The Bobby Bones Show - TAKE THIS PERSONALLY: 56 Years Of Marriage & Caring Through Alzheimers

Episode Date: November 16, 2025

Meet Baxie: a 78-year-old teacher, wife, mother and grandmother who has lived a life full of love, laughter, and resilience. From a chance-meeting college romance to raising three kids, decades in the classroom, and caring for her husband through Alzheimer’s, Bax shares the lessons that have guided her through life’s toughest and most joyful moments.  Learn more about Abe's Garden: www.abesgarden.org Follow Morgan: @webgirlmorgan Follow Take This Personally: @takethispersonallySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits,

my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to the. the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist and hosts of the podcast, a slight change of plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans. I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long the need to change. We have to be willing to live with a kind of uncertainty that none of us.

You can have opinions. You can have like a strong stance. And then there's your body having its own program. Listen to a slight change of plans on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On a recent episode of the podcast Money and Wealth with John Ho Bryant, I sit down with Tiffany the budgetista Aliche to talk about what it really takes to take control of your money. What would that look like in our families if everyone was able to pass on wealth to the people when they're no longer here? We break down budgeting, financial discipline, and how to build real wealth, starting with the mindset shifts. Too many of us were never, ever taught. If you've ever felt you didn't get the memo on money, this conversation is for you to hear more. Listen to Money and Wealth with John Hope Bryant from the Black Effect Network on the I'd Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get.

Hit your podcast. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King,

recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise, the drama, the alliances, and the T, everybody's talking about. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Earners, what's up? Look, money is something we all deal with, but financial literacy is what helps turn income into real wealth. On each episode of the podcast, Earn Your Leisure, we break down the conversations you need to understand money, investing, and entrepreneurship. From stocks and real estate to credit, business, and generational wealth, our goal is simple.

Make financial literacy accessible for everyone. because when you understand the system, you can start to build within it. Open your free I-Hard Radio app, search Earn Your Leisure, and listen now. The second episode in the two-part series of conversations with my friends at Aves Garden. Aves Garden is a senior living facility here in Nashville, and Remy and I started volunteering there as a therapy animal team many years ago now. It showed me how often our seniors are forgotten about within their communities. So I'm hopeful that this series, and the last one we did a couple months ago,

that I can encourage more people to volunteer and get involved with the senior living facility that's near you. The stories they have to share are so wonderful and full of wisdom and knowledge and advice. This week we are talking to Baxi. She's 78 years old and has a lifetime of knowledge as a teacher, a stay-at-home mom, a working mom, a wife, and so many more things. So it's time for you all the meter. Let's go. Welcome this week to the podcast. I want to call you Banksie. Do you know who Banksy is? No. It's a very famous, like, anonymous author artist right now. Oh, okay. But you are Baxie. Where did this name come from? Baxter. It's a nickname for Baxter. Okay. My dad thought I was going to be a boy, and Baxter was my grandmother's maiden name, and he was going to name his son,

Baxter, and it turned out I was a girl, and he still named me Baxter. He said it doesn't matter. My mother came up with Baxie is a nickname. So have you been Baxie pretty much your entire life then? Yes. Okay. And so nobody really knows you as Baxter. Some people call me Baxter. Okay.

How do you feel about that? Okay. Because it's really somebody that really knows me that would call me Baxter. It feels more professional if you were in a work setting to be Miss Baxter. I don't know about that. Talk to me about your life. I want to hear your life story through your eyes, and we can start wherever you want. But maybe from childhood to now, give me a picture of your life.

Okay, I was born in New Orleans and lived there until I came up to school to Vanderbilt. My day had always had a boat, so I spent a lot of time on the water, spent a lot of time on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where a lot of his family was born and raised. Went to a girl's school from fifth grade to 12th grade. I came to Vanderbilt because the ratio of boys to girls was three to one. It snowed and it was a good school. So much better than the girls' school. Yeah.

Okay. I'm following. Exactly. And is that where did you meet your husband? Yes, met my husband there. He was in law school and I was in undergraduate. We met, and I guess 67 and married in 69. Okay.

And still married today? Yeah, 56 years. Wow. We'll get to that part because I'm going to need to know how you lasted 56 years. But you guys meet in college. Then what did your life look like after college? He was in law school and it was when people were still being called to, he was drafted. But since he was in law school and he had some experience, he went to a military high school.

