Bridget Mulroy, Marty O'Malley, and Mike Fernandez

[00:01] BRIDGET MULROY: It's not XYZ, though. It's who we are. Right? You're right. Behaviors are bad. Hi, my name is Marty O'Malley. I am 67 years old. Today's date is November 3, 2023. We are in Mobile, Alabama. My interview partners are Bridget Mulroy and Mike Hernandez, and they are my friends and coworkers. Hi, my name is Bridget Mulroy. I am 38. Today is November 3, 2023, in Mobile, Alabama, and I'm talking with my friends and coworkers, Mike Hernandez and Marty O'Malley.

[00:51] MARTY O'MALLEY: Hi, my name is Mike Hernandez and I am 65 years old. Today is November 3, 2023, and we're in Mobile, Alabama. And my interview partners are Bridget Mulroy and Marty O'Malley, and I am workers with coworkers and friends with them.

[01:19] BRIDGET MULROY: So, Mike, we were discussing earlier about the New Orleans Saints, and you went to the very first game that they played. Wow. Who was the quarterback?

[01:31] MARTY O'MALLEY: Was it Billy Kilmer?

[01:33] BRIDGET MULROY: Not Archie Manning?

[01:35] MARTY O'MALLEY: Oh, no, no, no. That was later. Yeah.

[01:37] BRIDGET MULROY: You know who Archie Manning is, Bridget? Oh, yeah.

[01:39] MARTY O'MALLEY: That's the dad from Ole Miss.

[01:41] BRIDGET MULROY: Yeah. There you go.

[01:42] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah.

[01:44] BRIDGET MULROY: So you grew up with New Orleans football, is that right?

[01:47] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah. Well, two lane we used to go, and that's where the Saints played, in the two lane stadium and we went to. When we were young, our dad took us to all the two lane games. Yeah. And that was fun. And the basketball games. So we grew up Greenway fans.

[02:02] BRIDGET MULROY: Green wave.

[02:03] MARTY O'MALLEY: Two lane was green wave.

[02:06] BRIDGET MULROY: Well, then when did you come to mobile?

[02:08] MARTY O'MALLEY: Oh, not until 90, 219, 92. By then, the Saints and Tulane was playing in the Superdome.

[02:15] BRIDGET MULROY: Oh, wow. Yeah. So what brought you to mobile?

[02:23] MARTY O'MALLEY: L'arche, first light.

[02:25] BRIDGET MULROY: Why'd you come?

[02:28] MARTY O'MALLEY: Get out of New Orleans.

[02:31] BRIDGET MULROY: Why would you leave? Cajun country?

[02:33] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah. I don't know. I had to try it. All my friends that I was working with said, you need to try it. Give it a try. You might like it. So.

[02:40] BRIDGET MULROY: Yeah, but, so everybody says, though, like, mobile and New Orleans are similar. You think so?

[02:48] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah, yeah. My brother in law and my sister says it all the time. They say mobile is like a mini New Orleans.

[02:57] BRIDGET MULROY: You think that coming from New Orleans? I mean, I think I hear it from mobile people, but I don't. I don't know that.

[03:03] MARTY O'MALLEY: Except for the accent. The accent?

[03:05] BRIDGET MULROY: Well, yeah, because you say New Orleans, right.

[03:08] MARTY O'MALLEY: And in New Orleans, we have. There's different parishes like River Ridge, Metairie, and, like, in. I had some friends from River Ridge, and they sound like New Jersey. He'd go, hey, Michael, you want to go play bingo? You know? Really? But I'm losing my. I've been in Mobile, in Alabama so long, I'm losing my accent.

[03:29] BRIDGET MULROY: But, yeah. Mobilians don't have accents, do they? No, we don't.

[03:34] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah, they call the country. Country accent kind of like Georgia.

[03:37] BRIDGET MULROY: And there's certain. Certain words that they say. Like what? Oil. How do you say oil? Oil. And how you. How do you boil the water? You don't boil it. You boil. Boil it. Yeah. So mobile is a little funky, too, so.

