Mike Rahm, Beth Sells, and AJ Rahm

00:03 How many Miss Beth sells I'm 33, it's December 28th, 2013 here at the Chicago Cultural Center with my dad Mike and my sister AJ.

00:18 I'm a j Rahm. I'm almost 27 years old. It's December 28th, 2013, and we are at the Chicago Cultural Center.

00:27 And time my krom age 61

00:32 And it's December 28th, Chicago Cultural Center, and I am parents of these two ladies.

00:42 One of the things I one of the stories I love hearing from will not love hearing just have heard multiple times just like hearing it. Anyway, mom always talks about when you guys were dating and kind of decided that you it was it was time to get married. Is that the way you remember it? Did you guys just kind of mutually decide to get married? How do you remember it?

01:12 Well, yeah.

01:16 It actually was we broke up we dated in high school and first-year college, then we broke up.

01:25 And so I was single for a while. I don't know how long maybe a year-and-a-half or something two years.

01:35 And

01:37 I ran into her somewhere or maybe I'd called her out of the blue or something and said hi and

01:47 What are you doing or something like that? And we got together and it was

01:52 Obvious that we had something special.

01:59 You know that we didn't really maybe I didn't really realize so and then we got together and I was

02:06 No going back really just so did you mean when you saw her again? Had you been missing your relationship or was it kind of just think I was looking. I didn't want to be tied down.

02:23 Doing a little you're how old.

02:27 I must have been 20 or

02:30 19 I guess. I know what I guess I was.

02:34 Probably 20

02:36 And sell

02:38 You know.

02:40 I was already started in a career as a plumber so.

02:46 And that you're not dating didn't do much for me. I mean, I just didn't like going out.

02:52 Bars and party in and out last stuff. So, you know, I just liked your mom, you know, I just like instantly feel better yet. She smelled good. She felt good. She sounded good. She looked good Chase.

03:10 And I'm Brighton all that sell. It was like a no-brainer.

03:15 Did you propose like the whole down on one knee thing?

03:19 Probably not.

03:24 Probably not. I just think I said, why don't we get married?

03:29 And it was so, you know, probably she said I'm okay with that and I think it was January of 74.

03:42 That and we maybe it been dating again for

03:45 I don't know maybe four months or something as I recall and we decided I think in January and we got married May 18th. So I'm 3 months in a week.

04:02 Lionel now its long-term planning, but it was why wait, let's get married and you know, she'd wanted to go to a Justice of the Peace. We would have got married in January. So because as far as I was concerned, it was me and her and that was all I needed and so that's what happened. We're particularly excited or particularly resistant to that.

04:33 Well, I met her father went to see when did I meet him? I bet I met him.

04:40 Before I actually we before we decide to get married maybe or maybe just after they speak a lot.

04:53 Somebody came up here and he was a big shot and didn't like the idea that his daughter was marrying a plumber.

05:00 I think it was must have been right after we to say so wait a minute.

05:06 Yeah, I probably have the dates wrong. But the anyway, he didn't like me and it was clear. He didn't think that I was suitable for his daughter. He didn't ever say anything like that to did he basically yeah, he basically said, you know, you're going to be digging ditches the rest of your life and it's ending tone of guy that you know.

05:34 I don't ever didn't then certainly didn't then cuz they're not respect for anybody then but yeah, so yeah, I mean her Granddad used to call me.

05:49 Cuz I had long hair back then and he called me Rip Van Winkle.

05:54 But he likes you right trades guy. So

06:01 But yeah, I mean everybody was happy to get rid of me on my side. And so I think it was.

06:12 It's okay all the way around. How long after you guys get married. Did you decide to move away?

06:20 Well, I was an apprentice.

06:23 Didn't really like the solves dang. I had to be honest didn't like the thought of staying in Chicago. So I really wanted to be a plumber.

06:37 Do something different cuz I didn't want to work in the family business my uncle's business.

06:43 And I wanted to ski so we decided well so I can go ski you can actually it we've I went skiing and met a guy on a chairlift and he said

06:55 I said where you from? He said I'm from Boston or something and

07:01 I said well, what are you doing on here? I just moved out here got a job and nice Kia mean you just lift it up and left and just got a job. He said yeah, he looked at me strange.

07:15 And felt the light bulb went off. I called your mother.

07:21 And said to move out to Colorado or something.

07:27 And then wait, I got back to the fine, whatever you want to do.