He could go into the, not ROTC, but maybe it was ROTC, take ROTC courses and he wouldn't have to be drafted. He could stay and finish in law school, but he would owe the government two years in the Army. Okay, so drafted no matter what. It was just a difference of timing. Yeah. Okay, so he ended up graduating as a lawyer. Yeah. But then he goes to serve? Yes, and we went to Fort Bragg for two years, and he ended up being the legal officer for the training center there at Fort Bragg. they were starting to wind down the war at that point. And when we first married, he had orders to go to Vietnam. But they were closing down the training center as time went on.

And his colonel said, Tommy Baxi really wouldn't want you to go to Vietnam, which he couldn't ask Tommy that, but he could put it through me. And he said, I need you to help me close the training center. So I want you to stay here. He worked that out for us. Was that a big relief for you as his wife? It was. It was, definitely. I'm sure at that time, too, you were seeing around you a lot of people that were serving.

And your friends, I would imagine, their husbands. Was that part of that experience? We lived off campus, off the base. And so half the people that in our little subdivision were maybe related to the service and the other half wasn't. And so we saw a little bit of both. Yeah. So you were like, okay, you're going to serve, but thankfully you're going to serve here. You don't have to go anywhere.

And didn't he serve his two years and then he was done? Yes. So stopped after me, went to officially being just a lawyer. Yes. And what about you? What did your life look like in this time? Okay. I majored in math in college and got my secondary education degree so I could teach school.

So I taught it on base for about a half a year. year. I came in January to a class that had driven off two teachers the semester before. So I taught school while he was in the service in North Carolina. Did you like teaching? Was that something you had always wanted to do? I always loved math, and I was always helping my classmates in math, and even sometimes helping the teacher in math. And so I thought if I ever have to have a job, is what I would want to do. Baxsey, I'm going to do. Baxie, I'm going to to be really honest with you, the one subject I was terrible at in school was math. And I still, to this day, don't think I can do much math. Well, you know, some people are gifted in other ways.

Yes. Yeah, very much I could do just about everything else. But math was always my kryptonite. I just, it was the one thing I couldn't quite figure out. Did you continue teaching after he left the service? We had a baby right away when we got back to Tennessee. And I stayed home 12 years and then went back when the kids by the time I went back to teaching after 12 years and we had three kids and they were in like second grade fifth grade and seventh grade what was it like for you as a stay-at-home mom was that something you wanted yes I enjoyed being home with the kids but then they would go to mother's day out some and I'd get babysitters and go do fun things too yeah so you had the experience of both getting to be home with him while also I need a break for a little bit.

Yeah. Okay. And you go back to teaching after those 12 years. Talk for 25 years. Wow. So when you look at your life and you're kind of looking over the course of your entire life, is there things you wish you would have known in that process or things you wish people would have told you or anything that you just think about and you're like, dang, I really wish I would have known more about this? Not that I can think of offhand. Okay. To me, I think I've had a pretty happy life and fulfilled life and things are a little bit rougher now, but this is a good place to be in our situation. And you and your husband now, is he still with us? Yes, he is. He's in memory care. Okay. And what is that relationship like now? You've married,

you told me 56 years? What do you even manage to stay with somebody for 56 years? And what does it look like. To me, marriage is not a 50-50 proposition. I think each side has to do a lot more. I think it's about a 90-90 with something you work at. And you can't just say, you did that, so I get to do this. There has to be compromise. And sometimes you have to give in more than you want, but you still want to have that marriage and be together. Were there moments through your guys as marriage that were really tough on you guys? And you were like, I don't know how we made it through this. When he first, he was a disc returnee,

and when we first moved back to his hometown, this was in 73, he was an assistant DA for 11 counties. So he was on the road a lot, and the kids were little, and it would have been maybe a little bit easier for him to be home a little bit more, but he was the one that was making the money and providing a living for us, so I couldn't complain about that. Yeah. You have gotten to live both lifestyles, right?