[03:52] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah, and I say coffee. I don't say coffee. Everybody makes fun of the way I say coffee. Like coy. That's kind of like New York, though, because I think in Boston it's coffee, and then somewhere in New York is at Queens, they say coffee. I want some coffee.

[04:06] BRIDGET MULROY: What are you talking about, though? You came down from Chicago. Yeah. And you know why they call me a damn Yankee? Why? You don't know why? I do know why. You do? Do you know why?

[04:15] MARTY O'MALLEY: You told me and I forgot.

[04:17] BRIDGET MULROY: Yeah. So a Yankee is like, I forgot your name, who's sitting with us, but she's a Yankee where she comes, visits, and then leaves. A damn Yankee is somebody like me. Comes, visits, and never leaves. So they call me a Damian. Okay. So why did you come down here from Chicago? Why did I come down here? Well, it's an interesting story. I came to be part of the community, but prior to that, when I was in high school, I was offered a scholarship to play baseball at Spring Hill College. Never knew anything about mobile at all. I had to look on a map. You know, back then, we had maps that were paper. Yeah. You had to pull it out, lay it on the table. Yeah. You know, you grew up with Google. We grew up with paper maps, Mike and I. So, yeah, I laid it on the table and had to look for Mobile, Alabama, when Spring Hill was recruiting me. What year was that? Well, actually, it was 1973. I was a junior in high school, and that's when they started talking to me. But then, obviously, I didn't follow through with baseball and ended up coming here in 1980 to be part of then was the L'Arche community, which is now first light community. Came here for three months. Longest three months of my life.

[05:39] MARTY O'MALLEY: I didn't know you played baseball. You told me you played football, linebacker and running back, and you told us that before, but I didn't know you played baseball. That's great.

[05:48] BRIDGET MULROY: Yeah. So my kids, they always wish that I continue playing baseball because we would have had some money but if I did, I wouldn't have had the kids, so they wouldn't have had any money. They wouldn't have had any money, and they wouldn't have been around. So think you could have gone pro? Maybe, yeah. So I tried out for the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs and had some offers, but I didn't even know that. Yeah, I chose not to do that, though.

[06:20] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah.

[06:22] BRIDGET MULROY: Why not? How long do we have? Okay, well, so you grew up in the football stadium, and you grew up cleaning Wrigley Field. Is it Wrigley Field? Yeah. So Mike doesn't know that either. Probably so I would, when I was in high school, I got this chance to. My high school baseball coach connected me with Wrigley Field, so I worked on the grounds crew. But prior to that, we used to live a block away. And as a kid, like, I was probably six, seven, we would go and park cars. So you would drive down our street and say, hey, you want to park here? I'll watch a car for a quarter. And they let us little six year old watch. Well, maybe I was seven. Maybe you're a little older than that. So they give me a quarter or whatever, and I never watched their car. What we would do is we would then go into the baseball and watch the baseball game. After the game was over, I would walk the aisles and pick up the seats. So the sweepers back then, there were no blowers. You know those leaf blowers that they have now? Back then, they had to have a broom, like, actual people going and sweeping. So us kids, we would pick up the seats, and then they would give us a ticket for the next day. So, summertime, I would. Not every day. I always said every day, but I wouldn't do it. But I'd go pick up seats, get a hot dog because of the quarter I got from watching a car that I never watched. Shame on me.

[07:54] MARTY O'MALLEY: But what position did you play? Shortstop, first base, third base, second base.

[07:59] BRIDGET MULROY: All of the above. So probably third and second. I was shortstop, but then I had bad knee, so they put me at second base and third base. You had a bad knee back then? I did. That's why you're hobbling around today, huh? Could be. I got spikes pretty badly one day. Oh, that's why your knee's bad. That partly. And then also playing soccer, I think, too. So, combination?

[08:26] MARTY O'MALLEY: Oh, yeah, soccer's tough.

[08:30] BRIDGET MULROY: That's why my knees are bad. From soccer. Playing in high school or college or high school. I got taken out in high school. I could have played college. I was pretty good. But I blew my leg out twice. Never really recovered. That'd be funny if you would have gotten a scholarship to spring well, and I was at Spring Hill. Yeah. Isn't that weird?

