Julie Kershner: Emotional Conversations on Real Estate and Life

Join me for an emotional and insightful episode with Julie Kershner, a luxury real estate specialist who divides her time between Wyoming and Cabo. Julie shares her career journey, personal stories, and the significant life events that have shaped her resilient spirit. From recounting her time in Mexico and the challenges of the real estate market to touching personal moments, Julie opens up about her relationship with her late fiancé and their unique connection beyond life. Don't miss this heartfelt conversation filled with wisdom, laughter, and life lessons.

00:00 Introduction to Julie Kershner
01:03 Julie's Real Estate Journey
01:58 Life in Cabo and Wyoming
04:56 Challenges and Rewards of Real Estate in Mexico
07:19 Navigating Legalities and Building Relationships
11:08 Personal Stories and Experiences
14:17 Weathering the Storms
22:35 Resilience and Adaptability
28:35 Reflecting on Life Lessons
29:18 A Heartbreaking Loss
30:34 Connecting Beyond the Grave
33:16 Birthday Surprises and Signs
38:50 Cherished Friendships and Traditions
48:16 Unfinished Business and Hard Lessons
54:30 Final Thoughts and Wisdom

To view Julie's Los Cabos properties, or connect with Julie Kershner:
https://cabosanlucashomesforsale.net/
Loscabosluxuryhomes.com

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Intro

[00:00:37] Penny Fitzgerald:  Julie Kershner is a cousin on my husband's side. Her dad is my mother in law's brother. We've always hit it off at family reunions and enjoyed talking to each other. Julie's a luxury property specialist in Cabo and goes back and forth between Mexico and Wyoming where she grew up. Early in our conversation, her dad returns her call.

[00:00:55] I was going to edit that out, but it was sweet to witness their connection and also to reminisce about the relationship I had with my dad when he was still alive. Julie shares with us her memories of her real estate career and life in Cabo 20 ish years ago. We chat about storms and I share how frightening it was to be in the very wide path of the 2020 derecho.

[00:01:14] Julie also gives a personal recount of losing her fiancé and finding closure following his death. She takes comfort in close girlfriends. We all need those and I'm grateful for those in my life. Here is Julie Kershner.

[00:01:29] ​

[00:01:29] Julie Kershner: Good morning. How are you? 

[00:01:35] Penny Fitzgerald: I'm 

[00:01:35] Julie Kershner: good. How are you? Good. Thank you. Do you have a glass of bubbles? I have I have a glass of coffee. I had my coffee. I was really thinking and kind of nervous. I'd like bubbles. You can have bubbles!

[00:01:48] I don't have a bottle here, so I just put it on my shopping list.

[00:01:54] Yes. That's good to have on hand. Yeah.

[00:02:00] Where are you? Where are you today? Well, I am. I'm going to just point you in this direction. 

[00:02:06] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, 

[00:02:07] Julie Kershner: Wyoming. 

[00:02:09] Penny Fitzgerald: Wyoming. Yeah, it doesn't look like Cabo. No. beautiful, isn't it? It is gorgeous. Yes. Oh, how long do you get to stay? 

[00:02:20] Julie Kershner: Um, I might go back for a week and a couple of weeks.

[00:02:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. You 

[00:02:25] Julie Kershner: know, to tell you the truth, this is stupid, but I miss my cats. Oh, that's not stupid. Well, my son comes up and he's known the cats for as long as they've been alive. So it's not like it's a problem for them to have him there, but he comes up and just spends the night. Then he leaves and, you know, he goes back to his place or does whatever he does.

[00:02:45] But, um, I do miss them. I'm not 

[00:02:50] Penny Fitzgerald: here to judge because I had cats for a long time and. Yeah, there's nothing like, um, when you come home and having them like, Oh, just come to greet you and yeah, be so happy to see you.

[00:03:02] Julie Kershner: Well, I mean, if they are snobby, you just understand that that's the way they are. 

[00:03:08] Penny Fitzgerald: And it doesn't mean 

[00:03:09] Julie Kershner: anything. You can't take offense. Exactly. 

[00:03:11] Penny Fitzgerald: They're selective. 

[00:03:12] Julie Kershner: Yeah. You know, really, we should be more like them. 

[00:03:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes. 

[00:03:17] Julie Kershner: And, you know, we don't want to talk to someone, you know, just put your hands out and say, yeah, not today.

[00:03:22] Not right now. Yeah. Anyway, 

[00:03:26] Penny Fitzgerald: exactly. So, so tell, tell us a little bit about. about you. You are right now in Wyoming and also have a home, a lovely home in Cabo.

[00:03:37] Speaker 3: You 

[00:03:37] Julie Kershner: know, yeah, my life is a bit, maybe flux is a good word. Yeah. Part of its age and circumstances, but you know, I've been in real estate for 30 years.

[00:03:49] I, um, when I was living in Seattle, I got my real estate license and, um, I was married to an airline pilot. So we were traveling a lot, you know, just for free 

[00:04:01] and 

[00:04:02] we kind of stumbled upon Cabo accidentally because we'd been there once on a cruise and it was in the middle of a storm and the water was brown, if you can even imagine.

[00:04:11] It was ugly. So, um, but so then we went back and at the time it was beautiful and we decided we liked it a lot. And. You know, I'm living in a house in Seattle, a nice house, but surrounded by trees. You can't see anything. It's always dreary It's always a little misty and I just thought why I have a house with a pool and a view in Mexico, why am I there?

[00:04:34] I and so I went down there and started working down there about 24 years ago. 

[00:04:41] Penny Fitzgerald: Uh huh. 

[00:04:41] Julie Kershner: So I've lived down there full time for 24 years. Wow. And yeah, I opened the Sotheby's office there in 2008 and and I stepped back from management. Um, time goes by so quickly. I don't know, four years ago, maybe. Okay. And, um, so, and I mostly sell luxury real estate and 

[00:05:01] Penny Fitzgerald: fun.

[00:05:02] Not always fun, you know, I've, I've, I've interviewed several realtors now and they all say, That, you know, you see the glamorous side, the social media posts that you see are like this old sign and the happy buyers and everyone's happy. But someone recently pointed out to me, I think it was Beth Matthews.

[00:05:20] She's a realtor in Buffalo, New York. Um, That it's just, you know, usually people are buying or selling real estate after a life event. And sometimes those life events are not that happy. 

[00:05:33] Julie Kershner: Oh, it's true. Well, and mine's totally different. I did sell in Seattle for a few years and that was real normal. You know, you have to move in because the kids are starting school or, you know, I got transferred.

[00:05:45] That doesn't happen in Cabo. Those are all second home purchases. They're all people with, with, um, disposable income. We don't have financing, so they have money. Wow. Um, so, and it's fun. And well, recently, there hasn't been much in the way of inventory, but a lot of times there's kind of a lot to choose from.

