Speaker 1: 0:41

For those of you who miss your grandfathers, you miss their wisdom, you miss their stories, and there is just something really precious about those conversations. Oh, I am right there with you. Both of my, all of my grandparents have have gone on to be with the Lord, and so when I met Mr George he's 92, I met him on the beach one day and we just instantly connected. But he kind of instantly connects with everyone, so I can't say that it was something special with me and his memory is so sharp and he just started sharing stories. He's got so many stories and we've gotten to know each other. We love to watch the sunset together. And I asked him I said do you know what? I would love to just get you on my podcast. I actually put him on social media, like on my personal Facebook posts. I'm like, oh, it's not Mr George.

Speaker 1: 1:40

He told me this story, this story, and so many of you were like, oh, and love to hear more about him, or I'd love to hear his stories. So I talked to him. I said come, get on my podcast. He was like sure, he doesn't even know what a podcast is. He didn't even know what we were doing. Like he was just talking and I'm like wait a minute, wait a minute. I could have pushed play to record and start. He's like what? Okay, but the funniest thing is when I picked him up. I picked him up and he said I've got a treat for us. I said okay, and I said what do you have? He goes my homemade wine. Okay, he had homemade wine in a water bottle, he had it in a plastic bag and a little bit for me and a little bit for him, a little red wine, and he shares a little bit about that in the podcast of how he started making it over 80 years ago with his dad.

Speaker 1: 2:37

So, anyway, fascinating stories. Oh my goodness, this is going to just be a trip down memory lane and for you it might just be the warm and fuzzy of you missing your grandpa or your Paul, paul or your granddaddy. So enjoy this podcast with my friend, mr George Thompson. Hello and welcome back to the Fit Soul podcast. I have a very special guest today. My friend, mr George Thompson, is joining me on the podcast or the YouTube, wherever you're seeing this, and I just can't wait to tell you about him. I met him on the beach, walking on the beach one day and he started talking, and he's 92 years old and he has memory of sharp as a tack. We became fast friends, didn't we?

Speaker 2: 3:32

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 3:33

Yeah, we became fast friends. We love to watch the sunset together. He's my sunset date, along with Randy. Mr George is my sunset date, and we've been talking about recording this podcast for a while and we finally got around to it. I'm proud of us. What do you think? We did it.

Speaker 2: 3:54

Yeah, okay.

Speaker 1: 3:55

Yeah, so you got to tell before we even get started. He said I was in the. I went to pick him up and he said well, I was in the bathroom. I went to get a treat and I said what'd you get? What treat? And he held out you ready A water bottle, but it's not filled with water, is it?

Speaker 2: 4:19

No.

Speaker 1: 4:20

What is it filled with?

Speaker 2: 4:21

Homemade wine.

Speaker 1: 4:24

All right, so you can't see this if you're not watching the video. Here's what we're going to do with Cheers. He made us some wine, and when did you make this? How long ago did you make this?

Speaker 2: 4:33

At least five years ago.

Speaker 1: 4:35

Oh, wow.

Speaker 2: 4:36

But I had some while back I was drinking that. I looked at it and I was like, wow, that's 11 years old.

Speaker 1: 4:43

You know what Does time fly?

Speaker 2: 4:45

It does.

Speaker 1: 4:46

At 92 years old, you can really remember, your memory is so sharp and I love to hear your stories and I know that my listeners are going to really enjoy just some fun stories that you have, but also just some words of wisdom that you infuse. And so, anyway, welcome to the show. I'm so glad that you're here. Welcome to he's at my house and we're drinking homemade wine. Yeah, he's kind of a jack of all trades.

Speaker 2: 5:19

Yeah, I think.

Speaker 1: 5:23

And he's a bit of a local celebrity. It is so funny to walk on the beach with him or to sit up at the pier. Everybody knows Mr George, so tell us a little bit about yourself and just a little bit of backstory about who you are.