[08:54] MARTY O'MALLEY: It was. Yeah, it's, you know, if you grow up just throwing a frisbee in a football and not. And you soccer, you just got to use your feet because we used to play. Remember years ago when all the, what we call us assistants were off between twelve and three? So we go out to the Crawford park and play soccer. It was Mark Weems. And there was a mark. I forgot his last name, but he was from Ghana. Ghana. And then there was Cecilia. Remember her? She was good. But we played soccer and, God, I was so out of shape. It was hard to keep up, but it was fun. We'd go out there and. Yeah.

[09:30] BRIDGET MULROY: So that was the early years of you being here, wasn't it?

[09:33] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah.

[09:34] BRIDGET MULROY: So when you first came to the community, you are only coming for a short period of time or you didn't know?

[09:42] MARTY O'MALLEY: Man, that's a good question. I think I was coming. No, I just wanted to come for. Well, I did. I came for a month and then I left. And then you called me back and y'all invited me back and I said, I really couldn't come back. I had to wait till December or November, I don't know. Cause I had to sell my car and do some things. So when I came back, that first month was really nice because we went to camp Beckwith. It was community weekend. But when I came back and I had to make a three month commitment, it was scary. I said, oh, God, I don't know if I can do this. It was just because I'd go to bed at night and Mark Pettis going, Annie Pearl, Annie Pearl. And Annie Pearl would go give him a magazine. He'd tear the pages off. So the person coming in in the morning, doing breakfast, there's paper all over the ground. But you hear that and it's like, oh, God. It was just kind of scary.

[10:35] BRIDGET MULROY: But you had never been around people with intellectual disabilities?

[10:38] MARTY O'MALLEY: No, no. Actually, my best friend was.

[10:40] BRIDGET MULROY: I really?

[10:41] MARTY O'MALLEY: So, yes, in New Orleans.

[10:43] BRIDGET MULROY: In New Orleans, yeah.

[10:44] MARTY O'MALLEY: We grew up with people like that. And back then they called, they used different vocabulary. They called people retarded and stuff like that. But no, we had some friends and. But it was like. So I was calling my friend, I was working with, I was cutting grass with a friend from church and I said, can you come get me at the end of this time? Because, yeah, this is a good. You know, I'm ready to go, but towards the end of the third month, it's like, wait, I'm starting to get the routine and the rhythm. Then I said, I really got to stay a year and see what this is all about.

[11:21] BRIDGET MULROY: And that was 1992.

[11:22] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah. So I went. But instead they wanted. I was there for three months, and he wanted to make. Make a year commitment, probably, and that was too scary. So it was just. I made like three. I made like three threes.

[11:35] BRIDGET MULROY: Yeah. Extending three months at a time.

[11:38] MARTY O'MALLEY: And Andy Rector was on the council and he says, mike, you're getting robbed. You know, because if you make a year commitment, you can have some vacation. But they. Y'all gave me vacation anyway, so. Cause I was homesick. So I went home. But it wasn't until about three or four years later, it took about three or four years being in the community that I felt, yeah. You know, I let go of New Orleans. This is my home now. And now I can't believe I've been here, like, 30, 31 years. It's like, gee, time's flying by.

[12:07] BRIDGET MULROY: Were your parents still alive then?

[12:11] MARTY O'MALLEY: My mom died in 89. My dad was. Yeah, he was here and he visited a few times. He came in.

[12:17] BRIDGET MULROY: Oh, my gosh.

[12:18] MARTY O'MALLEY: And my brother, daddy Mike. Oh, he was like Clint Eastwood. He looks like Clint Eastwood now because. Yeah, my sister said, mike, you got to see Grant. This movie, Gran Torino, it looks so much like daddy. But, yeah, I love Clint Eastwood. He's one of my favorite actors.

[12:36] BRIDGET MULROY: Well, I asked because, like, so I came, whatever, 20 years ago about. Not quite, but, um. But I was young, and I think my parents didn't understand. I know my siblings didn't understand. And I think my parents always thought working with people with disabilities was, like, good and sweet and a good. And you're getting paid for it, so it's, you know, helping you get through college. I don't think they ever thought that it would be a serious, lifelong commitment. And so I don't know. I mean, and that was in the early two thousands, so for you. I don't know if it was any different.

