My Wife Finally REVEALS The Truth About Living With A Former Mobster (Thanksgiving Special)

➡ The text is a conversation between two people reminiscing about their cultural differences, shared experiences, and love for food. They discuss their Thanksgiving traditions, including the dishes they prepare and their appreciation for the holiday. They also express concern about the current political divisiveness affecting family gatherings, urging people to put aside politics during Thanksgiving and be thankful for each other’s company.
➡ The text is a conversation about food preferences, focusing on Italian and Mexican cuisines. The speakers discuss their love for pasta and Mexican dishes, their childhood food experiences, and how their tastes have evolved over time. They also talk about pairing different types of wine with various dishes, and their preference for home-cooked meals over restaurant food.
➡ The text is a conversation about food preferences, with a particular focus on Italian cuisine and simple dishes like pasta with pomodoro sauce and cheese quesadillas. The conversation also touches on personal experiences, including how the couple met and their evolving relationship over the years. They also discuss their favorite wines and a cherished Bible verse, Joshua 24:15, which holds significant meaning for them.
➡ The text is a conversation about the speaker’s strong faith and how it has guided their family, the influence of their mother’s prayers, their love for travel and food, their favorite non-fiction books, and a humorous memory of the speaker’s husband. The speaker emphasizes the importance of serving God, shares their favorite travel destinations, discusses two impactful books about resilience and faith, and recalls a funny incident involving their husband and a curtain.
➡ This text is a casual conversation between two people reminiscing about funny moments, discussing their food preferences, and sharing their love for cooking. They talk about their favorite Mexican dishes, their experiences with different foods, and their family traditions. They also mention their appreciation for each other’s flexibility when it comes to choosing meals and their shared belief in the importance of family meals.
➡ The text discusses the importance of being flexible with children’s food preferences, sharing anecdotes about kids preferring simpler meals like chicken tenders over complex dishes. It also touches on cultural differences in meal serving order, with salad being served at the end in Italy. The conversation then shifts to the speakers’ personal experiences with different cuisines, particularly Italian and Mexican, and their initial unfamiliarity with these foods. The text ends with a light-hearted comment about the increasing presence of Mexican culture in America.
➡ The speaker shares a conversation about their experiences and perceptions of Italian culture, influenced by stereotypes from movies and TV. They discuss the challenges of living with someone who was involved in the mafia, and the lasting effects of that lifestyle. They also talk about their love for various types of food, including Italian, Chinese, and Greek, and their desire to travel to places like Japan, Mexico City, and Armenia. The conversation ends with a reflection on gratitude and the importance of appreciating what we have.
➡ The speaker emphasizes the importance of appreciating the simple things in life and being thankful, regardless of life’s challenges. He encourages expressing love to family and friends, and not letting disagreements, especially political ones, divide relationships. He also highlights the need to be mindful of less fortunate people, using the example of children in Nigeria who struggle for basic necessities. Lastly, he expresses gratitude to his wife for her support.

I’m gonna put you on the spot. No, don’t. Yeah, I have to, because this is the first time you’ve been on here with me. Might be the last. And I might be the last. That’s why I’m gonna take advantage of it. Before I met you, the only Mexican I knew was Sergeant Garcia Hanzoro. The only Italians I knew were all criminals on tv. So I wasn’t like, I’m dying to get myself to go meet an Italian. I wasn’t initially attracted to you. I know that. You’ve said that to me. You didn’t know that I was part of the mob at that point.

You didn’t know that. I think if I would have known that, I might have just got on a plane, maybe, and went home. Well, you tried to do that. I did, and I stopped, and you came after me. Maybe you should have did the research before you joined the Life. There’s a lot of similarities in our culture. My aunts ruled their husbands, as do I. Well, I’m not gonna go there. Eat, Camille, eat. You’re so skinny. You’re so skinny. You gotta eat more. And in my head, I’m thinking I’m seeing some people around the table that should be eating less.

Whatever our parents put on the table, we had to eat. Yeah, there was. No, you don’t. What do you mean? That was 100 years ago. I know. Put that stuff away. It’s Thanksgiving. Be thankful for that. You have. People get the politics out of it. People have lost it. What is the goofiest thing you’ve ever. You’ve ever seen your husband do? Editors. You’re going to have fun with this one. Let me tell you. Tell me what you want to tell me. No. But you never told me before. Well, another Thanksgiving, my dear. And, you know, it’s a special time of the year, not only because we have great food, which we have all the time, but it’s just a time to be really thankful.

I mean, I told you many times, I’m thankful every day. You are. Being alive and free. But Thanksgiving is a time for family to get together and celebrate that even more. Yes, absolutely. And then to have a great meal that you always prepare. Yes. It’s the one day that you get a break. Well, actually, two days, because I do it on Christmas. You do it on Christmas, too. You cook, you clean, you do everything. Well, you know what? Why do I cook and clean? People have asked me. Because to get the best experience, you don’t want to have to get up and clean the Dishes or anything else.

So what I do is I chase everybody out of the kitchen. That’s true. I don’t want anybody around, and I do it. You do that, but you do it the other 300 days a year. So, yes. Looking forward to a great meal. So, you know, it’s been 40. Well, not 40 years exactly, of Thanksgiving, because eight years I was away, so we didn’t get to celebrate, although you did. And fortunately, you always had your family around, you know? Yes. You know, it’s funny, as you know, when I met you 42 years ago, now you’re Mexican. Mexican American.

I’m Italian. Italian American. I had never eaten Mexican food. I know. I remember. You remember. I do remember. I mean, I didn’t even go to Taco Bell or any of those places. Well, neither did I, but I never ate a Taco Bell as a kid either. But you didn’t even know what Mexican food really was. So I said, you know, why don’t you try a burrito? And that’s what you love the most at the time. Now, you love all Mexican food, but the burrito was probably one of the first things that you had. Yeah. And back then, you obviously knew of Italian food.

Yeah. But you didn’t know it to the extent that. No, I mean, we had spaghetti with ragu on Fridays that my mom made, but not homemade. Not, you know, real authentic Italian food. But. Well, when I hear ragu, it was different back then than it is now. They’ve improved ragu, I have to say that. But it’s still not something that we don’t have it in our house, let’s put it that way. It wasn’t bad. Sorry, Raghu. It wasn’t bad. No, it was bad. Well, compared to now, because I know the difference. But when you’re a kid, you know, tastes delicious when you’re hungry.

Well, by the way, you know, the last meal that I prepared online was your recipe, and people loved it. So they know that you’re not a ragu fan anymore. No, babe, I said, when I was a kid, I am no longer a kid. That’s what we ate as kids. So. So, yes, it was. At the time, it was good. But, yeah, now I evolved, and now I. Italian food is my favorite. Well, you know, and that’s funny. Italian food became your favorite. You know, there’s. There’s a lot of similarities in our culture. Lots of spices. Yes.

