Interview With My Dad: A Killer's Shadow, Family Resilience, and New Horizons

Imagine attending school with someone who would later be dubbed the "Co-ed Killer." That chilling reality is something my dad experienced firsthand, and in this episode, he sits down with me to recount his eerie encounters with John Norman Collins. From unsettling eye contact to the eventual horror of the Michigan Murders, we explore how Collins' dark legacy touched our lives in unexpected ways. This isn't just a recount of infamous crimes; it's a personal look at how evil sometimes lurks closer than we think.

Next, we turn the pages of our family history, filled with moments of tragedy and resilience. We remember loved ones taken too soon, like my cousin Shira, and share the stories of those who battled illness and addiction. Amidst these somber memories, tales from the hippie era and a remarkable medical milestone—Michigan's second heart transplant—bring a touch of light. It's a powerful reminder of the strength within our family and the importance of holding onto cherished memories.

Lastly, we touch on the colorful legacy of construction in our family, the adventures in scuba diving, and the fascinating connections we've made over the years. From navigating building regulations to mingling with local celebrities like Bob Seger's manager and Kid Rock, our stories are a testament to our tenacity and community ties. We also talk travel dreams, exploring the allure of places like Romania and Belize, and share the rich sporting heritage within our family. Join us for an episode that weaves together mystery, heartache, and the incredible tapestry of our family history.

Transcript

Family Discussion on Infamous Killer

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey everyone, it's your host, melissa at Strange, daring, span and Insane. So a couple episodes ago I told you guys that I was going to talk to my dad and see if he knew the infamous killer from Centerline, michigan, if he went to school with him. And it turns out that he did go to school with him and he does very well remember him. So my dad was over earlier today visiting with us, so I decided to put my recorder on and kind of do like a little semi-interview with him and so, yeah, I just wanted, before I start this recording, I wanted to let you guys know that he does remember this guy and just to kind of recap, it's about John Norman Collins and that cemetery is the Denton Cemetery and that is, I believe, in Belleville, around Belleville. But we've been there many, many times.

Speaker 1 1:00

So, yes, so, john Norman Collins, 1969. He was also known as the co-ed killer. So I'm not sure exactly when in this recording that we get into that, but yeah, there's a bunch of stuff in this recording, but I definitely wanted to get on here and say that that my dad did remember him and he said that he was a strange guy. I believe he said something about looking at him in the eyes and that my dad said he did play baseball, but he did not play football with my dad. But yeah, he did remember him.

Speaker 2 1:57

So I'm going to start this recording All right, but when your mom and I and you and all were, Jason would have been like five and I was a baby, Maybe one. Oh yeah, you were young, but that uh Want a cigarette. Yeah, but no, it was sad here. Let me go get it.

Speaker 1 2:16

My poor dad and I no, um, there's this guy from this cemetery that we've been doing research on. Yeah, that killed these women. Well, one of them he killed over in Belleville. He went to Centerline 1969.

Speaker 2 2:36

That's when I graduated.

Speaker 1 2:38

So you would have known him.

Speaker 2 2:39

What's his name?

Speaker 1 2:40

I'll tell you he's a sick fuck Glenn Morell. I can see him doing that Um and I can put this on my podcast. I actually just said on my podcast. I said I gotta ask my dad.

Speaker 2 2:55

Yeah, you can write a voice. Same year I did. If you want to send it, um, hold on. Oh, if he wants to send a lot of guns, he's going to kill all the girls in the nurses. Yeah, I play ball. Then. I'm not saying I play ball, I'm not saying I'm in.

Speaker 1 3:51

I'm saying I'm not saying, oh, you got a mission like that, you got one Awesome, okay, john Norman Collins, john Norman.

Speaker 2 3:58

Collins. Yes, I know.

Speaker 1 3:59

You know who John Norman Collins is? Yeah, he's a sick fuck.

Speaker 2 4:10

So the girl that he killed that was in Ann Arbor U of M somewhere, wasn't it yeah?

Speaker 1 4:13

but he, so he left one of them um in the cemetery that we go to.

Speaker 2 4:21

John Norman Collins. Yes, I do never hung with him, but he was a strange guy.

Speaker 1 4:27

Even in high school. They said he was good looking and like uh, and that he was like really smart no, that's what happens with smart people so Collins, pictured at his arraignment for the murder of Karen Sue Beanman, august 1st 1969. The Michigan murders, pictured in his arraignment for the murder of Karen Sue Beanman, august 1st 1969. The Michigan Murders was a series of highly publicized killings of young women committed between 1967 and 1969, ann Arbor, ypsilanti, area of southeastern Michigan, by an individual known as the Ypsilanti Ripper, the Michigan murderer and the co-ed killer.

Speaker 2 5:04

Ypsilanti Ripper, the Michigan murderer and the co-ed killer. Yeah, well, actually I think he graduated from Santa Ana, st Clement's. I believe he switched schools and got kicked out. He was a strange dog. I had him in gym class. He was weird. No, he wasn't. He's a good-looking guy, but he's just crazy. He was weird, though, even in school. Oh yeah, he had a weird look in his eyes when you talked to him. It's like you're going all there. I believe he graduated from Sutherland High.

Speaker 1 5:31

Two days after the remains had been identified, those of Mary Flezzer, a young man claiming to be a friend of Flezzer's family, arrived at the funeral home.

Speaker 2 5:44

Yeah, he was a space cadet, did you?

Speaker 1 5:46

know any of the women that he killed?

Speaker 2 5:48

uh, one I knew, beerman, I think. He said yeah, yeah, I went there, I had her in study hall. Can you mention that? Because I had? Uh, I told you I never went to 11th grade, or something oh, it's, I forgot to tell you.

Speaker 1 6:04

the cemetery is Denton Cemetery. He left one of the bodies there over a grave. The body of 23-year-old Jane Mixer was found at this location March 21, 1969. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 6:18

I was going to get me the headlines everywhere.

Speaker 1 6:20

So spring 1969, on March 20, 1969, a 23-year-old University of Michigan law student named Jane Louise Mixer disappeared after posting a note on a college bulletin board seeking a lift across the state to her hometown of Muskegon.

Speaker 2 6:36

Yeah, yeah, I remember that. I believe he graduated from Centerline-St Clement. I believe so. Not your school, no, no, he went to Centerline, st Clement. I believe so. Not your school. No, no, he went to Centerline for a while Because I had him in the study hall. I'm like, no, I didn't have him in the study hall. Yeah, because I didn't go to Centerline. In 11th grade I went to a cousin of night school. I had to work because you know, my dad had to. You went to cousin of night school. Yeah, night school, 11th grade, 12th grade, I went back to Centerline and graduated with my class.

Speaker 1 7:08

You played football. No, absolutely, You're like a football star, weren't you? That guy didn't play any sports, did he? Who's that that murderer?

Speaker 2 7:16

John Collins. No, he played baseball. I know that Because you know we played in the summer leagues. A lot of guys played in Clemson, centerline. You know we all played summer leagues and a guy named Joe DeLamalier that went to Centerline and St Clemson. He was on a Super Bowl winning team for Buffalo Bills. Really, that's our only claim to fame in our Center line Did you want to play pro? Football. Would I like to play pro football? Yes, I would love to, but I wasn't big enough.

Speaker 1 7:50

You weren't big enough. No, you had big-ass shoulders though.

Speaker 2 7:54

Yeah, but you got to remember these football players. They're recruited from high school, they go to college and a lot of them drop out of college and go turn pro. But you've got to really be exceptional, yeah, I mean you've got to be the best of the best. You betcha yeah, hell yeah. I thought I had a better chance of playing baseball because my dad played semi-pro. I played semi-pro for a year.

Speaker 1 8:17

Who was the boxer in the family? Grandpa Paul right.

Speaker 2 8:21

Was it Uncle George or Grandpa Paul?