Speaker 2: 5:41

Well, I was born in Santa Rosa Beach. I was called Santa Rosa at that time. They didn't add beach until the 50s. But anyhow, I lost my mother when I was nine months old, so my father raised me.

Speaker 1: 5:59

Now, how was your father when you were born?

Speaker 2: 6:04

He was either 48 or 49.

Speaker 1: 6:06

So he was a little bit older when he got you, yeah.

Speaker 2: 6:09

Well, he was 38 years old when he got married and they still had 10 children. So I give you that Funny thing it was. He told me that if my mother had to die to appendicitis, he says, you wouldn't have been the last one. I was number 12, as it was.

Speaker 1: 6:32

Oh wow. So she had 12 children.

Speaker 2: 6:34

Yeah, okay well, six girls, six boys.

Speaker 1: 6:38

Oh man all natural.

Speaker 2: 6:40

And I had one half sister. She was 20 years older than me.

Speaker 1: 6:45

Okay.

Speaker 2: 6:46

And a half brother. She was 22 years older than me. I got quite a story to tell about my half brother. He left home when my mother died. He went back to Canada because he had more his wife's relatives there and so he never came back to Florida for 17 or 18 years. And I heard of him and everything but I'd never knew him or anything. And I'd gone to Milwaukee and spent the summer there and then back to Elgin, illinois, and working there and I came home for Christmas and I was out at the grocery store waiting for my sister to come from Jacksonville on a bus and anyhow, when she gets out of a cab and she hollers over to me, says, george, come over here, I want you to meet my new brother. And I thought, how do you get a new brother? I can't say maybe you've got a husband, but I couldn't take a brother Anyhow. Well, it does so happen. My brother, jimmy, had decided to come home for this is your step brother.

Speaker 2: 8:06

Yeah, okay, for yeah, he was half brother.

Speaker 1: 8:10

Half brother yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:12

We both had the same mother.

Speaker 2: 8:14

And anyhow, he decided to come to Florida for Christmas this year and anyhow he stopped by my sister's place in Illinois a day or two after I'd left to come here. And he comes on to Santa Rosa, florida, and at that time there was no bus, only once or twice a day from the Phoenix Springs to Santa Rosa. So he got there to the funerals and he was. He was going to have to wait about five or six hours for a bus and he heard this lady calling about getting a cab to go to Santa Rosa, so he asked her if he could just share the ride and put the expenses. He said yeah. So they was about halfway over here and he was looking at her luggage and he says was your maiden name Thompson? She said yeah, oh my goodness. He said, well, I'll be your brother. What are the odds?

Speaker 1: 9:16

What are the odds?

Speaker 2: 9:17

right, that was the first time she had met him too.

Speaker 1: 9:18

Oh, that's crazy. And so they got out of cab there. She hollered over to me.

Speaker 2: 9:20

I said George, I don't want to meet my new brother. So how do you get a new brother? And yeah, that was the first time I met him. And he said yeah, I'm going to meet my new brother and I said yeah, I'm going to meet my new brother. And he said yeah, I'm going to meet my new brother. And he said yeah, I'm going to meet my new brother. I said I'm going to meet my new brother. I figured that was quite a coincidence.

Speaker 1: 9:38

That is quite a coincidence. So you have, your mother had 12 children, so she must have been married previously. And then so there's two half half siblings that are older, and then there's some of you guys. Yeah, and your father raised you right here in Santa Rosa, in Santa Rosa Beach. Now, that's just for those of you are not familiar with this area. It's in the Panhandle of Florida. It's between what do you say? Destin and.

Speaker 2: 10:07

Panama City yeah or yeah, and Destin or Fort Walton Beach. Panama City, Destin and Fort Walton Beach. Destin is getting pretty well known now, but it was yeah.

Speaker 1: 10:19

It was a beautiful, beautiful area of Florida. It's sugary sand, white, beautiful sugary sand, beautiful water. It's just really a pretty pretty area. And so he's grown up here. He's seen you've seen a ton of changes. Oh my gosh, because it has exploded. There's so much going on here now.

