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Speaker 1: Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves

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Speaker 1: from coon hunting to trotlining and just in general country living.

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Speaker 1: I want you to stay a while as I share my.

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Speaker 2: Experiences in life lessons.

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Speaker 1: This Country Life is presented by Case Knives from the

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Speaker 1: Store More Studio on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you

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Speaker 1: the best outdoor podcast that airways have to offer.

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Speaker 2: All right, friends, grab a chair or drop that tailgate.

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Speaker 2: I've got some stories to share.

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Speaker 1: Service serving others can be a lifelong calling or can

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Speaker 1: be a moment of compassion. Either way, our service to

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Speaker 1: others is important and necessary. I'm going to give you

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Speaker 1: my thoughts on it, but first I'm gonna tell you

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Speaker 1: this story. This story is from This Country Life listener

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Speaker 1: Ryan Noss. Ryan is a genetic counselor in Bay Village, Ohio.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't know what that was either, but my pile.

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Speaker 1: Ryan explains it as helping identify folks with cancer or

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Speaker 1: a strong family history of it in ways to fight

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Speaker 1: it or prevent it from starting. Ryan's wife is an

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Speaker 1: occupational therapist, both of them serving their patients and community

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Speaker 1: in very important ways.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Ryan sent this story back in September of twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 1: I read them all, folks, and I keep them all

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Speaker 1: waiting for the right time. So y'all just keep sending

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Speaker 1: them in. And remember they don't have to be about

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Speaker 1: hunting or fishing. Ryan's community was hit by a storm,

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Speaker 1: and in his words, in my voice, this is how

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Speaker 1: they handled it. Ten rooftops. As I look over my

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Speaker 1: eighth acre lot in the Cleveland suburb, I can count

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Speaker 1: the rooftops of ten neighbors homes. Now this may seem

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Speaker 1: a surprising setting to wax poetic on the virtues of

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Speaker 1: country living, but his brand has been suggesting all along,

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Speaker 1: where you find a country way of life might surprise you.

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Speaker 1: It's three pm on Tuesday afternoon, and I finished at

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Speaker 1: my clinic early, and I'm driving home. As I drive,

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Speaker 1: I begin to consider my options with this extra free

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Speaker 1: time before picking up the kids at daycare. Maybe I

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Speaker 1: can get a workout in or tackle a house project.

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Speaker 1: And then I'm interrupted by a call from my wife.

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Speaker 2: Now, let me be.

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Speaker 1: Clear, I dearly loved my wife and welcome an impromptu

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Speaker 1: phone call. However, history has told me that if my

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Speaker 1: wife is interrupting her clinic and potentially my own, it's

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Speaker 1: not just a chit chat. Reagan, our youngest, has what

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Speaker 1: daycare fears is the beginning of hand, foot and mouth disease.

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Speaker 1: For those with our children, It's hard to describe the

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Speaker 1: flood of emotions and ensuing logical gymnastics you encounter with

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Speaker 1: these unexpected but inevitable calls from the daycare concern for

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Speaker 1: her health, Which one of us is going to cancel

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Speaker 1: their patience tomorrow? And however many other days won't she

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Speaker 1: be able to go to daycare, let alone, fear of

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Speaker 1: if any of our other kids will catch it. I

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Speaker 1: tell my wife, I'm on my way home. I'll change

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Speaker 1: and head over to get Reagan and get her to

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Speaker 1: the doctor. And as I walk in my house, my

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Speaker 1: phone alarm goes off. There's been a tornado warning issued

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Speaker 1: for your area. Seek shelter. I find myself looking out

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Speaker 1: our front one to trying to figure out if I

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Speaker 1: have time to go get the cares from school or not.

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Speaker 1: The rapidly dark in the sky and increasingly intensifying wind

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Speaker 1: answers that question. However, while looking out the window, I

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Speaker 1: noticed Tom, the mailman.

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Speaker 2: Making his rounds now.

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Speaker 1: I wait for him to reach our door, and it

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Speaker 1: takes a moment or two to figure out who exactly

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Speaker 1: of us was warning the other about the tornado, And

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Speaker 1: with that sordid he makes a beeline to his truck

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Speaker 1: and high tells it back to the post office.

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Speaker 2: And I retreated to the basement.

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Speaker 1: The electricity blinked on and off several times, and then boom.

