Everyone has a story worth telling. I’ve learned this from my time in the mortgage industry and on the radio, having helped thousands of individuals with their mortgages and having talked with thousands more who have called into the show. This is inevitable, I suppose; when you help finance someone’s home—the place they live or want to live—you’re bound to hear their story: where they’ve been and what brought them to this place in their life. Being in Colorado, most of these stories involve the military in one way or another. That’s why this week’s show was dedicated to the stories and biographies of military members.

I’m an avid reader, and recently I’ve become absolutely hooked on military biographies. This started after reading No Easy Day by Mark Owen and Kevin Mauer, which is the story of the mission to kill Osama bin Laden. Other notable entries in this genre are Outlaw Platoon by Sean Parnell, Fearless by Eric Blehm, and Robert’s Ridge by Malcolm MacPherson, which features the story of one of my past mortgage clients. Each book tells an extraordinary story and features extraordinary military veterans.

Just because these stories are extraordinary, though, does not mean they are the only stories worth telling. I’ve spoken with thousands of veterans during my time in the military, on the radio, and in the mortgage industry. From them, I’ve heard hundreds of similarly incredible stories that, sadly, may never be written down. I’ve also heard hundreds of phenomenal stories from non-veterans detailing significant events in their lives and incredible things they have done and experienced.

Many of these people, both veterans and non-veterans, never seem to think their stories are extraordinary. People seem to have an innate bias against their own experiences. Perhaps things don’t seem as exciting when you’re in the moment and remember them in retrospect.

This is the impression I get even when reading the biographies and journals of our Founding Fathers. These were the men whose average age was 47 and were instrumental in one of the most radical revolutions in human history. But during and after the fact, they treated the events and their involvement in them as business as usual. It’s only through excellent biographers that the events receive the reverence and profundity they deserve. Jefferson and Franklin certainly didn’t seem to grasp the enormity of their actions.

But, of course, men can’t get all the credit for having incredible stories. That’s why the second hour of the show is dedicated to extraordinary stories featuring women. These are stories that were lived and are being told with all the intensity, passion, and gravity of any of the men’s stories. I encourage everyone to listen to both hours of the show.

As the radio show’s audience grows, and we reach more and more clients through Garvens Mortgage Group, I’ll doubtless hear even more incredible stories from new individuals. Hopefully I can retell more of these stories on future shows. As always, if you have a story to tell, my line is always open, so give me a call. And if your life story has brought you to a place where you’re buying a new home or just need general real estate of financial insight, you can always give me or anyone at my mortgage company a call.

Patriots Tale Band of Brothers

Patriots Tale All About the Women

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