In our foods, a lot of similarities. But there’s a lot of similarities in our culture. Yeah. Some people may say, you know, the Italian. Mexican. But here’s the crazy thing. Really crazy thing. My dad is one of 19 kids. Actually, 21. Two of them died young, but 19 kids, which people think is crazy. Yes. And your dad is one of 23. Yes. Which is even crazier. Both with the same woman. Both with the same woman. Yes. Which. Insanity. Insanity. And one of the things that I have found that endeared me to you and your family is that your aunts, your father’s sisters.

Yes. Remind me so much of my aunts. You love all my aunts. You do. Yeah. They’re vivacious, they’re opinionated, they’re funny. They’re loud. Yeah. And my aunts. My aunts were the same way. Yes. I met a few of your aunts. Your Aunt Rose, I remember. Remember her? She was the best. Yeah. She was crazy. She was great. She just yelled at everybody and just wanted to feed me every time she saw me. Well, and the same thing I’m noticing. My aunts ruled their husbands. Yes. And the same in your culture. Your aunts ruled the husband. My aunts, absolutely.

Yeah. Yes. So a lot of symbols. As do I. Well, I’m not going to go there, but. Yeah. Let’s put it this way. You do have a lot of influence. No question. Just a joke, babe. Yes. Well, what you say normally goes, but. Yeah, but, you know, getting into the food, because it is Thanksgiving and, you know, it’s funny that on Thanksgiving, we don’t have Mexican, we don’t have Italian. We have American food. Yeah. You know, going back to the Pilgrims, lots of people don’t like turkey or Thanksgiving food. Like, Amanda doesn’t like turkey. Mike’s not a big fan of turkey.

My daughter and my son. Yeah. But this year we’re going to make a small turkey, and then we’re also going to make a prime rib. So we. Why? Why the prime rib? Tell everybody why the. Because you make the best prime rib. So I want you to make that. Right. Yeah. So your stuffing is amazing. I make the stuffed peppers. I mean, I make the rice. You stuff them. What else do we have? Sweet potatoes, sometimes. The stuffing, by the way, just like the meatballs. My grandmother’s recipe. Terrific. It’s delicious. You know what? Maybe I’ll prepare that one time.

We’ll do this stuffing also. That’s one of your best dishes. Really excellent. So we’ll have that. And what else? You don’t like pumpkin pie? We all love pumpkin pie. So we’ll have pumpkin pie and we’ll have apple pie. Yeah. I don’t I never. Yeah. You know what it is? I just can’t see eating a pumpkin. Why? I guess because of Halloween. You know, when I was a kid, we used to go around smashing Pumpkin. Yes. Pumpkin pie is so yum. But you like pumpkin loaf. You like the pumpkin loaf that Julia made? Yeah, because it was more of a mild pumpkin flavor.

It was more like a bread cake. Pump pie is the best. Yeah. Don’t like it. Yeah. Never acquired a taste for it, but it’s good. The other good thing about Thanksgiving, you know, traditionally, I have to say this. Our family is all about food. It’s God family food. Oh, yeah. We’re Fujis built around food. Everything. We’re having lunch and we’re planning dinner. Yes. We travel. We have reservations booked before we get there. It’s like, it’s all about. I mean, we love food. I mean, and that’s all your job. But, you know, look, food brings people together.

It does. No question. And that’s what we’re hoping on Thanksgiving. You know, one of the things I have to say, with all the divisiveness in this country, one of the things that really bothered me, there was a lot of people, they did a poll, And I think 22% of people said they’re not going to sit with people. An opposite political party. Insane. It’s insane. Put that stuff away. It’s Thanksgiving. Be thankful for that. You have people that you can sit with. It’s crazy. I think people get the politics out of it. People have lost it. Yeah, we don’t want to hear any of that.

We’re going to sit down, have a great dinner and really enjoy it. We eat in the afternoon. We don’t eat late because we’ll probably eat again that night with all the leftovers that we’ve had from the course. There will be plenty. Because we always overcook. Yes, always. What was your typical Thanksgiving dinner growing up? You know, we used to make pasta first. Oh, really? Yes. But then we found out that everybody ate. Everybody ate the pasta my mother would make, and then nobody would be hungry for anything else because you put pasta in front of Italians.

I know. That’s all we’re going to eat for the most part. Well, you put pasta in front of me, and that’s all I’m going to eat, too. You became a, you know, a fan of. That’s your favorite meal. 100%. And you’re not a big eater to begin with, but when it’s pasta. There you go. I love my favorite food in the whole world. Well, that’s a good thing. And steak and what. What became my favorite Mexican food? You like quesadillas, you like chili verde, you like pozole. You like. You like a lot of carnitas. Carnitas, yes.

You like it all, but you like carnitas. Is like, is chili verde. It’s just prepared differently. Same thing. It’s pork. So you like that a lot more than I do. Sometimes I just won’t eat pork. But it is absolutely delicious. No? I would venture to say I enjoy Mexican food more than you do. 100%. I love it. But I even love menudo. As a kid, though, we didn’t eat a lot of Mexican food. As kids. We did not. We eat a lot of American food. My grandmother, when I went to visit my grandmother, we eat a lot of Mexican food, but at home as kids, we did not.

I mean, I love Mexican food, but it’s not one of my favorite cuisines, if, you know, not at all. I mean, really, do you want to go to a Mexican restaurant? No. Menudo. I like pozole verde better than menudo because the thought of eating tripe, even though I ate it as a kid and loved it, now I think about it, I’m like, I can’t do it. Well, you love it. I didn’t know what menudo was, but we used to have tripa, which is tripe. Yeah, same thing. And it was cooked in a red sauce. We didn’t put all the other additives that are in menudo.

But I loved it. I like how you say menudo. Menudo. What is it? Menudo. Menudo. Gotta get the dialect right. Menudo. That’s cute. But I love it. And I love Mexican food. In Mexico. I don’t like. Oh, yeah, you know, I don’t like any of the big fancy Mexican restaurants. I like home cooked Mexican food. I mean, Mexican food is delicious. The street tacos, the chili bread. My favorite is enchiladas suizas, which I don’t know how Mexican that is. I mean, in Mexico we don’t really have burritos. You don’t. That’s an American thing. But you have the street tacos so good.

When we were in Cancun or where else were we in Cabo, food was delicious. And Puerto Vallarta too. Puerto Vallarta food is amazing. A lot of seafood too. I’m not, I. When I was younger, we didn’t eat a lot of seafood. But now I love all of the different kinds of Mexican food that’s. And Mexicans are Huge on seafood. It’s a big part of their culture. Let me ask you this, you know, being that I’m in the wine business. We’re in the wine business. What, what, what wine would you pair with pasta of Our. Our. I mean, it depends on what kind of pasta.

Like if it was a pasta with broccoli rabe, I would prepare the. Our white wine. You know, that’s kind of like a Sauvignon blanc, which is really delicious. Very, you know, fruit forward, like pear and apple flavors with a red sauce. I would probably do, definitely do the Areny, you know, even, you know, because already it’s kind of bold, like a cab. That’s what I would pair with that too. So with Mexican food, I would probably pair more the Armal Bec, because it’s more tanniny and more strong. And Mexican food spices are a little stronger, I think, than Italian spices.

