In June of 2021, I (Justin Owens) sat down with my grandfather Gary Owens for a handful of podcasting sessions to share the stories of his life and times starting back in the 1940s. Before we jump into Can't Stop Moving and my conversations with him, I want just to lay the groundwork for how this podcast came to be. Over the last 20 years, many friends and family have tried to get my grandfather to write down his experiences, dictate them, or record audio. He was always very humble about his accomplishments. He would brush it off whenever it would be brought up to him to write down his stories. Usually, he would say, "Who would want to read about me?" or "What I did wasn't very special." I believe that humility partially came from rubbing elbows with huge personalities, and some of it came from his upbringing. Either way, he didn't think anyone would find his life interesting. I continued to tell him that the variety of businesses and the success that he had in each of them was unique, and at the very least, we would have the stories for our family. Fast forward to the early quarantine lockdowns. We were waiting for the weather to warm up, to get into the fields, and for cows to start giving birth. One day, we were sitting in his office on the farm talking about a story that his grandfather had shared with him as a boy. William Marion Owens had watched Civil War soldiers walk home through his family's fields. After the war had ended, his mother would put out benches, feed them soup, and clean wounds with fresh bandages. I asked him, "Wouldn't it be great if we had a recording of that story to listen to right now?" So I think that's what ultimately changed his mind about recording this podcast. In the Summer of 2021, we set up shop in a podcast studio and set about recording his stories. It was such a memorable experience to get to do this with him. I truly treasured the weekly one-on-one time with them amidst our just busy and chaotic lives. It's with a heavy heart that I share. On October 5, 2021, my grandfather Gary passed away peacefully in his home on the farm. Re-listening to the episodes again has helped me immensely to manage the loss, and I hope it can do the same for everyone else who knew him. For those of you listening who didn't know him, I hope you can enjoy learning about my grandfather, Gary Owen's fully lived life. I want to say thank you to Papa for sitting down with me to record these stories. Please enjoy my conversations with him.
