[speaker001:] Well, I was born in Queens, NY. And, on October twenty-fifth 1976. Um, my parents are still living up north. My father lives in Queens, NY, off of Throgs Neck Bridge in Bayside, and my mother lives in the Poconos, which is known as Stroudsburg, PA. I've been down here now, I would say, oh about seven, seven years now, going on eight years. I came down here originally on a, to play baseball in the Charlotte area at, uh, one of the colleges here in Charlotte. And, uh, I guess I'm what you would refer to as a "Damn Yankee" because I haven't left; I'm staying. Well, at least for a while I was. I'm presently going to be going on my way out to Denver, CO for a job opportunity. But, um, the reason, uh, I guess I came down here again was to play baseball. My father's a doctor up in Queens, NY for 35 years. His side of the family is Austrian Jew, and my mother's side is, uh, Roman Catholic Italian from, uh, from Brooklyn. And, uh-
[speaker002:] That's an interesting combination.
[speaker001:] That is definitely an interesting combination. Um, so, I don't know, um.
[speaker002:] When did your, um, father's family come to the United States?
[speaker001:] Well, he, he, I believe he is, I guess it would be, you'd refer to third generation. Um, I think it's his parents' parents that came over. Um, as far as my mother's side I'm not too sure. It might be roughly around the same. She's either she's either third or fourth generation. Um-
[speaker002:] Do you know why his parents' parents came?
[speaker001:] I think just like everyone else, for an opportunity.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Uh, an opportunity to come over here, I would, I would say, to practice medicine. It seems like everyone in my family is, uh, a doctor. And, um, the, just the same on my mother's side. Just for that opportunity to come to America. So, but, um, for myself, I love NC. It's a beautiful area. It's a lot different from the North that's for sure. Can't say that I've come to love grits , but, um, I've met my future wife.
[speaker002:] Is she a good Southern girl?
[speaker001:] She's a real good Southern girl. She's a religious background, religious background upbringing, which I cannot say I've been a part of. And, um, she's going to calm me down a lot I think and, uh, instill a lot of, instill a lot of positive aspects of my life that have thus far been deferred.
[speaker002:] How did you meet her?
[speaker001:] Well, I was fortunate enough to meet her in college, in which we were best friends for about two and a half years. Until, uh, finally, I don't know, the light came on, I guess, for her I should say because for myself the light came on pretty much as soon as I met her. And, uh, she'll be following me out to Denver, CO myself.
[speaker002:] Has she been up North with you?
[speaker001:] She has. She, um, we've been up recently. I proposed to her in Central Park. We were in New York City seeing my, my family. And my uncle was in town who, both my father and my uncle were born and raised in the Bronx, not too far from Yankee Stadium.
[speaker002:] And, uh, so I guess you're a big Yankee fan.
[speaker001:] Big time Yankee fan. . It's been a good couple of years for us Yankee fans here lately. And, uh, we were down on Fifty-Third Street, which is five blocks away from Central Park, and, um, my fianc�e had just passed her boards and it was our anniversary, so I decided to surprise her with walking down to Central Park off of Fifty-Eighth. And, um, it kind of just worked out perfect. I proposed to her. I was lucky enough for her to say, "Yes." And, um, so, yeah, she's been up north a couple of times and in the PA area as well the Poconos where you hear the honeymooners always go.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And, um, so-
[speaker002:] Well it sounds like you have a pretty bright future ahead of you.
[speaker001:] Not too bad. It's getting brighter and brighter, it seems, every day. And, um, it's going to be a new adventure for us going out to Denver, CO, with me being a pharmaceutical sales representative and my fianc�e being in the medical profession as well, being a nurse. And, um-
[speaker002:] I've heard that's a beautiful area.
[speaker001:] Yes it is. It's a lot to do. A lot of hiking and mountain biking. I don't ski. I think my fianc�e does a little bit. But, um, I don't know how much we'll do of that. But I would, would suspect that we would end up back up, maybe, in the Charlotte area. If not, NC for sure, um-
[speaker002:] That would probably make your in-laws very happy.
[speaker001:] Very happy along with my family, as well. Because Denver, CO seems to be a little far. Um, but it's good we get to start our lives together out there, and hopefully, uh, start maybe in a couple years maybe two to three years tops, four, start working on a family of our own. And, uh, that's something that I very much look forward to. Um, creating a family of my own.
[speaker002:] Now if you have sons would you want them to play baseball too?
[speaker001:] I would, I definitely would. And I would probably encourage them to come down in the NC area to play baseball. It's been a great experience for me.
[speaker002:] What was, what did you like best about playing? Well it was always an escape for me. Kept me, uh, motivated. Kept me out of trouble. which was the big thing, and, um, I like being competitive, I know my fianc�e is very competitive as well. So, I know if we do have a little boy, even a little girl, I know there might be a good chance of being some good athletes in the family. So, uh, yeah. I'll definitely want them to pursue baseball, but, by all means, it's probably going to be whatever they want to do. I don't want to force them or anything so- So where do you see yourself in about 10 years from now?
[speaker001:] In about ten years, definitely in the NC area. Um, the beach is real appealing. If not maybe Charlotte, probably down by Wilmington or some sort. Definitely like to have two children. And, um, have done a lot of things by that point.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Done a lot of traveling with my, my wife and seen a lot of things. In 10 years from now, start setting some sort of, ah, foundation for the family we're raising, in some sort of steady home. And no more making big trips out to CO, or making a big move for the company, or something of that nature. So, I think, uh, we should be doing OK in about 10 years.