[13:24] MARTY O'MALLEY: No. My mom would have said, you know, that's nice, but you should get a real job. My dad didn't say that. And he went to Tul. He graduated from Tulane. He was a mechanical engineer. And he said. He said, mike, I'm so proud of you for doing that kind of work. He says, that's just great. And he wanted to give donations to Lars and all, but when they came one time, my brother and his wife Helen came to visit, and back then, Mark Pettit was still alive. And when he came in the door, Mark just went up to him and hugged him and kissed him right here. My brother just started cracking up and laughing, but somehow Mark knew that was my brother.

[14:00] BRIDGET MULROY: Yeah.

[14:01] MARTY O'MALLEY: But he wasn't scared at all, you know, because sometimes when strange people walk up to you, you kind of get scared. The first time I walked into the workshop, and I think it was at Joan of Arc church, it was real small. And I went in, and Elizabeth came up to me and said, hey, hey, nice to meet you. Mikey, will you take me to wendy's.

[14:20] BRIDGET MULROY: Now we've graduated McDonald's? Well, first person I met was David Stewart. Remember, he used to carry those business cards around with him. Yeah. I don't even remember what it said his title was, but he had a title on there. Do you remember? He gave them to everybody.

[14:35] MARTY O'MALLEY: I got it.

[14:37] BRIDGET MULROY: I thought it had something underneath it.

[14:39] MARTY O'MALLEY: It could have said acolyte, because we had all saints. Yeah. Which is to help with communion, right. Yeah.

[14:47] BRIDGET MULROY: So my parents were the same, though, so my mom was okay with it at first, but then when I went back, you know, I left for a little while and did service the JVC. But when I came back, I think my mom was ready for me to, like, have a profession. But my dad never said that my dad was like, your dad. But what about your dad? Not my dad now, that was even longer ago. Yeah. So they were waiting for me to get a real job, particularly my dad, because I had brothers that were in successful sales people and all that. But I said, well, this is where I'm supposed to be. And so that was in 1980, actually, it started in 76 when I was at Marquette and got involved with a group to start a community there. And so was working with parents, and we had a board and land and money and all that. And so even then, they were saying, well, that's not really a real job. It's nice that you're looking at doing that. I would imagine the pressure's different. As men in that generation, I can get away with it because I'm a woman, and it's an emotional feeling. Good place. But y'all kind of break the mold. I mean, there's only a few men. What are you saying about us? I mean, you're saying we're weird and different. I am saying you're wonderful. No, but you think about it over community. We've had men come to work or as volunteers, but none of them stay very long. I mean, it's you and you two and Chris right now that are long term male team members, assistants. I think it's great. And even if you look, I mean, when we were part of large international. If you look, you're correct. Probably the majority, I know the majority of people involved are women. And even in the nonprofit sector, I think if you would do a survey, it's primarily women. Now, is it? Because. Why? I don't know. Is it financial? Is it. What's the character? What would be the term? Men? Or maybe not as empathetic. Is that part of it?

[17:15] MARTY O'MALLEY: Sympathetic? Empathetic? Yeah, no, I know what you're talking about. But when I first came, I think we had. We had. It was mostly men assistants. We didn't have that many female. There was Karen Albright, and there was the sister Janet. There was Sister Rita and Mary. Right, Sister Mary. But we didn't have a lot of. And then. Yeah, and then there was a girl named Nancy. I forgot her last name. And she was from Pennsylvania. I mean, she lived at 201. She had real long, straight, pretty hair. Nancy. And then there was. Who else? I can't remember. Then more women started coming, but it seemed like it was mostly guys when I came in the early nineties.

[17:58] BRIDGET MULROY: That's funny. Well, we had that influx of. Wasn't it the franciscan group?

[18:04] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah.

[18:05] BRIDGET MULROY: With Walson and.

[18:06] MARTY O'MALLEY: Oh, yeah, that's who brought all that.

[18:08] BRIDGET MULROY: Oh, he was franciscan. I didn't realize. Well, the lay franciscan. Yeah, yeah. Okay. I didn't know that. Him and John Lofton. Remember John? Yeah, yeah.