The traditional life's a little bit more of the modern where you did work and your kids. What are maybe tips that you can give for people, maybe they're new moms? Maybe there are moms who are going through it, but through different phases as the stay-at-home mom and as the more non-traditional mom. You just do what you have to do is what I would say. I looked at the future and with his salary and thinking of college is and the kids going to going to school. I thought I need to get back out in the workforce and help and make a little money too so the kids can go to college where they want to go and so forth. Was that hard for you to transition from the stay-at-home mom to then going back to work?

No. The nice thing about teaching is that my hours were very close to the kids' hours, so I didn't have to worry about babysitting and that type of thing. When I was out of school, they were out of school or when they were out of school, so was I. and that made it easier. So to me, teaching for a mother is easier than other jobs for that reason. What did you learn about kids? Maybe it's a funny thing because you were a teacher, but you were also a mother. What's things that you've learned about kids over so many years in education and as a mom?

That might be wisdom for some other people? Some of the students that I had as students, I wouldn't have given. you a nickel farm when I had them in school. But as they matured and grew up and so forth, there was this one guy. And I told him, I said, I wouldn't have given a nickel from you in high school. And he became a great mechanic and we take our cars to him. And I've told him that. He said, oh, I know, Ms. Thompson. I was just terrible. I was just terrible in school. It's so funny to see, I would imagine now, is there a lot of those instances where you've had students when they were really young and now you've gotten to see where they are in their life.

Yeah, and it can be rewarding and sometimes they'll come back to you and say, man, I hated you in high school, but you really did help me with this, this and this. Were you one of those teachers that was really strict or did you do more of the fun side of teaching? No, I never got the most popular teacher, let's put it that way. But I think my students did well when they went to school. You wanted it to be an educational experience more than it was about being their friend. Right.

And you need both. In all honesty, you need both types of teachers. And especially in math, you need the educational type because that's a particular subject that's a little bit hard to just have fun and also understand what's happening. So I do understand that. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me.

Cliver Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey. from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,

and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a play. podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. You can have opinions. You can have like a strong stance. and then there's your body having its own program.

I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist and hosts of the podcast, a slight change of plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans. We share stories and scientific insights to help us all better navigate these periods of turbulence and transformation. There is one finding that is consistent, and that is that our resilience rests on our relationship. I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long the need to change. We have to be willing to live with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes. Listen to a slight change of plans on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of IHeart Media, and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Magic, stories from the frontiers of marketing.

Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds and marketing. I'm talking to leaders from the entertainment industry to finance and everywhere in between. This seasonal math and magic, I'm talking to CEO of Liquid Death Mike Sassario, financier and public health advocate, Mike Milken. Take-2 interactive CEO, Strauss-Zalnik. If you're unable to take meaningful creative risk and therefore run the risk of making horrible creative mistakes, then you can't play in this business. us. Sesame Street CEO, Sherry Weston, and our own chief business officer, Lisa Coffey. Making consumers see the value of the human voice and to have that guaranteed human promise behind it really makes it rise to the top. Listen to math and magic, stories from the

Frontiers of Marketing on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. On a recent episode of the podcast, Money and Wealth with John Hobriant, I sit down with Tiffany the budgetista Aliche. talk about what it really takes to take control of your money. What would that look like in our families if everyone was able to pass on wealth to the people when they're no longer here? We break down budgeting, financial discipline, and how to build real wealth, starting with the mindset shifts. Too many of us were never, ever taught. Financial education is not always about, like, I'm going to get rich.

That's great. It's about creating an atmosphere for you to be able to take care of yourself. and leave a strong financial legacy for your family. If you've ever felt you didn't get the memo on money, this conversation is for you to hear more. Listen to Money and Wealth with John O'Brien from the Black Effect Network on the I'd Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the Hipsons High School. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later.

We're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo.

Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just hit it. Oh, what are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would. Come on.

Can you move? I would buy it. Cut through the defense like a hot, knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic.

You are. I'm lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's your age? I'm 78. 78.

So you get to this different part of your life, and people start to have all these questions of, do you have any regrets? What's something you wish you did? Is there anything that comes to mind for you? Not really. Nothing. Not really. How does that feel to know like you can look back on your life and you don't have a regret? There were things that maybe some of my friends did in high school that I didn't do.