Speaker 2: 10:42

I 80 81 years ago I had 48 acres of land here, bought and paid for.

Speaker 1: 10:49

Oh, wow when.

Speaker 2: 10:51

A sugar drive, oh really. And I was a little close where to have that man made lake where they do the water skiing.

Speaker 1: 10:59

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 11:00

And I was going to. I don't know what I was going to do with. I had plans. I cut fence posts. I said the fence again, drill something. And because at that time they had open range here, if you grew anything you had to have a fence in, because there's cattle and pigs all over the place. Yeah, and anyhow.

Speaker 1: 11:19

Well, I love all of your stories and you can share any story you want One story that I've heard you share a couple of times. It was you had you met a lady. Did you have a paper route? Was that it? You had a paper route.

Speaker 2: 11:33

Oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 11:34

Yeah, tell me about that.

Speaker 2: 11:36

Yeah, I told a grit paper Just once a week and I didn't have very many customers with that. I probably made 50 cents a week, but I only had one day in. 50 cents was a lot of money then.

Speaker 1: 11:52

What could you buy with 50 cents?

Speaker 2: 11:53

Well, I don't know, but I, just a short time before that, I remember at the end of the depression, I thought they're going to work on the what they call the WPA for 50 cents a day. Wow, and that's what there was. People all over the country was doing that.

Speaker 1: 12:11

I mean, that gives you an idea of what money was worth.

Speaker 2: 12:14

Yeah and anyhow, I had this paper out and I had this one customer choose around 90 years old then and she was and how old were you when you had to? Figure out probably about somewhere between eight and 12.

Speaker 2: 12:32

I can't remember just what year, because I know I was delivering paper to her before World War II. So and during World War II, and she would tell me she didn't go into too much detail, but a little bit about things that went on during the Civil War, especially afterwards, the things that Carver Braggers did that she said the phone call for, and so on. And then she would always tell me she says, when you grow up, she says, don't go to the question, be a fisherman. It's no kind of a life and you know she was.

Speaker 1: 13:17

And and you did it. You remembered that and you took her advice. I think that's super interesting.

Speaker 2: 13:23

Yeah, and I wanted to go see her and tell her I got this job up in Elgin Illinois, and tell my sister is going to go over to see her. And she told me she just passed away, so I think 96 or 97 years old when she died.

Speaker 1: 13:38

Wow, and I was like that's just so interesting, how long ago that was that you were able to get that much history from the Civil War. And think about the little children that you're talking to now and you can talk to them about World War II and when they're older they're going to be like. I knew this man a long time ago and he told me about World War II.

Speaker 2: 14:05

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 14:05

And it'll be so far removed.

Speaker 2: 14:07

It was. I was on the beach at Santa Rosa when I got the news that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.

Speaker 1: 14:19

How old were you?

Speaker 2: 14:21

I was 10 years and one week old. I was 10 years old on December 1st, and that happened on December 7th 1941. I was 10 years old on December 1st.

Speaker 1: 14:38

Do you remember what you felt at 10 years old to hear that we were at war?

Speaker 2: 14:44

Well, yeah, I mean I thought, well, it's not right here, you know, but it's still. I mean it's always here and almost like it says in the Bible, there's always be wars and rumors of wars and it just. But then it kind of gradually, just one little event at the time, and you kind of, I guess you kind of adapt to it. I often feel I think about these poor kids that grow up actually in a war zone, you know, and I think I remember just a few things I see in here, because well, it was kind of like there was a war zone here on the coast because there was German subs right up here trying to get as many deliverieships, because they took supplies to all the countries.

Speaker 1: 17:05

So could you see? Okay, this is. I think this is a really dumb question. Don't laugh. Could you see the submarines? I mean, could you know that they were on the coastline or did you? Did they learn about it later?