But for me, I paired whatever kind of. I think when you like a wine, you pair it with everything. Like I’ll pair a red wine with whatever I’m eating. But if you’re talking about like really pairing foods, you know, to get the real flavors and the taste, like, start with this and then end with this. Yeah, you can do all those. But you know, the crazy thing is that you, you have a better taste for wine than I do because you can, I wouldn’t say you can identify all the different fragrances, aroma, fruits that are part of the wine better than I can.

Well, you, you, you’ve gotten a lot better though, because you evolved as a wine drinker, as have I. Because now, you know, we’ve been drinking wine for. I didn’t start drinking wine until I was 26. I didn’t start drinking coffee till I was 26. So I started out with like a Riesling because it was kind of sweet and very easy to drink. A very, you know, user friendly wine. And then now I like bold arenas and cabs and Syrahs. And you didn’t like the bold wines, if you remember. But now you’ve evolved also. So now you love a cab or you love your Renier.

I love you. You’ve been obsessed with these fruit wines. You’re like walking around the house in the afternoon drinking it, by the way, on a Tuesday. I know it’s Saturday. It’s a little dangerous because it is. I’m like, they taste so it’s afternoon. What are you doing? And you’re like, oh, I love it. It’s so good. It is good though. This is the strawberry Strawberry is one of my favorites. It’s really good. And the BlackBerry is really. The pomegranate seems to have been the, you know, big hit. Well, we introduced that first. Now the others are.

Everybody, they’re going wild for the holidays. I think the pomegranate, for me, I think it’s more versatile. You can do a lot more with it. You can use it as a mixer with other alcohol elixirs, or you can put it on ice cream because it’s more bold and strong, has a lot more body to it, as were the strawberry. The cherry, it’s very light, so it’s just. Just drinking a glass of it is really easy. They’re all yummy. But my. I think my favorite’s the strawberry. Your favorite’s the BlackBerry. But now I see you drinking the strawberry a lot.

I’m really. I’m enjoying both of them. Then. I’ve noticed. I’ve noticed that you are. Well, listen, I’m drinking wine since I’m 10 years old. I know my grandfather used to make it in the basement. But when I met you, you only drank a white wine spritzer. That was your go to. And I didn’t drink wine at all. You know why, Cam? I don’t. I don’t see. I don’t go to a bar and order wine. It’s not a bar drink. To me, it’s a family drink. It’s a friendship drink. I’ve always viewed it that way when I went to a bar, because I don’t drink.

If somebody wants you, Mike, you want to drink? Yeah. Give me a white wine spritzer. A little wine. A little. But I never just ordered a wine ever, ever. You know, because again, we sat down, had dinner, bottle of wine, you know, with family, bottle of wine, friends, bottle of wine. I always looked at it that way. Always. But. So your favorite Italian food is pasta. What are the other Italian dishes that you really love? Italian food is my favorite, for sure, pasta. But I just like the, you know, the pomodoro sauce, the red sauce, the light sauce.

I do like cacio e pepe at times. Caciopep is delicious. That would. That’s great with the red wine because you got the. The cheesy, a little salty cacho pepe. And then you have the. The boldness of the red wine. So that’s a nice. That’s a nice pairing. I like veal. Veal scallopine or veal lemon is one of my favorite Italian dishes. And that’s. That’s fantastic. With our White wine pairs really nicely with our white wine. I mean, I like all Italian food. I don’t like all the, like really heavy old school dishes. But I guess that’s just the restaurant and the preparation because you can really make all of those dishes more like I call California style.

Like, we tend to cook healthier here in the house. We try to use lighter ingredients, but the real heavy, like old school sauces, like the meat sauces that you grew up with. The grapes, I like those, but they’re not my favorite. I prefer the lighter sauces. When I used to live near the Gambinos, Pina gambino would make the. What was the one she made with the broccoli? Peas. Yeah, it was broccoli. Yeah, it was broccoli and peas. And it was so delicious. It’s so light. Pina was a good cook. Oh, she was an amazing cook. So yummy.

So, yeah, so that was, that was really good. But veal chop, you know, is delicious. Ville Milanese is delicious. The tagliatel, the way they make the steak with the basil and the. It’s all yummy. There isn’t an Italian meal that I’ve seen you not like. Yeah, I mean, it’s all good. It’s just my. What my go to favorite is, is a pomodoro sauce. Like if I could just basic. And it’s, it’s interesting because it’s really hard to find. You go out of these Italian restaurants and they have all these sauces and you just want a basic sauce.

And it’s really hard to find because they’re adding this and they’re adding that, and it’s really. There’s not a lot in there, you know. Well, you, you whipped up a sauce last week. It was just aioli. Yeah. And it was, it was absolutely delicious with kind of fusilli. That was in. That’s one of my favorites too. Just olive oil and garlic, little Philly flakes and some Parmesan. 20 minutes. Amazing. It’s funny with the Mexican food, you say to me, do you want a quesadilla? I’m in. Yes. Immediately. Yes. And I don’t want anything else but cheese in it.

Yes. I don’t want chicken. I don’t want. Just give me a cheese quesadilla. I grew up on quesadillas. Easy, affordable. When you have seven kids, you know, quesadillas go a long way, so. Well, pasta, the same thing. True. You could feed so many people with two pounds of pasta and just two cans and just make. Yes. Well, I gotta. I’m put you on the spot. No, don’t. Yeah, I have to because this is the first time you’ve been on here with me because our school members who had the opportunity to sit with you a couple of months ago and you haven’t gone back yet, they said, wow, Ms.

Kami’s going to be on. Let me, let me prepare some questions. So you ready? I’m ready. All right. They’re great. They love you. Ready or not, here I am. They love you. All right. Oh boy. What is Michael like now in comparison to the early years of your marriage? Obviously better, but go ahead. Improve with age, right? Wow, that’s a good one. I gotta thank the school. I think you’re more patient now, a little more calm. For the most part. You, you can turn into a wild maniac at times, but God, those are, those are the two main things.

I mean, and you’re more apt to relax, like to just chill and relax. Where before when I first met you, just sitting around watching TV or, you know, that was just like, you had to get up, you had to do something, you had to go somewhere, you had to be somewhere. But I think that’s just, you know, you’re getting older, so our favorite things are to do what? Nothing. Yes. Drink tea, watch a movie, have a glass of wine. Yeah. It’s amazing how you evolved like that. But you are more calm. Definitely. For sure. But I don’t know, you’re pretty much.

You haven’t changed a lot in that sense. I am who I am. You are who you are. That is for sure. Yes. Okay. All right, Jake. More lovable you think I love. No, you’ve always been extremely lovable. Oh, thank you, dear. I thought as you got older it would, but it has not. Oh, school. I love this question. Thank you. All right. How did you meet each other and what initially attracted you to each other? I’m gonna get burnt on this one. Go ahead. How did we meet each other? We met on your film. And what initially attracted me to you? I wasn’t initially attracted to you.