[18:18] MARTY O'MALLEY: But Walson's the one that recruited me.

[18:20] BRIDGET MULROY: Actually, because Walson was.

[18:21] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah, because I knew a Joe Collada who was. He was a waiter at the Cafe de Mont, downtown, you know, I mean, yeah, uptown, you know, in New Orleans. And he used to get a haircut every week, but he was so cool. But I met him through there, and then when I met Walster, we were going out to a movie one Friday. Hey, nice to meet you. You want to come work on mobile? I said, no, no, I want to stay here. But then they would take it. Somebody was taking Phillip. His friend from India was taking him back, you know, on the week end of the weekend. And I came with them and I stayed in assistant apartment, and that's when they walked around and showed me the community. And that's when I met Elizabeth, and then I met Sister Janet, because I think, Marty, you were out of town. You were in England or Europe. You were in some kind of meetings with L'Arche. So I met Janet, and she gave me an application. She was so sweet, and she said, why don't you come back and stay a month? So I went back and stayed a couple of weeks, and then she called. I said, if you don't call, I'm not going. That'll be the sign. And she called. And so I came in for a month, and that was October 92.

[19:28] BRIDGET MULROY: You were the director then, Marty? Yes.

[19:30] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah, the assistant director. Was, uh. Was it Kathy?

[19:35] BRIDGET MULROY: So we had Kathy Uzo, probably, yeah. So who then became the board president? So.

[19:42] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah.

[19:43] BRIDGET MULROY: Whose now daughter is the board president? So we're into multi generations on our.

[19:49] MARTY O'MALLEY: Oh, yeah, yeah. We helped her move. That was. I forgot. Yeah.

[19:52] BRIDGET MULROY: Remember that?

[19:53] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah.

[19:53] BRIDGET MULROY: Just recently. I have a couple questions for you guys. Sorry to interject. I'm curious if you could talk more. I know, Marty, you mentioned feeling like this was the work that you were supposed to do. I'm curious if the three of you could talk to each other more about.

[20:08] MARTY O'MALLEY: What drew you to this type of.

[20:09] BRIDGET MULROY: Work, and if you each had a moment where you were like, this is.

[20:13] MARTY O'MALLEY: What I'm supposed to be doing.

[20:14] BRIDGET MULROY: If you could share with each other about that. So, Bridget, what brought you to the community? I don't know. It was a fluke, actually. So when I was in college, I was at Spring Hill, and I'd gotten good scholarships to go there, but there was still. There's still cost. And so I was working my butt off waitressing and working in a frame shop and an art store and random stuff, and I really wanted to be with people. And I knew that my mom actually found an advertisement for the l'arch community, like, in the back of, like, the old catholic weeks, remember? Like, a little. Yeah. I used to put an ad in there so she'd start cutting it out every week and giving it to me, which is then became ironic later when she was like, aren't you done moving? Like, aren't you gonna get a real job? Now? It's like, you're the one that found this for me. But I had no idea. I don't even know that I really realized what the community was or that it was with people with disabilities, because I came from my interview thinking I was, like, dressed like a professional. And you weren't the director back then. Marianne was the director, and I don't even remember who else was in the office, but I remember walking in the office, and it was like a shoebox. Still is same office, but Marianne's office was in the back, and it was like, in the little tiny corner spot. And so I felt like I was sitting in her lap. We were sitting so close when she was interviewing me.

[21:56] MARTY O'MALLEY: Could it have been Sarah Perel? Sarah from Boston, who was the assistant director or the.

[22:01] BRIDGET MULROY: She was like. She was the one in the advertisement, the connection, but she wasn't. I don't think it was already gone. It wasn't assistant director. It was like community coordinator or something. But see, I think I talked. When did Sarah leave? Because I feel like I talked to Sarah to get the interview set up. But then a hurricane came and everything got messed up and it was like six weeks or something before I ever heard from anybody again.

[22:34] MARTY O'MALLEY: I think I know who to the coordinator was. Jackie Oates wasn't any. Oh, okay.

[22:42] BRIDGET MULROY: So Sarah was with Dennis when Dennis was.

[22:45] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah, that's right.