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Speaker 1: A few minutes later, I discovered that the boom was

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Speaker 1: a tree crashing onto the roof of our garage. At

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Speaker 1: this point I left to go to my children's daycare

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Speaker 1: in school ragging and Barrett picked up first, and at

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Speaker 1: two and four years of age, they found hanging around

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Speaker 1: the windowless room of the daycare center, armed with flashlights

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Speaker 1: a great adventure throw the tree top on the house

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Speaker 1: next door ruined the four year old's move. Now we

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Speaker 1: make the drive to give my old the sun of

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Speaker 1: this summer camp, and our commuter is a typically serpentine

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Speaker 1: due to the down traffic lights and trees blocking the roads.

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Speaker 2: Eventually we make it.

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Speaker 1: And old and wide eyed, excitedly tells me about his adventure.

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Speaker 1: Hunkering in the basement with all his friends. We surveyed

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Speaker 1: the storm damage from the cars with meander our way

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Speaker 1: past streets closed off due to falling trees and down

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Speaker 1: power lines.

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Speaker 2: That house is broken, Bear points out as.

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Speaker 1: We pass the house, its front room has a large

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Speaker 1: tree serving us a coffee table after crashing through the roof.

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Speaker 1: Next week, went to our driveway and owen stairs at

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Speaker 1: a garage which is now totally draped by branches and limbs,

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Speaker 1: and comments, well, at least my bike is okay. It's

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Speaker 1: good to know he has his priority street. But as

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Speaker 1: the dust settles, text from our friends on our street

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Speaker 1: trickle in and fortunately everyone has made it back home

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Speaker 1: safely and outside of a garage. No major damage has occurred,

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Speaker 1: though most of the city is without power.

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Speaker 2: Good news.

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Speaker 1: The doctor confirms that Reagan doesn't have hand foot in

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Speaker 1: mouth disease, and I have a smaller clinic schedule than

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Speaker 1: my wife, so I decided to stay home with the kids.

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Speaker 1: First order of business storm clean up. It's hard to

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Speaker 1: describe the satisfaction associated with working alongside my seven, four

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Speaker 1: and two year old to clean up the branches in

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Speaker 1: the limbs. Growing up, I spent my time sitting behind

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Speaker 1: home plate playing catcher versus sitting in a tree stand

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Speaker 1: deer honey. Though I'm increasingly enamored with the outdoors and

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Speaker 1: do my best to foster that in my children. Sit

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Speaker 1: comes no surprise. I felt a great sense of joy

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Speaker 1: and pride. Is my seven year old explain to me

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Speaker 1: how the tree in our yard is a white oak

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Speaker 1: and our neighbor has a red oak based on the

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Speaker 1: rounded versus pointed edges with their leaves. It's the first

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Speaker 1: twenty four hours without power, come and go. My mind

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Speaker 1: is increasingly drawn to our fridge and our freezer. I

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Speaker 1: don't need to explain the treasured commodity that is six

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Speaker 1: pounds of bluegill cropping and hybrid basphilelets thawing in our

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Speaker 1: non functioning freezer. So I send an invitation to our

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Speaker 1: family of friends on our street that we will be

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Speaker 1: having a fish fright, because I'll be darned if I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna let those fish go to waste. One family had

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Speaker 1: their power restored and insists we come there for supper

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Speaker 1: and charge whatever electronics that we needed to. Another neighbor

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Speaker 1: who is a brewer, assures us that there'll be plenty

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Speaker 1: of cold beer, and others quickly volunteer to round out

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Speaker 1: a feast. That evening, we are all able to gather

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Speaker 1: and enjoy the laughter of good company and the deliciousness

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Speaker 1: of fish bathed in hot oil. Another morning comes with

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Speaker 1: no power from my family and the others. It's my

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Speaker 1: turn to go to work as my wife and neighbors

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Speaker 1: coordinate who can the kids as daycare remain closed in

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Speaker 1: between patients. My spirit is lifted when I catch up

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Speaker 1: on text messagees to discover the husband of the soul

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Speaker 1: house with power is asking what we are all having

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Speaker 1: for dinner at their place tonight. That evening, while slicing

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Speaker 1: tomatoes in my neighbor's kitchen, one of their daughters comes

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Speaker 1: up to me, asking are you making fish again tonight?

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Speaker 2: And I said, oh, did you like it?