Speaker 1 8:23

Wasn't someone a Golden Glove, or almost a Golden Glove?

Speaker 2 8:26

Yeah, it was probably my dad, because he was a flyboy bombardier and he was. My dad had a lot of secrets. I never learned them until I was older. What you know shit he did. What'd he do? Well, him and I, you know, I'd go pick him up. I'd get off work on a Saturday and my stepmother never liked me, diane. Yeah, I'd pick him up, we'd go to bars and that's what's going on. He'd let out, but being a bombardier, he said the only thing I can say about it. He said in Korea War and World War II, highly decorated, and he said I have no regrets because I was a bombardier, so I really didn't. He dropped the bomb, but he wasn't down there shooting people or that. He said that would have been a massive head trip. I know, yeah, yeah, he's a two-war.

Speaker 1 9:19

What branch was he in?

Speaker 2 9:21

He was Air Force. Oh yeah, he was in the Korean War and the World War II. Wow yeah, he's highly decorated.

Speaker 1 9:31

Who was the boxer, though? I thought someone was a Golden Glove.

Speaker 2 9:34

Yeah, it was Uncle George. I'm trying to think.

Speaker 1 9:38

Was that Grandpa Paul's brother? Yeah, you trained with one of them. Yeah well, uncle George my name's Tito Georgeorge paul. Oh, so you're named after your uncle, george, right, we always thought you were named after your dad my dad's, theodore nicholas.

Speaker 2 9:54

I don't want to be. My mom didn't want me to be a junior because I'll throw a name of junior yeah, no, I, I was uh theodore george pa, my dad was Theodore Nicholas Paul, and the kids Ryder is Ryder Theodore Paul, and then uh.

Speaker 1 10:08

Jason, jason, theodore Paul. Right Shit, I'm surprised you guys didn't make my middle name Theodore too. Melissa Theodore Paul.

Speaker 2 10:18

All Theodores. Nah, you're making me a few mothers and and.

Speaker 1 10:22

Grandma.

Speaker 2 10:22

Thank you, mike and Grandma.

Speaker 1 10:28

Yep, melissa and Paul name after your mother and and grandma. Thank you, right and grandma yeah, that's and paul. So have you ever had a uh uh afterlife experience? Yeah, I know you had one in the hospital. You think you said you've seen mom and grandma yeah, I had some weird dreams, uh do you feel like they were real.

Speaker 2 10:42

yeah, well, that means it was. You gotta remember. You'reicated up and these dreams go through your head and it's just like when I had my last hip done, I got some weird dreams. Because what they do with heart, like heart surgery, is easier. Everybody says open heart's bad. No, my hips are worse, because when I had open hearted I think it was 4 in the afternoon the next day you're completely medicated and the next day you're up and walking.

Speaker 1 11:10

you know with a nurse. Do you feel like they were dreams or they were visits from them, though? Did they feel real? Yeah, then that means it was visits. Have you ever seen Mom at the house?

Speaker 2 11:22

No, I've done her a lot.

Speaker 1 11:24

Have you seen mom at the house? No, I've done her a lot.

Speaker 2 11:27

Have you seen her at the house, though, since she's passed away? Uh, I dream of her a lot. I'm trying to think if she's at the house, maybe we're up north or something. But I used to get these weird dreams, especially when you medicate you. You know, they have me on morphine drip. You know it's morphine drip. Everybody says, everybody says well, I don't knock you out, it just melts. I could sit there and watch TV and the nurse come in and say you need more because I had an IV. I had one, two, three IVs and they just boom, open the IV and shoot you up and you just get mellowed out.

Speaker 1 12:04

so just for the record, you did go to school with the murderer John Collins Right.

Speaker 2 12:09

I played ball with him.

Speaker 1 12:10

And you said he was weird.

Speaker 2 12:12

Yeah, he's one of them kind of guys he didn't hang with nobody, none of us. You know the guys I hung with. Yeah, you know, yeah, it's hard to explain. So my dad went to school with that murderer from. Denton Cemetery 1969.

Speaker 1 12:29

Yeah, he graduated the same year I did so you wouldn't know Michael's mom then.

Speaker 2 12:32

Yeah, I sure did. She graduated in 69.

Speaker 1 12:35

Or 70,. Michael said 70?

Speaker 2 12:36

Well, she graduated a year after me.

Speaker 1 12:39

So have you ever had a paranormal experience, dad? Probably you don't remember any of them. Well, okay, have you ever seen an apparition?

Speaker 2 12:50

Well, when they hit me on morphine, you're completely calm, you're not passing out or nothing. I had some weird dreams going through my head.

Speaker 1 12:59

When your mom passed away, when you were younger. Did you ever have any experiences like, oh yeah, when you were younger, yep, you have any experiences like when you were younger, yep, you seen her at the house after she passed?

Speaker 2 13:11

Yeah, I saw her vividly a few times.

Speaker 1 13:14

You did.

Speaker 2 13:14

Yeah.

Speaker 1 13:16

Was your mom tall?

Speaker 2 13:18

She's about the same height as Debbie was.

Speaker 1 13:23

My mom 5'7". Yeah, 5'6" Did she have short hair to like her shoulders.

Speaker 2 13:28

She used to have long hair. But you know, later through life when you know she's going through the cancer stuff, yeah, they showed you know.

Speaker 1 13:35

Like to the shoulders.

Speaker 2 13:36

Yeah, yeah, I took after her more than I did. My and my brother and sister looked more like my dad.

Speaker 1 13:49

When was your mom born? What was her birthday?

Speaker 2 13:52

She was born in January. My dad was born on February 5th.

Speaker 1 13:57

January. So she was a Capricorn who Firebird, you get distracted by the loud car, dad.

Speaker 2 14:08

No, every time I hear a bunch going, I get crazy.

Speaker 1 14:11

No that was a Firebird, was it? Yeah, it sounded like a bike, wow. Okay, for the record, the reason why I keep asking my dad about what his mom looked like, what he could remember, is because I did have experience at Eloise Um God, it had to be every bit of like three years ago. Um, the only, the first and only apparition that I had ever seen. It was a female about five'7" hair length, to like her shoulders, and every time I've ever went back there I've tried to see her again and tried to like contact with her. The reason why it's such a big deal is because when I was explaining it to everyone else how she I guess, like what her I don't know how to say it like the, the feeling that I got is that this woman knew me, but I didn't know her and I didn't feel scared at all. But I know, at a point in the conversation after um, you know, trying to communicate with this woman that I had seen this full-bodied apparition and Angie, my friend that was with me, actually seen her too, and I didn't tell Angie what I seen down the hall, I just flashed the light and then turned it off and Angie said who is she? So Angie's seen her and I will get Angie on here soon to talk about this.

Speaker 1 15:47

But anyways, down the road, talking about that, still actively going to Eloise I haven't been to Eloise in a while. I don't really have anything to do with Eloise anymore, but it did come up. Someone said could that be like a grandma or like an aunt that you didn't know about? And I did think of my dad's mom. I don't know why. I have pictures of her Very, very, very, very pretty, but I haven't looked at them in a long time and I believe her hair in those pictures are longer. It's like longer and curled. But it's just strange to me. That's why I was asking my dad so many questions, because, again, I never got the chance to meet her.

Speaker 2 16:29

But let me go ahead and proceed with this recording that must be the big 350 turbo so there's not any experiences that you can remember like no, I remember some, basically through surgeries, you know, because you're medicated and, uh, you're not knocked out.

Speaker 1 16:54

But did anybody in your side of the family, like grandma carlson or any like? Do you remember any of them ever using tarot cards?

Speaker 2 17:02

no, I know, my grandfather had the second order transplant in Michigan. The second what Second order transplant in his heart in Michigan.

Speaker 1 17:12

And that was Grandpa.

