- (FBE) So recently you provided us
with some pictures of yourself from when you were younger.
- (timidly) Yeah!
- You got those! All right! (chuckles)
- (FBE) Here is the first picture of you.
- Yeah. 16 years old. 1950.
I was a Nebraska state tennis champ that year.
I just graduated from high school.
I did not have a worry in the world.
- Hey! (laughs)
Cute little kid, man.
I was a cute guy! (chuckling)
- My dad was a sailor.
He was a chief petty officer.
And to me, he was God.
I worshiped the ground he walked on.
- Oh!
That is-- um, was for a Christmas card.
You can tell we had just moved in, not only 'cause of my age.
So this is 1948.
Because there's no landscaping yet at the house.
Look at how my mom dressed me.
No wonder I'm obsessed. Always had too many clothes.
Everyone always, "You have too many new clothes."
My mom did this to me. But look how cute.
- We were all freshmen... in college.
We were on some wild junket to Colorado.
And we were obviously there at 12,000 feet.
We were good friends. And, uh, all three-- except for God's will.
All three fellas are gone.
I don't know why that shook me up.
Wait a minute. It's ridiculous.
- (chuckles)
This is about, uh, 15 or 16 years old.
I was a hotshot.
I had five brothers, and we were all wacko-crazy
in high school and junior high.
We were just nuts.
The Boy Scouts kinda settled me down.
My biggest mentor was Gene Wren, and he was my scoutmaster.
He was a scoutmaster for, I believe, 50 years.
His wife, Marie Wren, gave me a funeral plot
so I could be buried next to him when my time comes.
- This is our second house.
I had to be six or seven, first or second grade.
We were so lucky to grow up then,
because it was a safe environment.
And the kids could play all around the neighborhood.
I was very shy, and I was what they'd be
an artistic kid. I loved--
Give me a coloring book or a book to read,
and I was a happy camper.
- I was starting a family.
I was in the music business.
I could recognize talent.
But I didn't have the ability to take that act into a studio
and produce a hit.
I was starting my career, starting to branch out.
Had a lot of thoughts, ideas.
Reality here was really starting to hit me in the face.
And I was maturing, like all of us do.
I had enormous energy.
I just would go 24 hours a day
with my family and with the business.
- Oh! Yay.
That's my dad's horse, Amigo.
And he was a champion palomino, and he knew how to do tricks.
I probably was 11 or 12 and absolutely horse-crazy,
like most little girls are.
I would go riding every day after school.
- Whoa! Whoa!
You're in college now. Yeah.
That's me at the top.
That team there down at the bottom, um,
is in the Hall of Fame at UCSB.
I'm on the Hall of Fame at UCSB.
We are the only team that won the nationals.
Incidentally, that diving got me into UCSB.
In '66, all of a sudden I got accepted to UCSB.
And my wife got accepted to UCSB.
And that's where I met my wife.
- Oh, high school graduation.
I was real happy to get out of high school.
I started rebelling around the 11th grade.
And I switched that summer.
I insisted on going to public high school
instead of Catholic all-girls high school.
So I got a little crazy.
I started hanging out with the rock and roll crowd.
- Ah! That was--
(cracking up)
That's Rocky, the certified arborist.
My wife and I own and operate, uh, a very good company.
When Mary Beth, my wife, got pregnant,
we had to get serious all of a sudden.
Right now, I think our base clientele list almost touches 8,000.
Life is full of interesting changes.
And, uh, it's good to swim with the tide rather against it.
- Oh, there I am, the secretary at work.
(blows raspberry)
I look good.
I was madly in love with someone in the early '80s.
Life was really good then. I was having a lot of fun then.
I was probably drinking too much and partying too much,
but I had the energy to party all night and work all day.
And I was happy 'cause I was in love, you know?
So life was real good then. It was good. I was happy.
- (FBE) So what is it like for you being on Elders React
and having so many people not only impacted by your opinions
but to know that they are interested in your life
and wanted a video like this made about you?
- Yeah. It's very flattering.
I'm very grateful to be here.
I mean, the Fine Brothers...
You couldn't work for a better crew.
And I've watched those two young men grow.
I mean, this place came out of a garage.
And now you got the whole building.
It's fun being here.
I can't tell you how much I enjoy working with you
and how much I enjoy being silly here.
- I am extremely appreciative and emotional about it.
And I do not-- I do not take it for granted.
I mean something.
Perhaps.
As a senior...
that opportunity may not come back for a lot of us.
- It's been so heartwarming to get to know
Rafi and Benny, of course,
but all the people that work here are just so wonderful.
People are so nice. Thank you all for being so nice.
And I love when-- especially kids,
and their faces light up.
And to know that we entertain people.
It helps keep us young,
because we're still learning, and we're still a part of life.
I can just say, thank you, thank you, thank you.
And it really is as fun as it looks. It really is, guys.
♪ (ragtime music) ♪