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Speaker 1: A big smile and enthusiastic headshake answered the affirmative, well

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Speaker 1: not tonight, mister Clark and mister Nate brought over steak

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Speaker 1: and chicken. That answer must have sufficed that she happily

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Speaker 1: scared it off to join the rest of the kids,

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Speaker 1: and the pride from that interaction rejuvenates the soul in

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Speaker 1: a way only surpassed from the smiles and laughs us

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Speaker 1: us parents got watching the log jam of twelve neighborhood

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Speaker 1: kids all trying to go down the backyard slide in

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Speaker 1: rapid fire succession, Conversations of the upcoming weekend unfolding, and

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Speaker 1: an unspoken agreement develops. If we can all make it

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Speaker 1: through tomorrow, and we can strip our professional responsibilities, then

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Speaker 1: we can all go our separate ways for the weekend.

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Speaker 1: Should we still be without power. Saturday afternoon, we are

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Speaker 1: enjoying the company of my sister, her husband, and they're

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Speaker 1: newborn twins at my parents' house.

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Speaker 2: An hour and a half away from the tornado's destruction.

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Speaker 1: We finally get worried. After four full days power has

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Speaker 1: been restored. Now, I wouldn't have traded meeting my nieces

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Speaker 1: for the first time for anything, though it would have

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Speaker 1: been something to hear firsthand the cheers of joy that

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Speaker 1: reportedly echoed up and down our street when the lights

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Speaker 1: came on. It is not lost on me that we

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Speaker 1: are very fortunate not to have faced the loss of

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Speaker 1: home or life that others face during the tornado, though

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Speaker 1: in that physic and mentally exhausting time, the outstretched helping

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Speaker 1: hands from trusted friends was a welcome all the same.

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Speaker 1: Now could be pride of looking at riping the tomatoes

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Speaker 1: and I raised bed gardens that must be pretty good,

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Speaker 1: considering how few seem to make it back into the

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Speaker 1: house when I ask the kids to go pick them.

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Speaker 1: Or maybe maybe it's the joy of knowing this year's

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Speaker 1: buffer crop really is social capital, and the amount of

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Speaker 1: social capital being reserved isn't only for towns and country

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Speaker 1: songs with a single traffic light. We look after each other.

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Speaker 1: We take pride in one another's success, and don't hesitate

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Speaker 1: to offer help where we see need. Now, if that

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Speaker 1: ain't country living, can someone help me with my woo

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Speaker 1: picked suey and point me in the direction of the

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Speaker 1: nearest pig farm. And according to Ryan Noss, that's just

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Speaker 1: how that happened. Well riding, my friend, and that's as

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Speaker 1: country as cornbread. And your woo pick sue is well

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Speaker 1: received and on point. But more importantly, your story is

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Speaker 1: a perfect example of service, and I thank.

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Speaker 2: You for sending it in.

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Speaker 1: I come from a family of service members, both in

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Speaker 1: the military and in law enforcement. My dad and my brother,

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Speaker 1: and my uncles, nephews and cousins, from the president all.

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Speaker 2: The way back to the War between the States.

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Speaker 1: Duty has been a common thread in our family, just

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Speaker 1: as it has been for many others. But I was

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Speaker 1: reminded of it a few days ago on a fishing

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Speaker 1: trip of all things. My brother Tim and I were

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Speaker 1: running our nets in the Arkansas River and we had

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Speaker 1: our longtime family friend Jeff Childress with us. Jeff's more

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Speaker 1: than a longtime friend, He's a cousin of TAM's wife, Barbara,

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Speaker 1: the lady who's case knife collection ri I was my own,

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Speaker 1: Not that I'm jealous or anything like that, but anyway,

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Speaker 1: I was running the motor at a slow island and

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Speaker 1: Jeff was sitting in the back with me talking and

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Speaker 1: Tim was sitting on the back of the boat holding

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Speaker 1: a rope with a net drag attached, scarring the bottom

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Speaker 1: of the river for a barrel net.

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Speaker 2: That we couldn't find for fifteen minutes.

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Speaker 1: As we slowly trolled back and forth, we talked about

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Speaker 1: everything under the sun while making fun of Tim's less

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Speaker 1: than fruitful of temps.

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Speaker 2: At finding our net.

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Speaker 1: One good thing about having three retired folks in the

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Speaker 1: boat on the river. None of us was in a

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Speaker 1: hurry to be anyplace else, mainly because we didn't have anyplace.

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Speaker 2: Else to be.

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Speaker 1: So there we were three retired folks adrift on the

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Speaker 1: open sea. Well the Arkansas River anyway, just cruising, killing time.