Speaker 2 17:14

Paul's dad. No, no, that'd be my grandma's dad. I mean, I'm your mom's dad. Yeah, my mom.

Speaker 1 17:19

Did your parents outlive your mom?

Speaker 2 17:24

No, my mother died.

Speaker 1 17:25

I know, but did her parents outlive her?

Speaker 2 17:28

yeah, my grandma lived, uh, uh, she almost hit 100.

Speaker 1 17:31

Yeah, grandma, carlson, right, my dad lived 89 how old was your mom when she passed 38? Wow, yeah, that's like me in a couple years.

Speaker 2 17:41

Yeah, yep, she had breast cancer yeah, and back then I didn't do a whole lot like they do now. Cervical cancer too, right? No, she had breast cancer. Both her breasts were moved, but by the time they did all that it was too late. They got her an empathogen. It's just like a man having a patriotic cancer. There's no cure for that. Michael Landon, patrick Swayze, swayze yeah, he had pancreatic. Yeah, there's no cure for that. If I get patriotic cancer, I'm gonna take a bunch of druggie calls a day.

Speaker 1 18:20

You don't remember anyone in the family ever um using tarot cards, or were any of them hippie-ish?

Speaker 2 18:28

No, not really. I mean my sister. She was a hippie when she was younger and you know she's pretty normal, nearly normal, and then, I don't know, she got in with the wrong crowd.

Speaker 1 18:41

So I'm the only weird one in the family.

Speaker 2 18:43

Yeah, well, I'll tell you how weird it was. She married a guy that was super rich, she never worked and, uh, the mother supported him both of them and he decided to walk across i-75 to kill himself yeah, but he was on drugs.

Speaker 1 18:57

Oh yeah, that was right in front of your sister, wasn't it? That was my sister's husband yeah, yes, yeah, you've had, you've got a lot of hardships. So my dad's um brother, jeff, and his wife robin, had two girls, shira and crispian. Now I got the story mixed up. I thought it was crispian that was going to come live here, uh, with us at our house no, shira was, it was shira.

Speaker 2 19:23

Yeah, chris crispian was welcome, but she wanted to stay. Uhin was welcome, but she wanted to stay Since her mom was dead. She wanted to stay in Kansas with her friends and she graduated from Kansas University.

Speaker 1 19:34

So I look like if you put my picture from when I was four, next to Shira's, next to Shira, you look good. I look exactly like Shira. So Shira would have been. I would have grew up with her, right, right, I mean, she's a lot older than me. I was a baby when she died. How did how did she die again, dan?

Speaker 2 19:51

She was driving a Volkswagen and they had four people in the Volkswagen. Three of them died on a residential street.

Speaker 1 20:01

Oh, there was a survivor. I thought they all died, no there was one.

Speaker 2 20:06

She had brain damage when I was there. Me and my dad only you know could stay so long. Uh, when we took that train to Kansas.

Speaker 1 20:13

Shira died right away.

Speaker 2 20:16

Yeah, yes and no. It's just like your mom uh to me. Your mother died on a Saturday, uh, because she never woke up, but they got it on her death certificate on May 16th On the amount.

Speaker 1 20:29

Yeah, but she was still. She could hear us, so she was making facial expressions. Yeah, so Shira was 17?.

Speaker 2 20:38

Yeah 17.

Speaker 1 20:40

And a semi hit them.

Speaker 2 20:43

No, it was a car in the residential area.

Speaker 1 20:45

Oh, I thought it was a semi that was coming through. I mean it might have been a truck.

Speaker 2 20:48

But, like I said, uh, my dad and I went there and uh, yeah, it was bad, you know.

Speaker 1 20:57

And then, uh, my brother, after that he went straight down, you know yeah, his brother and his uh sister-in-law were really messed up over it and they were doing some drugs and drinking at a party.

Speaker 2 21:07

Well, I'll just give you an idea. When Jeff and Shira and the kids come stay with us. You know your mom and I. For a week she went through two-fifths of Scott's.

Speaker 1 21:20

Robin.

Speaker 2 21:21

Robin, yeah, she's a little bitty thing.

Speaker 1 21:23

Yeah, I vaguely remember her. When our house before you redid our house, uncle Jeff and her sitting in the front room. He had a harmonica. They were musicians. She sang and he played the guitar and harmonica, right yeah he used to.

Speaker 2 21:38

He worked for gosh what was the name of that playing company there, and at night he'd do gigs in the bar, you know, and get paid they were like folk, Folk right Country folk. Yeah, similar to that. He'd do a lot of uh. Uh, what's the track with that one guy, james Taylor? He'd do a lot of his stuff. I've seen Fire, I've seen Rain, oh yeah, no, I wasn't so, I wasn't, so play there. In fact, I was in uh well, we forgot a part though.

Speaker 2 22:08

Jeff shot shira or, I'm sorry, jeff shot robin jeff shot robin right in the head for me, to you children did he say he meant to?

Speaker 2 22:22

actually he, he got off on that they were arguing or whatever, and he only did like 90 days in jail, as far as I know, and then he got out because they called me to get him out and his lawyer or whoever he got. He got a court-appointed lawyer and he needed $1,200. I said I got $1,200 right now, get him out. You know how much money I took care of so many of them people. I used to send them money for shoes for the kids. You know same thing with Tracy, my sister's kid.

Speaker 1 22:53

They didn't live good. Your brother did he. What's that? They didn't live good. They didn't take care of the kids.

Speaker 2 23:00

No, they're fucked up all the time. Not Tracy. No, not Tracy. Tracy probably never done any drugs. She turned to religion which was good.

Speaker 1 23:09

So Tracy is my dad's niece and that would be your sister, pam, who also passed away from drugs. Right, that's her daughter, and she had Tracy and Bracken.

Speaker 2 23:20

Bracken and Teddy.

Speaker 1 23:22

Oh, teddy's, their brother too. Yeah, so it's Tracy Bracken, teddy.

Speaker 2 23:28

And.

Speaker 1 23:29

Teddy lived in Ghost. Well, brack and Tracy are doing pretty good. Teddy's doing better. He lost his wife. Brack is gay, yeah. He's married now To a guy or what. Yeah, I think they got married. Yeah, he's doing good. I think he lives in Texas.

Speaker 2 23:48

Yeah, and Teddy was in colorado and I said every time you move, you got different numbers, call me. You know, his wife passed away a couple years ago right, oh yeah, that set him back to alcoholism, right and the whole family's gonna fuck up.

Speaker 1 24:00

And then mom's side has alcoholism yeah, two families with addiction.

Speaker 2 24:07

Yeah yeah, my sister died on Christmas Eve.

Speaker 1 24:13

Yeah, she Pam. But you know what, though, pam was 50 years old. I mean, that's a long life, a long, hard life to live.

Speaker 2 24:19

Oh, absolutely.

Speaker 1 24:19

Until 50 years old.

Speaker 2 24:21

Yeah for a junkie she died. She was 50.

Speaker 1 24:24

Were you close with your brother and sister growing up?

Speaker 2 24:27

Yeah, no, pam's older than you. Right, she's four years older than me. Are you a middle child? Yeah, I was a middle one, and Jeff was two and a half years younger than me, so yeah, so you weren't really close with your siblings growing up.

Speaker 2 24:47

Yes and no. I mean my sister and I. My sister decided, you know she split, that's when she got. She was in drugs then. But she really got heavy in drugs Because the guy she was married to, his mother, supported him, I mean not for drugs. She didn't know that she was giving money off, that. She didn't know that I was in drugs. He walked across the street. I went to the funeral. I could not believe they had an open casket. When the guy walked across I-75, he got run over. Yeah, the mother demanded that they have open funeral. His face looked like wax when I went to the funeral. That was sick. What was his name? What was his first name? He was a backup studio musician, like, say, eric Burns, coming to town where they were living in California. He's a backup musician. You know he played the guitar. Wow, yeah, rogers was his last name. I'm trying to think of his first name. I only met him twice Did you like him.