When I went to the girls high school, a lot of them did their debut and were growing up in New Orleans. that were the carnival balls and all that stuff. And I was friends with them, but it was not something that our family was that involved with. So somebody might say, oh, was that something you missed? And not really. It wasn't that important when you look back at things. Is that often when you do look back at things

and you realize that there was stuff that you stressed out about that weren't actually worth what you stressed out about? Probably. But I would have to think about that for a while to come up. with an answer there. Is there stuff you're really glad that you did do and you made sure that you made happen in your life? Because I think you, you talk to people and they look at their life and they're like, oh, I'm really glad that I made sure I traveled or I'm really glad that I got married. What are those keystone moments? Well, I wanted to be married. That was, it was something that I just

assumed what happened at some point in time in my life. I've retired from teaching in O'STECHO seven and right at that same time my sister came down with ovarian cancer and it was just a good time that I did retire she lived in Pennsylvania and we were in Tennessee but I got to spend about three months of the last 10 months of her life I would go up there every two or three weeks and spend good bit of time helping care for her and so forth I'm really sorry for your loss but I was glad that I had that opportunity. The spending time with people that you love. Yeah. It's such an important part that often it's difficult to make time for when life is happening. Yeah. But it's cool to hear you say that was a priority for you. Yeah. And you can look at that moment. No, I did everything. Yeah. That I could.

She was 10 year, 10 and a half years older than I was. So in a way, she was like a second mother too. Oh. Was that your only sister? Did you have other siblings? I have a brother that's still with us. Okay, and how close are you guys today? He was nine and a half years older, so I was kind of like an only child in a way growing up. You were the baby? I was the baby, yes. He was old and child. You were.

Did you have a different experience than them growing up? Yeah, I think I did because they were in high school or even through college by the time I started doing some things. Every so often my mother would make my sister take me on a date when she didn't have a babysitter for. me or something. So you would be the third wheel on the day? And I'd sit between the two of them. Hey, that was a learning experience for her to figure out how the guy handled things. Yep. That was great. What was your favorite date that you went on with her? They'd take me to the movies. I love those. And you just sit there in between them. Yeah. Would they get you popcorn and candy and everything? One time my sister got sick and the boy came and took me anyway. Tell me that boy ended up to be the

No, he didn't, but... That was a good one. Yeah. I wonder where he is today. He's still in New Orleans. I think he's still alive. I'm not quite sure. I know he was at my sister's funeral, but it's been several years since then.

Did watching your sister date and having those experience help you understand what you were looking for? Because you did say you really wanted to get married. Yeah. She got divorced a couple years after she got married, so the first one turned out not to be. the best one. You learned some lessons through that. What was the things when you first met your husband? Can you tell me your guys' first meeting story? You said you met in college? He had a job off campus giving exercise to recruits for the police department and for the highway patrol in Donaldson. And on the weekends, he would come and sometimes crash at a good friend's apartment in town.

and at the end of the year he had gotten a keg of beer and to thank him and invited people over to have kind of an end of the school thing and I had a date with a friend of Tommy's that he had just run into on the cave golf course they were both running and Tommy said come on and Tommy asked the boy who he had a date with and he described me and he said oh I know who she is you all come on to the party so this was your first date no it was I was with this other guy our first date and who I always thought was really cutest guy in the world and I was so

excited to have a date with him and then we went to the party and I met Tommy and I could have cared less after that for that boy. That is so funny. So that moment forward was your guys's yes. How quickly after the party did you guys go on your first day? Tommy says it was the next night but I thought it was the next week. I'm not quite sure but it was pretty cool. So you both felt the same way? I guess so. Do you guys look at that and say it was love at first sight? Sometimes he had to, he was fighting it, shall we say.

Okay. He put up a little bit of a struggle, but I slowly reeled him in. Was it love at first sight for you? It was. So you very much believe in that, but that's a possibility. And did you learn things about yourself over the course of your marriage and relationship with him that maybe you hadn't learned about yourself quite yet because you were, I would assume somewhere 20, 21 when you met him?

Yeah. Yeah, let's see. I would have been 20. Yeah. Okay. So it was 22 when we married. Okay. So met around 20.

Yeah. And got married a few years later. And he's five years older. So he was 27. Okay. And you're telling me you had to do the convincing with him? Yeah. He was the oldest of four boys and the first one to be in the situation to get married and so forth.

