Interview with my Dad.

00:01 My name is Ryan Evenson. I'm 16 years old, and today is November 27, 2022, and I'm speaking with Clark Evenson, who is my dad. I'm recording this interview in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. So can you tell me about a person who has been kindest to you in your life?

00:21 Kindest to me in my life? Hmm. I'd have to say my. I'd say my grandmother.

00:33 And why would you say your grandmother?

00:35 Well, out of all the people that have been influential in my life, she's been there the most and was the most influential to me.

00:47 So can you tell me about one of your happiest memories?

00:51 Happiest memories? Well, it'd be two of them, because when my boys were both born, those were some of my happiest memories. I guess others would be when I married your mother. That was a happy memory. And growing up in the eighties, that was always a happy memory.

01:19 Yeah, I'm sure it was. What was one of your most difficult memories? Difficult?

01:31 That was getting through rescue swimmer school. The Coast Guard rescue swimmer school. There was a lot of things that were trying to stop me from finishing, and I stuck it out and did it, so it was difficult to get through that, but I had help, so it ended up working out.

01:53 Well, since we're on top of the coast guard, what was like. You always had my favorite part of being there.

02:03 Favorite part? Being in the coast guard.

02:05 Yeah.

02:08 I enjoyed rescuing people. You know, I mean, it stinks that people were, you know, in a bad situation, but I enjoyed being out there doing my job, and my job was to save people and rescue people, and that's what we trained for, so, yeah, I enjoyed that very much. Jumping out of helicopters, like, and just, the whole thing was just amazing. Yeah, that was a lot of fun.

02:35 So you got to travel a lot and stuff since you're a rescue swimmer.

02:41 I did. I traveled. I didn't travel a lot, but we had to move every four years, so that was traveling in the United States.

02:50 Oh, yeah.

02:51 But I did get to go to, I got to go to Cuba for a week. I've been in the Bahamas multiple times. Different parts of that I've been in.

03:01 Sure. The Bahamas was really nice.

03:02 I loved, I loved going to the Bahamas. That was just a. It was a, it was a, it was a lot of fun and a lot of work at the same time.

03:09 Yeah.

03:10 Yeah, it was definitely, definitely fun.

03:13 What would you say you're most grateful for in life?

03:18 I'm most grateful for my family and my immediate family, of course. But also my. My grandmother and my grandfather. My. My two grandfathers and my dad and my mom. You know, my mom passed so many years ago, but. And my sister, who's a big influence on me. We grew up together in some difficult times.

03:46 What was the one story you guys always tell us about at the bunk bed?

03:50 She was trying to scare me. And if you don't know. And you're not gonna know what a giggle stick is, but it was a stick that had a. A noisemaker on the inside of it. And if you flipped it upside down.

04:01 Yeah, I know.

04:01 It would make a noise, go. You know, make a weird noise. So she hid in my closet because she loved to scare me. And I went to bed, and she threw the giggle stick. Now, she thought the giggle stick was going to flip and make the noise in midair, but instead, all it did was bang against everything and fall down and never made a noise, but scared the you know what out of me. So I get up and I go into her room like sis. And she put pillows to make it look like she was in bed, right. So then I thought I was like, okay, I don't know what to do. So then she. I went back into my room, but I didn't know those were pillows. I thought it was really her. And then I hear her laughing in the closet. And then I didn't beat her up, but I really wanted to. Yeah, but, you know, we had a good laugh out of that. But we always talk about that.

04:48 Yeah. What are some of the most important lessons you've learned in life?

04:56 That's a good one. Never miss an opportunity. There's opportunities that happen in your life, and you kick yourself. You'll always kick yourself if you don't do it. Some things that you want to. I mean, it's. You'll. You'll just. When you grow up, you'll see that these opportunities happen, and you should go for it. And don't second guess. Yeah, but when you do, that's when you regret it later on, but luckily, I haven't had that happen yet, even when I was a kid, but.

05:40 Yeah. Like the one time you ran into a cactus on your dirt bike.

05:44 Well, yeah, that was not. That wasn't my fault. Cactus just jumped out of nowhere.

05:51 How would you like to be remembered?

05:58 I'd like to be remembered by how well I raise my kids, my sons. My sons carry my legacy. I don't carry my legacy. I've done things in my life that have saved many lives and done wonderful things, but those things passed and my kids are the future, so I'm hoping my children and we raised you boys up good enough so that you have a great life and you carry on the traditions. That's it.

06:29 You have quite the funeral plan.

06:33 Yeah, eventually, we'll see how it works out.