Speaker 2 25:48

Yeah, I mean, he seemed alright, my dad.

Speaker 1 25:51

So on your side alone there's a lot of musicians and artists Right, Grandpa Paul was an artist, your sister was.

Speaker 2 26:00

Teddy plays guitar in Fairjoy.

Speaker 1 26:01

Yep, teddy's a musician. That's probably why I love music so much too.

Speaker 2 26:08

Yeah, my dad used to play in a jazz band. What did he play?

Speaker 1 26:11

Drums, drums. Yeah, I didn't know, grandpa Paul played the drums. That's probably why I always wanted a drum set. Now I got. See that. Sure, I take more after your side.

Speaker 2 26:22

Yeah, well, you know he worked downtown. And one thing about my dad you know he either has some work or he's playing a jazz band at night and they get paid. So sometimes I wouldn't. And then, after my mom died, I wouldn't see my dad for two, three days at a time. I lived in a house by myself, I bet you.

Speaker 1 26:42

Tell me where I was. What was Grandma Diane? You guys, I do have a step-grandma still in the center line. I don't ever see her.

Speaker 2 26:48

No, I don't even know if she's got the house. I don't know.

Speaker 1 26:53

What was she like?

Speaker 2 26:56

She was an artist, key line artist.

Speaker 1 26:58

She was an artist.

Speaker 2 26:59

Yeah.

Speaker 1 26:59

Oh, she played the organ too.

Speaker 2 27:01

Yeah, she has that. And then my step-brother and half-sister, the ones in New York. They're the ones he plays musical Adam, and I forget what he does. I don't know if he's an engineer or whatever. There are two which are my half-siblings. They're both educated.

Speaker 1 27:21

Wait, Adam and Andrea, your dad was their dad to both of them.

Speaker 2 27:25

Yeah, that's the dad, but not, you know, not the mom. The mom was my stepmom.

Speaker 1 27:32

Yeah, but I'm saying though, Grandpa Paul had two more kids after you.

Speaker 2 27:35

Right, so there had been five total. We had.

Speaker 1 27:38

So you, Jeff, Pam, and then the half Adam and Andrea. Half brother and sister is Andrea and Adam.

Speaker 2 27:45

Right right.

Speaker 1 27:47

And I also just found out that I'm Cherokee. I didn't know what kind of Indian I was. You got. So, grandpa Paul, so you're so, grandma Carlson.

Speaker 2 27:57

We're Cherokee Indian on Carlson's side.

Speaker 1 28:00

That's Grandma Carlson, that's your mom's mom.

Speaker 2 28:03

Right right.

Speaker 1 28:04

What was your mom's name? Again, carolyn Ruth Carlson.

Speaker 2 28:06

Your mom, mom's mom, right right, what was your mom's name? Again, carolyn ruth carlson.

Speaker 1 28:08

Your mom's name was carol yeah, carolyn, carolyn.

Speaker 2 28:12

Yeah, ruth carlson, that's her mate. You know her maiden name, you know, and that's what she's been my dad.

Speaker 1 28:19

Her name is carolyn ruth carlson. I never got to meet her.

Speaker 2 28:22

She died way before me but yeah, I was 14, I was 14 years old, you were 14? But yeah, I got a lot of. I started thinking about stuff and going holy shit, what the fuck?

Speaker 1 28:35

You went through a lot of hardships, dad, but you were meant to meet Mom, because Dad was married a couple times before. We don't know if we have siblings out there he claims we don't but he made kids with my mom. You guys got married.

Speaker 2 28:49

What a year later, uh, no, you know, we went a year before we had uh, jason I know, but you guys got, you guys were got married pretty quick, huh yeah, we're.

Speaker 1 28:59

We're married for a year yeah, you grabbed mom's ass and she punched you when you first met her.

Speaker 2 29:03

Oh, I had to actually do a phone and cut my head, crazy hillbilly.

Speaker 1 29:09

My mom, yeah, Papa never. Her dad would never admit that they were hillbillies, no Well they're her parents from Kentucky, Well. Grandma actually is French-Canadian her mom but Grandma's parents died when she was young.

Speaker 2 29:24

Right, well, debbie's.

Speaker 1 29:27

My mom, Debbie, is who he's talking about.

Speaker 2 29:29

Yeah, but her parents were.

Speaker 1 29:30

Her dad was Scottish and no, dad Irish, or whatever they were Irish, galloway Irish.

Speaker 2 29:39

But yeah, I mean even Papa back. Then we all got along. You know we'd go up north, do this and that, but Papa got stranger after Grandma died.

Family Drama and Unexpected Pregnancy

Speaker 1 29:52

Yeah, but Dad, grandma, I think, is actually French-Canadian. She probably, yeah, grandma was French-Canadian. Her parents died young and then okay. So my grandma had a pretty fucked-up life. Her parents died young. She had romantic fever. She lost her teeth, died young, she had romantic fever. She lost her teeth when she was young. She almost died.

Speaker 1 30:10

She also was burned very badly. She got pushed down back then the schools they had um fire pitch. Well, they had uh like spiral staircases up and down and the fire broke out and she got pushed over the railing and fell into hot soot. And then she also got impaled at work at the factory, remember she fell pretty bad in a bar where uncle tommy died.

Speaker 2 30:40

Yeah uncle tommy died there. And when grandma fell, uh, papa made her soup. Yeah, papa had her soup, but uh, that that bar. I was in there a few times, meeting them there.

Speaker 1 30:52

You know I have to work once a while what is it called 13 and utica, or 12 and?

Speaker 2 30:57

utica yeah, what's the name of that? But it's a scooter, it's stonewood, stonewood. But now it's um Some other bar because they so.

Speaker 1 31:07

Uncle Tommy died in that bar. He always said he was not going to live until he was 50. Right, he was 49. He drank his beer, took a shot back and then had a massive heart attack. Fell right off the stool.

Speaker 2 31:19

Died right during the bar.

Speaker 1 31:20

Died and he was a biker. What bike group was he from? He was at Hell's, Our Home. What bike group was?

Speaker 2 31:24

he from. He was at Hell's Our Home, hell's Our Home. I had our bike. I used to go to the clubhouse all the time.

Speaker 1 31:29

Yeah, we know what you boys did there.

Speaker 2 31:31

Well, I don't, it's me. My father-in-law and I went there a lot. Bob and Papa was bad. Yeah, uncle Tom, it got to the point he pulled my driveway with Aunt Sandy before he'd go to see his brother, because his brother's a piece of shit. Mom's dad, yeah, yeah, he was nasty.

Speaker 1 31:54

Them two always clashed, tommy Galloway and Bob Galloway so they used to call my mom's dad and her uncles. They used to call them the Galloping Galloways. They're from pretty much raised in the projects in Detroit.

Speaker 2 32:10

They were all raised in the projects and Uncle Tom, he was a biker, he was a hard ass butt. He was good at what he did, he was always superintendent, always had a good job, uncle Tom. In fact, if I didn't keep no light in my refrigerator, he'd pull my driveway, he'd cuss me out.

Speaker 1 32:28

You know what he told Mom, because you know, mom remember you guys tried getting pregnant. She couldn't, after Jason, right, she said she gave up. She just said I'll hell with it. She said I have one kid Because my dad wanted four kids.

Speaker 2 32:42

I wanted four because I raised a family of three, either two or four.

Speaker 1 32:46

Yeah, but you really wanted four and Mom told you to get fucked yeah, but then they couldn't.

Speaker 2 32:51

No, she didn't say that. She says besides getting fucked, she says you want four kids, you go find somebody else.