It was just a little hard for him to settle down maybe. It's always the guys. Yeah. It's the first plunge. But you probably, too, do you recall your guys' proposal when he did propose to you? My parents at this point were living in the Bahamas. And we, Tommy and I both gone down there. And I didn't realize it, but he was going to propose down there.

And my grandmother was still alive. And she had taken us out to dinner. I got up and go to the bathroom. Tommy tells my grandmother that he's going to ask me to marry him. And so I come back to the table and my grandmother says, oh, I hear you all are getting married. So that was our proposal. No.

Right before us. supposed to happen. Did he just go red in the face? No, I can't really remember what happened after that. So did he have the ring with him? He didn't have a ring. Okay. But we came back to Tennessee and we went shopping and we picked out one. Then we came back later and picked it up and turned out it was a little bit bigger one than he had showed me the first time around. Wow. Gosh, grandma, how did you do that? Was he, then did he just kind of look at you potentially and was like, So you want to get married? I went out.

Yeah, which is awkward. We worked out. Obviously, you're still married today. So sometimes the, it's always the funny ways that they happen, that sometimes you see the very grandiose proposals and the things. And those are often the ones that don't quite work. It's the ones that happen like this that work out. Because you learn to roll with the punches.

Yeah. And it sounds like both of you are that. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, personal health, personal health, personal. purpose and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations,

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. You can have opinions. You can have like a strong, and then there's your body having its own program. I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist and host of the podcast, a slight change of plans, a show about who we are and who we become when life makes other plans. We share stories and scientific insights to help us all better navigate these periods of turbulence and transformation. There is one finding that is consistent, and that is that our resilience rests on our

relationships. I wish that I hadn't resisted for so long the need to change. We have to be willing to live with a kind of uncertainty that none of us likes. Listen to a slight change of plans on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO of IHeart Media, and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Magic, Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds and marketing. I'm talking to leaders from the entertainment industry to finance and everywhere in between. This seasonal math and magic, I'm talking to CEO of Liquid Death Mike Sassario, financier and public health advocate, Mike Milken. Take-2 interactive CEO Strauss-Zalnik.

If you're unable to take meaningful creative risk and therefore run the risk of making horrible creative mistakes, then you can't play in this business. Sesame Street CEO Sherry Weston and her own chief business officer, Lisa Coffey. Making consumers see the value of the human voice and to have that guaranteed human promise behind it really makes it rise to the top. Listen to math and magic, stories from the frontiers of marketing on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. On a recent episode of the podcast, Money and Wealth with John Hobriant, I sit down with Tiffany the budgetista Aliche.

to talk about what it really takes to take control of your money. What would that look like in our families if everyone was able to pass on wealth to the people when they're no longer here? We break down budgeting, financial discipline, and how to build real wealth, starting with the mindset shifts. Too many of us were never, ever taught. Financial education is not always about like, I'm going to get rich. That's great. It's about creating an atmosphere for you to be able to take care of yourself. and leave a strong financial legacy for your family.

If you've ever felt you didn't get the memo on money, this conversation is for you to hear more. Listen to Money and Wealth with John O'Brien from the Black Effect Network on the I'd Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Ernest, what's up? Look, money is something we all deal with, but financial literacy is what helps turn income into real wealth.

On each episode of the podcast, earn your leisure, we break down the conversations you need to understand money, investing, and entrepreneurship. From stocks and real estate to credit, business, and generational wealth, we translate complex financial topics into real conversations everyone can understand. Because the truth is, most people will never talk how money really works. But once you understand the system, you can start to build within it. That means ownership, smarter investing, and creating opportunities not just for yourself, but for the next generation. If you want to learn how to build wealth, understand the markets,

and think like an owner, earn your leisure is the podcast for you. Listen to earn your leisure on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. So personality-wise, how are each of you guys? How would you describe each of you guys? Okay. He is very outgoing.

He's a people person. He loves people and knows everybody. And I'm probably not quite as a people person, but I like to know people too. so forth. I guess we're both fairly outgoing. Okay. That's always been official, too. Did you guys, since you met at a party and did you guys, were you guys the type of couple that loved to host and do things with your friends and stuff as you guys were

coming up? Or were you focused on the kid thing? Because that happened pretty quickly. Yeah, we married two years before the first one came. Okay. But we just moved back to Nashville. There was a lot of his classmates lived in Nashville or stayed in Nashville. So there was a group of law friends that we got to be good friends with and would party with and so forth. See, I love learning about the younger version of you. Because now you today, what is your life like? You're in the Abes Garden community. What has that been like as life has transitioned and your kids have gotten older and life's been happening?

