Have you ever wondered what it feels like to meet your biological family for the first time? Join me as I recount my unforgettable experience of bridging the gap between my past and present. From the initial nervousness to the warmth of stepping over bodies in the kitchen and savoring homemade biscuits and gravy, this episode is filled with cherished moments and deep connections. Listen in as I explore the legacy of my late biological mother, the surprising resemblance to my newfound relatives, and the pride of discovering a link to former Aggie quarterback Lance Pavlis. This heartfelt journey is a testament to the essence of family, both biological and adopted, and the commitment to staying connected.
In another poignant chapter, I delve into the stories shared by my extended family members that have helped piece together my identity. With immense gratitude, I acknowledge Inez for her role in bringing us all together and emphasize the invaluable lessons learned from being open to discovering one's roots. As my family and tribe grow larger, these revelations, whether joyful or challenging, promise to deepen my understanding of who I am. Join me as I share these enlightening and transformative experiences, highlighting the true meaning of family bonds and the importance of remembering where we come from.
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to meet your biological family for the first time? Join me as I recount my unforgettable experience of bridging the gap between my past and present. From the initial nervousness to the warmth of stepping over bodies in the kitchen and savoring homemade biscuits and gravy, this episode is filled with cherished moments and deep connections. Listen in as I explore the legacy of my late biological mother, the surprising resemblance to my newfound relatives, and the pride of discovering a link to former Aggie quarterback Lance Pavlis. This heartfelt journey is a testament to the essence of family, both biological and adopted, and the commitment to staying connected.
In another poignant chapter, I delve into the stories shared by my extended family members that have helped piece together my identity. With immense gratitude, I acknowledge Inez for her role in bringing us all together and emphasize the invaluable lessons learned from being open to discovering one's roots. As my family and tribe grow larger, these revelations, whether joyful or challenging, promise to deepen my understanding of who I am. Join me as I share these enlightening and transformative experiences, highlighting the true meaning of family bonds and the importance of remembering where we come from.
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Speaker 1:
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Speaker 1:
Hey, the journey for me to meet and find out more about my biological family continues. This took a major step. I met members of my biological family. Let's talk about it. The nurse come in to take care of Tammy. She had never witnessed this before and she opened the door. Come in. She said I was literally stepping over bodies to get to the kitchen and then to get back over to where Jessica was at. She was in for a real big treat there with our family. To say we were a close family is an understatement. Right, you better hope you had a good DO. Oh, it was a great time.
Speaker 1:
That was my cousin BJ, she and her husband that they all call Uncle Butch, from Bernie, texas, just north of San Antonio, out in the Texas Hill Country. I met my biological family on the maternal side a few of them, my biological family on the maternal side, a few of them, and I'm so grateful for all of them getting together in College Station. I went to Aggieland to make this happen, as uncomfortable it is for me to be near the maroon and white. Thank you to Aggieland, the Brazos Valley, sharon, for hosting. She and her husband Greg did a great job. I met the members of that family, which is my family biological family that is on my mother's side Tremendous weekend. Went there on College Station on Sunday just in time for lunch. A lot of food, heard stories like that about how close that family has been throughout the years and learned a lot. Learned a lot about my late biological mother, learned a lot about all the cousins. Got to meet quite a few. Um, they kept it small, because it is a little overwhelming when you are all of a sudden introduced to all these people and trying to remember all their names and try to remember some things about each of them.
Speaker 1:
I made a Facebook post about it. Some quotes man, that boy's cornbread isn't right. And the first thing I heard was from Sharon man, we thought you were taller. I've heard that a lot in my life, but it was so beneficial to me. There were no nerves. It felt natural. It felt so natural that obviously we're going to stay in touch. We're going to stay in touch and this is a lifetime commitment. A lifetime commitment that it's going to happen for the rest of my life. You know and this was the actual meeting right here this was all of us out by the pool. I was first greeted by on the left with a gift. It is that I'm a big coffee drinker and I love the mug. Sharon, welcome to our crazy family. You are in for a real treat. I will cherish that. So I look forward to all these meetings and doing more things with my bio family man. This is great. And this is all of us at the pool Of course, me throwing the horns up had to bring something burnt orange and with the horns down, right in front of my face on the right side, and that's Sharon on the right with the thumbs.
Speaker 1:
Hey, I didn't have to go to Kyle Field or anything like that, but I was in Kyle Station and we were just having fun with it. And that night the Texas softball team beat Texas A&M in the Super Regional Game 3 to clinch a spot in the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City. We watched it out on their porch. It was a good night, great day, great time. And you know we had breakfast good country dish of homemade biscuits and gravy. It was phenomenal, by the way.