I know that you’ve said that to me many times, but I think once I had a little conversation with you. I thought you were very charming and kind and very respectful and, you know, my only issue was that, you know, when you’re 20, anybody’s over 30 is old. So that’s what I thought, but, Well, I was 31. Don’t get too carried away. Going to be 32 very soon. Yes. Okay, so actually within days you were going to turn 32, and I had just barely turned 20, so. All right, school members, since you started this, I’m going to expand on these questions.

What was it that wasn’t attractive about me to you? Age. Okay. Age, probably, and just kind of like you were, like, kind of like a social butterfly, and I just saw you here and there with this person and that person and chatting up, you know, this dancer and chatting with that person. I don’t know. That wasn’t attractive to me. But, you know, when you’re 20, what do you. What do you really know is attractive to you? Well, you didn’t. You didn’t know that I was part of the mob at that point. You didn’t know that? Oh, God, no.

I think if I would have known that, I might have just got on a plane maybe, and went home. Well, you tried to do that. I did, and I stopped. And you came after me. Yeah, Yeah. I mean, just, you know, I just look at. Like, I look at my girls now. Jules is, what, 27? And to me, she’s so young. She’s so young. Like, I look at her like she just. Like, sometimes I look at her like she’s just a kid, and she’s not. I was 25 and had three children, and I was traveling around the country to visit you at every institution that you were at.

Driving, flying, like, you know, mostly with one. Somebody from my family would come with me, but, like, usually sometimes by myself, and then renting a car and then driving to see you, and I’d look at my kids, and I’m like, wow, I just can’t imagine. I was so young, and I look at pictures of me with my kids and you, and I’m just like, what the heck? You know? But obviously, my life was different from theirs, you know, at the time, so I’m glad that they don’t have to go through the same thing. Yeah. So thank God, you know, they’re blessed.

They’ve had a nice life. I mean, everybody has struggles, but they’ve had a nice life. Well, there certainly were challenges. Oh, yeah. Being the wife of Michael Francis. No question. We won’t get into that. I’m saving that for the Girl by podcast. I’m going to get away from that one. I’ve asked enough on that one. That’s for the Girl by podcast. Girl by is my daughter’s podcast, and I don’t want to be a fly. Or maybe I do want to be a fly on the wall. You will not be a fly on the wall. No. Come on.

We’re not going to. What are we going to say? All right, so. Okay, what is. Oh, wait a minute. Okay. What is Cami’s favorite wine? My favorite wine is probably the Arena. I like the arena because it’s old school. It’s vintage and drinks. You know, I’m not a big. I wasn’t. Let me say, I correct that I wasn’t a big fan of older wines, like French and Italian. But since we travel all over the world now, in the past 10 years, I’ve been drinking more wine, and I’m finding that I like them. And I think that’s just because my palate is expanding, so I’m drinking stronger, better wines.

So it reminds me of that. It’s got a really nice velvety, silky taste to it. And for me, it pairs well with everything, so that would be my go to. I also do like the Malbec with certain foods, and the white is easy drinking, but my favorite is probably the Areni. Yeah, we know what your favorite is. Your favorites are the fruit wines. I love the fruit. You love them because you drink them. I love them all the time. Yeah. I mean, I really do. And I’m. No, I know you do, because I’ll come home from a workout.

It’s one o’ clock in the afternoon, and you’re walking around the house sipping wine. I’m not crazy about the pomegranate because I’m not crazy about pomegranates. You don’t like pomegranates. That is true. But you do like the strawberry and the BlackBerry. But the pomegranate happened to be the best seller, you know, for a long time. Because pomegranate is also antioxidants in that. There’s some health benefits to that. And when you, you know, people hear that and they’re like, sign me up. Yeah. But you know, on people, too. Wine is subjective. Yeah. I’m not going to say I love every bottle and I want to drink it all day long.

If you did say that, then you could not be telling the truth, because you can’t love every wine. But other people love it, and that’s what’s important. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. All right. What is your favorite Bible verse and why. What is my hair? I have lots of books. My main One is Joshua 24:15, which was my mother’s favorite, which is, as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord. Because I feel like if you proclaim that over your home and your children, that’s. That’s a bold statement. So Me and my house, no matter what, no matter where, no matter when, we will be serving the Lord, good, bad, and indifferent.

We. We will be serving the Lord. And let me ask you, would you say that that has been a guiding verse in keeping our family together? 100%. 100%. And I think, you know, when I was. Before I lost my mom, you know, she was always praying and praying for people. Praying for you, praying for me in that verse, when I said to her, why that verse, like, there was so many, you know, all the other cliche verses, you know, I can do anything with God who strengthens me. And all those verses, but that one for her, which.

That was it. And I asked her why. And when she explained it to me, it made so much sense because she claimed it. She. She claimed it and proclaimed it over her children and her grandchildren in her home. For me, in my home, my house, which meant me and my kids and my offspring and their offspring and their offspring, we well, serve the Lord. And I just felt like she was just making a covenant with God when she would. She pick that verse and just put it on. On her life and on my life and my siblings and my kids.

So I do the same. Because for me, if you and your house serve the Lord, if God is for you, who can be against you? And I agree with that. And you know, you know my feelings for your mom. I believe your mom, until this day, prayed me to where I am sitting in this chair right now. She was a prayer warrior. I think she prayed both of us to where we’re sitting today. Absolutely. Well, she prayed you through the very difficult times that we had throughout the course of our marriage. There’s no question. Yeah, she was definitely the glue.

I mean, she kept me strong when I was weak, and she kept me accountable. And, you know, she just said, you’re first and foremost accountable to God and then your husband and your children, and we all have our hardships. You have yours early on in your marriage. Some people have them. You know, some people have them all through their marriage. But that’s just life. You know, life’s like you’re on a roller coaster. You’re high and you’re low, and no question, that’s how it goes. All right, well, that’s. I’m sure people are going to appreciate that. What has been her favorite or your favorite place to travel to and you’re.

Well, let’s do that one first. Your favorite place to travel to. I know it better be the answer. Why? Because I know. Of course it’s Italy is my favorite place. Obviously, the food is a huge component to that. I love the food in Italy, but, I mean, I’ve been to incredible places. Singapore is incredible. You know, Australia is incredible. Bulgaria. We’ve had some of the best food in our life in Bulgaria, and we’re all about food and wine. So Bulgaria was another one of those places that was surprisingly beautiful in its own way. And architecturally, nothing like, you know, France or Italy or.

But you’re big on France and I’m not. But. But the people, you know, and the food and the kids and the dogs everywhere, I thought that was an incredible country. I love sp. I was not a big fan of Spanish food, and I was very surprised because I’ve been to Spain several times, but the first time I went, I don’t know why I expected it to be similar to Mexican food. And it is nothing Mexican food, it’s entirely different. It’s the tapas and a lot of fish. But I did like all the steakhouses that they have.

