1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Wendell Garner (DP's Brother): June 20th, 10am

Episode Date: June 20, 2022

Telling the story of how they met for the first time when DP was 55, and how close they have grown over the yearsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the Coppull Chevrolet GMC Studios. Here is your host, Derek Pearson. Brought you by Mary Ellen's Food for the Soul on 93-7 the ticket and the ticketfm.com. Good Monday, everybody. Appreciate you joining us, hanging out with us. 402-464-5-6-85. That's the starter hearing of text line if you have questions, comments, or other.

Honda Lincoln Hotline as well. If you want to catch the video stream, you could do so. Sarder Haman's video stream is up. Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter Live. So you can see what's going on in studio. You can see the faces and get some interaction. This one's a special one for me. I have to be honest, Father's Day weekend kind of put me in a mood.

And there are blessings in this thing called life, and I wanted to share one of mine with you guys. I wanted to tell the story that up until my 55th birthday, I didn't know who my biological father was. And as the investigation evolved, more blessings on blessings, on blessings. Because I found out that I belonged to it. a family that not only looked like me, but these were my people.

These were actually my people. These are people who played ball. I thought they were rather intelligent and the fact that they were loving and welcoming of me to their space and their lives. Because it could have been the other way. It could have gone absolutely the other way. And it could have been folks who wanted no parts of what was going on. They didn't know me.

They didn't know what, what kind of life I was living. They didn't know who I was. And I really crossed my fingers. And I have to tell you, I won the lottery. I won the lottery. Some impressive folks,

good-hearted folks, funny folks. And I wanted to share that story with you because on the line, on the Honda Lincoln Hotline. And it's the first time I get to say this publicly. He is my brother. He is Wendell Garner.

Wendell, how you doing this morning, bro? Hey, good morning. How you doing, big brother? You know, it's just funny. Like, we giggle constantly that if it's a holiday in the past three years, we get to say, you know, happy holiday, brother, happy Father's Day, brother. and it hits and it resonates differently than anything I can tell you about. I have to thank you publicly because, as I said, it could have gone the other way. It could have been folks who wanted no part of this, folks who weren't engaging.

They could have been bad folks. But it turns out he's a good dude. And I actually get like I love everything about this man. I love the way he loves his family. I love the way he loves sports. I love the way he loves life. Before the pandemic, we got to go to a Washington National's baseball game together. And seriously, that's a special building to me, but that's a special day because I got to share it with you.

Wow. Yeah, it was a good day. I really enjoyed that. actually I enjoy all the time that we share together. You know, you're not the only one that benefited from this in a lot of ways. I had to think and grow myself and expand the possibilities, too. So I do appreciate you and what you do and what you do and the things that you say because it has opened me up more to express myself a little bit better and clear

to folks that I really don't know as much. So thank you for that, too. It turns out that Wendell and I were in similar circles, even without knowing that we were brothers, because my roommate for several years was this guy named Donald Turner. And Donald, I knew Donald from Little League all the way through high school, college, and then after. And all the while, Donald and Wendell are buddies.

and I referred to Donald as Buck. So I was talking about this dude Buck and Wendell would look at me like I had three heads and like who he's like, who are you talking about? I was like, oh, Donald. He's a common thread. He's a high school coach back in Virginia. It's just another thing amongst the common thread

of how Wendell and I ended up in circles not knowing that we were brothers, but we were in the same circle. So he's also, I'll give him credit. He's a better basketball player. than I was. At least that's what I'm told. And Tommy Amherker is the

co-side, right? And he says, yeah, he's a pretty good basketball player. That's good enough for me. If Tommy Amherker says you can ball, you can ball. Well, I think I paid him on the side to say that. Yeah, Tommy's a good dude. Yeah, he was on a different

level. Talk about that, though. I mean, because in your circle, I mean, running around in high school, even at a neighboring school, but from the same neighborhood, you and Tommy Amherker became friends, and you guys got on the court in battle quite a bit. We actually, we played football, actually. I think it was our 75-pound team. We played the North Virginia Football Club, and Tommy was on that team. I don't know if he continued to play football after that year. I'm not sure on that. But he was on our team, and that's when I met him for the first time.