[22:46] BRIDGET MULROY: And Marianne came after Dennis.

[22:48] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah.

[22:49] BRIDGET MULROY: Yeah. So that's what brought you. Yeah. So then I started. I did a visit at 201 and met David. And then I started doing visits at 161 and of course, Willie McGee. I didn't. I was scared to death because he couldn't talk, but he could communicate. And I had not ever experienced that before, but, like, instantly fell in love. And then, of course, Peggy was tormenting me and putting water in the chair and spraying with the hose during dishes and things like that, but. So I was in love, but I still would go home, like, every night and cry and say, there's no way I can do this. I felt like it was a huge responsibility, and I think I felt too maybe immature at that time. I was in college and I didn't think I could handle the responsibility, but then I also couldn't walk away from it either. So it was a big. I don't know, I feel like there's a lot of internal struggle. So why are you still here? So when I came back, after I was in, I went to the Marshall Islands, taught school for a couple years. When I came back, swore I was not going to live in mobile. And. And then I started hanging out with Peggy and Willie again and never left. So that was 2009 when I came back to community. But I don't know why I'm still here. That's why I came. But why I'm still here, I don't know. You learn everything. Every day you learn something new. Yeah. So I don't know if I've told you how I came about this. So I was at Marquette, and believe it or not, I could talk real good, but I could hardly write. You still can't write. Yeah. Anyway, I had a paper due. And so this instructor said, oh, you need to get some help. And so I did. And the person that helped me said, man, it was like a utopian society was what the paper was about. So I was talking about people with disabilities, because I was working full time in the prisons and jails in Milwaukee while I was going to school. So I was working with people with mental illness and intellectual disabilities. So I talked in this paper about this utopian society where everybody gets along, la la la, you know, sit around and sing Kumbaya. So when I was meeting with this tutor, he said, oh, you got to talk to this Jesuit who just came back from this place that you sound like you're writing about. So I went and met with this guy, and he was at the L'Arche community outside of Paris, the original one. And so he and I started talking, and at the same time, I was. I met with teenage people with disabilities, sort of like a religious ed type of environment. So I had this little group here. And so when he and I met, we said, oh, let's form a board and start a community. So. So we did. We. We had a board of directors, and we had the parents of these teenagers who were really excited because we were talking about their life after they were adults. We ended up finding land that we got money for and bought. So we had money, we had people, we had a board. And it's like, after about two and a half years, we decided to contact Larsche and say, this is what we want to do. So I was asked to come to mobile for three months to be trained on how to do whatever, and that was in 1980, and I'm still here. So I did go back and say we weren't. I didn't want to start. It was too much. I mean, I was only 22, 23. I had no clue of what it meant to start a community, so never knew what happened. I think they disbanded. So I'd be curious on what those teenagers are like today, but. So you were working with people with disabilities before you came into the community? Yeah. It was interesting because growing up, I mean, I was very into sports, obviously, with the baseball, football, and soccer. And then I had this transition after high school when I turned down these scholarships, including at Spring Hill, where sort of I was floating around life and decided to go back to school. Seriously. So I had a summer time where I had some free time. So I called. I don't know, it was like the Cyo up in Milwaukee, and said, I'm looking at volunteering. What do you have available? And they said, oh, they have these sports camps which I was interested in. And they said, yeah, we have this other camp for people with disabilities. Really? I said, I want to go there, which I had no idea why I did that. So I went and something happened. So then the next summer I spent the whole summer at a different camp for like eight weeks. And that was really the start between there. And I was working in the jails, so I was already exposed. Very different population, if you can imagine, between the camp and the prison and jails. It was very interesting. So isn't it funny, like, the knowing and the unknowing of choices you make in your life and you're making choices, but maybe you don't even know you're making choices because, I mean, that's a hard question. Like you asked, why am I still here? I don't know. But there was something that clicked and I don't know if it was in Willie's eyes or Peggy's hug or something that clicked. And for you to say you don't know why you chose that camp, but that's a, like, unknowing choice that changed your entire life. Well, yeah, that. And then I think, you know, I live with Leonard and Willie for a little over two years and I think those relationships also, it's like. So I got involved. Leonard was 38 when I met him. Well, you know, here I thought, you know, I ruled the world and I'm going to save Leonard and all that. Little did I realize he lived 38 years before knowing me, you know? So he had a whole life there. Exactly. So who am I? I mean, so eventually that started to sink in, you know, like, I'm just this little person with them. And then the friendship began. And back then we used to say, well, we're here to share life until people die. Well, back then we had no clue what that meant. And then gradually we started to see that people are dying, you know, so.

