In this episode of “The Journey of My Mother’s Son” podcast, Sandy and I reflect a little bit on 2024, look forward to some of the big things that we are working on in 2025, but most of want to thank everyone for their love and support to us over the years.
On this Christmas eve, we would truly like to wish all our friends and family a Merry Christmas, happy new year, and a blessed holiday season.
We are grateful to you all.
Peace.
In this episode of “The Journey of My Mother’s Son” podcast, I sit down to talk with Freddy X. Vásquez.
Freddy is the owner of FXV Digital Design, host of the Fred Talks podcast, but most importantly a great friend.
He has had me as a guest on his show twice and getting him onto my show has been a ling time coming, but we finally got it done.
Our conversation covers a broad range of topics from building out a team in business, changing and growing as a human, our mutual love of the game of baseball, and just about everything in between.
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I had to take a trip to the vet the other day. Well, actually, I took two trips to the vet in five...
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A Year to Volunteer has taken over Sam Houston Jones State Park for the next two weeks! This group of ninja volunteers is ready to help with the continued restoration efforts from the devastation caused by Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020.
This beautiful park needs a lot of TLC.
Sandy and I were here for a short time between the two storms and the one thing that stood out then was the resilience of this community.
This time around, it’s the gratitude of this community.
From the owner of The Laundromat in Sulphur who let us do Laundry for free when he heard that we were helping, to the A-Plus RV Park who let us dump and fill our tanks, to the Deputy Sheriff who is patrolling the park, to the members of the Henning United Methodist church that we attended with our dear friend, Lori Carter Pritchett who all thanked us for being here to lend a hand, it was nothing but gratitude that was expressed to us.
The material things in this community may have been crushed by those storms, but its spirit was not.
Many people outside the area have forgotten about it, but there is still so much more work to be done.
You may not be able to volunteer for two weeks, but there are other ways to help.
Research how to give and how to help. I’ll try to get some of our friends in the area to put some links to ways to help in the comments.
Just because it’s not in the news everyday doesn’t mean that the job is complete.
Do what you can with what you have.
Peace.
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I was able to get my newest book, The Journey of My Mother’s Son, Volume I through the editing process and into production. The cover design has been approved and I’m just waiting on the production team to get everything formatted and ready for print. Although this is now the third time that I’ve gone through this process, there is always a huge sense of pride and anticipation that goes along with seeing a project through.
The children’s book that I assisted on for Youk has now been sent off to the illustrator and we’re just anxiously waiting to see some of her amazing illustrations come back for review. It’s a creative process and collaboration that is new to me, which is very exciting and refreshing.
The cover design for my next two books have also been completed and both of the manuscripts have been started. I am really looking forward to completing this book series and sharing these stories with others.
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An incredibly talented musician, Greg is using his musical talents to help him conquer his addiction.
Greg started drinking with his bandmates at 19 years old and was almost immediately addicted. Over forty years of alcoholism led him to losing just about everything. He moved from just alcohol to using inhalants.
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Every time that mommy and daddy would come back from being inside the second fence, they would smell like some delicious food. Like funnel cakes, French fries, crepes, pizza, ice cream and all kinds of other stuff. But they never seemed to bring anything back for me! What was that all about? On the rainy day, they did bring some food back to the house on wheels, but they still didn’t share any with me. They brought back Italian sandwiches with onions and I can’t have onions! Why would they do such a thing?
Mommy and daddy really enjoyed themselves at the House on Wheels Festival. Every time that they came back to our house on wheels, they’d talk about how much fun they had and all of the friends that they got to see. Everyone that they saw at the House on Wheels Festival were people who volunteered with them on one of their A Year to Volunteer projects.
They got to see Phil and Shar every day except for on the rainy day. I knew when they’d see Phil and Shar because I could smell that Domino character on them when they’d get back.
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We can’t change what other people are doing in the world, good or bad. We can change how we approach the world and those that we interact with on a daily basis. That’s where we can change the world for those around us. Just by being kind, doing good, volunteering, surrounding yourself with others who are trying to make a positive difference in the world as well. Just be out there planting seeds of goodness and grace everywhere that we go.
There are times that you may see the fruit of your labor instantly, but we just need to make sure that we’re always going out and planting those seeds. Regardless of whether or not we get to see the harvest, we just need to keep planting the seeds of love and kindness.
Help other people in any small way that you can.
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First, I’d like to reflect a little bit on 2021.
It started off in our new hometown of Melbourne, Florida at my Aunt Sally and Uncle Randy’s house. It was a quiet celebration that had us sitting around the fire at the house. Many of the neighbors made up for our quaint little celebration as the fireworks nearby started as the sun went down and didn’t stop until well after midnight.
Nine days into the year, we started our trek further south on our way to Key West. We stopped on the way down to see friends and family along the way. For the next several weeks, we zig zagged up and down and across the state of Florida. Making sure to connect and spend time with more friends and family.
In early March, we made an unexpected trip to Pennsylvania due to a dear friend of ours passing away. We Spent the next few months there. We were able to celebrate Easter with our family and headed back to Florida on the Monday after Mother’s Day.
We again took our time and stopped to see new friends, surprise an old friend and meet another new friend for the first time in person.
We got back to Melbourne on May 17 and stayed in Florida long enough to celebrate milestone birthdays with three of my cousins before leaving to head back to Pennsylvania on June 12. We took the long way to Pennsylvania, via the Florida panhandle to Buccaneer State Park in Mississippi to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama before getting to my sister-in-law’s house in Pennsylvania the Saturday before Father’s Day.
While in Pennsylvania, we stayed with family, reconnected with old friends again and scattered in a few stays in an amusement park and some other campgrounds.
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So, everyday mommy and daddy are helping with something and I’m out there making sure that everyone is smiling. I’m doing a really good job at that too. All of these guys love me so much and I love them too. There’s this one guy, his name is Bob. He’s really tall, even taller than daddy is. He really loves me. He put me on a video that he was sending to his daughter for Christmas. Now I was even cheering people up who lived miles and miles away! He once said to daddy, “Your dog does so much more for us then we could ever do for him.” When he said, “your dog” to daddy, he was talking about me.
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Once we got down onto the beach, I didn’t waste any time getting into that water! I was pulling daddy down to the water with me. When that first wave crashed into me, I felt like I was in heaven. That’s one of the best feelings in the world when that wave comes crashing in. I was so happy in the water. I was splashing around and smiling from ear to ear. Then one time, I was watching daddy and turned sideways and a wave came in and knocked me over. Daddy asked me if I was ok. I was ok, but just a little embarrassed. I learned my lesson though, never turn sideways when a wave is coming in. You have to face those things head on.
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We met Juan and Mary while working on the A Year to Volunteer project at Picacho Peak State Park. They are fellow full-time RVers who also have a spirit of giving back and helping others. We had an immediate connection with them and wanted to help tell the story of what led them to their full-time journey.
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