07:32 And I said, well I'll take a trip. So we took a trip me into Buddy's heart ball and John girl snuggle.

07:42 And got in a little car went to Colorado up to Wyoming cuz I thought Jackson looks like a great place to ski didn't like it cuz it was too touristy and we kept going through Yellowstone and got into Bozeman where I knew there was a university.

08:00 And fell in love at first sight with Bozeman people in this world.

08:07 The town mountains and everything so from you was the University so we decided I called her and said listen, there's a university here you can get your degree and

08:21 I'd like to move out here. She said well, let's talk it over.

08:26 And I think we moved out.

08:29 6 months later

08:31 Some hopes in January of 76. January 76

08:39 So we've been married.

08:42 May 74 year and a half or so when we decided to move out there.

08:49 Did Uncle Jack and Uncle Bob think it was stupid of you finish your apprenticeship and blah blah blah and then you can do whatever you want.

08:59 Well, I'd already wasted a year of my apprenticeship because I didn't tell the union that I was.

09:06 Nephew of a contractor saw they

09:11 So they didn't have any problems spend an extra year as a laborer cuz of that man, then you could have been testing was they had to take the highest score that they got in that was mine. So they had to take me in and then my uncle found out about it, and he was mad because he didn't realize that I hadn't dropped his name.

09:36 So Saint Patrick

09:51 Yeah, I mean if it didn't make any sense to me that you have to do now.

09:56 I didn't really believe nepotism. So

10:05 Now I do.

10:08 After the first year when I found out I had wasted a year digging ditches instead of doing typing, you know.

10:19 So anyway, yeah, we moved out to Bozeman then and they have fun with it ever. I mean, it doesn't sound like you've had the personality at that time to be kind of really cautious. Obviously. Was it ever scary like kind of just jumping out there or was it scary then maybe when all of a sudden you were parents wasn't scary to me because you know, my support group was there so your mother was

10:56 Sorry, she's everything I need.

11:03 Seems like she was pretty.

11:05 Okay with going wherever you wanted to so.

11:12 Do you know whatever I don't know she's always been that way.

11:20 You guys are in Bozeman then 4.

11:24 Six or seven years we were there for five years.

11:30 And dumb

11:32 You know, it was scary because we didn't have any jobs and we only have a certain amount of money.

11:38 And so I mean it was concerning.

11:43 When you live because we have jobs that weren't any jobs, especially in the winter. There's no jobs in it all college town with, you know summer Construction.

12:00 But nothing in the winter.

12:02 So, you know what we could and then of course, I broke my leg right away.

12:16 Within three weeks the car caught on fire.

12:20 Before we put half our money that we had down for down payment on a cabin.

12:26 And you're never how much that was through four hundred bucks and then

12:32 We act like we may have had $1,200 when we left and

12:37 So we went to Yellowstone and

12:40 Car caught fire. So we had to pay to get that Toad and then fixed so that was another three or four hundred bucks and there was a leak in the gas tank size.

12:54 Thoughts inside had a welding course in

12:58 Apprenticeship school on weld the cap man of the weld a hole in the gas tank. So I rented it torch and we're living 5 miles out of town.

13:08 And a cabin in so I

13:14 Not got the welder brought it back cuz we don't have any money cuz it's the only way I could get this thing fixed really and of course instead of protective gas tank off but didn't

13:27 Fill it with water, which is what I should have done instead. I emptied it of liquid and just left the fumes in there. So when I finally got the Torch hot enough that it melted through the metal it exploded broke my leg the expansion of the

13:50 Tank, which is heavy steel 50 lb tank and it just I was standing on one leg next to the tank.

13:58 And it just exploded basically just expanded it fast enough to break a leg. So if I've been standing on both of them both of them.

14:20 Well, I rolled down the hill towards the creek. We had Creek there and in about 20 feet down my body fell down the hill grab Bush and my golden retriever run beckenham to drag me to the car. He didn't do so.

14:39 Stupid dog so much for dogs. So I crawled up the hill thinking well do I go in the house and get a phone? No cell phones, obviously or just get in the car and drive back into town which was 5 miles. So I got the got in the car and drove a thermos under the dangling legs so that the like didn't hurt so much. Should I have a scraper for the

15:07 Accelerator pedal and left foot for the Clutch and Brake and four-wheel-drive, you know, so backed it down our driveway which

15:17 But I have my long went up to the neighbor's driveway.