But. But Barcelona, Madrid, Alicante. Beautiful, beautiful. And I love this. Beautiful. You loved it. Jules loved the Spanish food. You and her were having, like a blast there. But you also like a lot of seafood more than I do. I love seafood, too, but not as much as you and Jules with all the raw fish and stuff. But Barcelona is gorgeous. And our wines would have paired good with Spanish food. Oh, for sure, for sure. Oureni is special 100%. Now the Malbec, too, both of them would have paired really nicely with. But it’s Italy, the people, you know, it’s interesting.

Italian people are not nowhere near as friendly as Mexican people or people in Australia or Bulgaria. The French are. They’re a little snooty. The places that we went to. Like, I. I was surprised at that. But you watch them with their families and there. There’s children everywhere. They’re very family oriented, but they’re not very welcoming to tourists or others coming in. And no, and I’ll say this as friendly as I thought they would be, I will say this. The friendliest places, the Most courteous, Mexico, Cancun 100. They just love kind. I’ve said that many times. You’ve always said that.

And it’s true. They are. Yeah. They make the vacation. They do because they’re so wonderful. They’re incredible. But there’s many incredible places in the world and good food everywhere. All right, well, this is a good question for you because what is your favorite non fiction book? Because you’re into reading. You read A lot more than me. My favorite non fiction book is. Oh gosh, I have two of them. The Insanity of God and My Losing. My losing season. And I can’t. I’m having a, you know, a brain fog here. But I think it’s Kel Kipkin or Ripken who wrote the Insanity of God, which is incredible that a couple’s journey as missionaries having children, going into the depths of.

The depths of where God has taken them and not questioning, saying, why God? Why do you have me here? When they went through so much trial and tribulation and so much sorrow and just them seeing God’s face and God’s grace everywhere and the turmoil of what they were suffering and going through just blew my mind. Blew my mind that there’s just such people like that. And there are, there are many missionaries like that who just go and just are obedient to what God has asked for them. The other one, my illusion season is the same author who wrote the Tides of that you said reminded you of the movie, reminded you of the Prince of Tides.

The Prince of Tides. The Tribunal. The tribunal relationship you had with your mom. Yes. Well, this is his life story and it’s called My Losing Season and it’s about his relationship with his father. And it’s so incredible, so heartbreaking, but yet so beautiful. The father and the son. And it’s mainly the father was just a brute, but the son was a gem. And he ended up being this prolific author who wrote all these incredible books coming out of what his father put him through. But would the mom. Just those two books, I just, I just tell everybody to read them whenever I can and if they like, oh, I’m gonna get it.

I’m like, I got you. I Amazon it to them right away because it’s such a great book. You know, you, you really get immersed in your books when you love a book. I drive everybody in the house crazy. We all hear about it. I stairs. I’m like, listen to this. You can’t believe this. But this kid, the resilience. And it kind of reminded me of. Because you and Michael were going through a really tough time, the two of you, and it kind of reminded me of that. And you were nowhere near how this father was with his son.

But it reminded me of that the father and the son is such a hard. It’s a tough relationship because you’re, you’re a man and you’re trying to build this man and you’re trying to instill in him what it is to be a Man. And sometimes I said to you, you’ve got to have more grace with him. He’s a child. He’s a kid. He’s watching you, everything that you do. And that’s how this book. And I think it really affected me also because of that. But I was tough on him. But incredible books. Two great books. Okay, excellent.

All right. What is the goofiest thing you’ve ever. You’ve ever seen your husband do? Oh, gosh, there’s many. Thank you. There’s many. Well, don’t. Don’t give many. Just the. The goofiest. The goofiest. Oh, God. The girls and I are talking about. Oh, really? Yeah. We were on a. We were on vacation somewhere, and you were expecting a phone call, and we were all sitting in the parlor of the hotel, and we’re all talking or we’re laughing about our day, and you’re on the phone, and you’re standing in the corner, and you’re, like, having this serious phone call, and obviously we can see that you’re quite upset.

Obviously, no one’s paying attention to you. They’re like, dad’s on the phone, per usual. And the next thing we see, I turn around and you’ve got the curtain, and you’re, like, wrapping yourself in the curtain, kind of like a burrito. And we’re all looking at you. You’re like, I can’t hear. Can you please be quiet? And next thing, you were literally wrapped in this curtain. Until this day. Like, remember when dad wrapped himself in the curtain because he’s trying to, like, you know, get some peace? But that’s like. I never imagine, like, an ex mob guy wrapping himself up in a curtain to get some.

Some quietness. But, I mean, come on, babe, you do. No, I was trapped in a hotel. You do some pretty silly, goofy things where I just kind of look at you. You’re like, why are you looking at me? I’m like, I’m just observing. We’re gonna leave it at that because I’m sure she’ll add to that. But we’re gonna. We’re gonna move on. But I do remember. I have many more. I do remember that. Okay. But getting back to the food for a minute, one thing I’ve never seen you order or eat is a burrito. I don’t really eat burritos.

You don’t? Why? I don’t. I’ve never been a fan of burritos. I don’t know why. I like tacos. I like enchiladas, but I’m not A big like. Well, I shouldn’t say that. No. I don’t ever see you like a really simple, basic bean and cheese burrito. When I was a kid, that was my go to. But I don’t know, maybe because I just think they’re fattening. There’s too much stuff that goes in there. I like to eat more simple food, but I’m not a big burrito girl. As where you absolutely love burritos. Shrimp, steak, fish, breakfast burrito.

Breakfast. I do you know what? I do like breakfast burritos. I like a egg white breakfast burrito with like some avocado and some cilantro and some. But I don’t know if you would call that Mexican. No, because you take the. The real taste out of it. But everything’s got to be. So why do I take. Do. Is there. Do I take the taste out of the food I prepare for dinner? No, I’m talking about the burrito. I’m not a burrito girl. What’s your favorite Mexican food? My very favorite. Your go to. Like if we went to the best Mexican restaurant in Mexico City, because that’s where I want to go next, but they say it’s not safe, so I don’t know.

But maybe we’ll take some bodyguards with us. What would you order at the top Mexican restaurant? I always look at carnitas. I love carnitas. You know that. Because when that pork is. Is prepared nice and moist and soft, it’s just. It’s delicious. So I would probably order that first. Okay. I love pozole. You do? They don’t always make pozole. They can’t get it every day. Menudo, they don’t make more, but menudo is tough to make, but I love it. And what would you pair? What wine would you pair? What wine of ours would you pair with your favorite? Carnivas.

Forget the fruit wines a minute because that I drink independently. I don’t look for a sweet. You’ll start off with the fruit and then you’ll move into. You move in. It would be the Iranian on the Irani guy for sure. And the Malbec is great too, but also because it’s pork and it’s a little salty and it’s a little fatty. Our white Sauvignon Blanc, our white dry wine would actually be a really nice pairing too. We got to go to my cousin Enrique. Him and his wife. Crazy story. She’s a phenomenal cook. She cooks Mexican food.