Speaker 2: 17:18

I didn't, I didn't, I didn't realize, because of all my nephew when I was on the beach and what got our attention was this explosion and it shipped the beach. There's three of them and the only thing I can figure it was. Well, then, a few minutes later, all these planes come and they started dropping. I thought there were bombs, but there were torpedoes. They were trying to. I found out that this ship had been torpedoed but it didn't sink it and what we heard was a ship dropping the depth charges, trying to get the sub. We just stood there watching the planes come in real low from the west and they dropped these torpedoes and they'd come down. They'd hit the water and you could see the water splash out and it glanced off the water and it looked like it was almost going right toward the tail of the plane again and it would settle down and go down the water. And when there was, I mean there were a lot of that.

Speaker 1: 18:30

That's crazy.

Speaker 2: 18:31

And we just I mean, at first we thought there was just some kind of practice or something you know, and then I found out a week later that the ship had been torpedoed and they were trying to get this German sub there was dropping those torpedoes and but then shortly after that they started patrolling the beach on horseback and there was a while there. They didn't want anybody on the beach before seven o'clock in the morning and I got run off a few times.

Speaker 1: 19:01

Did you sneak out there anyway? Did you sneak out there anyway?

Speaker 2: 19:06

Yeah, I felt kind of bitter about what they it was. I mean, it was those dune lakes. They get sometimes four or five feet above the gulf. When they break through the sandbar they're just like a river going out. They'll. They'll drop that four or five feet in a day's time. So you know there's a lot of water goes out of there to short time. But anyhow, they chased me off the beach so I went over to sand dune, hid behind the sand dunes and they got on down the beach. I went down and dug this little trench so the lake could go out. It was full, real high, and I knew what would happen, because I'd done that a lot of times when the lake get high anyhow. And so then I left and the soldiers was telling out to the grocery store that said that he went down the beach and they got back and they they looked like a river and said their horses wouldn't cross it. They had to go all the way around the lake in the woods to get back to where they wanted to go.

Speaker 1: 20:11

How old were you?

Speaker 2: 20:12

Well, I must have been about 11, 12. I see I was, I would be 10 years. I probably about 11 years old.

Speaker 1: 20:21

Yeah, that's hilarious. You were a little mischievous.

Speaker 2: 20:25

Yeah, yeah, what's that?

Speaker 1: 20:27

You were a little mischievous. Oh yeah, for sure, oh boy, oh, my goodness, you know. Another thing that I love to hear you talk about is during World War II. They had, they would bring them, they'd have a movie night at the beach.

Speaker 2: 20:44

Oh yeah, they had a little army base as the crow flies. It'd be about one mile from where I live and all they did there was they put a. They had a big I call it a barge balloon, a real big balloon, and they would put it up in the air and then halfway down from the balloon to the ground they'd had this big target 25 by 25 foot screen and they'd hold that, the balloon up near. They'd hold that there and the planes would practice shooting at that and they, their bullets were color coded so they could bring that down at night time and they could look at it and see who made the hits and who didn't. And so that was kind of I got. Of course I was just a kid, I was over there and bugged those soldiers and they was most of them were nice to me. I think I kind of got on that nerve of a couple of them. Kidney Bobbott is cooking. He didn't.

Speaker 1: 21:52

He didn't appreciate that. Oh my goodness.

Speaker 2: 21:58

I knew a little bit about cooking because I had to cook for my dad and I there when I was about that age and he was doing something. I told him You're making a mess out of that. He didn't like it very much.

Speaker 1: 22:14

Oh my goodness yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:15

So oh yeah, okay, then they had that base there. So USO was for the entertainment form. Because we're not here in the boom docs, you might say there's nothing here. The close of theater would be Fort Walton or the two of the X Springs. Wow. So 20, some miles for one and 30, some for the other. Anyhow, the USO would bring in a big screen and projector and show an outdoor movie. I think it was, I couldn't. I'm not positive. I think it was once a month, I don't think it was once a week, but anyhow, they would put word out what day they're going to have an A but A and the local people want to come. They want to set in a chair, to bring their own chair and sit it all outside.

