Ep. 108- The Byte: Giancarlos
In this episode, Giancarlos tells a story-that of a good friend who died all too soon. Hear how they met, how they changed each other, and how this friend helped Gian dream big. Sometimes, it's all about our ability to imagine something better for ourselves. Trigger Warning: This practice may include references to death, dying, and the departed.
Transcript
Hi everyone,
And welcome to another episode of the podcast.
I want to just apologize for the audio recently.
Not a lot of you know that I haven't had a place to live since last May.
And so I've been going from house sitting gig to house sitting gig.
And as a result,
The audio is very different for each episode.
Of course,
The ideal would be that I find a stable place to live where I can concentrate on making the audio consistent and sounding better.
But for right now,
It appears the universe wants me to travel like this.
So I'm just accepting it and going with it,
But also praying for something better.
I did want to thank you listeners for still supporting me and listening to the podcast as I go through this challenging time.
I also want to thank my three benefactors on Patreon.
You know who you are for just $3 a month,
$5 a month,
Or $10 a month.
You too,
Dear listener,
Can help support the podcast and put beautiful content out into the world.
There will be a link under the episodes show notes.
Please click on it and help me to bring the podcast out into the world.
In this episode of the podcast,
My guest wears many hats.
He's a jujitsu instructor and soon to be jujitsu gym owner,
A professional wrestler,
A comedian,
A writer,
A hard worker,
Someone who's gone through challenging times and survived,
Someone who's lifting others up.
Giancarlos is a force of nature.
And I'll think you'll understand as you listen to the episode that he can't be stopped.
And that's what I admire most about him.
I hope you grow to love him and appreciate this human as much as I do.
And so now,
Episode 108 of Bite-sized Blessings.
You know,
We became really best friends.
And this was like a year or two before he was just like,
Dude,
Let's move to Colorado.
Let's like,
Let's leave this island and start like a life over there.
Like,
Let's just start from zero there.
And I was like,
Dude,
I am so down.
So we're actually saving money to go to Colorado.
And he,
He was arrested for just carrying like not even a gram of weed in his pocket.
Like he was just buying that and he got arrested for that in Puerto Rico.
And he was in jail.
And because of that,
He had to be on parole for a few years.
So he wasn't able to leave.
I have to say,
I think it's nothing like magical,
But I think it's something magical about friendship.
And there was this guy,
His name was Enrique Oramas.
He was,
He's one of my tattoo artists.
And he was such an artist.
He went to school for art.
And unfortunately,
Due to his addiction,
He got,
He had to like leave the art school and go back to his hometown.
So when I met him,
I was just drinking at a bar and my other tattoo artist introduced me to him.
And then we were just drinking and talking.
And then like,
You know,
The song Hotel California came on at the bar.
He knew the words and so did I.
We bonded over that,
Especially in Puerto Rico.
Not many people like would bond over that song.
But then there was this one time I was asked to do a favor for the other tattoo artist,
Johnny.
And it would be like at seven in the morning after I get out of a shift.
And Enrique was just like,
Dude,
I'll go with you.
So we drove for three hours to San Juan.
And when I meant we,
He was the one that drove because I was sleep deprived.
And we,
You know,
We talked about our lives and we talked about just our upbringing.
And he was such a brilliant mind when it comes to just paints,
Paintings and artists.
And he wanted to be a professor of the history of art.
And he was someone that took me out of my shell and made me realize that I was an artist myself,
But in a different outlet.
So he was showing me that school where we were in San Juan,
What we were doing or stuff that we had to do over there.
And then we got back.
This was actually a New Year's Eve.
So we have to like stay up all night,
Too.
So we're both like pretty tired.
And we got back.
It was like at 6 p.
M.
We were falling asleep at a local Pizza Hut.
That's where you could like dine in.
But after that,
I got really close to him.
So then we became really best friends.
And this was like a year or two before he was just like,
Dude,
Let's move to Colorado.
Let's like let's leave this island.
Let's start like a life over there.
Like,
Let's just start from zero there.
And I was like,
Dude,
I am so down.
So we're actually saving money to go to Colorado.
And he this is why I don't know.
It's kind of like this.
We're survivors guilt.
But he was arrested for just carrying like not even a gram of weed in his pocket.
Like he was just buying that.
And he got arrested for that in Puerto Rico.
And he was in jail.
And because of that,
He had to be on parole for a few years.
So he wasn't able to leave.
And it was funny because he was the one that introduced me to the girl I was dating at the time too.
So like all these life events happened.
I moved to Colorado.
He stayed,
Of course,
Because of parole.
Then the hurricane happened.
And this was like three months after I moved to Colorado.
And when the hurricane happened,
I was just like,
Dude,
Like,
Please like move up here and call up to Colorado.
Like we said,
Like,
We can have that life that we talked about.
Like,
Dude,
It's beautiful here.
He's like,
Dude,
I wish,
But I can't.
And,
You know,
Sorry.
It hurts like it was yesterday.
Sorry.
He was still struggling with addiction.
I didn't know it.
And,
Unfortunately,
He overdosed.
He was just caught with a needle in his arm and just sleeping.
You know,
It was just,
You know,
In an odd way,
It shows how fragile life is.
Like,
Who knows,
Like I could just walk out and something like I get struck by lightning,
Even though it's not raining out there.
It just shows like how fragile life is and how,
Like I said,
Meaningless it is in a way where he was a beautiful human being.
He was someone that I consider your brother,
You know,
And there are dreams that I see crows flying.
And because for some reason he was just so close to that bird.
He loved crows so much.
And I write poems about it,
About crows because of him.
And,
You know,
I look out the window where I'm sitting in right now and there's always like crows on the trees.
And,
You know,
As much as I can't really say don't believe in anything because like with energy you can't create nor destroy it.
But I always felt like his energy is just those birds just making sure that I'm all right.
You know,
He always lived life to the fullest.
And I always joke about this.
You know,
He died doing what he loved.
Thanks,
Everyone,
For listening to this episode of the podcast.
I'd love to thank my guest Gian Carlos for being so open and vulnerable and telling this precious story.
I don't think it matters how long these people are in our lives,
But sometimes even the shortest friendships can have the most profound effects.
I wish that for each and every one of you,
That each of you has a dear friend that in some way changes your life.
I need to thank the creators of the music used for this episode.
For complete attribution,
Please see the Bite-Sized Blessings website at bite-sized-blessings.
Com.
On the website,
You'll find links to change makers,
Artists,
Books,
And other cool things.
I hope it will lighten and brighten your day.
Thank you for listening.
And here's my one request.
Support me on Patreon.
I'm just kidding.
But I'm not kidding.
Even at the lowest subscription level,
$3 a month,
If enough people subscribe,
It'll build up and help make the cost of this podcast a little more manageable.
Now,
Thank you for listening.
And here's my one request.
Be like Giancarlos.
Live in the mystery.
Live for those you love.
Believe in people.
Support them.
Lift them up,
Never knowing how that one comment,
That one interaction,
That one exchange with someone else might change their entire world.