[00:06:09] And it's really fun. It really is fun. And then a lot of times. You're the only person they know down there because you spend a lot of time with them and, um, and then, and then as, as they're there and they're settling in and then they do meet people. And so you take a set kind of a backseat, but, you know, you've built a pretty good .

[00:06:31] bond with them. And so you do, you know, go to dinner with them occasionally. And so the, you're building more friendships, I think, then you do like on a transfer situation. So I kind of, that's probably one of my favorite things about it is that. you know, they have, they have somebody 

[00:06:49] Penny Fitzgerald: and they probably come to rely on you because you're showing them around.

[00:06:53] They're not used to the area. They call me 

[00:06:55] Julie Kershner: for everything. 

[00:06:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:06:57] Julie Kershner: Initially. Then they learn the ropes, but yeah, initially they do. Who do I go to for the dentist and who cuts your hair and simple stuff. Right. But, you know, you like a haircut, you don't want to just go to anybody. Yeah, most of us don't. 

[00:07:16] Penny Fitzgerald: No. Wow.

[00:07:19] So how did you learn how, I mean, you, you got licensed in Mexico then, right? Well, I am licensed in Mexico, but 

[00:07:27] Julie Kershner: I'll explain that, but I initially got licensed in Seattle. in Washington. Started there and then. Uh huh. And then I did go down there and there wasn't any requirements. And to be perfectly honest, we really still don't have any requirements.

[00:07:40] Um, we, we tried and we ended up getting some legislation. Um, but it's more of a registration than a licensing. And people like to call it licensing, but there's no education required. Oh, so it's, it's, it's a registration. 

[00:08:01] Penny Fitzgerald: So be careful who you choose if you're buying a property in Mexico. 

[00:08:04] Julie Kershner: When I was. Well, I think that's true anywhere.

[00:08:07] Truthfully, you want to check them out. But, um, when, uh, when we first started and it was, it was, we were like in its infancy, it was really starting to grow. We only had 200 agents and even out of the 200, maybe 25 were licensed and had the education from the States or Canada. 

[00:08:27] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. So 

[00:08:28] Julie Kershner: we actually took a pretty, pretty, um, important role, I think.

[00:08:32] In getting everybody kind of on the same page and that we don't try and steal other people's clients and we show up and we're set say we're going to show up. We don't have key boxes because people just come to Cabo. Sometimes it's just running and we cannot. We cannot just let people into homes. So for the last 24 years, if somebody wants to see my listing, unless they're a friend, I've done business with them, they'll come by and I'll give them the key.

[00:09:05] otherwise I'm meeting them there. 

[00:09:07] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

[00:09:09] Julie Kershner: So it's, you know, that's just an extra burden. And truthfully it's, it's more difficult to schedule showings because you're working with maybe five other agents and you all have to work the schedule out and depending on traffic, that's sometimes a nightmare, but it's, it is a bit of a challenge, but we can't with 2000 agents, most of them, and this is just really honest.

[00:09:33] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm hmm. 

[00:09:34] Julie Kershner: A lot of them are younger people that are down there to get high and surf, get high and fish. Seriously, make a few bucks so they can afford to live there. Yeah, they're not in it for the long haul. Yeah, and that's disappointing but because and any of your real estate agents that happen to hear that they're gonna know that all of those people do chip away.

[00:09:58] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, yeah. So, yeah. 

[00:10:00] Julie Kershner: And truthfully, depending on what they say, because they're not knowledgeable, it may scare a real prospect away and thinking, wow, dodged a bullet there. I'm not buying, I'm not buying down there because it really is safe. And, but you know, it's, it's hard to start after, you know, you're on your back foot because they've had a bad experience with someone already.

[00:10:22] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. Right. So they're a little nervous. Uh huh. I'm sure. Yeah. Well, it's a big purchase anyway. So, and it's all cash. Wow. 

[00:10:33] Julie Kershner: Yeah. And people then, you know, another thing agents do, especially the ones that aren't experienced, they'll somehow hook up with someone and they won't ask them any qualifying questions like, okay, by the way, we don't have any financing.

[00:10:48] So do you have a pot of gold? Because I cannot call her because she is going to rip me a new one. If you walk in and say, Oh, there's no financing. And she's just changed her whole schedule around when you're not even a qualified client. 

[00:11:04] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

[00:11:04] Julie Kershner: So it's, it is challenging. 

[00:11:08] Can we pause this one? Sure. Sure. It's my dad. He didn't answer. Oh, dad. Hey, hey, can I call you back? You forgot the phone, right? Okay. I'll call you back. Okay. Bye. We talk every morning, but he's gotten into a bad habit of leaving his phone plugged in by his bed and he goes out into his living room and he knows I'm always going to call him, but I think he gets involved in watching the grit channel and then he forgets.

[00:11:38] So I'm calling, calling, calling. He's watching rodeos. He is. And I left him a message and I said, I'm going to be on a podcast with Penny, so don't call me. Cause he didn't listen to his message. So anyway, 

[00:11:52] Penny Fitzgerald: just edit that out. I will. That's okay. That's okay. We, we take, we take dad's call. 

[00:11:58] Julie Kershner: Well, we have to, you know, I mean, you lost your dad a 

[00:12:03] Penny Fitzgerald: few 

[00:12:03] Julie Kershner: years ago?

[00:12:04] Penny Fitzgerald: Uh, in 19, just before the pandemic. Yeah. Yeah. But that, you know, I had him, I'm so fortunate to have had him for almost 103 years. Yeah. as something. Well that will be 

[00:12:14] Julie Kershner: 89 this year. And you know, moving into this house, he um, he came down. He'll stay with me, I bring a seat up and he's kind of got his own room and his own bathroom.

[00:12:26] But, um, he helped me hang paintings. We put up blinds. He really was very helpful. 

[00:12:33] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. I 

[00:12:34] Julie Kershner: think it kind of, it was really good for me because I wanted an extra set of hands. But I think it made him feel very comfortable. Needed. 

[00:12:41] Penny Fitzgerald: I bet. Yes. Yeah. No, that's so sweet. Yeah. No, well tell him. Hi. Okay. I will when I call him back.

[00:12:51] Okay. Thank you. Sure. Sure. So, um, let's see, we were talking about Cabo and how it's all cash. So financing isn't even a an option. 

[00:13:03] Julie Kershner: You know what you can. And having said that, of course, you can do owner financing. And I don't know if you were at my house in Palmier or not. I don't remember. I'm not sure. You might have 

[00:13:13] Penny Fitzgerald: been.

[00:13:14] I was at a home. I'm not sure which one. Well, was it on a golf course? Uh, I think so. Yes. It was at night, so we didn't see it, but 

[00:13:22] Julie Kershner: yeah, um, cause I actually sold that on a contract to a really wealthy woman, but she had like a lot of money coming in monthly cause she had sold, sold a shopping mall and so she put a good amount down and then I just carried her for four years.