Speaker 1: 23:09

That's fine.

Speaker 2: 23:10

Anyhow, that's fine. The only one movie I can remember. I think it was swinging on a star or anyhow.

Speaker 1: 23:25

I don't remember, I don't know.

Speaker 2: 23:26

I haven't heard of that one. Anyhow, I remember a couple of lines there. They'd sing and they'd say they'd rather be a mule or something like that. They had all three the latest movies. Otherwise, if I got to see a movie once or twice a year, that was it. Right, yeah.

Speaker 1: 23:58

Okay, let me ask you a question then. I can't remember when things came out. Did you grow up, how old were you when a TV became a household thing? Tv.

Speaker 2: 24:16

Oh okay, I was married and had children. I was living in rushing Michigan when we got our first TV set.

Speaker 1: 24:28

Well.

Speaker 2: 24:29

That was in the early 50s.

Speaker 1: 24:33

Okay, what year were you born?

Speaker 2: 24:36

31.

Speaker 1: 24:36

31. Right in the Depression.

Speaker 2: 24:41

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 24:41

Great Depression.

Speaker 2: 24:42

I started out pretty young.

Speaker 1: 24:45

You probably don't remember much of it, do you?

Speaker 2: 24:54

I remember my dad doing the work for 50 cents a day and I knew that wasn't very much money. But we grew, he's done a lot of fishing and he had a garden. In fact he used to grow vegetables and take them in the desk and then sell them. A lot of times they'd give him fish and sometimes they'd give him money. And he said sometimes they didn't have any money. He said he'd give them the fish or vegetables anyhow, because he said it wouldn't be any good if he took them back home. He said some of them paid him years later and some of them never did pay him and things like that.

Speaker 2: 25:34

I went to see another coincidence. I was fishing down here a few years ago and there's a couple guys fishing down the beach and my daughter came down. I wanted to go down and see if they'd catch anything. She didn't want to, so she sent me down. So I went down, got talked into him a little bit and one thing or another.

Speaker 2: 25:59

I haven't mentioned this Red and Bronson guy bust out laughing. He said that's my grandfather. He said, and here it was, his nickname was Salty Bronson. He was quite salty. He was kind of a devil himself. I mean, he didn't put up with much nonsense. I tell you a story about he said he'd find a big school of fish and they put this big stain around them and pull it in and draw them in and then dip the fish out. And he said at that time, every once in a while he said about time he'd get ready to put in that coast guard to come along and want to check out everything. And he said, but sometimes time they got through, he said then the fish had begun. He said just one time I guess he had had it and he was telling me this that he said they said something about hold up on something and I guess he just let out a blue streak to him with bad language.

Speaker 2: 27:14

And the guy started coming from the coast guard on the beach out to the boat there and my brother was out in the water with the stain and he sees someone and he heard it, my brother. He was billed like they say, like a brick, you know what. And he said told this guy. He says I'll have you know. He says you got to go through me before you talk. And he was like captain, this red and bronze was at the first I'd ever heard of us, he said. From then on, he said Frank was his favorite true member because he, he stuck up for him. I mean, you know, and yeah, not.

Speaker 2: 27:58

The funny story was he could have wine. Well, my dad, he ended the pressure there. He had pedals, vegetables and stuff and destined he also made wine and he'd sell a little wine on the side too. And he had a few jugs of wine in the back of the wagon there and it was red and bronze and it's first I'd ever heard about this just 15, 20 years ago. And he said one time he said he said that's boys, that's left long behind a wagon there and he swiped one of these jugs of wine. He said one time we got this jug. He said I thought we were going to die. He said we got so sick and I remember my dad saying there was something he could if you took it the same time you had a drink. You wouldn't want to drink for six months and make you that sick.

Speaker 1: 28:50

Oh, my goodness, and he must have, he must have taken it.