It's quite different in a way. I'm enjoying not having to think about what to cook at night. I enjoy cooking. You tell me what to make. After a while, you just get tired of trying to think of what to cook. I've gotten where I can go back. I'm playing bridge with friends here at Aves, which was something I did, had to give up when I went back to teaching.

Our kids, two of our kids live here in town, so get to see some of the grandchildren more often. And our third child lives in Lebanon, which isn't too far away, have seven grandchildren. Wow. So transition from we've got stay-at-home mom, and then we had working mom, and now we have grandma. Yeah. And great-grandma?

No. Or just grandma? Just grandma. Okay. Just grandma. And what is it like having grandkids? Is it a different experience than having kids of your own? Yes, because you can give them back.

You don't have to watch everything they do. But you really, it's a different kind of love. And you just, you get to enjoy it without all as many diaper changes and so forth. Responsibilities. You can just enjoy them more. Yeah, it's much more of a fun experience. Yes. And you don't have all the responsibility anymore.

What is the hardest part maybe that has been, and maybe it's not hard, maybe it's just different, but about getting older and life changing? With my husband and the Alzheimer's, I still have a husband, but he's not my husband. And that's been a hard thing for me to, you regret what's going on right now. To have to be in this situation, this has been a good place to be that I can get over to see him very easily as much as I want. You don't have to get in the car and drive. and it's pretty easy for the kids to get here and so forth. So we're trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation,

but not one that we're going through alone for sure. Yeah. There are lots of people going through this. You have the support here. Yes. And that's why I always find it really important to talk about it because it's one of those things that people often find really difficult to talk about because of how hard it is, but there's so many people that are going through this.

And I think when people can know that they're not alone in that experience and that it is hard. And the emotions and things that you're going through while it's happening are all very normal. And all you want to do is love them and be there for them. And sometimes that's not even an option. And I think that's really hard for people. But to know that there's others who are experiencing that same thing is really beneficial. Yeah. And it's a support group in a way.

Yes. Yes, it is. then sometimes we'll get together and tell stories about what our husbands are doing, and we can laugh about some of the things and so forth. Is it helpful for you when you go to see him? Does he remember some of the earlier days of your guys' relationship? I would say so. We don't really talk about it too much because I don't want him to feel that he's forgotten things.

He still, he would like to go, he's not quite, sure where we're living right now. He's confused about that. We lived in just a small town called Hartsville, Tennessee. It's okay. And what have you learned as somebody who is, not only are you his partner and his wife, but you are someone who's also dealing with somebody who has the memory loss. What's something you've learned in that experience that you know, you just wish people new, or maybe you just want to share because it's important? I've got to remember that it's not him at times. It's the disease. Because just like a child, you want him to behave. And especially when they're out with people and so forth.

And I have to remind myself that it's not his fault. This is just his progression. it is what it is and pick what battles to fight and what battles to just if he wants to sleep in his clothes for three days it's not the end of the world yeah yeah very much pick and choose what's necessary to be concerned about yeah is it also helpful you do have your kids and your grandchildren is it helpful when they're around to support you definitely to keep you momentum and continuing to deal with that yeah because i could imagine the emotional toll it takes on you you want to spend time with him, while also that juxtaposition is, it's also hard.

Yes. Yes. So getting you to recharge your batteries, probably hanging out with your kids. Yeah, it helps. It helps. And playing games. Yeah. With the friends downstairs. Yes.

How do you take care of yourself now? Because you look amazing. What's the secret to you and your health? I walk five miles every morning. You walk, I don't even walk five miles every day. that's incredible yeah have you done that your whole life or is this a newer thing i've always been doing exercise or playing tennis or whatever in high school i played volleyball and basketball and tennis and in college and not for the college team or anything like that but i played the sorority

and we i played on memorial gymnasium floor that's amazing so we have an athlete on our hands over here But I did, I enjoy being outside and I enjoy eating. And if I walk five miles a day, I can just about eat what I want. That's called balance. Yes. We like it. This is good. And anything else, is there any other hobbies or things that you enjoy at this point in your life?