[00:13:37] Oh. And you know, the nice thing about this, and again, it's, Well, if you do a land contract, it's the same in Mexico as it is in the States, you're still in title. And if they don't pay, it's still your land or your home. So it's not, it's not a bad way to sell a house. especially in her instance, she, I don't know if she probably had a pot full of money that she just didn't want to part with.

[00:14:06] So she paid me a lot of money on a monthly basis. Okay. And that worked out great. So there is some financing. 

[00:14:12] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Yeah. Just creative. Yes. Yeah. So what's it like to work in Mexico? Frustrating 

[00:14:23] Julie Kershner: and really fun. Yeah. And I mean, you, you can build some amazing relationships even with other agents. Um, and certainly with your clients.

[00:14:35] So, but it's really frustrating because first there's a language barrier and then Cabo's a super expensive area. Um, so there's a whole bunch of have nots. And then, you know, a few haves of the Mexican people and actually they're pretty, the haves are even really nice. The have nots are super nice. Uh huh.

[00:14:57] And when I say have nots, they have a lot. They have families. I mean, they have a lot of love down there. Yeah. It really, it's It's an amazing country. It really is. But so many, there are so many challenges. Sometimes you just want to hit your head against the wall because, and they come up with real dumb ideas and you're just like, that doesn't make sense.

[00:15:19] But that's the way it is. 

[00:15:21] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Anyway, yeah, are you, are you comfortable sharing any stories about how you used to, I remember talking with you when we were down there about you would get pulled over a lot in the beginning. Oh, I did. But you know, that's fixable. Anything 

[00:15:38] Julie Kershner: is fixable down there. That's a really good thing.

[00:15:40] But it took cash, right? Well, it is cash, but not a lot of cash. So I had a little white BMW convertible. Uh huh. And I would. drive to the airport to pick up, you know, my boyfriend, probably Garth. And, um, I would get stopped every time at the airport, every time they'd want to look in my car. I wouldn't let them.

[00:16:03] And, but because, you know, I just don't want somebody plying around and maybe leaving something in my car. Right. Yeah. So, but, you know, it was so annoying. And I never, ever paid them a penny, but I was, it probably happened seven or eight times. And finally, one of my agents was really good friends with the commandant for the Federales and the airport was one of his areas.

[00:16:27] And I said, You know would you give me his cell number and he goes, so then he got back to me and he goes, you know what, he he'll give you his cell number, but he wants to meet you for breakfast tomorrow at Applebee's, which is right across from my office. So I said, fine, I'll buy him breakfast. And he shows up with like seven or eight officers.

[00:16:46] And I bought them all breakfast and, um, I just said, you know, if I'm, if I'm speeding, I am not calling you. It's if I know I'm doing something wrong, I'm not calling you, but if they're just hassling me, I'd love to be able to pick up the phone and call you. It happened twice afterwards and, and they just stopped me like that.

[00:17:06] And I said, And I'm dialing him and I said, hi, I'm at the airport and he goes, let me pass, pass them the phone. And man, it's still, he took care 

[00:17:18] Penny Fitzgerald: of it. Wow. What do you attribute the stops to? I mean, why were they stopping you? 

[00:17:23] Julie Kershner: Hustling me and probably thinking if they scared me a bit, I'd give them some 

[00:17:27] Penny Fitzgerald: money 

[00:17:29] Julie Kershner: because everybody does, especially foreigners.

[00:17:32] They do. 

[00:17:33] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. And you, you don't look Hispanic. 

[00:17:37] Julie Kershner: No, I don't. And actually my Spanish is improving a lot. However, um, I, all of the Facebook posts and because, you know, you could be driving up the Baja and get stopped. They don't know who you are and they don't know that you're friends with Commodante Ruby. So, um, and, and basically you can get out of it with cash.

[00:18:00] So they talk about just leave a little bit in your wallet so that you open it up, you know, you have 20 or whatever equivalent and, and, um, So it does still happen and it shouldn't happen, but people are always, you know, if you're heading up or down the Baja, you're always in a hurry to get to your destination.

[00:18:20] The last thing you want to do is go to the police station because maybe you were speeding or maybe you ran a stop sign. And, um, and truthfully, the officers don't want you to go to the station because they have to go, they have to make up paperwork. They'd rather just get 20 bucks from you, right? It's a, it's kind of, it's not a good system.

[00:18:43] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. That is fascinating though. I mean that, that it stopped and that you were able to take care of it like that. 

[00:18:50] Julie Kershner: I love that. I really, really love that. And then the officers that I would see, and I would just know them. Yeah, and one of the officers. This is, this is heartbreaking. He was so nice. And unfortunately, I'm, I'm embarrassed to say, I can't remember his name, but he ended up getting transferred to Mexico City 

[00:19:07] Speaker 3: and got shot there.

[00:19:08] Julie Kershner: Oh no. Yeah. And got killed. And he was so kind to me. This was several years ago. Uh huh. They're, I mean, they're all in all. Lovely, lovely people and trying to eke out a living. 

[00:19:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. Right. Yeah. Well, I remember when we were down there and it was gosh, years back. Yeah, it's been a few years and it was 

[00:19:33] Julie Kershner: on 

[00:19:33] Penny Fitzgerald: New Year's Eve.

[00:19:34] If you 

[00:19:34] Julie Kershner: recall. 

[00:19:35] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes. It was. Oh my gosh. It was so pretty. It was beautiful outside. We, yeah, we stayed, um, what was the name of the community? We stayed Cabo San. Well, no, you 

[00:19:47] Julie Kershner: said San Jose del Cabo. 

[00:19:49] Penny Fitzgerald: San Jose. Okay. Um, yes. Okay. And it was so safe. I mean, I remember we, um, stayed a few extra days and, uh, walked around.

[00:20:00] I walked by myself several times. 

[00:20:03] Julie Kershner: Oh 

[00:20:03] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah. And it was completely safe. Yeah, a lot of, um, Americans expats there. Oh, for 

[00:20:10] Julie Kershner: sure. Or Canadians. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, for sure. I've been out kind of in the barrios and barrio, the word actually is neighborhood. But when, when we sort of refer to it, it's kind of the poor area.

[00:20:22] But you go out there sometimes for there might be a lumber yard out there and you need to go out and get something or whatever. And I remember one time, something happened to my car. I have no experience with fixing cars. And so I'm pulled over and I think this guy must have been following me and he realized.

[00:20:42] I was having an issue and I honestly don't remember what it was, but he got out and he did a little bit of tinkering, fixed my car. Wow. I mean, they are 

[00:20:53] Penny Fitzgerald: so, and they want to help. They always want to help. Oh my gosh. I think that would have freaked me out though. If I knew somebody was a little 

[00:20:59] Julie Kershner: bit scary, but I'm in the middle of this very, very poor neighborhood and He was so nice.