Speaker 1 32:56

Yeah, she said get fucked, go find someone else if you want four kids. So Jason, my brother, was born in, I was born in 88, and Jason was born in 83 or 84. Yeah, it comes out to be we're almost five years apart.

Speaker 2 33:11

Right, I think you're like four and a half years or whatever. I think it was like four and a half years or whatever, because when we were trying for another kid, in fact work was bad. Then your mother was working tackle bells yeah, and I was working anything I could get my hands on, yeah. In other words, I don't care if it was the office we were at all at night, I didn't care, I didn't get my hands on to get some cash and, yeah, it was a little tough. Then things got good.

Speaker 2 33:37

I went back to work union. When we come back here, I was making buku money because the union crew I was working for they changed the union rule. So what they did? Us older guys that knew what we were doing. I'd work Saturdays there all the time for cash and this was Union. And then after that, the foremen that were my bosses, they all said Cyborg, I mean, we were doing those what the heck do you call them when you rent storages, oh yeah, we were doing that. Storage units, oh yeah, we'd go there right after work.

Speaker 1 34:18

But before I came about, I was going to tell him the story about Uncle Tommy, Because Uncle Tommy was a biker and he was a colorful man with his language.

Speaker 2 34:25

Oh, he loved me.

Speaker 1 34:27

Well, he loved your grandma, grandma Carlson, right, he used to make fun of her. She loved it. That's what Mom always told me. Well, so my mom couldn't get pregnant and she gave up. And then, right so, uncle Tommy, what month did he die? July, right. Yeah, it was in the summer I don't know if it was July and it was the year before I was born. I was born in 88. He died in 87.

Speaker 2 34:48

Right and we had to fix it. So we went to Hosea Home, and that's where they had to.

Speaker 1 34:54

Well, the funeral, the damn funeral, it had to be I think two days. Oh, it wasn't. I'll tell you what, because there were so many bikers. And we still we have the VHS of his funeral. I gotta have Paul help me get it on the DVD, but anyways. So he died in July in 87. And he told my mom, because she was upset, upset, she wanted to have another baby and she couldn't. And he said um, you're gonna have a little girl, I'm sure of it, and she's gonna be a bigger bitch than you, than anyone you've ever met, she's gonna be tough and she's not gonna be a girly girl. And then mom found out she was, and you guys, I, she wasn't. When did she find out she was pregnant, if I was born in September? But I was conceived after Uncle Tommy died, after he told Mom that. So when was I conceived then, if I was born in September?

Speaker 2 35:46

Uh yeah, you were conceived a year. What?

Speaker 1 35:49

December, paul said December. So Uncle Tommy died in 87 in July. So August, september, october, november, december. I was conceived five months later. So uncle tommy died in 87 in july. So august, september, october, november, december. I was conceived five months later.

Speaker 2 36:01

Well they, I'll tell you that funeral did you hear that, though?

Speaker 1 36:04

that's crazy, right, he put a curse on you guys uncle tommy, they shut utica road down, yeah for a funeral procession.

Speaker 2 36:13

well, where was his funeral at? At that funeral home. If you take Utica to Gratiot, it's right there on the left. Caller One of them. Oh, that's by Sam's house. Well, uncle Tommy, you know he bought my grandma's house. Uncle Tommy and Sam, oh, by.

Speaker 1 36:34

My first real boyfriend, the asshole by his house, Canterbury. Oh, my Thirteen and a half. My first real boyfriend, the asshole by his house, oh yeah, Canterbury.

Speaker 2 36:38

Yeah, he lived right down the street. Nick, yeah, oh God, tricky Nick, nick. I remember trying to pull him out of his car one time and he rolled the windows up on me. I put a jank in his car. My dad went.

Speaker 1 36:49

My dad went I'm real boyfriend with a weed whip Me, mom and Christina, we're all fighting out there. Me and Christina were stoned out of our minds. I think my mom knew we were watching Oprah with Mom and me and Christina were just stoned as hell. And we hear you screaming and Mom runs outside and me and Christina go to go out the front door and my mom was like you girls stay inside, there's going to be a bloodbath. My dad went after him with a fucking weed whip and then Jack came out. You know the neighbor, your buddy, jack, yeah.

Speaker 2 37:24

Jack said, ted, it's not worth going to jail or something. Yeah, here comes Sterling. That's Kyle. I'm trying to yank his fucking head out of that window. I was trying to pull him out of his car, that little bitty car. Whatever it was, I don't remember. Let's just say he spread. I said I'm going to fuck you up right now.

Speaker 1 37:38

He spread some pictures of me all over my neighbor's lawns.

Speaker 2 37:43

Yeah, Nick was a real spoiled little bitch.

Speaker 1 37:46

And they were. I mean, I wasn't naked at that minute that they got. But you know, I was in a bathing suit, in my dress. Yeah, he had pictures of me changing that I did not know about. Yeah, and you know, what's fucked up is that Jack's daughter, jackie. Same thing happened to her.

Speaker 2 38:02

Oh yeah, oh Jack went bizarre.

Speaker 1 38:05

Isn't that crazy, though it happened to Jackie years before that it yeah, jack was the best neighbor we could ever have.

Speaker 2 38:11

Mm-hmm, we could have a pool party, you know Dad Gladys, you don't forget about Gladys.

Speaker 1 38:16

Gladys was like another grandma to me.

Speaker 2 38:17

Oh, I love Gladys.

Speaker 1 38:19

She had a slingshot, she'd shoot marbles at squirrels to get out of her garden.

Speaker 2 38:24

No, gladys was, and her husband was really nice.

Speaker 1 38:28

She had red hair I still kind of and she always had her muumuu on.

Speaker 2 38:38

In fact, yeah, you never saw her without her, right? Oh, I miss gladys. Me and jason used to go over there and uh, shovel snow and uh I said you know sharks want to pay me. So I told jason, go to dorset, pay you. I told jason, keep the money.

Speaker 1 38:48

Yeah, oh man those are the days so we grew up on I grew up on coachwood dad. Why don't you tell him how? That when you and Mom first moved back from Texas, that house was what that we grew up in. What was it? It was a hangout crackhead house.

Speaker 2 39:04

Yeah, a state house crackheads. And I found this out when we weren't close the kids both parents were dead. Kids were both dappled. They weren't even their natural kids, so that caused more bullshit Did the parents die in that house. See, the dad worked for a consumer.

Speaker 1 39:22

I think he died on a job and their mother might have died in that house and then you fixed it up and it's a good part of Sterling Heights, but it was just because the mom and dad died.

Speaker 2 39:34

Well, you know know I put a lot money in the house. But besides the point that they wanted uh 87.5 for that house, I paid 69,000.

Speaker 1 39:43

Wow you know, and it's worth 300,000 now yeah, yeah, it is.

Speaker 2 39:50

Uh, I had a praise that they said uh, they looked it up on the computer. Well, this, this was like five years ago, dad. Yeah, well, I just had it appraised again. Oh, and you know, shannon, yeah, yeah, yeah, they're asking $310 for that tri-level and they didn't get it because it's a lot of work but they got good money for it. They got about $295 for that house.

Speaker 1 40:13

And what?

Speaker 2 40:13

does your house go for? It's got to be around $295,000.

Speaker 1 40:19

And then our house. So we live five blocks from where I grew up on. We live on Stoner. I grew up on Coachwood.

Speaker 2 40:23

This house because it's a four-bedroom, it's probably worth every bit of $300,000.

Speaker 1 40:28

Yeah but then where are we?

Speaker 2 40:29

going to live. Well, I'm like you. What are you going to do? You want to go pay $1,500 for a mortgage rate because the interest rate's high? Hell, no, it's a rock. It's between a rock and a hard place. I'll do good on that house, but then when I want to sell it, I'm going to make sure you guys get some money.

Speaker 1 40:49

We don't need no money, dad, we want you to enjoy it. Dad, how old are you today? 73, right, right, you're 73. So you were born in 1951.