And, you know, we grew up in Faw's Church, so we, you know, we knew of each other and all. I had no idea. You know, I know he played ball. We played at the James League community center. They had a league down there. And, you know, you would hear about certain guys. But I had no idea what level he was playing in, you know, on. But we ran in the same circles.

His cousins were my friends. You know, we played fair sports together, baseball, football, you know, basketball. Basketball wasn't my thing until later. I fell in love with it. But, yeah, yeah, Tom's a good guy. In terms of my skill, I don't know, I'm very local. You know, back then, you know, you played ball and you only knew what you saw and what you went against, and you kind of measure yourself that way.

Tom and them was on a different level. Of course, they play AAU. I believe they won the AAU championship, too. I think it was there, either 16 or 17, they won the national championship. But he played with some other guys. So being in a circle, being somewhat attached, I was exposed to a lot of good people, a lot of power good people all throughout the northern Virginia area. And it was an experience I never forgot.

We are talking with my brother, Wendell Garner, and I have to say that my only regret is that I did not meet you sooner because there are things that went on, right, that we could have shared along the way. And you and I have talked about the different coaches make in your life and elders and mentors, right, that, quite frankly, if you don't get the right people in life, it can affect your trajectory.

You don't get to accomplish things without the right people in your circle. But your family, which is now my family, is a unique compilation of human beings. I want to say, the first night we actually met, we decided to meet in a restaurant, right? Public place. And Wendell kind of said, listen,

I'm going to be open in this thing. My other brother Tommy, Tommy's probably going to be open in this thing. But Sister Kim probably, you know, I'm not real sure. Like, I'm not real sure how this is going to play out. And I had already met the older brother Roy. And we walked into the restaurant and the hostess looked at us both and just went, wow. You really are related. Right.

There's no question. What was going through your head before that meeting? Like, seriously. Well, I had already made up my mind which way I was going to go, and I was going to go all in. And I kind of told you that, you know, I'm very guarded. I'm very protective of my family, close and distance, you know. So I listen, and I don't usually don't speak that well

because you get in the way of my listening. but I heard you. And then I tested it out to see if it was true. And with you, I knew nothing about you other than what my big brother Roy was telling me. You know, you got to, you should talk to them because you have a lot in common. You guys, and I was like, you know, at that time I didn't know that we were brothers. I was thinking that, you know, at best we would be cousins, right? And I have a lot of cousins.

So I was like, ah. And he kept on. So I said, give me his number, and then we talked. And, you know, I just wanted to find out what would you, you know, what you're about, what were you expecting, all that stuff. And I was listening to everything that she said and the reasons why. And then that's when I began to open up. Well, now to the meeting now, when I walked in, like I said, I already knew, you know,

I was walking to meet family. So it's much different at that point. So it's just a matter of starting a relationship. and, you know, making sure it gets off to a solid ground because, you know, the situation was surprising to me, you know, to get a letter in the mail asking from ancestry identifying possibilities of family, but it didn't say brother or anything like that.

And I know I told you, but my wife and I told her that, you know, I wanted to consider doing ancestry myself, Just so I can know my heritage, you know, the lineage, where I'm from and all that, because all I really knew was, you know, up to my grandparents and maybe a few further down, but not much. When I got the letter, and she was like, oh, she's going to open it. And I was just, you know, junk mail. Sam, you know, so then she just kept talking about it, so because I put it on the shredder.

And then I went and got it and opened it up, and I was like, hmm, okay, this guy named Dan. I hate looking for it. And the names weren't lined up with me, you know. So he's like, what are you going to do? And I was like, I'll just shred it and let me do it. Right. And then it kind of from there, just conversation. Then when I spoke with Roy, that's when it kind of said, oh, well, there may be something to this.