[00:21:06] And, you know, you just make do with the language barriers. Uh, I don't have those issues anymore. That's great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're wonderful people. Yeah, 

[00:21:19] Penny Fitzgerald: absolutely. I just, um, You know, I think in the States, if I've had somebody following me, I think I would be nervous and I 

[00:21:26] Julie Kershner: think they were just behind me.

[00:21:28] Not 

[00:21:28] Penny Fitzgerald: necessarily. Oh, they weren't. You didn't witness them and they 

[00:21:31] Julie Kershner: realized, I don't know. Maybe my tire went flat. I don't remember. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:21:37] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I don't remember what 

[00:21:39] Julie Kershner: it was, but they fixed it right away. And that's happened to me a couple of times. And then you see them later and you're always waving to them then.

[00:21:48] Wow. Yeah. No, it's honestly, it's, it really is. They're lovely people. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Good cooks. Funny. Yes. They love to laugh. Love their family. Uh huh. And not everything's, you know, hearts and roses, of course. 

[00:22:05] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. Like anywhere. 

[00:22:07] Julie Kershner: Yeah. 

[00:22:07] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Well, we had a great time there. And just. I know we had five, we lived like the locals for, for like three or four days.

[00:22:13] We were right in the square and, um, you know, walked around breakfast. That's not living like 

[00:22:18] Julie Kershner: the locals. 

[00:22:19] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, , like the local gringo . Yeah. 

[00:22:23] Julie Kershner: Like the local gringo. Yeah, yeah, 

[00:22:26] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah. We, we met some Canadians and, um, some other Americans and we're having breakfast there. But yeah, it was, it was nice. 

[00:22:32] Julie Kershner: It really is. And our weather's beautiful most of the time.

[00:22:35] And by the way, I'll take a hurricane any day over one of your tornadoes. 

[00:22:40] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh. There have been so many 

[00:22:41] Julie Kershner: lately. You know, we get a week's warning and then we just follow it step by step by step for a week. Yeah. We have tons of notice. We have protection. You know, maybe we might lose landscaping, but we're not even losing windows anymore.

[00:22:57] And we have a concrete house. 

[00:22:59] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh. So it's not going anywhere. We may 

[00:23:01] Julie Kershner: lose power, but you guys lose the whole house. 

[00:23:04] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, yeah. Yeah. Hurricanes are like being stalked by a turtle. It's, but you don't get any notice. Yeah, the, the, the tornadoes. We had a derecho just a few days ago, and that's like, it's kind of, some people have been calling it like a land hurricane, but you don't get notice for them.

[00:23:27] They're okay. So you had water. Well, well, there's some rain. You get, you get rain usually with a tornado, but it's the wind is the damaging part and that, you know, if that takes out a window and then you get rain, it can be additional damage inside your 

[00:23:41] Julie Kershner: house. Yeah. 

[00:23:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. But this derecho came and it was, well, in 2020, we had a derecho come through Iowa.

[00:23:49] It was, I think, 400 miles wide. So almost the entire state and I think it lasted 700 and some miles long and we were right in the middle of part of it and you know, some people and I was watching social media and it would prediction was for storms. So you could expect tornadoes. You could expect.

[00:24:12] Thunderstorms, but I was watching social media and some friends in Ames were like, get ready. Those of you east of us, this thing's a monster. And we saw this wall cloud coming towards us very slowly. What is that? You know, we'd never seen anything like it. And all of a sudden it hit us. And, you know, normally Iowans were pretty resilient.

[00:24:33] We go out and watch the storm coming in, you know, so we go out to our patio and we're watching it. And all of a sudden it was like, Oh, this is different. This is different. So I'm getting goosebumps even thinking about it. It was so scary. We come in and the house starts shaking. I've never felt anything like it.

[00:24:50] we go to the front of the house and we're like watching and all of a sudden the windows are like starting to shake. We need to get to the basement. So we go down there and the whole house was just shaking. Rain was coming in those basement windows and we were looking outside and the trees, our big trees, were dipping down and touching the ground and going back up.

[00:25:09] And it was, um, 45 minutes of 125 mile an hour straight line winds. Oh my gosh. Our county lost so many . So many houses, so many trees, so many roofs, so many bins, grain bins, cause we're in the heartland, you know? Oh my gosh. It's a, if it's, it's a different landscape now. 

[00:25:33] Julie Kershner: Yeah. Yeah. And see, that doesn't, I mean, that storm can happen to us.

[00:25:38] but we've known about it for a few days. 

[00:25:40] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. And it's not that wide. It's not that long. Oh, no, it can be 

[00:25:44] Julie Kershner: the whole Baja. It can be huge. Oh my. But we still know about it. 

[00:25:50] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Yeah. We had 

[00:25:51] Julie Kershner: 10 minutes. And when, when it starts raining, you don't even have to go anywhere. You're in a concrete house, but, um, no, but still you're ready.

[00:26:03] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Wow. Well, concrete house. That sounds kind of comforting. 

[00:26:08] Julie Kershner: Well, it is. And you know, like Florida. Well, and I do you still have a place down there. We do. Uh huh. Okay. Well, I mean, I know they're all stick build. I'm guessing. Ours is, um, cement. It's in the concrete block. We'll see. That's, that's hurricane proof.

[00:26:24] But a lot of those, a mobile home. Yeah. Oh, gosh, just a regular stick built house. 

[00:26:29] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, 

[00:26:30] Julie Kershner: that's a hurricane. I'll just smash that or take it off and deposit it someplace else. But a tornado too. 

[00:26:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I see 

[00:26:41] Julie Kershner: like hurricanes better than tornadoes. 

[00:26:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, yeah, we've been through a few of those in Florida.

[00:26:46] And it's been Yeah, we've been really fortunate and not have had too much damage. And then, yeah, I mean, overall, it's, it's, it's very safe and when we had a really 

[00:26:58] Julie Kershner: bad when it was right before a few years before you came down, and it was 2014 and I didn't have power or water for over three weeks. Oh my gosh, but I'm from Wyoming, I've camped my whole life and I had um, I actually had a rental house and the tenant had left the rental house.

[00:27:21] it's closer to the water. Every window blown out. This was before we had protection. Every window blown out the inside have a storm now inside of it. It was a mess. She wasn't there. So that was good. But, um, she had a gas barbecue. It was mine, but it was at her house and I had an electric stove. And so I just went down there, got the barbecue grill with the tank and I could, you know, you got water.

[00:27:50] I couldn't get my water because it was in an underground cistern. So, but I would take a pitcher, a plastic pitcher and get on my hands and knees and, you know, get the water. Oh my gosh. Put it in a pan, put it on the barbecue, boil the water. Yeah. I mean, mid camp coffee. It's all doable. It's really all doable.