06:35 Yeah. There's a dead man's party album. I know that's the one song, but.

06:41 Oingo boingo.

06:42 Yeah.

06:43 Yeah. That's gonna be the running theme there, but yeah. Yeah. You'll be involved in that, don't worry.

06:49 Yeah.

06:50 Not that you wanna beat, but you will.

06:51 What was, like, the scariest moment in, like, rescue when you were rescue swimmer that you've had?

07:01 Well, I had the one. It was the one case in Cape Cod, and it got. Everything just really was messed up. I mean, we were on the boat for, like, over an hour because this guy had broken. He had a broken back, broken leg, broken arm, and trying to get him back into the helicopter. The pilots, and it was so snotty out. I mean, the weather was horrible, and the pilot got vertigo, so he was. He was disoriented, so he ended up going farther away than he should have, which ended up launching the litter the guy was connected to off the boat, so it was almost bungee ed off the boat, so he hit a rail. I was holding onto it, so I kind of went with him. I hit the rail, and we were going, and we were moving forward, so to keep the waves and everything in sync, so to make it easier to get them off. But anyway, he hit the rail. He goes off into the ocean. I went over the rail, and it was the weirdest sensation. The rail was, like, glowing white, and everything slowed down. It was almost like. I don't even know how to even explain it, but it was almost like the rail was like, you need to grab me as I grabbed it. Thankfully, I didn't fall into the water. If I would have fallen into the water, they probably would have never found me. So that was one of my scariest moments.

08:39 Can you remember a time in your life when you felt most alone?

08:47 I would say boot camp.

08:48 Yeah, probably.

08:50 That's. But, you know, growing up with my mom, she can yell better than those instructors get in today, so it was okay. But, yeah, I mean, you do make friends there, but it's nothing.

09:05 What are your hopes for me when I grow up?

09:08 My hopes for you are carry on traditions. Get married, have a bunch of kids. Maybe one or two kids.

09:17 Yes. I don't know about a bunch of.

09:19 One or two kids, but have some grandchildren. You know, we're the last of the evensons, so you need to pass on. We need to make that big again, so. And I want you to be a good person. I want you to make good decisions and have a wonderful life. I expect it.

09:42 Yeah. Don't worry. I'll do my best.

09:44 I know, bud.

09:45 Are there things that you've wanted to know about me that you've never asked?

09:50 Not really. I think we have a pretty open relationship, but I. Yeah, I don't think.

10:01 I'd say I'm pretty close.

10:02 Yeah. I don't think you hide much from me. I mean, the stuff that you hide from me is probably the same stuff I hid from my parents, but I'm not gonna ask you about those things. So.

10:14 What'S your favorite memory of my soccer career?

10:20 Favorite memory of your soccer career? I watch it over and over again, is that I. And I don't even know what game it was. It was the game that last year that we got the really clear video on, and you took the ball in, and you. If you didn't. If we didn't win that game, you would have gone off into the cow.

10:38 Oh, yeah. I was against Millville.

10:40 Millville.

10:41 Yeah.

10:41 That was flipping awesome.

10:43 Yeah.

10:43 Well, it wasn't like you did. It wasn't like a. It wasn't like a beautiful. It wasn't like you did a bunch. I mean, there's so many.

10:49 I just. It just kind of came across.

10:50 It came across, but it was such a moment. Like anybody else might have froze or kicked it over the net or whatever, but you end up just. You end up doing things when you're under pressure, which. That's how I. That's how I am. I do better when I'm under pressure, but, I mean, there's so many times I've seen you dribble through three or four guys or whatever, and then, you know, pop a shot or. Yeah, I mean, when you were younger, you were just, you know, unstoppable. Every goal, like, you. Like, even coach Pete would say, oh, Ryan's got the ball. There goes another goal. I mean, because it was just. That's how it was.

11:25 Yeah. I'll never forget that one time on PSC during the summer when my back was, like, really messed up. I could barely walk. And I think we were losing one nothing. And then I, like, megged that one kid and then went back around him again, and then it was almost like I was at the touchline. I went to cross it, but it ended up hitting a post and went in, and then we just kind of built up momentum. I really like that one.

11:49 No, that was awesome, too. I remember there were so many. Like, even when you did last year, you took it down to the touchline and you just shot it in, and coach was like, how did he get the ball in? I'm like, I don't know. He does that. He just gets those shots off sometimes. But.

12:07 What do you think your future holds?

12:10 I'm hoping once I retire, I get to go work at Universal Studios as a boat driver that can drive the boat. I would shovel people back and forth just as a Bartan job and live in Florida.

