so we've gotsome old ones.
(38:40):
These are from the style thatmy grandmother would have, these
aren't?
I mean, I think she may havehad some like these, but these
are the pyrex, the old, classicpyrex see that pattern.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
We had milk glass we had that pattern in our some
plates, so this is a and this isa pour over.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
I don't know if any of you have um are wondering
what that is.
What's that strange?
Speaker 2 (39:01):
contraction, just a chemex, just a glass vase that
we put a filter in the top of ityeah, and makes really smooth
coffee.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Um, that we've been nursing throughout this.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
It's the kind of coffee that you can drink um
from hot to room temperature andit not really alter too awful
much, right, you know, becauseit's not as much particulates in
it that settle.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
You know, and thinking about this, like my
grandma, I didn't really spend alot of spring breaks with the
grandparents, like I had moresummers with grandparents and I
had some summers with aunt anduncle too, but spring break was,
it was them.
And I just looking back to you.
I want to just thank them fordoing that, that they loved us
enough that they wanted to spendtime with us.
(39:44):
Yeah, and maybe give, I don'tknow.
I wanted to talk to mom and dad.
What did y'all do?
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Oh, they partied oh they partied.
They both worked, obviouslyyeah.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
They worked, but you know.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
They probably turned the TV off and said let's just
enjoy the silence.
Because you were prettyrambunctious when you were a kid
.
I remember I saw a home videoone time and you were wearing
your dad's t-shirt and it wentall the way down to your ankles
and you were just all over thatroom.
You were like back and forthWith a baton in my hand.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Yeah, I had this old baton from Walmart.
It was rusted and the the endwas poked through it that's how
I learned how to twirl batontill I got like a real one, like
in fifth grade, you know.
But yeah, I, I would use thatthing at home.
I learned how to do it withthat thing that didn't weigh
anything.
I was like, if so, if you can,you can throw something that
(40:35):
weighs like an ounce up and it'dbe spinning and do tricks and
stuff with it.
You can do something that'sheavy.
So anyway, uh, thanks forhanging out with us and going
down memory lane.
Um, hopefully it makes you guysthink about uh great memories
that you have with your lovedones and be thankful for those
memories and make some new onesthis year yep and make your days
(40:56):
count, and we are so thankfulthat you are here with us and we
hope that the lord blesses youand keeps you and makes his face
shine upon you.
We'll see you next time.
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