[00:28:11] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:28:11] Julie Kershner: But I do think I, I do think being raised in Wyoming helped 

[00:28:16] Penny Fitzgerald: with that. Yeah. Well, yeah, we have some, we come from resilient stock. Well, that's very true. Yeah. Very true. Yeah. I'm grateful for the skills that we were taught when we were kids. Yeah, for sure. 

[00:28:32] Julie Kershner: I don't know if kids get those 

[00:28:34] Penny Fitzgerald: skills any longer.

[00:28:35] I don't know. We've kind of, I don't know. I'd like to think that we taught the boys some of those things and well, they're, yeah, they seem very able. Handy. Well, yeah, capable for sure. Yeah, good. Yeah. What have I not asked you that you want to tell people? 

[00:28:57] Julie Kershner: Um, you know, I have what, and you can decide if this is appropriate or not, because.

[00:29:01] I think it's really interesting and it's one of those that crosses the line a little bit, 

[00:29:08] Penny Fitzgerald: but 

[00:29:08] Julie Kershner: of course, you can just, you can make that decision. 

[00:29:12] Penny Fitzgerald: You know, those things are usually the fun things and the things that people relate to. Well, I'll tell you, it's really interesting. 

[00:29:18] Julie Kershner: So I lost my fiancee December 2022.

[00:29:23] And we didn't live together. He lived in, in California. I was in Cabo. We talked every night though. And we traveled internationally a lot and we really had a fun relationship. We said we were a fiances primarily for the grandkids 

[00:29:37] because 

[00:29:38] they traveled with us a lot, but we were not really ever going to get married, but it was still heartbreaking.

[00:29:43] Really? Right. You guys were close. We were, and he was really lovely to me. 

[00:29:49] So, 

[00:29:50] um, after his, after his celebration of life, which was like three months later, he, he had a big, um, international housewares company. And, um, so, so he traveled a lot, but because of that, they were inviting people from all over the world to the celebration of life.

[00:30:08] So it was delayed about three months. So I was up there for that. And, um, I met some of his family from England and, um, then I came back and I was, it was all very real then. And I had moved all of my stuff out of his house. Um, it was very real before it hadn't necessarily been. because I was just in Cabo and wasn't getting a nightly phone call.

[00:30:34] But so, um, so then I got back and, and I was a little depressed and I called one of my friends from, Wyoming that I'd known since grade school and she was a medium and, um, I left a message because I get up at the crack of dawn and of course she didn't. So she called me back. I don't know about 9 in the morning and I said, I was just wondering if if you think you would you be able to try and contact Aji, and she goes, Oh, I don't do that anymore.

[00:31:09] And she was had kind of transitioned into doing podcasts and really writing books with a partner, a girlfriend. And she goes, don't really do that anymore. But, and I'm like, Oh, okay. And, and I think she just felt bad when I said that. And she said, Oh, listen. Let me go to my office this afternoon, and I will, um, start to meditate the large blue stone.

[00:31:38] And I said, what did you say? Can you see this? 

[00:31:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes. Okay. So for people who are listening, you're wearing a large blue stone on your ring finger. Tanzanite. 

[00:31:51] Julie Kershner: It's beautiful. Anyway, and he didn't buy me this. He didn't buy me the ring. He bought it for me. We were in, we had seen, um, we had been to the, the Taj Mahal.

[00:32:03] And then of course, you know, your driver always has, you Specific stores he wants to take you to and Oh sure. They get this a kick back. And so we went to a jewelry store and he bought me this Tanzanite there and they reset it for me and everything, but I had the ring already, so it was very specific that it was the large Blue Stone Uhhuh

[00:32:18] And she said she always makes like. Some sort of a question to really determine that 

[00:32:24] Penny Fitzgerald: she's getting a 

[00:32:25] Julie Kershner: signal. Yeah. And I, and she goes, I think it's a piece of jewelry, like maybe a necklace. And I said, no, it's a ring. And, um, so then she goes, well, this is the weirdest thing I've ever, that's ever happened to me.

[00:32:39] He's here. I didn't try. He's here. He was like, he was waiting for this. 

[00:32:45] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, and 

[00:32:46] Julie Kershner: so, and he was, she just said, he's saying, you know, that he died sooner than he expected. He knew he was, he was going to die soon. I died sooner than he was expected. He left some stuff undone. And you know, the number three and I didn't really know.

[00:33:03] really what any of that was. But, um, just the fact, world of difference. The large blue stone was a world of difference. So then, you know, I'm living, just conducting my life. And I'm here in Wyoming at my brother's house. On and it's, it's, It's on my birthday and my dad and I had gone through Custer State Park to see the Buffalo.

[00:33:26] Actually aunt and uncle Ron and Carol were here. We had, we had lunch and then we came back. They were staying with dad and we'd had a late lunch. And I went back to my brothers cause I was taking care of the chickens, the cats and the dog. 

[00:33:39] And, 

[00:33:39] and dad goes, we'll come back to town. And I don't think you've ever been out here, but his little town doesn't really have a place to go eat.

[00:33:46] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:33:47] Julie Kershner: You wouldn't want to. And I said, you know what? We had a late lunch. I'm really, really good. And if I come back to town, then I'm going to be driving back. It'll be dusk. I'll hit a deer. 

[00:33:58] No, 

[00:33:58] I'm just not going to do that. So, um, so I'm deciding, well, I have a bottle of bubbles. And, um, so I got my bubbles.

[00:34:07] I've got a bowl of potato chips. 

[00:34:10] Penny Fitzgerald: And I'm watching a 

[00:34:12] Julie Kershner: Lifetime movie. Honestly, that's a pretty good birthday. And I'd seen Buffalo during the day. Love them. Anyway, I'm having a very, I really am. I'm having a fine birthday. And I get to the bottom of my potato chip bowl and there's a paperclip. And I'm like, how in the world did this paperclip get here?

[00:34:37] Well, like, did I pull it when I, did I pour? I couldn't remember if I grabbed and, or if I pulled. I didn't remember, but there's a paperclip in the bottom of my bowl that hadn't been there. So that was weird. And, um, so then as we progress, you know, I, dad and Steve and I went to London in October for a week and we stayed at his flat there and your 

[00:35:00] Penny Fitzgerald: brother, my brother, listening and don't know.

[00:35:03] Uh huh. Yeah. My brother and, 

[00:35:05] Julie Kershner: and his wife said, no, just, you know, the siblings go, you guys just go. And it was really lovely. And my dad had a wonderful time, but in fact. the first day we were there, he clocked four and a half miles. Oh my goodness. This was just last year. Oh yeah, good for him. He was resting.

[00:35:22] If there was someone with their thumb out, he would've sat on it. He was tired, . He, I mean he was, he was a trooper. So anyway, we're, my brother and I are walking across the bridge to go to the grocery store and I'm telling him about all of this and how weird it was 'cause he wasn't home. And um, and I looked down that minute and there's a bright pink paperclip.