15:22 And haunt they weren't home. So then I drove into town and didn't know where anything was cuz we'd only been there for 3 weeks. So I I knew where the police station website turn into police station.

15:36 Anti-Flag somebody walking out of the police station turned out to be like a female police officer. And I said, I think I broke my leg. Could you tell me where the hospital is?

15:48 She says oh my God. Stop. Stay right there. I'll be right back. She goes into the station and 10 minutes later and ambulance pulls up and I'm in Pursuit Of Your Pain by now and so I get out of the car get in the ambulance and they go one block forward and one block left and that's where the emergency room.

16:12 So it was the orthopedic guy was the team doctor for Ohio State's football team's so he he grabbed me with his big meat hooks Seth leg. I think I screamed a couple times more shots, you know.

16:33 So anyhow were there we were with no working male family member and no money at this point now because now you got medical bills, so I think I had grandpa. I called grandpa letter or something. He sent out a hundred bucks, which he bought us food for the months or whatever and then your mom got a job packaging fireworks or something making wreaths for 1/4 an hour and she traveled for that once she had to go to Idaho Falls. Yeah.

17:15 I mean time luckily they had a stack of National Geographics at the cabin which was about a foot tall. So I sat around and listen to NPR and and read National Geographics for 3 months until

17:30 Like was almost healed.

17:33 Monroe

17:35 Then yeah, I got a job at a trailer home Factory as a plumber with a gimp leg.

17:46 No, I was limping then. I got rid of the crutches. So I just kind of Gippy, you know.

17:53 So and then I was the only one I actually

18:00 Didn't have a license, but I have I think I was making 375 an hour, but I was the only one that had I think I maybe had taken my license test out there based on four years of experience you could take the test.

18:20 And sell I was the only licensed plumber in the factory. So my foreman was like a 19 year old kid.

18:29 He didn't like me food. They started moving the trailer that gave me a helper first two chimneys houses, and then they took him away and then they speed up the trailer assembly line speed it up and Me time I start meeting these guys and you know, they're all ski bums and stuff.

18:47 So they had a layoffs in September and they let the guy laid me off smoking pot on you no lunch break and

19:04 They were waiting to get laid off so that they could go on unemployment, you know.

19:09 So anyway work out fine because as I was taking my license test one of the other contractors in town, I'd met him and he was looking to hire me anyway, so so I hired on with him got a raise.

19:28 And so forth synonym

19:32 Damn, that was a

19:34 Mullins family business 5 Sons

19:40 Pat McMullin best buddy and me so we had a real crack Plumbing crew there. So they start to go into and taking all the work away from everybody and then we signed with the Union cuz we were doing the bigger projects. Did you travel for those two?

20:02 Helena Yellowstone

20:05 You know.

20:08 Billings was three and a half hours.

20:12 But we are big in the softball. We are on a softball team together. So we make sure we got back for Wednesday games.

20:20 Cell

20:24 So we leave you know, Monday early get out that work till Wednesday after lunch take off for Bozeman and then Thursday morning head back. And what is that one the drive-throughs came into the drive-thru liquor stores came into play on the way to the softball game, but them know we were working in we just went Billings. We had an apartment or condo.

21:00 Yeah, and so we went to active sport out there. So.

21:08 We went to a bar in Billings that had the top beer chugger in the state. So so McMullin fancied himself beer chugger extraordinaire. So we went to this bar in and did this beer chugging and we did wait there was a guy there that I'd heard about all my time out there for several years about this get Brooks angle heart that went away to the Army uses gear brand of all these guys and just great guy. They couldn't stop talking about this guy. Well, I met him the night. We went to that bar to do the beer chugging with the bartender and him and McMullen. We're going toe-to-toe chugging 12-ounce beers in like 1.7 seconds or something.

22:06 And

22:09 Turns out Brooks engelhardt was with us was working in the oil fields that night.

22:15 Drove off the road hit a telephone pole and killed himself.

22:20 So, you know, they weren't drive-up liquor stores the big part of the culture.

22:35 We would go to I forget where we were at. We went North about 90 miles and weave.

22:43 I wasn't a big drinker and I really wasn't tells me I was the only one married in the whole group. We were the first one on the softball teams that were married and they were married before I even got out there. So it's got the old man of the group.

22:59 But now they're still handsome.

23:03 We had some drinking things we need.