And I remember when they started dating and then they were married. I Told them, you better watch out, because I see you’re eating so good. You’re the skinniest Ramirez there. You’re not going to be skinny that long. But cut to now they have a restaurant, I believe it’s called Forgive me if I’m wrong. It’s in their backyard. But it’s in their backyard of their home. And literally there’s a waiting list of like 40,000 people from all over the country come to their home to have dinner in their backyard. And it’s like. It’s like a set menu every day.

And then I believe it was the New York Times who wrote them up and said, this is a gem. So I’m praying for them. Why are they not serving online? Hopefully. I don’t even know if they have wine. Well, you know what? Wine. Because maybe they don’t realize wine goes with Mexican food. How many times have we gone to a Mexican restaurant? And I’ll say, can I see your wine list? And I’m like, it’s the worst place to get wine. Because, you know, now they have a few really nice Mexican wines from the Guadalupe, I believe it’s called the region in Mexico.

But we’ll have to go and try their food at their home, and then we’ll take some of our wine with us, and who knows, maybe we’ll pair it up and they’ll like to have it. Yeah. You know, when it comes to Italian food, for me, up to a couple of years ago, and you know this, I would never order a meatball. I never had spaghetti and meatballs. Now you try them everywhere you go. Now I try them because I believe that celebrity chefs have raised the standard bar for sure. For meatballs. For sure. They have. And now I go and try it, and they’re good.

Not like my grandmother’s, but they’re good. And not like yours. No, but they’re good. But they’re good because they. Because they put. You always ask what is in them? So they’ll say, a veal, pork, and ground beef. And then you’re like, this is going to be a good meatball. And they’ve been good ones lately. But food, food across the bar. Like, people always say, oh, where’s the best place to go to in New York or Chicago? We’ve been all over the country and all over the world. There’s good food everywhere. Best pizza in the world. One of the best pizzas we went to.

Truly pizza. Delicious, incredible, amazing. But was it the best pizza in the world that we’ve ever had? No, the Restaurant right here has incredible. You can’t say that anymore because there’s so. Look, we’re in the pizza business, which is good. I will say this. Our frozen pizza is the best in the market. 100% frozen. Best in the market. You wouldn’t know that it was frozen. Absolutely delicious. But aside from that, there’s great pizza everywhere. There is. You can’t say, oh, this one is the best. There’s amazing pizza. You’re so right. That is true. These restaurants have raised their standards, without a doubt.

Yeah. But we’re getting to. Again, on Thanksgiving, we don’t have Mexican. We don’t have Italian. We have American. And I think that’s what we’re supposed to do. Yes. I mean, there’s no rules. That’s what the Pilgrims did. And we should honor our country. And it’s delicious. And your stuffing is the best. Sorry, mom, but no, it’s your stuffing mind. Your stuffing is the best. And the turkey, you know, I can give or take. We fry our turkey now. We fry it now, which is better. Which is fantastic, because crispy on the outside, super juicy. Takes less time.

Yeah. And all the toppings. And it’s just a nice time with family and friends and wine and with our big, crazy family that we have. You know what it is, they so look forward to that? They do. You know, it’s one of. Food is one of the things that bring people together. And they look forward to our Sunday dinners, which we do as often as we can. At least twice a month. Twice a month. At least. I mean, the kids have their lives, but we do that. And then Thanksgiving always and holiday always, for sure, so.

And that’s a tradition that both families. You had that in your family, I had it in mine. We’ve kept it with our kids, which is great. I have one more question. One more. Okay. Your time is running out. All right. I have to put the glasses on, unfortunately. Do you ever argue about what to cook from your backgrounds? Never. No. Well, you have to say this. I’m. I usually say whatever you want to eat, 100%. You want to. You want to go out, you want to cook, you want to order. It’s up to you. Tell me what you want to do always, and then when I say I’m going to cook.

Are you sure? Are you sure? I don’t want you to have to cook or clean. Let’s. Do you want to go out? I’m like, no, I don’t. I don’t want to go out. But you’re easy. You’re super easy. So that is true. I’m thankful for that. You’re not one of them. Like, no, I don’t want to go out. I want to stay home, and I want to have this meal. You’re like, no, whatever you want to cook. And whatever we cook, you love. Whether it’s simple, whether it’s extravagant, whether it’s. Is exquisite, whether it’s hamburger, you’re always very happy.

Well, I can tell you this. Yes. I attribute that to two things. One thing that you disagree with, but I somewhat agree with. We came from the clean plate generation. Yeah. Whatever our parents put on the table, we had to eat. Yeah. There was no. You don’t like it. What do you mean? That was 100 years ago. I know, but it taught me to like every food. Yeah, well, that’s true. I mean, I eat food. I’m not really picky. You’re more particular than I think. Like, I don’t. The clean pleat. The clean pleat. The clean plate thing makes me feel like if kids are not hungry and they don’t want to eat it, then I don’t want them to force themselves to eat it.

That, for me, that produces overweight children. Now, if they just don’t like the food and it’s not what their palate wants and they want something else, sometimes you accommodate them because they’re kids. They don’t, you know, they don’t like these. Like when Mike got his new job at this home that he works at because he’s an incredible chef, my son Mike, and he says, mom, I was so excited. That’s funny how he’s. When he does something bad, he’s my son. But when he’s doing great, he’s our son. Okay. That’s okay. And he’s like, mom, I made them this beautiful, like, chicken paella, and I made him a nice salad.

And they just kind of looked at it and they didn’t want it. And he goes, then I tried and tried, and then one day I just said, all right. I put chicken tenders. I put tater tots and some french fries, and they. Chef Mike, that was the best meal ever. Kids, sometimes you got to just accommodate them. I mean, I remember the story you told me that your father, your poor sister Gia, sat at the table for 12 hours because she didn’t want to eat broccoli rabe, wouldn’t let her get up. I didn’t like broccoli rabe when I first had it at 20 years old.

I love it now. But to me, That’s. It’s bitter. That’s just. I’m not gonna say abusive, but it’s just not. Not okay. I remember she sat there until like, 10, 11 o’. Clock. I could. I couldn’t imagine my leaving my child on the dinner. I would sit there and cry with them if I was the mom and she would need it. No, because I know Gia, she’s like, I know what she was thinking in her head, so. All right, well, you know, you gotta be flexible with. The answer to that is I’m easy. Yeah. When it comes to eating, for sure, you’re very easy.

You’ll take me out. You eat at home, we order in. You’ll have leftovers, which I’m not big on leftovers, but, you know, I have a good palate. I’ll eat almost everything as long as it’s prepared. And we always eat incredible food. So you’re like, it’s not my last meal, so whatever it is, it is. And it’s got to be good. And I’ll be happy. All right. Yeah. Well, listen, I think this was. This is a real treat. Yeah. Because rarely, if ever, do you come on. And it’s true. But I shouldn’t really like to stay on the other side of the camera.

I like my privacy, you know, And. Well, other side of the camera is. As many of you know, she does all the filming. So that’s the other side. I mean, it’s hard sometimes. I have. As a young girl, I wanted to be an actress and a dancer. And I just thought that didn’t pan out for me. And maybe it was because God knew best that I wasn’t gonna like being on. On that side in front of the camera because I don’t seem to be. And once in a while I don’t mind. And this is. This was.