[00:35:45] On the bridge, and I just kept finding paperclips. I, I, I, then I realized on my vanity in the bathroom, like I had a little pile of paperclips. Why? I don't know. I don't, oh my gosh. I don't do business in there. But I got paperclips. So I called his son-in-Law who worked with him. Mm-Hmm. . And I said, you know, did Aji have a thing about paperclips?

[00:36:06] And he goes, oh my gosh. We called him the paperclip king. He left paperclips everywhere he went. And so I'm, I know, I know, I mean, I find a paperclip just sporadically Valentine's Day this year. Yeah, clip. 

[00:36:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, 

[00:36:25] Julie Kershner: anyway, I'm moving into this house in January, and, um, I'm, It's cold, minus 34. And I hadn't been able, I hadn't been able to find my, my silverware or any, anything that you use in the kitchen.

[00:36:42] My brother had helped me and we were here and like, we're basically eating with our hands. Sandwiches, silverware, we might've collected from, you know, but, um, it was pretty basic. So then I finally found my, my, my dishes and I'm putting them in my cupboards. And I'm I've got the bowls. It's a thing about bowls.

[00:37:04] I don't know what that is. And the last bowl I put up there, I looked down, there's a blue paper clip on the countertop. I'm not making any of this up. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. So I just have goosebumps. I have a different view of death. 

[00:37:19] And 

[00:37:21] several of my girlfriends, their husbands have died in the last year, you know, several months or so.

[00:37:28] And we were talking about it, like, It's really fun to talk about them, to talk about your 

[00:37:37] Penny Fitzgerald: loved 

[00:37:37] Julie Kershner: one that's passed. And I think some people are tentative about doing that and don't know if it's going to hurt you. And I was actually talking to one of my girlfriends last night and she goes, you're the only one that we, that we talk about our memories.

[00:37:53] You're the only one that will do that. 

[00:37:55] Penny Fitzgerald: And I 

[00:37:55] Julie Kershner: would just say, if anybody is paying attention, talk to these people, it's really therapeutic.

[00:38:03] Penny Fitzgerald: That's such good advice. 

[00:38:05] Julie Kershner: Yeah. Honestly, it does just make you happy and they're still around. I don't, I mean, I don't even care what religion you are. They are still hanging around and they still love you.

[00:38:16] And anyway, 

[00:38:18] wow. Those are my words of wisdom. 

[00:38:20] Penny Fitzgerald: That's so nice. That's just absolutely lovely. 

[00:38:23] Yeah. Wow. 

[00:38:24] Julie Kershner: No, it it, it makes you feel better. Yeah. I mean, we can all, I mean, I, I, I think a lot of us believe, but we kind of have our fingers crossed too. Yeah. But I'm telling you, wow. Life, life after life everlasting.

[00:38:42] Mm-Hmm. . Yeah. 

[00:38:43] I really believe that. 

[00:38:44] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, I do too. Yeah, there's, wow. Wonderful. 

[00:38:50] Julie Kershner: Well, I know you were wondering about my drinking habits with my girlfriends. Yes. I have, you know, the thing about Cabo is you end up because there's so many super wealthy people. So I end up with, with girlfriends that are, I mean, we're not at all in the same financial setting. At all. And I still work And, you know, they haven't and they're very, very wealthy people, but we end up walking and then, you know, you walk together six days a week and pretty soon, you know, you've heard everything.

[00:39:27] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:39:27] Julie Kershner: And so, and, and it's, it's seasonal. They usually show up in October, mid October, and they leave like maybe mid May, but it's, you know, we're solid six days a week. It's a life. It's just a normal life. Yeah. And so, um, we decided we were going to start on Friday nights having, cause we walk at daybreak.

[00:39:49] We're all old. We're up, you know, at the crack of dawn anyway. So Friday nights, we have drinks at four o'clock and we go to one of the little restaurants and, and a lot of times their husbands come later. And just then they have dinner at the restaurant and I've only stayed once. I, I, that's still not my thing.

[00:40:09] Yeah. I feel like that fifth wheel, but, um, oh my gosh, we have a blast. We do stuff a lot and we're always planning, but like we on Day of the Dead, November 2nd, the Flora Farms, it's a really well known expensive. Did you go to there when you were there? I don't think so. Well, yeah, it was out of town. Anyway, it's beautiful, really beautiful organic farm.

[00:40:36] So they always have an altar contest, you know, to, to, you know, for, for Day of the Dead and lots of them, a lot of different clubs or organizations, some businesses will make this pretty elaborate altar. So we've just started the last few years, um, getting dinner reservations because they will sell tickets and you, you know, you get a couple drinks and that kind of stuff and wander, but I would, and we would all rather just have a dinner, a table, order dinner, drinks, we can still keep the table and wander around and nice.

[00:41:11] And, um, And then we dress. We do our face. How fun. It's a blast. You should come down. 

[00:41:20] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, that sounds, you know, my birthday's November 1st. I think that is day of the dead. Yeah. 

[00:41:27] Julie Kershner: Well, it's actually the second. It is the second. Okay. Well come down. Seriously. We dress, we dress like big wigs. I have an 81 year old friend.

[00:41:39] She's beautiful. Tiny little thing, a firecracker. And I have this. It's kind of a silvery white, long, curly, like down to your waist. And I'm the one with most of the stuff. And so, um, she borrowed it and honestly, she was probably the most gorgeous woman. And there's 500 people there. at 81. Wow. We have a blast.

[00:42:08] You like that? Our faces all painted up. Did 

[00:42:12] Penny Fitzgerald: you win? You had to have won. 

[00:42:13] Julie Kershner: Oh no, we weren't. Cause no, we were just. Just 

[00:42:15] Penny Fitzgerald: for fun. Eating, 

[00:42:16] Julie Kershner: drinking, walking around. We didn't have an altar. Oh, okay. That's a lot of work. No. But just, so we, we plan things. So for instance, three of my girlfriends from, one lives in Vail and Boulder, and one lives in Portland, and one lives in Victoria, and well, actually four, because one lives in Napa also, but she's from Wyoming.

[00:42:36] So she's, she's coming out and renting a house for a month, but, but, um, during the same time. But they're all coming out. The middle of July to stay with me. See the new house. And, um, I mean, we're close friends, really just close friends from that, even though we're very different backgrounds, it's, it's, it's just so much fun.

[00:43:00] I mean, they mean the world to me. 

[00:43:02] And 

[00:43:03] then, so we drink on Friday night, really just a short drink because, I mean, I have to drive five minutes home and they live within the whole complex. So they can take a golf cart, but, um, Um, then Saturday morning we have coffee for two hours and we always are, we're always shocked that we even have something to talk about because the night before, you know, we walk six days a week.