Speaker 2: 28:53

Anyhow, the funny part was he said about three weeks later my, his mother had my father in for dinner because he's been destined there, and he said he overheard him say telling his mother. He says well, he says I haven't lost any more wine lately. He said after he got that bad jug of wine, they didn't take it. That's hilarious yeah.

Speaker 1: 29:19

You have got the best stories All right. So I want everybody to know a couple things. There's things beautiful. How many years were you married to your lovely wife?

Speaker 2: 29:30

69.

Speaker 1: 29:31

69. I can hear that that number very often. That's beautiful. And how many kids did you all have? Yeah, that was. How many kids did you all have? Four, four.

Speaker 2: 29:46

Two girls, two boys and I lost a daughter, I guess six years ago. She was just 64 and she would have been 70 this year. Yeah, and she got cancer and pancreas and yeah.

Speaker 1: 30:16

I'm sorry.

Speaker 2: 30:16

Yeah, I was going to say that my very first memory that I could. I'm pretty sure it's my first memory. I was out in my yard underneath this Magnolia tree playing with a drum, rattler, a snake yeah, it's a pygmy rattlesnake. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1: 30:42

That's like a poisonous snake.

Speaker 2: 30:44

Oh yeah, he was all coiled up between my legs. I sat down with my legs out like this how old were you? I figure I was about somewhere between two and three years old yeah, okay.

Speaker 2: 30:55

And just the way I was sat there was my legs out and he was right in between my head to stick. I could still see him. I'd go off and his head would fall on my hand as I went around him like this in the circle. I don't know how long I've been. My brother's seen me out there and he kept wondering what I was doing out there. So long He'd come out there and said when he reached down to pick me up he said the snake actually tried to bite him and it struck me, but it never did. I was just fascinated by the way his head would fall on my hand around. You know.

Speaker 2: 31:27

That's crazy, and then I don't know. I think that was the first and then the next memory. We had cannibalism on the west side of our house and I was always trying to catch butterflies and stuff, you know the boys and the IC and hopefully a lot of butterflies out there. Today I'm going to get to when I finally caught one. I found out it was a bumblebee. Did I show him?

Speaker 2: 31:57

Did you get stung. Yeah, I still remember opening up my hand and three big wolves and I thought I think I learned a different sort of butterfly than a bumblebee.

Speaker 1: 32:08

I bet you did learn that real fast. Oh my goodness.

Speaker 2: 32:11

I can remember that and I remember playing with the snake and that's my first two memories that you know.

Speaker 1: 32:22

Playing with a snake and getting bitten by a bumblebee. You know what? One of the things that cracks me up, because you look so young and you've got such a sharp memory and people ask you all the time about what's your secret and I want you to say what it is and I'm telling you let me be your agent because you could make a lot of money. Okay, tell them what's the secret, what you think your secret is.

Speaker 2: 32:46

Well, I actually think. I think it's flax seed oil capsules. My neighbor will prat about 12-14 years ago. He got me started taking these as what they said be good for your heart if you're from having a heart attack, and I'd already had. I've had heart surgery in 2008.

Speaker 2: 33:12

I didn't have that and anyhow so and I started taking that flax seed capsules and about two or three years later my daughter come over one day and she asked me. She says what happened that ball spot you just had? I said I don't know. I said when I see it getting balled, I said I quit looking at it. I said you got to use two mirrors.

Speaker 2: 33:36

you know and see the back of your head and my wife heard us and she went digging around. She got out photos and I say you know, photos look like somewhere between two and three inches just skin on the back. It all grew back, so he said. And my other thing, my eyesight got better.

Speaker 1: 33:58

I don't know about y'all, but I'm going to go buy me some flax seed oil capillate. Not take flax seed. I put it in my smoothie, but you take it in a peel like a capsule, the capillate.

Speaker 2: 34:10

it's got the oil in it and you take I figured take a lot of flax seed to make it.

Speaker 1: 34:15

That's true. That's true, yeah.

Speaker 2: 34:19

And.