Legacy of Construction and Connections

Speaker 2 41:06

So from then to now. What do you think about the world today? What I think about it. It's complex. It's hard on a younger crowd like you guys, just for you got to pay for stuff, it's you know. And people say, well, I'm going to build a house. I tried to build a house over here and they wouldn't let me. I had to use a contractor. I said I'm a carpenter, I built my own house. Yeah, they wouldn't let me do it. My old soul man, I never seen her get that bad. She told that guy fuck you. And you wonder where I get my attitude from. Oh, yeah, I mean. I said what are you talking about? You know, you know what she says. You got to use our contractors. I said I got all my own electricians you're talking about karen.

Speaker 1 41:44

Karen back when you guys were going to build and build.

Speaker 2 41:47

She's a bitch yeah, your mother didn't like her either. No, she didn't. I mean, she's a good looking gal, but she's a she's a bitch. You can't, but she's a bitch. You can't build a house. What are you talking about? I'm paying cash for the lot. What do you mean? I can't build a house. You got to use our contract yeah, our people. I said come on, lady, this is what I've done my whole life. Well, I do, yeah.

Speaker 1 42:09

Dad also built beach houses. Beach houses, I mean God. You knew Bob Seger and his manager.

Speaker 2 42:16

Yeah, and he would piss me and Mama off. It was perfect for her because the ideal place for her to go to work, you know. And you know, I said Dan, that's the sub. And they had gosh, they probably had eight or ten lots in that sub that we looked at. You know, I told her pick the one you want, because I'm taking wing. I had no problem, I'll pay for the lot.

Speaker 1 42:38

Dad, did you build Bob Seger's beach house too?

Speaker 2 42:41

No, I built his Manager. Yeah, I built his manager. I talked to him on the phone.

Speaker 1 42:47

You also worked with Kid Rock.

Speaker 2 42:49

I worked with Kid Rock. He won his place. Who else did you work with? Seger's role manager?

Speaker 1 42:58

But you met Bob Seeger, you knew him. Yeah well, he's a Detroit boy. And uh, Kid Rock, who else?

Speaker 2 43:06

I'm trying to think of somebody else that we worked for, not Kid Rock, but uh, it wasn't Uncle Cracker, was it? No, I wish I would have, because we missed out on alan. God, he's out of mount clements, uh, where he was born and raised. I know it, but now, but uh, and then when he hooked up with uh, what was that other guy when he did that song together, that black guy? Uh, the kid rock no, or uncle cracker, yeah, uncle cracker teamed up with another oh, hootie and the Blowfish, right right.

Speaker 2 43:35

And they did that show. There's record. Yeah, yeah, that was Hootie and the Blowfish. But at that time he went on his own and he hooked up with Uncle Cracker and I was like these are all local people too.

Speaker 1 43:48

Yeah, who else? Ted Nugent too. He's local. What was he at?

Speaker 2 43:51

Did he do work for him? Was he up north? Yeah, Ted Nugent had places everywhere, but did we do it? I think we did a district for him up there, Not Elk Rapids, but up there right outside of Travis City. Because Elk Rapids I did a bunch of work there, it was 18 miles west of Travis City. I didk Rapids, I did a bunch of work there. It was 18 miles west of Travis City. I did a lot of work up there. Yeah, they had a lot of celebrities. Dennis sold the house for $325,000.

Speaker 1 44:26

At Patters Lake.

Speaker 2 44:28

No, at Elk Rapids. Oh wow, I remember driving that jet ski in November, you know, because we had to store it, Because you didn't want to leave it on a dock, because his leg was weird, because you had to walk all the long ways to get up to your waist, and then. So his jet ski was always there and his boat was always here, but you got to take him out of the water in the wintertime Because of the ice.

Travel Dreams and Past Adventures

Speaker 1 44:56

Yeah, the ice. It's like Papa's place, papa and Grandma's hey. Dad, would you ever want to go to Romania? No, no. No, I want to go to Romania.

Speaker 2 45:09

No, Supposedly Tracy, someone told me I think the Romanian side is actually from Transylvania yeah, I believe that those countries I don't know about now, you know, with Israel and all these other ones fighting, it's just been, you know, they're part communist and it's just a big cluster. Fuck I call. And then they built that big wall. Oh, it's all the crap, man, I ain't got no desire to go over there. I don't feel like getting shot.

Speaker 1 45:42

I want to go and try to find stuff about our ancestors and Sweden.

Speaker 2 45:47

If I go anywhere which I'm going to go before I die I'm going back to Belize and going back right over to Amherst Cain in Central America.

Speaker 1 45:56

I want to go to Belize 70 degrees all year round. So my dad also used to be a diver. I got my certified and what did you dive for? Barracudas, right.

Speaker 2 46:10

Yeah, well, barracudas, and we used to dive, for We'd be on a fishing boat and a lot of times we'd snorkel out, we wouldn't even pop our tanks on. We'd be on a fishing boat and a lot of times we'd snorkel out, we wouldn't even pop our tanks on and we'd get conk Conk's like a big, like a seashell, but you'd pull up this white meat and that's what you use for your bait, so we'd fish off that. Oh God, I you dived in Belize. I dived in Ambrose Cain've dived in Belize. I dived in Ambrose Cain. I dived in Belize. But from Belize you've got to take a puddle jumper over to this island called Ambrose Cain. Is it beautiful Paradise? You'd love it. You should go there. Oh man, all you do is walk around in a pair of shorts. They got what me and you call bars, but they're companions, they're just fast roots. Nice, that's it. They're going there and get a charge of beers like American money back then 25 cents, whatever they have. Go in there and eat.

Speaker 1 47:08

Well, that's how he blew out his eardrums. He was saving somebody right Diving. Yeah, I saved a gal.

Speaker 2 47:17

Oh, I thought it was a guy. No, it was a gal. I grabbed her fence.

Speaker 1 47:20

We were doing that. She got scared right Because the barracuda came out.

Speaker 2 47:23

Yeah, I got certified the night before for a night dive and everything by advance, and the next night you could free dive. But you obviously wasn't an instructor because I was already certified. We did a cave dive and we come out and a barracuda's looking right at her face, you know, like that, and she just freaked out and somehow she pulled her snorkel or her mask, you know, because oxygen coming in here and I caught her about 30 feet. I was about, I think it was about 30 feet. I caught her. That's why I blew my eardrum out. I caught her and tugged her. What do you call it down? Anyhow, when I got her up there she was fighting off, so I got blood running out of my ears, and your mouth too, and your nose.

Speaker 2 48:10

Mouth nose, blew her eardrum out. Did you blow both of them out? No, just the one. You're lucky you lived. I just got freaked out, got blood running down me. I got her. She just completely freaked out. She should have been down there. No, what pisses me off. Before you get certified, you've got to always have a diver certified down there with you, right, you know, like you do a cave dive you call it a ditch and dive. You've got to take your tanks off, you've got to go in this cave. I've got a light right back here and then you go through a cave and all these fish are coming up to you and all kind of weird shit. It was fun. The only mistake I made I should have run that underwater camera.

Speaker 1 48:55

The three pictures of that, but she kicked off the cave and then they came out.

Speaker 2 49:02

Yeah, she come out of the cave and just started flying her ass up there. You never go faster than your boat. No, yeah, I mean that's the rule. Because of pressure and the beer entry, I got a bar of fins. I entered down and I always had you got one in your mouth. You got an extra one and I pumped that in her mouth and held on to her, got her up, you know.

Speaker 1 49:22

so she's breathing oxygen she would have died the bariatric pressure too, if you go off too fast, that's what you got to watch and they teach you all that.

Speaker 2 49:31

Uh like, if you're down I think think I was down 65 feet, 70 feet, something like that but uh, if you go up fast in your bubbles, uh, you got problems. In other words, you blow out your drums, blow out your brain, whatever it's the pressure on your body. Yeah, but I caught her, I got, I got her fence.