And then I just followed it, you know, and let it play out. And I'm glad that I didn't. It was one of the more special. evenings in my life because four people who were strangers that afternoon became family. And I have to say, like, not only did we get together that night and we sat in that corner of that restaurant and we laughed and we ate and we fell in love with each other. But then it was, you were special and unique in that you immediately said let's do this again.

And you and I went to a sports bar in Virginia and we just sat there across from each other. And I was texting my wife, I was texting Becky during this thing, John, oh,

unbelievable. Like this is unbelievable. He, this is, we're the same. Like, oh. That I actually coached at Wendell's high school. Yes. I actually coached it as high school, and I felt like, wow, okay, here's another thing.

You, I mean, you love baseball, you love football, you're a sports fanatic. And that helps us, because we sat, we sat on the dugout for a Nats game, and it felt like we had done this a hundred times. That was you. You made that possible, and I thank you publicly, because that's, that was an amazing day, one of what it really was. Well, it was a shared experience, so you had a lot to do with it, too. I had no idea.

It's like with your old intro to your show. You said, I'm going to kind of a big deal. You know, and you were talking about the thing, you know, and I was like, you know, I just don't, you know, get over the top about hearing about things like that because I want to. to know the person. You know, that's, you know, and I was like, wow, that's cool, really. Wow. And to be honest, I kind of wasn't believing all of it. Most people don't. Let me do my own research and say, you know, but all of it was true. But, you know, as far as, you know, our relationship, you know, I think it was at the right time for me because if it would have been a lot earlier, of course, I don't think I would have been as open, you know, I wouldn't have been as accepting because it was my

that, you know? Yeah. And, you know, and so, but because it happened when it did, and I think, you know, I think God had a lot to do with that. I was ready. And, and I'm glad because you're, you're like the, I mean, because we're a lot, I mean, a lot of life. I mean, I don't know how, I think our paths probably crossed each other, you know, either

in the corridor, or, you know, we were in places together. Yep. You know, but I didn't, you know, I just don't look at people and, you know, I just don't do that unless I had a reason to pay attention. Right. You know, and I read the, you know, the Northern Virginia Sun. You remember that newspaper? Yeah, man. And they used to do all the high school sports days, and I'm sure I came across articles on you.

You just didn't stick, you know, who you were, because I never, never seen. you never, you know, I didn't go to W&L games, you know, I stayed in in my lane, you know, so I went to my school games and paid attention to the, you know, the district teams and stuff like that. And then, of course, we went on to regionals and state. But anyway, I'm just glad what things are right now. Again, for folks to just join, talk to my brother Wendell Garner, who I met just a few years ago to find out that, you know, by DNA, I am a garner. And I play in that because there's so many

common traits from this family. And it is such an exceptional group of folks that I smile and shine for them because of them. You know, Roy, Tommy, Kim, we went to that baseball game and we got a text from our nephew Brandon, who was at the game with a kids group. He had brought a kid's group to that game, and he sprinted down to join us. And again, those three smiles sitting together, it brought me joy at a level.

I can barely explain one. What a great day, what a great moment that was. Yeah, it definitely was, and it's more to be had. More to be had. We have stuff to do. I've made it known publicly that I'm having difficulty

with my Washington football alliance and loyalty. You are a commander's fan. Please talk me through. What am I going to do? Is there a reason for me to stay loyal? They've made it difficult for me. So, you know, I've been at the crossroads before. I was going to change things.