This is fun. It wasn’t bad, right? We might do it again. Maybe next. I got to sit with my girls, though. Okay, well, that’s. Once I sit with my girls, then maybe I’ll. I’ll come back on as one of your guests, you know? But I do remember. I don’t know if you remember this. When you came to my house, my mother was cooking. And this was early on. I don’t know if we weren’t married yet. Weren’t married yet. But you came to the house. No, no, no. We were married. Were we married when I met your mom? We were absolutely.

Oh, that’s right. We weren’t married. Okay. And you came to the house and my mother was serving it was a Sunday dinner. And you just kept. Because it was coarse. After course. It was. After course, massive amounts of food. And I just kept saying to myself, how does anybody eat this much food? And I mean, I was just like, eat, Camille, eat. You’re so skinny. You’re so skinny. You got to eat more. And in my head, I’m thinking, no, people here need to eat less. I’m seeing some people around the table that should be eating less and not more.

And not your family members, not your sisters. Your sisters were lean and your mom was very thin, but other family members that were there. Just in my little head, I was saying, she’s eating too much. She needs to stop now. And she’s like, but I remember you turning to me. But it was so much food. And the thing that really was kind of different is you didn’t start with salad. You had salad a little bit at the end. And that’s what they do in Italy. Yes. Because remember when we’d go to Italy and we’d order a salad? And I remember the first time she said, do you want that? It was always at the end.

I said, no, I want my salad first. And she’s like, okay. Because realizing your salad is actually a palate cleanser. That’s why you have salad, to cleanse your palate, to prepare you for the next meal. So you have your pasta, then your palate cleanser, and then you have your protein, and then you have your dessert. And I’m just like, that’s just. I just want one serving. That’s all I want. Just a little salad and this. Yeah. You turned to me and you said, when is this so much food? I mean, all amazing and delicious and bountiful.

Full of it. And everybody was just having the best time of their life. And I was just. Just like, I’m so full. I can’t eat anymore. But it was amazing. Yeah. And that. That started to get you kind of hooked. Yeah. Do you remember the first restaurant I took it to in Florida? Do you remember the name of it? Yeah. Florida was Villa Derick. No. Villa da Videsta. Yeah. Villa d’. Esta. Isn’t Villa d’ esta the hotel that we love in. In Italy in Lake Como, Right? Yeah. Villa Desta. Yeah. Villa d’ Esta was in Fort Lauderdale, and Villager Rick was in, I think, Syosset, New York.

Yeah. I love that restaurant. That was great. But I do remember the first time, like, not really knowing what to order because I wasn’t, you know, very. Do you remember all the different foods. Italians. No. What was the first? I think the pasta that you. Fettuccine Alfredo. Fettuccine Alfredo. And I said, I know. And only because it was familiar to me. Yeah. And the rest weren’t. And I don’t want to, like, order something that I didn’t like. The restaurant was very expensive, and I would have just had to eat it because I would have felt. No, you’re worried.

I would have felt bad that it was so much. But I ordered the. Because I had had fettuccine Alfredo before that in a Diet Coke. And it was just like. That was my go to. And then I remember one time he said, let’s just. Let’s just try a red sauce. Let’s just see how you like it. That was. And then I started. And then you like. I think that’s what started to get you hooked. Yeah. But I think fettuccine Alfredo is absolutely delicious. It’s delicious, but it’s not. It’s not the go to Italian. Well, it’s so rich.

So you can only have a few bites and then you’re done. But no, it’s not the go to for Italian. The red sauces are really. But it is delicious. Yeah. Very delicious. And I’m trying to think. When I was really introduced to Mexico, it wasn’t really in your house. It was just. We started because again, we didn’t have a time. We didn’t have Mexican restaurants. You had like, El Chorito. I never went there. Which is not a real Mexican restaurant. And even in the city, there were very few Mexican restaurants. And now there’s tons of them.

There’s a ton. I got to say, this really amazing, really good restaurants. Mexicans are like weeds. They have sprouted up everywhere in the country, in every community. Community. They’re everywhere. So maybe, maybe all the Americans that are not. Not procreating so that our. Our country can sustain itself in future generations, maybe the Mexicans will do the procreating so that there’s a bunch of Americans to steal Mexican Americans to, you know, the fun take over our country. The funny thing I have to mention is hope nobody gets offended by this. But, you know, I married a Mexican.

I love Mexicans by my family. But I said, before I met you, the only Mexican I knew was Sergeant Garcia on Zorro. Yeah. And then I meet you and your maiden name is Garcia. And I said, wow. I mean, same for me. The only Italians I knew were all criminals on tv. So I wasn’t like, I’m dying to get myself to go Meet an Italian, you know, and then you meet one that you met on tv. It’s funny how my friends used to say, an Italian. It’s an, oh, is he in an Italian? I’m like, I don’t know about an Italian, but he.

Is he in the. Is he in the Mafia? I’m like, no, he’s not in the Mafia. Why would you say that? And then I realized, duh, that’s naive. I was. You didn’t get any inkling when we were on the movie set? Not a clue. Not a clue. Not a clue. But, I mean, I should have from all the, you know, movies out there. Like, even, like, my mom’s family, who’s very conservative and very subdued compared to my father’s family. I’m like, when I said, I met this man, his name is Michael. He’s from New York. He’s Italian.

They’re all like, oh, no, no. I’m like, oh, my God. Why did everybody get quiet? And the Godfather was out at that time. It was. And I briefly saw it. And, I mean, I. I must say, I definitely found the men quite attractive. Their masculinity and their strength, and they’re like, you know, when Michael just said what he said and that was that, I was like, yes, like that. Not even knowing, you know, how come you don’t like it anymore? No, the movies, fantastic. But real life? No. It’s like, people, like, enamored with the mob, and they love it.

Oh, yeah. Well, try living with somebody who was in that life for those years, and the repercussions of that is. You know, sometimes. Sometimes could be hard. You left, but it still followed you. You left the life, but the life still follows you. It’s. We. There was still repercussions to choices. There were still consequences to what you’ve done. We’ve had many, many challenges to what was ingrained in you and what you thought was right and wrong. And I still laugh hysterically when you say, I got straightened out. I’m like, you mean you were made crooked? How do you mean you got straight? Where did that come from? I don’t know.

I don’t know. Straightened out? Like, who? Who made that up? I have no idea. We need to find out where that came from. I never did the research. It was just part of my life. Yeah, get straightened out. Maybe you should have did the research before you joined the life. Well, I did. I grew up in it with my dad. I had. Yeah, that’s true. That’s a whole nother chapter. Your dad. We don’t even want to go there. What was his favorite food? Oh, he loved Italian food, of course. My dad. My dad was. But what was his favorite? He had a great palate.