Speaker 1 49:52

You've had an interesting life, yet You've lived a lot of places. Mom was a border hopper too, she. You've had an interesting life, yet you've lived a lot of places. Mom was a border hopper too.

Speaker 2 49:59

She lived cali, california, tennessee. Oh yeah, yeah, I I mean I'd like to go back there again, but I got, I gotta get checked because I got two bad ears. Well, now you got tubes in your ears. I got, uh, a tube in this one.

Speaker 1 50:11

Yeah, I do got two yeah, because I took, I took you to that last surgery.

Speaker 2 50:14

Yeah.

Speaker 1 50:16

That was painful, wasn't it?

Speaker 2 50:17

Yeah, it was no more painful than hip surgery, though, like I said, this one's done different. And this sucker still bothers me. I'm going to walk around in that breast my whole life. Yeah, you know, and this foot turned in.

Speaker 1 50:36

Why do you keep saying, before you die, You're not going nowhere? You know this foot turned in. Why do you keep saying, before you die, You're not going nowhere. You're in good shape. So you're 73. You beat your mom. You're going to well, you'll beat Grandma Carlson. You're starting to look like Grandma Carlson a little bit in the eyes. You can tell that you're related to her. Well, my mom died. At what? 57?.

Speaker 2 50:52

Right.

Speaker 1 50:53

My grandma died at 62, so I'll probably go. I don't know. I'm either gonna go younger or I'm gonna take after my dad.

Speaker 2 50:59

Well, Grandma Paul died. Young Grandma Carlson almost made it to 100. She was 98, right, yeah, 98. Dad died at 89.

Speaker 1 51:11

My father did, and uh you know just what do you think? Think I'm gonna uh go young like mom and grandma, or you think I'm gonna be more take after your side?

Speaker 2 51:23

you got my dreams I don't know.

Speaker 2 51:26

Either way, I'm okay, no, I'm like you. I mean just enjoy it while you can, that's's right. That's what I said. As soon as I uh get I got one, two, I got two more doctor appointments coming up I want to make sure I can dive and, uh, I like fly back into Bleach. I like taking you guys to Bleach, you'd love it. And then, uh, we take a puddle jumper over to Amherst Cane. You know one of them, prop jobs. Yeah, oh yeah, pirates probably smoked and windows were all open. That's awesome, I saw them smoke.

Speaker 2 51:59

I said, fuck this, I don't know what I'm going to do. Yeah, fuck it. Windows are open, Like I said, 70 degrees all year round, and then you know air conditioning and you know the rooms you stay in, Because they're all open. They're all open. They got a big old fan there.

Speaker 1 52:17

What's the bugs like there in Belize?

Speaker 2 52:19

Not bad. No, but the fishing is awesome. Paul would go crazy. You know they got the local yokels. They take you out on a boat and it's like a bar cabana Anything you catch, you bring it in. They'll fillet and cook it for you. Oh, wow, that's a lot. Fresh fish, oh, I want fresh crab. Oh, crab and lobster. You can get there too, but out of season the boat crabs are cool. You call them thingamajigs. Lobster. They make it any way you want it.

Speaker 1 52:59

But you say you've got to call them their thingamajigs. No, you've got to call them thingamajigs, yeah, thingamajigs, yeah.

Speaker 2 53:05

but when you bring the lobster in, take it to the restaurant.

Speaker 1 53:08

they know what it is. They cook it any way you want it.

Speaker 2 53:12

Why can't you say no, they got after season there.

Speaker 1 53:14

Oh, because, you'll get fined. Yeah, yeah, do they have monkeys there? Pardon me, do they have monkeys in Belize? Monkeys, yeah.

Speaker 2 53:23

No, but they got them, not monkeys, that's what they call them, lemurs, some they crawl around. I'm saying they don't bother you, but they're scary until you get there and you find out.

Speaker 1 53:34

Or are they? Is it like a primate?

Speaker 2 53:37

Yeah, and they crawl all around, crawl up the trees, but they don't bother you. Not koalas? No, it's not koalas, sloths, I'm trying to think. I have to look it up. Yeah, but it is the most nicest place you ever want to be and you know, like Alayah said, you're outside all the time. The only thing I put on is flip-flops or something to go into Cabanas, because they've got concrete floors and I mean, like I said, you need breakfast there. You get three scores a day, but a lot of times I blow off lunch because I'd be out fishing. Yeah, yeah, I mean it comes with the trip. Yeah, you get three meals a day there. Wow, fish, like the salads. Oh man, he said crunk salad, they call it. It's awesome, man. It's all white meat, all kind of veggies and, like I said, I get your huge salad. Sometimes, when I did stay out, it was raining or something. I wouldn't go.

Speaker 1 54:37

All right, you guys. So I'm actually looking it up right now. There is a bunch of different animals in Belize, but I think what my dad was trying to say. I think they're called it's either a tapir or a tapir, I don't know how you say that. It's T-A-P-I-R. Very strange looking. They kind of look like an armadillo and then there's an agoti. So this is looks like a bigger squirrel and there's plenty of birds. Obviously there is wild cats that are beautiful. They're called margays, one of the world's most highly adapted cat species for climbing trees.

Speaker 1 55:29

Let me see Monkeys and bleeds Now that we're talking about this. I didn't get a chance earlier to look this up because Paul and I oh, they do they have Mexican spider monkeys and so they have a Mexican spider monkey. They have black-handed spider monkeys Aw, those are cute and a black howler. A black howler kind of looks a little bit like a chimp to me. It's among the largest New World monkeys and a member of the Aluata genus. And a member of the Aluata genus, the black howler is distributed in areas of South America such as southern Brazil, eastern Bolivia, northern Argentina and I don't know how to say that name, but anyways, I just figured I would look that up and tell you guys. So there is monkeys in Belize. Let's get the recording back.

Speaker 2 56:33

While fishing and the rain lasts about a whole hour.

Speaker 1 56:38

That's it. What kind of dressing did you have on your salad there?

Speaker 2 56:42

What did they give you? They had a. Then you got to remember. It's hard on the gay people, like the one football player I watched on ESPN. It's hard on the gay people, like the one football player I watched In ESPN. He said when he came out of the closet, the whole team was right behind him Owner and company too.

Speaker 1 57:02

It should be that way.

Speaker 2 57:04

Yeah, and one of my nephews.

Speaker 1 57:07

Or a niece or something told me they were gay.

Speaker 2 57:09

I'd say but you know, so we were talking about Pride.

Speaker 1 57:10

Month too. If one of my nephews or niece or something told me they were gay, I'd say Well, Brad.

Speaker 2 57:11

Brackett's been gay forever.

Family Memories and Health Conversations

Speaker 1 57:11

But you know, like Vinny, so we were talking about Pride Month too, and I do say in here that I'm happy to grow up in a family where my parents were not very judgmental, like they wanted us to accept everyone. It wasn't weird Like my parents had gay friends. Don't know how Pride Month got brought up, but um, anyways, I think, because we were talking about my, my grandpa, my mom's dad was kind of um extremely rude about that. So, yeah, so if you guys are wondering, that's that's what this is about, um again, uh, my dad's like one of the most nonjudgmental people there are. Um, mom, like I said, she had gay friends at work. So again, I'm very, very happy that I grew up in a family that was accepting of everyone. So let's pull it back to the last part, because we were just mumbling on here. One said come and carry me down the stairs when I have.

Speaker 1 58:09

Hey Dad, right now, I mean, Dad, you're on the podcast. This is just voice. No one can see you. He looks not even older than 65, 64 years old. He's got a full head of hair, full beard. Come here, you've got a piece of hair hanging from your nose. Isn't that bothering you? Not yet, and you move around still pretty well.

