353. The present is always a snapshot and doesn’t last forever, that’s why we must be grateful

What if revisiting a beloved place from your past could stir a whirlwind of nostalgia and unexpected emotions? Join us as we embark on a heartfelt reflection of a journey that unexpectedly took us back 15 years to a pivotal moment in our lives. Our conversation starts with the high energy and engagement of a memorable event marking the end of a 10-week adventure. We dive into the poignant reminder of life's fleeting moments, filled with relationships that have shaped our path. As we share our personal story, a trip down memory lane brings us face to face with the Jimmy John's that once symbolized our humble beginnings, only to find it has vanished, leaving us with a sense of closure and renewed appreciation for the journey.

Through the lens of our past struggles and triumphs, we candidly discuss the reality of living on a tight budget during our college years and the relentless pursuit of dreams. We recount the grit it took to stretch every dollar while working and studying full-time, and how something as simple as day-old bread became a lifeline. This episode is a tribute to perseverance and the growth spurred by challenges, capturing a sense of closure as we look ahead to the future with gratitude for the lessons learned along the way. Join us for an emotional rollercoaster filled with laughter, sentimentality, and a deep appreciation for the journey that has brought us here.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:32

Good evening, good evening. Well, the 10-week party is over, it's 9 o'clock and I'm zipping home. We went from 7 to 9. I got there at 6 to set up and make everything look pretty. It was a good event, definitely not the ideal event. We kind of shared the room a little bit with other patrons, but it worked out well. It was a little bit sad. High energy, high engagement, really great audience.

Speaker 1: 1:03

And it's weird, in the back of your brain you realize there's only so many more of these left In your head. You're like these are going to go on forever. These days are going to last always. And sometimes, when you're like these are going to go on forever, these days are going to last always. And sometimes, like when you're feeling depressed and sad and down and like defeated and you can't get things can't get better, like these days will never end, like when is this going to end? But then, like when it's a good day and like you're having fun, you're meeting with people, you have the same thought of, like these days, these days like will never end, and us humans forget that things end and that's such an in the moment. That's a novel concept and it was just really surprising to realize like all these relationships, all these friendships, all these happenings, like they're all, they serve a purpose and a reason. I'm just feeling kind of sentimental about it, so I didn't realize it, but like pulling up to the event no, it was it. No, it's at like a thing of like an adult chuck E Cheese I don't know what to call it, I'm not gonna name drop it, but think of it like there's arcades and food and like pub tavern vibes and just a fun place for families to hang out. And I didn't realize this. But across the street was the same Jimmy John's I went to 15 years ago.

Speaker 1: 2:25

I worked at a car dealership in high school, or in high school, In college, and I worked full time. I went to school full time and it was a grueling couple years and I was saving up every dollar I could, making $10 an hour at a car dealership. And I just remember thinking like having broke poverty mindsets and like, yeah, you're in college. I went to community college. I did whatever I could to like script together $167 a month to pay my parents for the car that I bought from them. Um, saving up money for an engagement ring, trying to figure out how I'm going to propose to my wife and how we're going to get married and still be in college and afford at the time a $3,000 a month home budget. That was our home budget, like for everything, and it was all the money. I could not make that much. I didn't have a way to figure that, make that much money. I didn't know how to do it Like it just wasn't possible. I was making 10 bucks an hour. 10 bucks an hour for a year is $20,000 a year. That's not enough to afford a newlywed Um.

Speaker 1: 3:37

And so I remember like I got it, like I couldn't skip meals because I was just skin and bones and so I would go to a nearby Jimmy John's. I found out they had day old bread for 50 cents a loaf. I found out when they opened and I would go when they opened and for my lunch break I would order two, maybe three day old breads because I had to like buy my own groceries. It was just rough um, at least my. I remember having to do that um, like if I can eat for a dollar a day, like I'm good because I get my parents food at home, if I forgot to make a lunch, I can eat for free at home. But then I just thinking like how am I gonna get through this? I can't even spend like a dollar, dollar fifty, without feeling guilty.

Speaker 1: 4:18

And so tonight was across the street from that. And so I'm going to a part of town I never drive by and then across the street I'm like, all right, I just want to like not pay respects, pay homage, but I get closure for that. And Jimmy John's is gone, the location's gone. Like I walked up the spaces for lease, the place John's is gone, the location's gone. Like I walked up the spaces for leaves. The place is completely gutted. You can't like all you see is some tiling in the background and like a few like wall spigots for where, like the water and the gas lines are. There's just nothing. It's just gone. And those days are gone and I can't get them back. And that just really hit me Um and so just like a phase of life, like if the memory wasn't so clear I would wonder if it actually happened. And that was a solid year of my life doing that for the car dealership. I had other jobs in college, but just it was weird to get that closure and to see that it's gone and to feel at peace with that. It was just it was too parallel to too many other things going on and so had a good party, tipped our waitresses out the max tip on the three buttons that they could do.

Speaker 1: 5:30

Um, had a chance to like mingle with the members just slightly. Um, I'm learning I'm best either on an audience in front of people, or one-on-one with people, and like in a semi private, in a semi group setting of like 30, 40, 50 people. I I just don't know how to relate to that crowd. The exact same way. I still have good stage presence. I know how to deliver, I know how to entertain, but like I'm either an audience person or like a one-on-one person. As of today, I want to sharpen that skill. But going home, voice is shot from shouting and, yeah, I'm just going to enjoy today.

Speaker 1: 6:10

It's not a given that my wife is going to be alive for 50 years. It's not going to be a given that I'm going to be in a financial feeling, financially pinched, for 50 years. It's not a given that my kids are going to be five years old for 50 years. Like it's not a given that both my parents are alive for 50 years. Like it's not a given I can, can even make this podcast for 50 years.

Speaker 1: 6:35

People assume the present is forever and it inherently is not, and so that's why when people die in a car crash or they overdose on alcohol or like I don't know what to say, because it's going to be insensitive to someone who's lost someone, so I'm just going to stop People think the present is forever and that's why people forget to be grateful about the present, because they think it's going to always be this way and that's not true. The truth is, the present is just the way it's supposed to be. People will come and go, people will be born, people will die, people, things upgrade, they downgrade, they get rusty, they. The only thing that's, the only thing that's constant is change.

Speaker 1: 7:25

So when you're in the moment and you're with people and you're doing something you enjoy, you need to like be grateful for that snapshot, because it's a snapshot worth, worth preserving and framing, and we got a great group photo of that. So I'm feeling extra sentimental because I'm seeing how the studio is not going to be around for another three months, and so today's extra special and sentimental, and heck if jim, jimmy John's can close and leave. Not everything is forever. So, yeah, that's where we're at, that's where we're going. Let's rock and roll.