Speaker 1: 34:19

I'm telling you you can make a lot of money. You go on there looking as handsome as you do at 92 and sharing all your stories and telling this flax seed, all right.

Speaker 2: 34:30

So I got pictures to prove that. Yeah, I have a bald spot there and Well, you don't.

Speaker 1: 34:34

You got a full head of hair down, all right, and last night, when we were okay, I have a feeling that we might. This is going to be part one of a podcast. I have a feeling people are going to come back in and say tell us, we want Mr George back, and so I hope maybe you'll come back in, but I want to know what would you recommend? Well, let me ask you this do you feel like you've had a good life, a joyful life, a happy life?

Speaker 2: 35:01

Yeah, I, I'd say anybody that says there's things when they look back, they that they had to do over and knew what they're doing. But I thought I had more good good things come my way. I mean, I had one thing, well, I figured. The first one was when they figured I was drawn and they probably back that was.

Speaker 1: 35:31

But then but Okay, so when he was a baby, he was.

Speaker 2: 35:36

Yeah, but Ten months old, ten eleven months old yeah.

Speaker 1: 35:40

He drowned, officially drowned and and didn't officially die, but his sister couldn't. I thought he was dead.

Speaker 2: 35:47

Yeah, she's not. She's not my brother, that her well, her brother's the hell. My father, he was just a piece here and he was holding court. He sent in and tell him that I had drowned and he said, time he got home I was not playing around that two weeks before that they taught him in school what to do with somebody drown. Tell you, pump the water out and get him started breathing again.

Speaker 1: 36:13

Reckon, god had a plan For your life.

Speaker 2: 36:17

I think, wanted you here. I guess that's what a lot of people tell me when I tell them that and I say, well, it could be in.

Speaker 1: 36:30

Definitely, definitely. So. What would you if you were to give a piece of advice to someone who would look at you and think, wow, he's ninety two and he's had a good life and and you're happy. You're a happy person, you're a joyful person? What would, if you were to give some pieces of advice to somebody younger, what, what would you want to impart to them? What would you want to say?

Speaker 2: 36:56

Well, I tell a lot of people that's one thing I said you should get as much out of life as you can every day, because you don't know how many days you're going to have here. Enjoy your rest of the그 End, yeah.

Speaker 1: 37:18

Every day as a gift. So we were. You know, it was really special to me Last night. We were watching the sunset, so let me just paint a little picture for you. Here we are in a small area called Blue Mountain Beach. It's on Santa Rosa, in the Santa Rosa Santa Rosa, but it's. Blue Mountain Beach is our little piece and it's small and there is we've got a little a little beach accesses and several of the neighbors meet for sunset almost every night, it's as long as it's not raining, and some people are part timers here and but Mr George is a nice staple there and there's some folks that live here full time.

Speaker 1: 38:04

And there was a visitor last night. One of our neighbors father was in. Do you remember what he said? He was so sweet, michael, he went on and on about every day is a gift and he just kept saying because I'm just so thankful, I am so thankful and it just was so beautiful just to see him exuding with gratitude and it was contagious. I was like, yeah, oh my gosh, I think I want to be more thankful too, just watching him. And I know that you're a grateful person and that's something that's just part of who you are. But taking each day seriously, as a gift, every single day.

Speaker 2: 38:50

Yeah, Well, I had a lot of thinking to do when I lost my wife. Of course I knew I mean it wasn't real sudden, like I mean I knew it was coming, but I thought I should be thankful for the years we had together, you know, and we had more than the average, I mean, actually from the time I first really got to know her, so you passed away. I knew her for 70 years. We was married for 69 years. So funny part of it was when I met her I was going with her sister, yeah, Anyhow being you all scoundrel you, I wasn't the only one.

Speaker 1: 39:51

Now you're going to say that about your precious wife. Well are you calling her a scoundrel.