Speaker 2 58:32

If it wasn't for your hair healing, I mean, you'd be fine. Really, the left one's fine, it's just this right one, and I saw the x-rays. They did what. When I get there, I'll let you know. Do you believe in ghosts? Do you think that there's ghosts? Yeah, probably there is. Uh, what's your opinion? Well, I watched that. Uh, what the hell's that program got that on there, uh like the paranormal tv stuff yeah, the paranormal. And uh, there's one other one. God, I can't think of it now it's on netflix.

Speaker 2 59:07

Oh gosh, paranormal caught on camera yeah, something like that, and you can believe some of it At least I do from what you're showing the cameras.

Speaker 1 59:16

I should show you some of my evidence. You think it would freak you out.

Speaker 2 59:19

Ah, yes or no. Sometimes you don't want to know what the future holds. Other times you do, other times you do, but now generally all around, I've been very fortunate. I've had good surgeons and I'd recommend them to anybody Good, he's still here, still cooking. Yeah, dr Ryan, he's my man.

Speaker 1 59:40

Yeah, he's a young doctor too, he's good he is.

Speaker 2 59:44

He's really good at surgeries. Oh hell, he's done my elbow.

Speaker 1 59:47

Yeah, he's a young doctor too. He's good, he is, he's really good at surgeries.

Speaker 2 59:52

Oh hell, he's done my elbow, he's done my shoulder, he's done both my hips. What else did he do he?

Speaker 1 59:58

had a hernia too. I thought he did. Oh, did he do my gallbladder?

Speaker 2 1:00:06

No, he didn't do my gallbladder, my heart surgery. He did a hell of a job. Like I said, I've been fortunate. You know, my chest is not scarred up like so no you, he barely has a scar.

Speaker 1 1:00:19

It's so thin like you can. You can barely tell he had whole arm, whole open heart surgery.

Speaker 2 1:00:24

Yeah, boom, I stopped touching. Grew them back together, put a cage in yeah, they pop the ribs open, yeah, they cut them, yeah. And then they grew them back and together put a cage in yeah, they pop the ribs open, yeah, they cut them, yeah. And then they groom back and then they put this cage, yep, and then they throw you back up?

Speaker 1 1:00:37

Yeah, he's completely healed, completely healed, he healed. You started healing in five days, thank you. So that's how my skin is too. I got your skin. We got very thick.

Speaker 2 1:00:47

We have like leatherish skin yeah, you know, I said I have that's the native and the romanian yeah, but you ain't gonna hear me complain about nothing. I've been very fortunate, I've had good surgeons and you know I recommend uh mark to anybody, anybody dan, when I start ordering merch for my podcast, you're gonna wear one of my shirts.

Speaker 1 1:01:08

Yeah, absolutely strange, deranged beyond insane. You like that name? Yeah, strange things and flying machines. No, that's not what it's called strange things and flying machines. He said what's it called strange, deranged beyond insane?

Speaker 2 1:01:21

yeah, I've got what's it cost? I'll pay you for it.

Speaker 1 1:01:25

You're not gonna pay me for it. They don't get you a shirt. Look at, let me want to see my logo. I don't know why this is taking so long see the logo oh oops, hold on.

Speaker 2 1:01:45

I'm gonna say I'll get new glasses, but they ain't in yet here, here it is what do you think? Oh yeah, give me that one.

Speaker 1 1:01:54

You like that? Yeah, I'll pay for a shirt. You're not paying me, dad. I see strange, strange beyond insane, but your name would have been cool. What was it my? What's your name? What you were just saying?

Speaker 2 1:02:15

Strange things and flying machines. Yeah, and I'm a taurus, taurus, taurus. And then, uh, what do these call me the bull? Well, I got that on my arm, but, uh, these call me, uh mcm, because it's that ninja on my back, my uniform mcm.

Speaker 1 1:02:28

Motor city madman. Motor city madman, that's your name. So the motor city madman, yeah, that's all my uniform, mcm. Oh god, all right, you guys, I know this was like a longer episode and we were just chatting about everything. Now my dad and I, um, were talking about, we were talking about, like the freemasons and the Mason. I was telling them how I got to go to a building a couple of times in Indiana Excuse me the Masonic Lodge. And he knew a lot of guys down in Houston, texas, that were like Baptists in Texas, that were like Baptist, and he was telling me that they were affiliated with the KKK. And I was like what? And he's like, oh, yeah, well, I actually looked it up and they were affiliated in the 1920s. So the Masons and the KKK. So that will be a separate episode. So that will be a separate episode. And I did like I said, I looked it up and my dad said that even the newer generation, some of them, still believed in that. So that will be an episode. I'm going to give Carissa a project to add into her cult episodes. I think that would be really interesting cult episodes. I think that would be really interesting.

Speaker 1 1:03:55

So, yeah, my dad and I, our relationship at times are. It's a little estranged, right, because with my mom passing away and he's had this girlfriend for many years now and you know it started off really positive and good with them. She's had a lot of health issues and has, you know, really really dragged him down but he's starting to see now, getting older, like he just she's miserable and he's not and they're more. You know they're just friends now. You know he, she doesn't, she doesn't drive, so he drives her around. My dad has had a lot of health issues in the last five years. There were a few times that we thought we were saying bye and that we weren't. You know he was, that was going to be his last day, um, so I'm very happy he's still here but I hope to see him live the rest of his years out. Um, you know, and be happy and stop letting you know these people around him drain him and bring him down.

Speaker 1 1:04:50

So part of this podcast I was actually recording for, like, own, my own personal reasons, but I figured you know why not put this on here? Because my dad is suffering some memory loss in this private buddy, maybe like a year, year and a half now. So this is kind of like um, like a small little documentary of him. Um, and I'm going to interview him some more Um, they took him off his one pills to help him with um, the memory loss, because he was losing weight. He loses weight, um, very easy. He's very like thin now, but I guess they came out with a new pill that he'll be able to get onto or, you know, start taking and I'm I'm hoping that that happens soon because there's a few parts that I had to skip over because he does repeat himself quite a bit and that does run on his side of the family dementia and since I was little and all the concussions and times I've cracked open my head.

Speaker 1 1:06:00

I've always, I always just felt like I was going to end up like his grandma, grandma Carlson, with I don't mean to laugh, but like she was very nice as she was older in the nursing home. She just smiled, you know, with her co-fiddle glasses. She never knew where she was, but she was always happy. Now my older brother remembers our Grandma Carlson being a little mean. Again, I was a lot younger than Jason, so I don't remember her being like that. It was fun for me to go to the nursing homes. I remember playing bingo and, just, you know, being able to eat candy.

Speaker 1 1:06:34

But that's also a reason why I wanted to have a podcast because, god forbid, if I ever have that issue of memory loss because it does run in the family I want to be able to look back and, you know, listen to all these memories and experiences. So not only is it getting out there publicly by uploading these episodes, we also save everything on hard drives. So, yes, that was quite interesting today and, like I said, I mean you guys can hear my dad has lived a very interesting life. My mom lived a pretty interesting life too, and her parents and my dad's parents, and you know it's, it's nice being able to still talk about these things, because I don't have a lot of family members left Right and had I started, I started this documentation or, you know, podcast years ago.

Speaker 1 1:07:37

There were so many more questions Like my great-great-aunt that was like played baseball when the war broke out. You know, like the movie A League of their Own, she was one of those and she played softball. And you know, um, my aunt Patty, my other great aunt, she was a golfer. Um, there are just so many people that I would love to interview and I wish I would have started this a long time ago. But, um, you can always learn something new from your elders and, like I said, it was very interesting hearing him talk about. I didn't want to put that on here because I'm still looking up information, but it was confirmed today from what I read up on, that the KKK and the Masons were affiliated. So again, that will be another episode. But hey, thank you guys for listening and tune in for some more.