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Speaker 1: Just a retired logger and a trapper, and a good one.

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Speaker 1: He's been catching a fire out of kyots, coons and bobcats.

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Speaker 1: What Jeff really excelled at, especially when he was a

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Speaker 1: younger man, was sending turkeys across the river. Jordan, I

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Speaker 1: don't know how many turkeys Jeff's killed in his six

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Speaker 1: and a half decades on this spending orbit we all

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Speaker 1: called home, but you can rest assured it is a

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Speaker 1: number unequaled in many circles. Some folks are natural athletes,

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Speaker 1: some are natural musicians. Jeff is a natural born turkey

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Speaker 1: killer and has turned the wood solid in more states

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Speaker 1: than not. He's good at it. But we weren't talking

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Speaker 1: about turkey hunting right then. We were talking about trapping

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Speaker 1: and nest predators. We were talking about how much we

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Speaker 1: enjoyed trapping in the sets he was making and how

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Speaker 1: he was making them, And as if prodded by some

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Speaker 1: unseen force, he spontaneously said, Brent, I've been taken from

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Speaker 1: the woods for a long long time, and it's time

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Speaker 1: I gave back.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: That didn't catch me off guard or even surprised me.

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Speaker 1: Really just's a good man, and I actually don't remember

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Speaker 1: a time when I didn't know him. The real community

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Speaker 1: that we're both from is small and close knit, and

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Speaker 1: it's the kind of place where families are friends. Generationally,

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Speaker 1: his word is good. What I did take notice of

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Speaker 1: was how he said it. It was as much a

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Speaker 1: testimonial as it was an oath, the creation to be

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Speaker 1: a better steward, to leave it better than he found it,

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Speaker 1: and to give more than take. All those turkeys over

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Speaker 1: all those years that brought him so much pleasure, had

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Speaker 1: come full circle in his appreciation. They had served him well,

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Speaker 1: and now it was his turn to serve them, and

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Speaker 1: he was going to do it, one coon and coo

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Speaker 1: at a time. Now, that's service, and to me, the

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Speaker 1: very definition of it, taking on a task for the

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Speaker 1: betterment of some anything else, regardless of what stage of

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Speaker 1: life it comes to you called the service to work

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Speaker 1: for the betterment of the collective above the individual, even

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Speaker 1: when it's aimed at turkeys, it's a good thing. I

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Speaker 1: remember the day I decided that I wanted to be

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Speaker 1: a soldier. We were on a family vacation in Washington,

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Speaker 1: d C. I'd walked in some of the Smithsonian Institution's

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Speaker 1: museums Along the National Mall, I stood below that iconic

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Speaker 1: African elephant known as Henry, that stood watching the rotunda

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Speaker 1: of the National Museum on Natural History since nineteen fifty nine,

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Speaker 1: and I looked up at the massive fourteen foot tall

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Speaker 1: eleven ton icon of the Dark Continent. I climbed the

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Speaker 1: eighty seven steps from the reflecting pool up to the

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Speaker 1: Lincoln Memorial, and after reaching the central chamber in the steamy,

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Speaker 1: hot d C. Summer, I realized why Lincoln was sitting down.

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Speaker 1: I saw the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, and the

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Speaker 1: Eternal Flame that marks the grave of President John F. Kennedy,

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Speaker 1: all wondrous works of art and fitting memorials to America's

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Speaker 1: leaders in the past. Then, after a half mile ride

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Speaker 1: south it seemed to take forever in the bumper to

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Speaker 1: bumper traffic. We got out of the car and I

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Speaker 1: stood beside my mama and watched the changing of the

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Speaker 1: guard in the Tomb of the Unknowns. A six year

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Speaker 1: old boy who had never seen so many people in

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Speaker 1: one place or building so big, but recognized the immediate

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Speaker 1: reverence of the place I was in, even though I

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Speaker 1: didn't understand all that I was seeing. I remember the

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Speaker 1: silence the first time. There hadn't been any rackets since

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Speaker 1: we got there, no cars, no horns, no sirens, not

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Speaker 1: even a whisper of words, just the rhythmic cadence of

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Speaker 1: the soldier steps as they gracefully moved from one point

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Speaker 1: to the next on their tour, twenty one steps across

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Speaker 1: a sixty three foot black mat, with a twenty one

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Speaker 1: second pause at each point, honoring the fallen who made

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Speaker 1: the ultimate sacrifice of service. Each time they clicked the

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Speaker 1: metal place together on the hills that echoed across the

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Speaker 1: plaza like a bolt of lightning. I was mesmerized by

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Speaker 1: their uniforms, the inspection of the soldier and his weapon

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Speaker 1: that was standing in relief, of the scent and along guard,

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Speaker 1: and the relief commander making sure he had his uniform

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Speaker 1: and his weapon were worthy of such an important duty.