I like working jigsaw puzzles. Okay. Puzzles. Yes. That's very good for brain health too. I've learned. And it makes sense why they frustrate me so much. Very much part of that.

I always love to end these episodes with a piece of advice or motivation. So maybe a piece of life advice. Does that sound like something you are up for? Or maybe something that you're really passionate about and you just want to share with the world, that can be an option too. Let's see. I do have one kind of weird thing in my life. Yeah, please share.

I love weird things. My mother and daddy were stepbrother and sister. What? What? Okay. So their parents got together. My mother's mother died, my daddy's daddy died, the surviving parents married when my mother was maybe nine and my dad 12. And they grew up together and ended up getting married.

Wow. Yeah. Was that always a running joke of the family? It wasn't a joke, but when they wanted to get married when my mother was getting out of high school and they said, no, Eleanor was my mother's name. You go on to college, if you still feel the same way. then you'll have our blessings because the parents were worried about if you get a divorce, if it doesn't work, you're still. You're still family.

You're still family. Exactly. But they were married like 67 years. Okay. So their parents were okay with it as long as they waited and really thought about it. Yes, exactly. Okay. But then they ended up being married for 67 years.

Yeah. So it worked. Wow. That's so crazy. When you learn that story, were you like, Wait, what? Yeah, exactly. Can it take you back?

You're like, you're my parents, but this feels weird? I felt like I was special because I only had one set of grandparents. And some of my cousins had other sets, but so I got doted upon by the one set of grandparents that I did have. Wow, that's so fun. Fun fact. Is that the fun fact you always brought when you would go? Yeah, sometimes. I almost got on a quiz show.

What? Like a game show? Yeah, I tried out in Nashville. And I know putting that on my, you would fill out what was interesting about you. And I put that my parents were brother and sister. How did that not get you on automatically? I got to where we did a, like a play show. And I didn't win.

It was tic-tac-do or something like that. Not a good tic-tac-to play. Yeah, I didn't win the game, so I didn't get to be on the contestant on the show. But it was still a fun experience. Wow. That's a very big fun fact. Did anybody else in your family go on to marry each other? Was it just them? Just them. No blood relation there now. No, no. But it's always funny because it's not. There's no weirdness to it because they're not related. But they're half related. Yeah. And more than anything, it would be weird for their parents than anybody else. Then everybody else is just kind of like, okay, yeah, that's a funny story. But the parents would be the ones to be like, no. We're married first. Wow. Okay, that was a good thing to end on. Did you also want to share life advice too?

Are you just when we got the diagnosis, it was hard, but you just have to roll with the punches and just make the best of the situation and keep going forward. Just do the best you can. That is good. And it also sounds like that's what you guys have been doing in your marriage your entire life. So I'm glad. that you're here to share your story and thank you for sharing and also being vulnerable and

also sharing the funny moments but also just to say that hopefully as you guys move forward through all of this that you just have the support and love that you need to continue yeah because it's that's important to have it's all that matters if there's anything i've learned in my 32 years of life is those that are in your life who you love and care for are genuinely what propel you forward always Thank you very much for being here. Thank you. Abe's Garden community is a local treasure here in Nashville doing amazing work caring for and engaging people living with memory loss.

They're expanding to help even more families and they rely on support from people like us. We all have aging brains, so supporting Abe's Garden benefits us all. And if you're interested in learning more on how to help, you can do so at abesgarden.org. Baxi wrapped up this series on Senior Living Residence, but if you want to hear more of these stories, let me know because I'm happy to keep doing them. Also, if there are any other topics you hope to hear, this podcast is all for you. It's meant to help you and inspire you. I'm just kind of the vessel that is going through, if you will.

Be sure to check out all these videos on YouTube if you're a more visual person like myself or follow on Instagram at Take This Personally. I hope everyone is getting into the holiday spirit. I know I am and have a wonderful week. I'm so happy that you're here. Talk soon. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me. Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist and hosts of the podcast, a slight change of plans,

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Listen to Money and Wealth with John Hope Bryant from the Black Effect Network on the I'd Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo.

Well, then you got them. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Heart Podcast. Guaranteed human.