Reality Rally

(Pictured: Jeremiah Morey)

I am asked all the time “What do you make?” and my answer is always “What me make is a difference and an impact in the lives of many in so many ways.” Over the past 6 years Reality Rally has had far reaching ripples with the most amazing stories that demonstrates my point from all over the United States and even other countries that we have reached.  April 2016 once again had several ripple stories that became some of my highlights of the 6th Annual event that makes all the hard work worth every minute.

Here is one of those stories. We presented this story to the Temecula City Council on Tuesday to show how far and unexpectedly the ripples of Reality Rally haved reached, and to demonstrate the impact those ripples make.

Watch Jeremiah and share his sentiment

Jeremiah Morey from the TV show "Utopia" came up to me on Saturday night and showed me a photo of his Red Carpet outfit. I was blown away by his amazing tribute and the sentiment that came with him all the way from  Lansing, Michigan.

It seems I had dropped a stone into the pond of Reality Rally with a Facebook post honoring our fallen SSgt Louie Cardin from Temecula. That ripple reached Jeremiah, which he explains below.

“My name is Jeremiah Morey and I have been given this incredible opportunity to share a bit of my story and the amazing time that I had at Reality Rally.  So bear with me and hopefully you do not end up face first passed out in your bowl of soup.

"2014 I walked onto the set of Utopia and was there a fun but brief week as the show was cancelled.  

"From that brief experience I have been fortunate enough to participate in Reality Rally.  I just want to say thank you Gillian Larson and the Reality Rally outstanding supporting cast, incredible!   Words cannot describe the the absolute hands down best times of my life.  Just an awesome experience through and through.  In the spirit of such I had a shirt made for my fallen brother Ssgt Cardin that I wanted to wear to the red carpet event at the winery.   I am not a fancy or well dressed man so when I had read the article Gillian posted and that Temecula was his home town I knew what I needed to do.  I had a very talented friend put it together for me and was humbled to wear it.

“I just hope the video of me ballin like a big fat bald baby doesn't go viral! I'm sorry I never was able to meet him but as his brother I knew him and appreciate his gift. Semper Fi. Marines never die...we live on forever in the legend of our Corps!”

Here you can view the video which Jeremiah was referencing. If anything is touching, this is it!

Jeremiah eagerly awaits next year but I want readers need to know…where did this very caring and thoughtful young man come from?

Jeremiah describes himself as: “Born the eldest son of a humble, God fearing blue collar middle class family.  Mom is a nurse of 40 years and is now retired but taking full time in home care of my 96 year old grandma.  So, she's not really retired and has been doing so for the better part of a decade.  She is also a breast cancer survivor, so this event has a personal and special meaning to me.  Dad is a retired power plant operator from the State of Michigan and did so for almost 40 years also.  I have a younger sister who is happily married and a mother of three young boys.

“The best way to describe how I fit into my family is this,  when my apple fell from the tree, there just happened to be a tornado and I got shot out into left field.  Over the wall!  Three months after turning 17, I signed the dotted line and joined the United States  Marine Corps.

“I come from a long line of great American patriots dating back to my great grandfather who was in the Navy in WW1, my grandfather who survived Pearl Harbor and served in the Navy as a gunner on several battleships 39-45, a great uncle that was a Marine in WW2 and survived the Bataan death march, my father is a Vietnam era Air Force veteran, and an uncle that spent eight years on a sub.  It's in my blood, God, Country, Corps!

“In serving my nation honorably I was involved in a helicopter crash during training at the Barry M. Goldwater range in Arizona.  The rear rotor exploded in the ch-46 we were in and sent shrapnel and flames throughout the whole bird.  We came down through a set of little mountains and from what the witnesses said it look like we were going to pancake on our side.  I remember looking out the window and seeing the ground and praying for God to keep me safe and that I would never see my family again.  I looked at the door gunner and crew chief they told us to unbuckle and by the time I looked at my lap I couldn't even see it.  The door guys had their heads out each side radioing info to the pilots as they could not see either.  By the Grace of God and some outstanding Marines we hit a** first and slid into home.  The best part?  I never pooped my pants, I promise that’s the truth!  From that incident, I now suffer with the severely arthritic spine of a 80-90 year old man.

“In 2008 November I started a small plumbing company in Lansing, Michigan.  Since then the company has become debt free and the number one highest rated plumber on Angie's list for the greater Lansing area.  We fluctuate between 3-5 full time employees and have been absolutely blessed.

“In 2011 I married my beautiful wife Robin.  We went to city hall to get married and just so happened there was a bomb threat that day at city hall.  Was this God trying to tell me something…? Just happened to be a judge and his staff waiting out the threat at the same coffee shop so we did the deed right there with our mochas.”

Jeremiah, you were one of the highlights of my 2016 Reality Rally event. This is why we do what we do.Temecula and I thank you!

- Gillian