Speaker 2: 39:59

Oh yeah, no, when I met her, I'd been going with her sister about five months and she thought. She told me later she thought things was just going kind of slow between her sister and I. But she's going to make a play for them and make her sister jealous? Yeah, well, I got the same idea, but neither one of us said anything to the other one. We just, I mean, I just well, like I said, she had one advantage over her sister Her sister was going to school that year yet. Yeah, so we had the whole day that she was ready to hold it and eventually get into the mission.

Speaker 1: 40:41

Well, did the other sister ever get over it?

Speaker 2: 40:43

Oh yeah, I think so After 20, 30, 40 years or so. Yeah, well, I think she was used to. I felt a little bit sorry for her because she was used to her older sister. Things seemed to come her way more so than the other. Yeah, Anyhow.

Speaker 1: 41:08

Well, we're going to go ahead and wrap this podcast up. What would one piece of advice? If you could give one solid, some words of wisdom after 92 years on this earth, what would be a piece of advice you could give to it?

Speaker 2: 41:35

Well, I'll put it this way, something got me thinking, trying to think how this has come about now. Well, there's too many things that just. I guess the one phrase that would answer the question is with God, nothing's impossible, all things are possible. I mean, and I was trying to think how this really got me. All I know was maybe people never thought about this, but I was listening to this message one time they talked about when the Lord spoke to Moses through the burning bush and said the bush burned or consumed. And just that one time that. So when I heard that, I thought that's got to be the way he made the sun. All right, you stop and think how can, how can something be up there for all these they think, millions of years, and not not burn out, not get weaker, enough weaker, I mean, that's the same life. But I just had. I thought well, if he could make a bush that will burn, not be consumed, why couldn't he make a sun that would burn up? He consumes?

Speaker 1: 43:17

That's right. He can do anything. All things are possible. Yeah, Move that mountain in our lives, the hard stuff, and to keep keep on going right and just to keep that faith and have that hope.

Speaker 2: 43:29

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 43:33

All right, you know what story I wanted you to share before we wrap up.

Speaker 2: 43:36

What's that?

Speaker 1: 43:40

The Indian woman.

Speaker 2: 43:41

Oh, okay, this is a good one. They got a. They got a road in the old kind of north of the old town of Santa Rosa. They named it Indian woman road. Why's that? There was an Indian woman lived on this road. Yeah, and she was kind of unusual woman. She run around the house naked all the time.

Speaker 1: 44:06

How do you know that? Well is that the word on the street?

Speaker 2: 44:10

Yeah, that anyhow. Anyhow, I've been after all. I didn't deliver the paper with that way.

Speaker 1: 44:19

Okay.

Speaker 2: 44:19

But anyhow, and, and you know, somebody come to her door. She come to the door, hold the towel up front of her and talk to them. But he got ready to leave. Well, she just turned around and walked away, but she kept the towel in front of her, not behind her.

Speaker 1: 44:40

Give a little run for their money. Yeah, a little little show, oh my goodness. Well, mr George, thank you. Thank you for sharing your stories with me and now my audience. You are a delight and a treasure, and I'm so grateful that we're friends.

Speaker 2: 45:03

Yeah, yeah, but I won't be able to get through the door.

Speaker 1: 45:09

You getting the big head over here. Oh my goodness, it has been so great.

Speaker 2: 45:13

You have the rest of this.

Speaker 1: 45:14

Oh, okay. So did we tell him about the wine? Did we start with that? He made some homemade wine and brought it over in this in a water bottle. I just love this. So anyway, thank you for the wine the homemade wine and the stories and your friendship, and will you come back on and be a guest with me again.

Speaker 2: 45:32

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 45:33

Okay, great. Well, you guys, I want to say thank you for being here, thank you for for listening to these stories and if you love this, let me know. And then let me know what's what questions you have for Mr George, I have a feeling we'll get some questions in and we'll come back with a follow up podcast. All right, friends, thanks so much for being here and we will see you same time, actually on Friday. On Friday, join me again and we'll I've got my, my faith focused Friday podcast. Okay, have a great rest of your day. Bye, y'all.