He loved pasta, of course. You know, he. His. He had a great palate, though. He, you know, when we went, we would either eat. There was three foods. There was no sushi. Say it properly, please. Okay. There was no sushi. There was, you know, we had Italian food first. If we went out to eat, we had Chinese food. Okay. I don’t want to say the other word. Oh, he had steak. Yes, yes. It was those three. Yeah. Italian, predominantly. You love Chinese food. I love Chinese. That’s probably your third favorite food. I love Chinese. You love Chinese food.

Yeah. I mean, really, it’s wonderful. Yeah. And. And now I. I like sushi. Yeah. It’s kind of a break. Yeah. Not. Hey, let’s go out. You know, I don’t want to eat it two or three times a week. No, but it’s a break. We go twice a month. Yeah, twice a month. Three times a month. No one should eat. I’ll never forget, I had won a sales contest when I had my Mazda dealership. And as a result, they took us all to Japan. You told me this story. We’re on Japan Airlines. Yes. And they said, do you want Japanese food or do you want American food? And I said, well, I never really ate Japanese food, so give me American.

I said, what’s the difference? I didn’t even know. And they said, well, if you can get past the smell of the Japanese food, you’re going to like it. I never got past the smell at that point in time. But when we go to sushi, which we do a lot, is there a smell? No, there’s no smell. I don’t know why they said that. It was a stewardess or maybe it’s the. The seaweed does have a little bit of an aroma to it. It has a little bit of an aroma to it. No, it doesn’t. And there’s some.

But it doesn’t have a smell too, if it. But you know what? Also, I mean, that’s Japan. So they have, like, the best of the best. Truthfully, I was in Japan and Hong Kong, like, 10 days. I never ate Japanese food. I was there. I know. You said you ate a lot of wagyu, right? A lot of wagyu. Yeah. Yeah. Never ate Japanese, but I can imagine how authentic and incredible and delicious the sushi would be there. It might even be sushi that I don’t like, because it’s just so, you know. Yeah. Honestly, I haven’t been back to Japan since.

We haven’t. But I’d love to go back and now eat the Japanese food that I had. I like Japan. I think it’s absolutely. My partner, Tony loves Japan. Yes. My ex son in law, Jason, loves Japan. He says it’s beautiful, it’s safe. Oh, no. When I went. And they love. He loves sushi. So that’s like a go to. People were wonderful. The cities were so clean. Yeah. Clean. But you know what got me. Everything was miniature. I know. Nothing was tall. I know. Because then I want to go my next place, too. I want to go besides Mexico.

Mexico City. I want to go to Greece because I love Greek. Tell me that. Absolutely love Greek food. Mediterranean food is on the top of the list. And I’m okay with that. I’ll eat it. Yeah, you’re not. But I’m not seeking it out. I love everything. The soup. Yeah. All the pitas and the tzatzikis. And I’m okay with it. I love Greek food. You know, I’ll eat it, but I’m not. Let’s go to a Mediterranean restaurant. What’s the soup we made the abengolo. How do you pronounce that? So yummy. Jules makes it. Yeah. The lemony soup with the chicken.

You love that. Yeah. When we were in Florida, the feta cheese and the Greek salad. You love Greek salad. Greek salad. That’s one of your favorites. Greek. Yeah. All right, so let’s go. Hey, I’m open. We’ll go anywhere. Greece, Mexico City. And the next place I’m looking to go because I haven’t been there yet, even though my. My. Our winery, our vineyards are there, is Armenia. Yeah. They have an Armenian partner and I’m waiting for him to be ready to go. And we’re going to go visit the. The vineyard. What’s the holdup? Military. You don’t want to go to the military.

Do you want paper to you? They’ll draft him. We don’t want that. All right, but we can. We can go. So they can take Sam off to the mill. Military. Can’t we go? So he wants to be available for that. Of course. He’s not ducking the military. Don’t get me wrong. He’s a United States citizen now, so. But it wouldn’t be good timing for him to go in the military right now for sure. All right. We have a company to run, so I’m against that. But anyway. All right, well, I think so this is. I think we covered everything.

Yeah, it’s been a great. Can I look forward to this again? Maybe. There’s so many topics that we can go into to, you know. Yeah. Well, you think so can I. I will consider it. Well, this is special because my wife agreed to do this for Thanksgiving, and had it not been Thanksgiving, I don’t think I would have got her to sit down. Not this was a deep conversation or anything like that. It was just, you know, husband and wife sitting and talking. So I want to wish everybody a very, very happy Thanksgiving. Yes. A very blessed Thanksgiving.

Yes. And I can tell you this, we’re going through struggles. We’re going through challenges that’s going to continue until the end of time. Amen. No question about it. But you know what? You know, I, I have to say this. And I said this to my wife last night. I got out of the shower and I said, you know what I think of people that don’t even have running water. You did say that. Didn’t I say? I said, because getting in the shower, I’m like, I, I. But I think about that all the time. I know, because it’s true.

There are lots of people who don’t, and we take it for granted. And you know what I think? I think being in prison and spending so much time in solitary has really gotten me to appreciate just the little things. And you. And you know this. I’m not an extravagant guy. You are not. I don’t wear a gold watch. I don’t. Neither one of us are. I don’t even have my own car. What do I need a car for? We drive together. I don’t even. I’m a. I’m not an extravagant guy. Yes, I had a jet plane, a helicopter all that way back when.

Different time of my, my life. Now I’m not that kind of a guy. And I’m really thankful for some of the. Just for being alive and free. And I tell my kids, you know, my kids, when they used to say, you know, daddy, this is not fair. I say, you know what’s not fair? I said, kids that were grown up or born rather, in Nigeria are in places where they got to walk a mile just to get a loaf of bread or a meal or a water or water. And all they did was be born. They didn’t do anything else to deserve that.

So don’t tell me what’s not for in life, and I really mean it. So Thanksgiving is a time where whatever we have in our lives, whether it be we’re going through challenges or whatever. It’s a time to be thankful. Amen. Put that time aside and be thankful. Because you know what? When you’re thankful for things, it does come back to you in some way. There’s no question. In some time. And you know, we’re God loving people. Life is short. It is short. Love your people. Hug them, tell them you love them. Don’t wait till they’re gone to spend time with him.

You know, I’m just losing my father recently. I saw so many family members at the hospital and I’m like, where were you the past so many years? You know, so. And I get it. That’s life. People get busy and stuff. But just a wake up call, a reminder to just be mindful of your parents and the people you love and your, your neighbors and just be, have some grace in your heart and be kind to others and be thankful. And please, I mean, I know this is Thanksgiving Day, but don’t let politics divide you to a point where you can’t sit down with people that you love.

And it’s, you know, and we’re all guilty of that at times. We’re all guilty of that. I understand that, but we can’t let that happen. It’s just, it’s not what this country is all about, not what life is all about. We can have disagreements, we can talk about them, get over them and go on with our lives. So anything else, my love? That’s it. Signing off. All right, well, I want to thank my wife for sitting with me in this studio that she had a big hand in building and making it operate. So I thank you for that.

You’re welcome. And happy Thanksgiving. Same to you. Okay. Love you. Love you.
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