I'm totally intrigued. It's so funny because I'm rarely ever like just teasing and stunned,
you know, because you have a wealth of knowledge and a wealth of experience, you know, and I really
want to, it's crazy because as I read your about me, about Ed, I seen that you were in an orphanage
and, you know, and now you're in a boardroom and now you're owning and building businesses and
educating. As an orphan, where did this drive come from? How did you get started to choosing this
road? Well, you know, I had a very difficult childhood. My father kidnapped me when I was
three, until I remember that I died. He went to war. I went into foster homes. I was in five
foster homes. And then after the war, we spent a year together, one of which, part of which was in
the YMCA on 34th Street in New York. And then he had to go back to sea. So I ended up in two
different orphanages. So, but what happens during that period, and I make this a point to young
people, is that although, you know, it was difficult, I gained those disadvantages I had
became advantages. In other words, if you have to go through, you know, and as I did five different
Catholic foster homes and five different Catholic schools and five different Catholic schoolyards,
you learn how to become pretty adaptable to various difficult circumstances. You learn to
overcome something. You get resilience and perseverance and you get quite a bit when you
get through that, you get a certain amount of self-confidence. And so that those disadvantages,
there weren't, there were some real disadvantages that hung on because I was an angry young man for
many years because I kept asking myself, why me? But that's how I grew up. And it was difficult.
I didn't have a mother. I didn't have, I didn't have, had no relatives. People say, describe your
life in one sentence. I can very easily do that. Nobody came to my grammar school graduation.
Nobody came to my high school graduation. Nobody came to my college graduation. And nobody came to
my graduate school graduation. So, you know, I grew up alone and, you know, that's, and that gave me
some, you know, great deal of self-confidence, gave me a lot of other negative characteristics.
For many years, I never trusted anybody. I was always angry to some extent. I took it out by
throwing, you know, golf clubs and rackets, not on other people. So, but I got rid of that. It took
a while. And this is what I want, I want young people to solve these kinds of problems a little
earlier than I solved them. But I don't want any do-overs. I don't, you know, I think do-overs have
unintended consequences. You know, you don't know, yeah, I'd like to do this a little differently.
Well, if I did a little differently, what would have happened? I'm not sure. So, yeah.
That is, wow. I mean, I'm truly inspired. I know that after you mentioned, no one came to any of
your graduations, but you still kept moving forward. That, that right there is, is, is unbeknownst
to, to our days now, because when we feel like we don't have anyone in today's life, it, it's,
it's a different turnout. You know, it could either hinder you or, or make things happen. And for you,
you, you chose to keep, keep the drive. And, and I tell you that, that, that's, that's not the norm.
It's rarely the norm right now. So that's why my best one, my book, don't people read my book and
listen to me because I want to convince them that anything is possible to start off with. The second
thing I want to convince them that education is a solution to everything. And the third thing,
which I think is important to what you're just talking about is that never be a victim if you
can help it. That energy use and being a victim, take that energy and place it on what's next.
That's hard enough to decide what's next and to pursue it. And that's what I, that's one of my
secrets. I always, I never was a victim. I mean, I, I was a little tiny guy beat up, people beat up
on me. I didn't weigh, I didn't weigh a hundred pounds until I was 14 years old. I went, when I
was 11, I was four foot six, 66 pounds. I mean, so I was always getting pushed around, but you know,
but you gotta, don't focus on being, you know, a little guy. Don't focus on being a particular,
in a particular situation, focus on what's next always. And if you get that habit in your head,
then I think you've got a greater chance of being successful.