23:06 We could we could wear a school. We were doing their Helena that we would have Friday afternoon come back and get a couple bottles of gin and a bottle of tonic and just

23:16 Make some in the Box hole as we're driving back with three trucks passing a window to window on the interstate.

23:26 It's slowed down enough for Emily and time. We did that. We were pretty hammered by the time I got halfway home and there was a bar in Three Forks Montana. I think it was that had live lobster. So we decided to stop in there and get live lobster. All the Gin tonic was gone. There was maybe five of us and so we pull into this bar. I'm going to work. I'm slamming down the reflector on the side of the road on Interstate 80 over the Interstate 90 it was and so we pull into this bar and they had a shot glass in the bottom of a mason jar and if you drop a dime in and it flutters into the shot glass you get a free drink.

24:15 So we put $0.60 worth of Dimes in and every one of them went into the shot glass.

24:22 So we were set up for another in and tonic for every one of us was the last thing we need. I mean we put another $2 worth of Dimes in their nothing went into that shot class after that.

24:35 But the long and short of it was they were going to stick around I said I got to go I'm way too drunk and got to get home and see my wife now I get home. I'd rather throw off at home then so as I went home to probably 80 miles an hour in a little mini pickup truck. I passed a County cop he was standing still and he followed me muscle. I don't know maybe had a drunk uncle or something me sorry for a Gynecology. He followed me till the exit and didn't take them to get off the exit.

25:20 Wow, so maybe he was County and he was out of his jurisdiction. I don't know but it's

25:28 Drinking to excess only happened a few times out there. So you know what?

25:42 Drank to excess course.

25:46 The dogs were you know, we had our dog and we went to the Christmas party at the bosses house and D.

25:54 I mean the highlight of the night to me was when the boss came out of the kitchen with a shotgun and said to one of the real estate salesman who had a big German Shepherd that weigh about 250 pounds. He said that stupid dog years. I'm going to take care of Max for once and for all e he'd hang around in front of the office on Main Street sitting outside, you know, cuz I'm going to take care of that dog once and for all he goes outside these fires off two rounds of shotguns comes back in closes the door and claps his hands like that's done deal. So I open the door. I look outside. He blew two holes in the eve this brand new house and liver Cedar Shakes all over the yard in the snow.

26:40 We had no idea what he done.

26:44 Hey Pete, that's good. Shooting got yourself a roof.

26:51 Dog friendly there what wagging his tail her in the back of the truck over to the thing at the end of the night with bar room brawl at the Holiday Inn, I think with me and Susannah and Charlie and his wife and the 60 year old lady. That was one of the secretaries at the office and we ended up.

27:15 You know how he ended up being dragged out by the head to the bartender cuz

27:22 And we'd sat down at the wrong table and people are dancing I guess so.

27:28 It was an empty table. We took in, North Dakota.

27:38 Well versed in barroom brawls. I looked up from the table when I saw this her arguing with some gallon. Some guy was B-Line it over towards me. I just $60 Terry and so I just stepped up to see you make sure that this guy wasn't going to somebody was going to punch somebody. Well somebody grabbed me from behind and that guy came at me and just gave me around house across the face.

28:11 And took off cuz I could still being held I'm jumping up down trying to see who it is so I can come after you and I'm

28:19 Point to him that I'm coming after you, you know, and then the place went up for grabs and

28:26 And I get an a rabbit punching the bartender who's got me in a headlock dragging me out the door at some point and Colleen's got somebody silk shirt in her hand and we're all gather outside. And what happened Charlie's going. Let's go by my jaw is sore, you know, I don't know. I'll let's just go home, I think about it.

28:55 Is that the place where mom always says he got kicked out for Life repeatedly softball game that we throw the first round against the wall glasses.

29:09 Literally you are sponsoring. Yeah.

29:13 So when we didn't we didn't win a lot of games either wasn't like we were Champion. So anything's

29:20 But it was a little notoriety to the team.

29:26 So they have to get kicked out all the time.

29:29 Was it disappointing when you had to come home to when when you did come home? Cuz all of this kind of from Bozeman crazy world was gone. It was just nice place, you know was

29:45 Havasu Nirvana, I mean it was to me it was you'd wake up in the morning and look outside and snow pea.

29:54 The mountains and

29:56 You know, I always clean.

30:00 So it was me and it was just real nice.