12:22 I know. I think. I think if I'm gonna work in a park like that, I'd want to go to Galaxy's edge, work as a.

12:27 Star wars, maybe Disney if they change, but.

12:29 Well, you could do. You could do, like, Kylo Ren. Walk around as Kylo Ren. Or Darth Vader did it that one year for Halloween.

12:38 I know. I still have the Darth Vader costume. Nice one. Yeah, I don't have. I mean, it's not. I just want to be able to get my kids in cheaper into the parks, and I can do that.

12:50 Yeah, that'd be really nice.

12:51 Grandkids. Plus I love Florida, so.

12:54 Yeah, me too. From trying to go to college, so we'll see how that goes.

12:59 I know. I hope so. Good.

13:01 What sports did you play when you were younger?

13:03 Mostly soccer. Yeah, it was always. It was always soccer. I tried other sports, just never liked them too much. But I was always. I was a dirt bike rider, too, if you want to call that a sport. Yeah, but, I mean, I grew up in a place where I could actually ride dirt bikes and have fun. Unlike New Jersey, where you can't ride dirt bikes and have fun.

13:22 I know. I still haven't gotten the ride one yet.

13:24 I know. Well, you're not missing out on a whole lot.

13:26 Well, we gave Uncle Ray the tiny one.

13:30 I don't know what he did with it.

13:32 He fixed it up with even worth.

13:34 Of riding it, because, I mean, we can always go one day. We can go rent motorcycles or something if you want. It's just. Yeah, go do it. I can show you how to ride it, and maybe you can ride up a tree, knock a tree over. Like.

13:55 What would you say your favorite movie is?

14:00 Top favorite movie. Let's see. That's because there's just the one that just came out, which I love right now, but I have to be that one right now, because in here, it's just so freaking amazing. Top gun friggin yes. Top Gun maverick. That is so amazing in here. Looks good, sounds so good. And it's just. It's just an amazing movie.

14:25 Well, I saw it, like, three times when I was out in the theaters.

14:29 No, I know.

14:30 I don't know why. Every time, like, a new movie comes out, I always see it with, like, three or four different groups of people. I usually go watch with you the first time.

14:38 Mm hmm.

14:39 And then, like, Peter, Luke.

14:40 Yeah.

14:41 I go with them. I'd probably say my favorite right now is probably Star wars still. Yeah. I mean, I. I'm just so in love with that franchise.

14:53 Yeah, I do. I do like Star Wars a lot too. But I mean, as far as favorite, if you're favorite changes for me all the time because there's. There's, like, a lot of good. Plus you have to watch it in here to make. To make a difference. I mean, for me.

15:05 Oh, yeah.

15:06 And I say in here in the movie theater, we have.

15:08 Yeah. Why don't you tell us about the movie theater and how it became for what it is?

15:14 Well, when I was growing up, I always just wanted one, so. So when we looked for this house, I had to make sure I had a basement. And then I basically built the whole thing myself, putting the walls up and two layers of drywall and tried to isolate the sound. And it's got nine speakers. What? 5678? Yeah, nine speakers. And it's got two big subwoofers. The subwoofers are about a thousand watts apiece, so the whole house shakes when they go off. But, yeah, it does sound really nice.

15:50 And I remember everything. The one time one of the wine glasses on, like, that little rack fell off.

15:56 Right. Mom got a little mad about that one.

15:57 What movie were.

15:59 I don't even remember.

15:59 I think it's Pacific rim.

16:02 It could have been any movies that have, like, deep bass, like that.

16:06 Yeah.

16:07 Vibrate. But, yeah, it was a lot of fun. It took me about eight months to. On the weekends to get everything in here set up.

16:13 Yeah, I remember I was trying to play Xbox one day, and I was walking down the stairs with all, like, the plastic wrap on them.

16:19 Yeah.

16:20 I think you guys were painting in here.

16:23 Yeah, yeah, we had the. We actually had painters paint this because this was too much for me to do.

16:28 Yeah. But I was like, who are these people?

16:32 Yeah. Ended up being pretty nice. It turned out really nice.

16:34 Oh, yeah. I love it here.

16:36 Yeah. Everybody comes in here and enjoys it.

16:38 Well, thank you. This meant a lot to me because you're welcome, bud. You're probably one of the closest people in my life, so.

16:48 Yeah, I'm your dad. I should be.

16:50 Yeah. Well, no, I. We always do stuff together. We spend a lot of time, so it's really important to me. But, um, I just want to say thank you.

17:01 And you're welcome anytime. I love you.

17:05 Love you, too. All right, bye.