[30:10] MARTY O'MALLEY: Ten minutes, but, no, keep going. But that was 161 you're talking about.

[30:18] BRIDGET MULROY: Yeah, that's where.

[30:19] MARTY O'MALLEY: How old were you when you came there?

[30:21] BRIDGET MULROY: I was 24.

[30:22] MARTY O'MALLEY: Oh, that's. God, it's so young. Yeah, because when I first came, it was. I was already 36. I wish I would have come.

[30:28] BRIDGET MULROY: I was 19.

[30:29] MARTY O'MALLEY: Because it just teaches you responsibility at a young age.

[30:34] BRIDGET MULROY: That's what I'm saying. I felt like I couldn't. It was too heavy. But I also didn't want to not have it. But I was 19. I didn't know what I was getting into.

[30:44] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah, no, I remember when you were 19. Yeah. And Dan. Was Dan working?

[30:49] BRIDGET MULROY: No. So similar to, like, what you were saying about your dad. So once people started seeing me with the corps members, with people with disability, I don't know, I think it opened. I think it changed a lot of people's eyes. And, you know, some people, I think we've talked about it before. See, do you. They see us more, like closer to the person with disability, or do they see the person with disability closer to someone in a more typical, normal society or whatever? I don't know. But my dad started coming because of meeting people through me cooking dinner for them, you know, bringing coffee or just random stuff like that.

[31:31] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah, I remember him bringing food to, you know, from the food bank and stuff like that.

[31:35] BRIDGET MULROY: Yeah.

[31:36] MARTY O'MALLEY: That's before he worked, though. Right. Then he started becoming a team member. Yeah, but.

[31:41] BRIDGET MULROY: So what about you, Mike? What was the moment that made you want to stay? Cause you unknowingly got on that bus from New Orleans and came over.

[31:48] MARTY O'MALLEY: But why would you. And Bill Hodell picked me up. But I knew when Janet called, I said, okay. Yeah. Cause my friend Glenn, who I cut grass with, he goes, if she calls, if she don't call, that's a sign. Because, you know, we talked about God and church and all, and if she calls, write, if not. So when she called, I knew it was a spiritual thing, and God wanted me to come and try it. And then when they picked me up at the Greyhound station, and I got in that old gray van. Annie Pearl. I sat next to Annie Pearl, and it's strange. I just felt like I've been knowing her for 30 years. She just felt. Made me. Because I was nervous, and she made me feel so comfortable and just going in that house. Hollis opened the door. He was like the grandfather, and. Yeah, it was just. And Andy was so welcoming, you know, Doug's twin brother. Yeah. Everybody was just so. It was strange. It was like a dream or something, so I knew that. But like I said, when I made that three month thing, I thought I made a mistake. But then I realized, no, this is so. I knew God wanted me to stay. Yeah, but.

[32:52] BRIDGET MULROY: So now we get to walk with each other. So it's walking with people with disabilities. But look at. I mean, so y'all have 30. You have, between you, 231 years of a relationship. I've got 20 years with both of you. And.

[33:07] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah, but Marty's on another plane than me. He's just. I just feel like I'm just a garbage man, and he's the president. Vice president.

[33:16] BRIDGET MULROY: I don't think so.

[33:17] MARTY O'MALLEY: I think so.

[33:18] BRIDGET MULROY: But, I mean, our share in life and then Sharon death together, too. I remember I told you you're gonna die in Larsh, Mike, and that is not that I'm talking about your death, but I'm honored.

[33:29] MARTY O'MALLEY: I mean, no, I remember you told me that years ago, and I still think about that. That might be true. It might not, but. Oh, God, there's been so many deaths, huh? And for me, the scariest was Terry clouse. I don't know if they had. She was. And I had to do the CPR, and that was scary.