Speaker 1:
But that was so much fun, learned a lot about a lot of people and a lot of people, you know, I could see the resemblance that I resemble people and the funny thing was that Sharon, she is related to a former Aggie quarterback. We'll get to that shortly. But it was torture. I had to sleep with this blanket here Texas A&M blanket. It burned a hole in my pants shirt only kidding, but it was a true commitment for me doing that and we had some fun with all that. I couldn't have asked for a better time. Just heart-felt, generous people who welcomed me in with open arms and we told stories.
Speaker 1:
And this is Sharon's related. She's part of the Pavlis family, the same family out of Tomball, texas, who produced this guy, lance Pavlis, the former great Aggie quarterback. So there's some athletic genes in my family. Clearly I didn't get a lot of them. My athletic run in my life was short-lived high school. That was it. But I'm related to Lance Pavlis, the former A&M quarterback, just something that you know. It's pretty cool to recognize and understand that where you come from and one thing I've always kept as part of my foundation is remember where you came from and the Clenches and Fraziers of my adopted family, which are always remain my family, are always a big part of me.
Speaker 1:
You know, being a Memorial Day weekend, this is a picture of Uncle Butch when he was a soldier. He doesn't look much different. You know he didn't lose his life serving our country but it was great to shake his hand and really just honor because honor him for serving our country. But just like my adopted family, so many of my mother's side of the family served our country. It was fitting for Memorial Day, a patriotic honoring of those who lost their lives and to really for me to appreciate those who served time from my biological family. It meant so much to me and I got to show you this picture.
Speaker 1:
Everybody thought that I looked like or resemble my grandfather Coy, who also served our great country. Him on the right right there, that's my mom on the far right, who passed away three years ago. But look at Coy, we have the same eyes, the same feature, same bald head, and I learned that balding runs rampant on my side of the family, the maternal side of the family, and I heard stories about Coy and his lovely wife, my grandmother Maxine. They always had a good time, always entertained people. The families got together in numbers and drove, supported each other. My grandfather Coy was narcoleptic and would fall asleep often and they told stories about him. They didn't want him driving long distances because of for fear that he may fall asleep while driving, and you could tell that just. You could tell a lot about their energy just by looking at photos. And I I now know where I got all of that from laughing oh, I'm always laughing and I know where I got it from, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1:
But you know one thing that I did learn that, uh, it meant a lot to me was just getting together with and telling stories. This is a collage of our gathering at Sharon's house, sharon and Greg's house and College Station. This is what I grew up with storytelling and really understanding more about each other and enjoying the time together. My family. Now, although we're small, this is what we still do. We just don't get together as much because we're so spread out. But seeing this reminded me how I was raised and it meant a lot to me and it's just. It's really amazing when you think about it.
Speaker 1:
And, of course, I don't know which platform you're watching this on, but I hope you like and follow the stories inside the man Cave podcast Facebook page, youtube, twitter and Instagram. But you know I learned that there was a lot of love, and always still is, in this family. There's still another group of that side of the family I haven't met, like Harold, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and then the big group in Texarkana. You know they all know stories about each other. They connected the dots for me. You know they all know stories about each other. They connected the dots for me, you know, and told stories about my mother, and the more they told, the more I understood why I am the way I am, and it's really bizarre and it's only going to get better.
Speaker 1:
To be continued is the best thing I could say, but I really, really appreciate that time that I had. I learned a lot. I learned a lot and it's starting to make sense, even at age 15, we had to catch up five decades. There was a lot of humor and just so many stories, as you can imagine. But it is to be continued and that's how we're going to make this quick transition to a segment that always ends the regular episodes of Stories Inside the man Cave.
Speaker 1:
Hey, man, tell me something good. All right, I'll tell you something good as we end this episode of let's Talk About it, which happens to be overall episode 368 of Stories Inside the man Cave, let's talk about it. And to tell you something good, I'm going to leave you with this what I've learned so far in this journey, and Inez, who is the one who has facilitated all this and connected me and much love to you, inez. You mean a lot to me as far as connecting me with everybody and helping me understand genetically how all this works. Always be open to learn about yourself and I've learned a lot about myself and I feel like timing is everything in our lives. I've learned more about timing and allowing certain things to happen in my life, because it's natural. There's more to that, but that is my. Tell me something good Be open to learn more about yourself and your family right now.
Speaker 1:
That is something good, because this story right here is only going to get better, is only going to get better, whether I learn something more. That may not be positive. I'm learning about who I am and learning about why I am the way I am. This is what this is all about and making my family, even though separate bloodlines, my family's getting bigger, people who my tribe is getting larger, and that is beautiful. And as this journey continues, you know one thing that's always going to happen. It's going to be right here, and I hope you continue to join me for these episodes. As we find out more about, as I learn more about my biological family, it's going to be always good to talk about it.