30:07 Well, we didn't know I got laid off for one thing and had a new baby bring to you. And so your mother was kind and I think I'm looking for a support group. And as you can imagine I probably didn't fill the bill too. Well.

30:27 Was that when one of the times when she took the reins or

30:31 Did you guys but won't he do it?

30:35 If she was going back here I was going back. So I had a job back here told me anytime you want to come back. You got a job. So I called him up I said, hey, can you get me can you put me back to work in this picture?

30:54 You know, I made it easy cuz it was in the winter time when you were born late October. I got laid off in November. So that was the beginning of the winter. Yeah. I'm sorry, you know unemployment probably we might have gotten by and I'll

31:15 We are house payments, but you know, we were spending all our vacation time coming back to see family. Anyway, we weren't spending it going to see the West Coast Canada or anywhere else. We were

31:34 Weren't weren't making enough to

31:37 Do some of the things so when we came back, that's I decided. Well, we're going back. We're going to do some skiing country did you know?

31:47 By God

31:51 So what was the journey back like with a dog and a baby in a car pull yourself? Because the U-Haul truck had a governor on them.

32:01 Accelerator so it would only go I think about 48 miles an hour really. So on the way back Kathy's house my sister.

32:19 But it was going to was fun wasn't hard probably told the car. I think the dog was probably in the car. So there was room in the cab to have a baby and you know.

32:36 Right and you're actually we picked up we picked up the dining room set that we had dropped off in Iowa on the way out to Montana. We picked it up on the way back so that we'd have a dining room set. Yeah and Hampton, Iowa to stay with your parents or

32:59 Grandma and pick some place out for you or rented a house in Wheaton.

33:06 So little, you know two bedroom Ranch in Wheaton that

33:11 Worked out fine. We just moved right in.

33:21 Well, yeah, she's in.

33:24 She's

33:27 Quiet intellectual type huge reader

33:34 Family with them her family was somewhat.

33:39 Broken, so she I think looked forward to having a big family that you know, I had which I didn't really care that much and she missed so she was I think trying to the family as much as me really.

34:04 But then she was like then she was no free thinking she'd been from a divorced family. I think that changes your mind set on things she was

34:14 Intellectual before that so she was

34:19 She was counterculture at that time. You would call her.

34:25 And

34:27 Back then

34:30 You were a word you were labeled by a different.

34:36 There was in a lot of

34:42 Straightforward people young kids or going to be part of society and there was group that. Society was messed up and they weren't going that way obviously.

34:55 I didn't like it here. I don't like what Society offered. So I wanted to move away too small or culture that you know.

35:05 At least I can felt I can enjoy them survive through about them.

35:12 And so she was that way and she would you know, she was peace love dove. She was a peacenik house a poet who wrote She Wrote poetry. She was attracted to that.

35:30 Time C Unit type of

35:33 But part of culture

35:36 So I didn't really fit in that wall wouldn't that part but I probably wrote her a love letter or two that was

35:44 She probably thought on he's got some potential anyway.

35:56 Yeah, I asked.

35:59 Very romantically attracted to your mother still am

36:10 How does that work being business partners?

36:13 Well, that's that's a testament to how much we love each other because it doesn't work very well to be involved in a business. It's just

36:25 Scary grading on a relationship and plus being in business being a business owner changes your personality to a certain extent as as does being a mother of 15 kids like your Aunt Mary you have to develop a

36:44 Hardness that

36:47 He gets gets into your personality. So it's not the best thing for a relationship.

36:55 But we've survived that.

36:58 Do you think you guys have a stronger relationship now because of that or just different now, so it's

37:09 Trying to get to the Finish Line as you might say so it's more of a burden on her right now than it is on me because finally I've got the business is kind of

37:22 Working better and economies starting to get better and so far and so we've been through the ups and downs of good and bad economies the learning curve of being in business and all that stuff. So,

37:39 Anyhow, that's about it's about it on that. Are you excited to just be you guys or do you think your relationship will change not having the business if you get when you retire? Well, we would we would travel a lot, you know.

37:59 But you know, we have everything we really wanted.

38:05 It went what you really want in life is a warm house.

38:09 Food

38:12 And a family that she loved.

38:17 I think you did a good job making those things.

38:22 I think so.

38:28 Anyhow

38:30 Thanks for interviewing me. Thanks for coming. I had fun added to

38:38 We love you. I love you, too.

38:42 Okay, well.

38:45 Can I drink water now?