[00:43:30] We just had drinks for two hours and now we're having coffee for two hours and we're still talking. 

[00:43:35] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Oh, I love it. 

[00:43:37] Julie Kershner: Yeah. Girlfriends are the best. I don't know what I'd do without my friends. I seriously, I know I can exist without a man in my life I could not exist without my friends. 

[00:43:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Yeah. And I, I keep hearing over and over that we are the sum of the five people we hang out with the most.

[00:43:58] We are the 

[00:43:59] Julie Kershner: what? 

[00:43:59] Penny Fitzgerald: The sum of the five people that we hang out with the most, that we become like them. 

[00:44:04] Julie Kershner: I think that's true. Well, they always say that in sales. If you want to be a millionaire, you're better off hanging out with the millionaires. Oh, right. If you want to be a loser, hang out with the losers.

[00:44:16] But I mean, I think it's true. Wow. Yeah. Well, yeah, it's kind of, it's 

[00:44:22] brutal, but I do think it's, probably true. 

[00:44:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, yeah, depends on the, probably the type of sales you're doing too. Like when you're selling million dollar properties, you don't, you can't be. 

[00:44:31] Julie Kershner: Well, it's 

[00:44:32] easy, but to tell you the truth though, somebody comes down and buys a 200, 000 condo.

[00:44:37] They're still bringing cash, right? Right. They might not have 50 million or 100 million, they've got saved up. Yeah. They are really, they are wealthy. Yeah. 

[00:44:50] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, and for a lot of people, Cabo is a dream destination. It is. It's gorgeous. It's absolutely stunning. 

[00:44:57] Julie Kershner: Yeah, 

[00:44:58] it really is. It's so easy right now. We're suffering a bit just because we've grown our infrastructures lacking because we've grown a lot and the government unfortunately just keeps issuing building permits, but they haven't.

[00:45:11] Yeah. Built more roads. They haven't increased. They, we don't have more wells. Um, even the, the electric grid, you know, in the summer when everyone's running air conditioning, we're having some brownouts. We've got some issues and I don't know how they're going to fix it because they just keep issuing building permits.

[00:45:30] Mm hmm. 

[00:45:32] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Well, it's still a great place to be. 

[00:45:36] Julie Kershner: It is. And the weather is so gorgeous and it's beautiful. And yeah, and it's healthy and the air is clean and 

[00:45:45] yeah, yeah, 

[00:45:46] it's great. It really is great. 

[00:45:48] Penny Fitzgerald: So, um, so I'm bouncing back a little bit, but what, what's your favorite cocktail or glass of wine? So on 

[00:45:56] Julie Kershner: those nights, yeah, I always have a vodka, I mean, a martini straight up.

[00:46:02] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, nice. 

[00:46:02] Julie Kershner: Super, super cold. Vodka martini. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But one night. Karen, my, my 81 year old friend, she always likes a gin martini with just like a hint of vermouth. And then I have the straight vodka martini, but they come in the same glass. And I think sometimes the waiters get confused. They look the same.

[00:46:22] So they set them down and, you know, we're so busy chatting that we just, you know, we start drinking and we had each other's drink and we didn't even realize it until kind of the end when we took a moment and. It didn't taste quite right. It didn't really matter. Yeah, 

[00:46:41] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah. If you're with girlfriends, it doesn't matter what you're drinking.

[00:46:44] It doesn't really matter. 

[00:46:47] Julie Kershner: But then you're kind of on that path, so if you're going to have two, you're going to have to have that same one again. 

[00:46:52] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I 

[00:46:54] Julie Kershner: don't switch. 

[00:46:55] Penny Fitzgerald: You know what they say about martinis? I don't. They're like breasts. 

[00:47:00] Julie Kershner: You 

[00:47:00] Penny Fitzgerald: always have to have two. Two? Yeah. Three is too many. One is too few.

[00:47:04] Yeah, you have to have two. 

[00:47:06] Julie Kershner: I didn't really know that. Yeah. But at home, I, I, I, you know, I will have a glass of wine by myself. But um, I don't ever have like a martini myself or anything like 

[00:47:16] that. 

[00:47:16] That's a little too much. So I might have a glass of champagne or a glass of red wine if I have a bottle open in the evening.

[00:47:22] But I will tell you what, my dad will not have a drink by himself. Really? He's at house by himself. Zero. Zero. Okay. Just will not do it. Wow. 

[00:47:36] Penny Fitzgerald: Is he a scotch drinker like the rest of the Hamptons? No. 

[00:47:40] Julie Kershner: Well, you know, he he'll drink a vodka. In fact, he does drink. I've got Tito's in the freezer. Okay. And so when he comes down here, he'll have a drink.

[00:47:49] He doesn't drink much. 

[00:47:50] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. And 

[00:47:50] Julie Kershner: then he has to have seven up in it or something. 

[00:47:53] Penny Fitzgerald: Sweeten it up a little bit. 

[00:47:54] Julie Kershner: Hmm. Yep. 

[00:47:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Can I circle back on one more thing? I have a question. Certainly. You're the driver here. Oh gosh. Yeah. I'm just so curious. And it's so great to get to know you better. It's wonderful. I mean, you know, it's, it's, I mean, we've 

[00:48:09] Julie Kershner: seen each other kind of a lot. 

[00:48:11] Penny Fitzgerald: We've always clicked.

[00:48:12] Yeah. 

[00:48:13] Julie Kershner: Yeah. 

[00:48:15] Penny Fitzgerald: I love 

[00:48:15] Julie Kershner: it. 

[00:48:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Um, but you were mentioning, um, the, when you, when your friend, the medium was talking with you, she mentioned some things and she said the number three. Did that ever come? Yeah. become clear? 

[00:48:29] Julie Kershner: This is not a fun story. 

[00:48:31] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, 

[00:48:31] Julie Kershner: I'm sorry. I'll tell it to you. No, I'll tell it to you. Okay. So, um, so my boyfriend was really wealthy, really, really wealthy.

[00:48:39] And, um, had always told me for eight years, you know, I'm taking care of you. You're in my trust, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And he had a really good friend and he traveled so much that that and his house was huge. So his friend lived there, um, in the house and it was, we never saw him. I, I had a giant closet in, in the house.

[00:49:02] It was a big house and. Um, so he had his, his best friend and then he'd had a secretary that worked for him for 30 years. 

[00:49:13] So, 

[00:49:13] um and me. So the year after he died, his daughter kept bringing up the trust and. I mean, I know I would have bet you

[00:49:27] my right arm that I was in the trust. I really did. And so, um, and she would bring it up a lot and she and I have a good relationship. I didn't have, I didn't have a doubt. And, um, So then all, all 2023, no doubt whatsoever. Actually, I was living, I was, I'm really close with his family. So it was still good, even though he was missing, he wasn't, he was so sick that it was, you know, it was okay.