I've been a skin, well, they're not the skin. for the Washington wrist and fan since the 70. 71, you know, I started out as a coach fan because my mom gave me, it gifted me a football and a helmet, my first helmet for Christmas, and it was a Baltimore coat helmet. So that's when I started, oh, football and Elston, and since then I'm going to over and then I moved over the Hill game. Didn't know the history of the team, so you kind of like the things that you see,

you know, and that was my team and I didn't pay it to it until, but as I have grown, you know, through the years, and you look for meanings and purpose and stuff, and now, I said, they kind of moved me after the Joe Giff,

Aaron, kind of moved me in the opposite direction once I had got the team, and, and it's a struggle. I don't even know how to, it's a struggle for me because I was, I'm contemplating, I was contemplating switching again, because, you know, it's not even about the sport anymore. It made it about, you know, other things.

So. And the decision that the makers, an organization is just, you know, but I'm going to a game. I just found out for it. My son gifted me tickets to the Vikings game. Okay. Okay. Well, I'm, I'm, here's one, here's what we say. We're going to go together. So if we stay, we stay. If we go, we go. We'll work that out. We need to talk.

And here's the other thing. Here's the other thing. One of the, it's hard because you're a baseball dude and you're a Nats fan, and it's hard to watch from a distance. Yeah. Like, what are we doing? I don't know. But it's been a struggle for a while.

I mean, you haven't missed me. They're playing pretty good. We've got so far. That's how far we've got. We can move on there for a while. But, yeah, it's pretty, pretty, you know, not good being a Washington fan these days. But, yeah, we need to talk about that. Right now I'm holding, holding on to it.

I'm with the commanders. Don't like the name, but, oh, well, that's my local team. So I'll continue to support until I find no other reason to do. Yeah, it is, listen, this is so joyful for me. When I text you, I'm like, okay, this is calling me. It was Father's Day. I never met our father, but I'm thanking him. I was thanking him yesterday because he gave me you.

Like that, like, even without meeting him, he still managed to affect my life. He still made my life better. He still put more love into my space. and I'm so grateful for you, the family, your energy, your spirit is everything good. So I just have to say this. There's a family reunion before the pandemic, and it was the first chance to get together with the Garner family as a whole. And Wendell's mom was there, and I was uncomfortable.

because I felt like I could be a negative presence in her space. But I want to tell you how blessed I am and how favorable. And I'm tearing up just thinking about what this woman did. The power of love and this gardener family. And what your mother did, what your mother did was as I stood aside, she reached out her hand and said, baby, come here, you're home. And invited me and to take a picture with the rest of the family. and I cry every time I think about it because that is the most powerful thing anybody's ever done for me.

That what your mother did on that day and the way that you and the rest of the family engaged and encouraged and welcome to me in. Wendell, it is, it's, I have to say thank you publicly because it gave me hope again that people are good at heart. Your mother is good at heart. Your family is good at heart. You, sir, you are good at heart. And I am blessed for you. I have to say it. It's the first chance I get to say it publicly.

I love you. I appreciate you, and it means the world, that you are part of my world. Wow. I love you too. And like I said, you know, just more, you said it's just one more person who needs to love. And that, you know, that sums it up, right?

So we have no, no, no, no, no, you had nothing, no skin in the game as to, you know, how it happened. But really, it's how we react to things is most important, you know. So I coach teams, you know, little kids and stuff and always tell them that. I mean, you know, kind of, you know, pay attention and watch your reaction. You know, someone could have a longing of effect, you know. So, I mean, if I taught that to them, my son, my kids, and other kids, then, you know, who am I not to take my own advice? You know, because I'd be hypocritical if I didn't.

So, like I said, it's all good, you know. I'm just glad that, you know, the addition is very positive. And like I said, it's more things for us to experience together and looking forward to it. sir you have a wonderful day the funny his you know another added value thing his son graduated from vCU you got a niece my favorite niece and the family graduated from vc u the universe is is is full i just have to say that um i know you need to get your workout in gone get your workout in bro i will talk to you later today i'll cut this up and send it to you but love you appreciate you man have a great great monday all right love you too

You're late. All right. All right. I'm going to go cry and we'll come back one-on-one. 93-7th ticket.