[33:45] BRIDGET MULROY: But it's an honor for all of it, from Terry to Leonard to. Yeah. And that's where it's. I find it interesting as we've evolved, you know, because it's like, what, 15, something like that. People that have died. But out of. Outside of Terry Klaus, everybody's outlived their life expectancy by 2030 years, especially David Stewart. Well, and Peggy.

[34:07] MARTY O'MALLEY: Peggy.

[34:07] BRIDGET MULROY: Even Eddie. Leonard was seven. I mean, so it's like. It's interesting. Like the other day when we had that community meeting, our veteran corps members, obviously they're sad with Eddie passing and there's a loss, but I think there's a reassurance that the way we live with people until they die is reassuring to them. The new people. They're the ones that couldn't handle it. Yeah. The other day. And so I think there's some. Like, even for me, it's like, not that I'm hardened to death, but that's. We're successful that Eddie died the way he did. You know, that doesn't mean there's not a loss. There is. But Eddie lived probably, what, 2025 years longer easily than he would have if he continued in an institution or even another group place. Oh, I know. So it's. Yeah, it's interesting, you know, you said something earlier, Bridget, two things that struck me. So one of the first times, I was out with Leonard. So Leonard had a helmet back then at the old football helmet. Yeah. Yeah.

[35:19] MARTY O'MALLEY: Lake Marcel.

[35:20] BRIDGET MULROY: So I remember being out with him, and all of a sudden, I felt people looking at us. It's like, why are they looking at us? And then I realized they were looking at us, Leonard and I, as the same type of people. That Leonard looked funny. I mean, he was big. His face was all pockmarked, and he had the helmet on. And it's like, that's uncomfortable for me, that people were now associating me with Leonard. But then it's like I got over that pretty quick, and then it's like, now it still happens, but I'm sort of oblivious to, you know, the other thing you mentioned that as far as responsibility, you know, I look back. Well, today, I look and say, I don't know if I really know how to be the director of this community. When I was 26, I was totally clueless. And it's like I didn't know what responsibility was, and it was almost forced on me because of our situation. So I'm still learning. Me, too. Mike's not learning. He's already got all the knowledge.

[36:37] MARTY O'MALLEY: No, no.

[36:39] BRIDGET MULROY: Internal angel wisdom.

[36:42] MARTY O'MALLEY: I feel like I'm regressing, but I'm trying to learn. Still learn. Yeah.

[36:47] BRIDGET MULROY: So, Mike, how long do you think you can continue since one of the questions on there was retirement.

[36:56] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah. I don't know. That's a good question. That's a good question. We'll see. I just, you know, being a Christian, I just pray about it and say, well, just. It's in your hands, God. And, you know, I need to take a week or two off and visit my sister because she's going to want me to stay.

[37:15] BRIDGET MULROY: Yeah. I'm scared you won't ever come back.

[37:16] MARTY O'MALLEY: No, I will. I will.

[37:17] BRIDGET MULROY: We will drive and pick him up.

[37:20] MARTY O'MALLEY: Come on. I'm not that.

[37:21] BRIDGET MULROY: No, we will. Yes, we are.

[37:23] MARTY O'MALLEY: No, I'm not. I mean, I'm slow, but anyway. Yeah, I don't know. We'll see. I want to keep working as long as I can. Physically, it's getting, you know, for a while it was mentally. Now, physically, it's getting hard, you know, with my back and, you know, your age, but try to eat right, exercise, stretch. Like yoga. It helps.

[37:43] BRIDGET MULROY: Well, quit offering moving things. No, no, you can't.

[37:48] MARTY O'MALLEY: I mean, no, I got to keep doing that. That keeps me to exercise, but, yeah, I got to learn how to lift. Right. So.

[37:57] BRIDGET MULROY: Well, Bridget, thank you for sharing. And, Mike, thank you for sharing. Thank you all.

[38:02] MARTY O'MALLEY: Yeah, thank you all for sharing.

[38:05] BRIDGET MULROY: Thanks for the friendship.

[38:06] MARTY O'MALLEY: Mm hmm. You're welcome.

[38:11] BRIDGET MULROY: It.