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Speaker 1: My mama cried silently as she watched. I remember a

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Speaker 1: lot of folks wiping tears, and I've shed a bunch

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Speaker 1: of my own since then. When watching now as an

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Speaker 1: adult with a clear understanding of what that ceremony stands for,

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Speaker 1: all the soldiers looked the same, their uniforms, their haircuts,

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Speaker 1: their movements. I couldn't tell one from the other, and

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Speaker 1: through the years, as I grew older, I realized they

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Speaker 1: all looked that way because it wasn't about them. Their

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Speaker 1: uniformity has been on display, just as we see it

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Speaker 1: now twenty four hours a day, and has been continually

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Speaker 1: since July the second, nineteen thirty seven, up to the

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Speaker 1: very second, regardless.

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Speaker 2: Of when you listen to this.

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Speaker 1: I was six when I saw it, and from that

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Speaker 1: moment I knew I wanted to be a part of

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Speaker 1: something bigger than I was. It was team sports for

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Speaker 1: me all through school, and the bond that was formed

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Speaker 1: with my teammates surpassed practice in games that we shared

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Speaker 1: the hardships of discipline and the brutal suburb practices, along

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Speaker 1: with the relentless bereate but of our performances by our coaches.

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Speaker 1: If one made a mistake, we all paid the penance.

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Speaker 1: I didn't know it, but what those coaches were showing

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Speaker 1: us was that the actions of one can have an

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Speaker 1: effect on everyone. In that case, it was next, but

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Speaker 1: more times than not, the actions of one can be positive.

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Speaker 1: I spent half my life in the service of my community, state,

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Speaker 1: and nation in official capacities, and it was all sparked

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Speaker 1: from a visit to the nation's capital in nineteen seventy two.

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Speaker 1: I seriously doubt those soldiers had any idea that their

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Speaker 1: dedication to profession would have such an impact on a

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Speaker 1: first grader, but it did. Inspiration to serve comes from

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Speaker 1: so many different places, and it doesn't have to be

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Speaker 1: in the military or in a role as a first responder.

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Speaker 1: I think about the teachers I've had all through school,

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Speaker 1: and the professors and administrators I met over at the

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Speaker 1: University of Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. I think

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Speaker 1: about the man that drives the garbage truck that comes

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Speaker 1: by every Monday morning, and my wife, who works two jobs,

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Speaker 1: one at the state capital that as are at her

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Speaker 1: desk every day before six am, and the other job

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Speaker 1: as Bailey's personal uber driver that runs late into the

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Speaker 1: night for dance practices. Service doesn't have to come from

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Speaker 1: a uniform. Sometimes it's trying to bring normalcy to a

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Speaker 1: storm ravage neighborhood like Ryan's story he sent in, or

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Speaker 1: helping turkeys and other prest species like what Jeff's doing,

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Speaker 1: or can be picking up trash on a daily walk

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Speaker 1: like my neighbor does without bragging about it, but I

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Speaker 1: see you, mister Mooney. Service should arise when the opportunity

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Speaker 1: presents itself, and it's hard. It's hard to know what's

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Speaker 1: right these days. With so much information coming in from

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Speaker 1: every direction. It can be confusing to pick a path

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Speaker 1: with much certainty. But by focusing on the folks around

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Speaker 1: us with a servant's heart, we can be the example

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Speaker 1: of someone else is waiting to see. Thank you so

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Speaker 1: much for listening to all of us here on the

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Speaker 1: Bear Grease Channel, Clay Lake and I really appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: Tomorrow's March the seventh, and it's the Black Bear Bonanza

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Speaker 1: in Bentonville, Arkansas. Hit up Google for all the info,

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Speaker 1: and y'all don't.

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Speaker 2: Worry about the rain.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna be inside with plenty of room, brain your

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Speaker 1: young and let's have.

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Speaker 2: Fun until next week. This is Brent Reeves, sign it off.

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Speaker 2: Y'all be careful