[00:50:02] So then, um, this year on Valentine's Day, and I got a paper clip that morning, um, she called me and she's talking about, oh, we started dispersing the trust. And I was And, oh, it's a mess and we've got these people in the company and they're talking to each other and they're not supposed to and, and they're coming in and wondering why this person got this much and why this person got this much.

[00:50:27] And then she stops, just stops talking and I mean, it's like, and I finally said, I'm in the trust, aren't I? And she goes, no, you weren't. And neither was Ed and neither was his secretary. 

[00:50:45] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. The three people that were closest to him. 

[00:50:49] Julie Kershner: Yeah. And I think. And then the verbiage was that I died sooner than I thought I was going to, and I didn't get everything done.

[00:50:59] Oh, no. Or I left things, some things undone. I think he was still trying to figure out what that should look like. Specifically. Yeah. Yeah. And so we weren't in the trust at all. Oh, I'm sorry. So, I mean, I understand every bit of it now. That was a hard lesson. I'm good now, though. I really honestly am good.

[00:51:22] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, yeah, you've got your own thing. 

[00:51:24] Julie Kershner: It was a blow. It was, I thought I was going to be wealthy. 

[00:51:29] Right. 

[00:51:30] I wasn't. Right. I'm not going to be, I am wealthy. I mean, I have so many friends and anyway, I am wealthy, but I thought I was going to have big money because he had big money. 

[00:51:45] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Well, and you thought you were going to have him in your life for a long, long time.

[00:51:49] Julie Kershner: You 

[00:51:49] know, 

[00:51:50] he didn't have good life skills. He didn't want to eat ever. So he would like, what's that like it's normal. He didn't care if I made, when I was up there, I'd make dinner. He didn't care. He might eat a couple bites. He just didn't really eat. His normal meal was a bowl of potato chips and vodka seven.

[00:52:13] No vodka, vodka, ginger, dad's vodka, ginger. And he. And then he smoked and no kidding or anything, but he didn't have, I mean, he was not doing anything to stay healthy. He went to the doctor a lot, but he didn't eat healthy, drank too much smoked. So then he got COVID at the end of 2021 and he ended up getting it twice.

[00:52:42] He was in the hospital twice. And then every vaccine that popped along, he just got, and it just, you know, it just took him down. So anyway, but I am like, I don't have, you know, the three, this is what I thought the three meant, Oh, I'm getting 3 million.

[00:53:07] I did. I thought that that number wasn't out of line. Yeah, that's what I thought and I didn't and it was a little bit of a punch to the gut. Yeah. Yeah. I wish I would have known all last year. 

[00:53:21] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh yeah. So you would have been 

[00:53:24] more 

[00:53:24] in a mental state for the news 

[00:53:27] Julie Kershner: and she apparently it was difficult for her to talk about it.

[00:53:31] So she didn't say anything to me and kind of waited for me to ask. 

[00:53:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, 

[00:53:39] I'm sure it was uncomfortable for her too. Yeah. 

[00:53:41] Julie Kershner: Yeah. Yeah. It would have been, but I just honestly all last year I was 1000 percent certain never ever one single doubt. 

[00:53:49] I mean, 

[00:53:49] he loves me. He's still coming back from the grave, paperclips or, you know, talking to my friend Mary about the large stone and yeah, he's coming back from the grave to do that.

[00:54:01] He loves me, but so I, I was 1000 percent certain, 

[00:54:06] but 

[00:54:07] anyway, that's the way it goes. I'm good. I am honestly good. No, I think the world of him. I think that he ran out of time. Yep. 

[00:54:21] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, there's a lesson for all of us. 

[00:54:24] Julie Kershner: It honestly is. 

[00:54:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Don't leave things unsaid or undone. 

[00:54:27] Julie Kershner: Exactly. It's true. It's true. But no, I'm, and you know, I'm in a good place because of my friends.

[00:54:36] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Oh, yeah. I love you. 

[00:54:39] Julie Kershner: Oh, love you, Penny. I want you guys to come down. Well, I really want you to come out this summer. Cause I've already showed you. Oh, it's gorgeous. It is. And I'm so close to everything. Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Custer State Park, everything. Beautiful. You have to come out. It's only a day's drive.

[00:54:58] Yeah. It's not that bad. Not far. You should just do it. 

[00:55:03] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. We just have to find, find the time, carve it out. 

[00:55:08] Julie Kershner: Well, you just have to make things a priority. Exactly. 

[00:55:12] Exactly. In life. Right. Yeah.

[00:55:16] Penny Fitzgerald: True. True. All right. Yeah. This has been absolutely wonderful. 

[00:55:20] Julie Kershner: Oh, I hope it's okay. It's great for me. I mean, really, it's been really fun for me.

[00:55:27] Yeah. 

[00:55:27] Well thanks for inviting me to do this. It was really fun . It 

[00:55:32] Penny Fitzgerald: was fun. It was very fun. I appreciate it. No, you were wonderful and it's great conversation and 

[00:55:41] Julie Kershner: well, I hope actually somebody might hear what I was saying and, you know, talk about the people that have passed and yeah, yeah. 

[00:55:52] Don't put things off.

[00:55:54] Penny Fitzgerald: Don't you think our? The people who have passed that are, were close to us. They want to be remembered. I mean, I w they would want to be thought of fondly and they would hope they make it. I hope that I make a difference in the people around me 

[00:56:06] Julie Kershner: and they want to hear the funny stories and we want to tell the funny stories because we still laugh about exactly.

[00:56:12] That's not sad. I mean, it was a wonderful memory. You just have to keep sharing those. 

[00:56:17] Right. And you know, 

[00:56:18] truthfully, I think putting the. the end and the sickness and all that. Just, that's not worth talking about. Yep. 

[00:56:26] Penny Fitzgerald: Nope. 

[00:56:27] Julie Kershner: Nope.

[00:56:28] But, but everything else is. 

[00:56:30] So, 

[00:56:31] okay. All right. My pearls of wisdom. I love 

[00:56:35] Penny Fitzgerald: it.

[00:56:36] Very wise. 

[00:56:37] Thanks so much. Thank you.

[00:56:41] After our conversation, Julie texted me about something she forgot to mention. Remember her friend Mary, the medium? Mary told Julie that talking to her fiancé was the weirdest thing that ever happened to her. She said the information just came to her without even trying, or going through her normal process to speak with those who have passed.

[00:56:59] Four weeks after their visit, Julie learned that Mary had died. Julie reached out to her friend's podcasting partner and told her that Mary had done a reading. Her partner said that's impossible. Mary's cancer was back and she was dying. Julie believes that her friend's experience was because she had a foot on the other side. Don't leave things unsaid or undone.

[00:57:20] Tell your loved ones how you feel, and share stories of the people you love and have loved. That's part of their legacy and gift. Cheers, friends. Thank you for being part of my tribe.