Hosts’ intro and Bob’s journey begins

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi, I'm Shelly Mauer. And I'm Cher Emrik. Welcome to Life Lessons from Pickleball. Where we engage with pickleball players from around the world about life on and off the court. Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

Welcome everyone to Life Lessons from Pickleball. As those of you who are watching on YouTube may notice, Shelley has an interesting thing around her neck. Tell us about that, Shell.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Yeah, this is a neck brace, but I did not get this playing pickleball. This was from a hiking injury incident I had in Switzerland. But all's going well, and I'll have it off soon and be back on the court.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Yay! And we're so glad you're alive to tell the story. And we are glad to have alive and well with us Bob Gress. Bob, we're really delighted that you're our guest today. You've always been a man of action. Your life has been filled with physical work and sports.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

From building cabinets in the aircraft industry to managing production at a toaster factory, you spent your entire career on your feet, using your hands to create, fix, and lead.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

And then in 2015, Parkinson's arrived and rewrote your script. My dad had Parkinson's, so your story is near and dear to my heart. So let's dive right in to when did you first notice that something was amiss?

SPEAKER_04 1:25

Well, let's let's uh kind of go back a little bit to just before 2006, where I was working in the aircraft industry. And being a cabinet builder, you're always using saws and you're always using routers and building jigs. And I was in charge of uh building tables, and so my work began to wane just a little bit, and so I went to my boss and I told him, I said, I'm just not quite feeling right. So we talked it over and everything, and uh he agreed that my my work had waned quite a bit, and so we come to the conclusion that probably would be a good time for me to retire or take disability at that time. So I did, and it went right through uh as only I believe that uh God made happen. And in uh 2007, I did get full disability, but I was having tremors, and my neck was going bad uh at six foot six and playing

Early symptoms, disability, and long path to diagnosis

SPEAKER_04 2:40

sports all my life, as I have. I have put my body through a lot, all right, and building airplanes at six foot six, prior to building the cabinets and then installing them in their planes. I was always crawling around in airplanes, especially corporate airplanes, and uh it just uh it it paid a good toll on my body, as you mentioned, all right. And so finally, uh about 2015, it really reared its head strong. I had just gotten married to my lovely wife in in 2007, and I was a deacon at our at our church and uh spent good time uh as in the deaconship as far as being a servant for the Lord. Having to meet people and all that just kind of it all reared its head, my mother passed away. Uh, and then in 2015, that is when that actually reared its head hard and took me down pretty hard, pretty fast too.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

So in 2006, is that when you were diagnosed with Parkinson's? Or when did you actually figure out that's what's causing the issues?

SPEAKER_04 4:00

When when I took disability in 2006, I was having the tremors then.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

Did you know it was Parkinson's?

SPEAKER_04 4:07

I did not. They just wanted to call them essential tremors.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 4:11

Okay, and so I went a good period between 2006 and 2015, feeling very bad, all right, and uh wondering, you know, uh what's going on. I went through like two or three different uh neurologists. Finally, I did get one that said, Bob, let's let's do some different testing on you. One was a neuropathy test, yeah. And then upon that neuropathy test, where I was having neuropathy all through my body, including my arms and my legs and through my face. I was beginning to get a droop. I don't know if uh your family member had that droop, but I I had a droop on one side, and he said, you know, these things are not normal. And that neuropathy test confirmed that he needed to do some further studies and then put me on a medicine. And uh that was when I started in 2015 going to Parkinson therapy and uh taking carbodopa levadopa and the things that you hear that the Parkinson's patients do take. But I was actually, ladies, I was actually I had one hand that was turned back and I was dragging my right leg. And they knew right then, because of that, of course, you know my gait was bad. And that was when, you know, things were pretty evident that I was coming down with Parkinson's, and I immediately went into Parkinson therapy and speech therapy and that kind of things. My voice got very low. I barely could speak. Scared my wife half to death, as you imagine.

SPEAKER_02 6:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:04

So I'll kind of stop there and let you have any questions, uh, because that that's kind of the beginning of it. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

How were you feeling emotionally at that time?

SPEAKER_04 6:16

Uh yeah, I was a wreck, to be honest with you. And my wife, she was very concerned. I was doing very little eating. Um at six foot six. Uh, I weigh 210 now. When we met in 2007, I weighed 220, but I got cleared down to 170 pounds. Oh my. And so, yeah, uh Parkinson was doing a number on everything. My psyche, everything

2015 turning point and therapies

SPEAKER_04 6:45

about me was going downhill. My cognitive ability was very bad. I didn't really want to talk a whole lot. And if you ever spoke to my wife, she knew me as somebody that was shy when we met, but yet could carry on a good conversation. We've known one another for 40, almost 47 years. Oh my goodness. Wow. Oh we we worked together. I was her supervisor at Toastmaster, another company where uh we built toasters together, and uh she worked on the line and pestered me to death, kept my face all red. And so, yeah. And that's her back there, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

I think that's Jeanette right back there.

SPEAKER_04 7:31

Yeah, she's she's getting upset, she's waving at you. She's being a little shy today. This she didn't sleep very well, she she didn't feel like she was good or be good on camera. She's been she's had uh two nights of of sleeplessness.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

So well, we'll be sending her lots of good positive energy. But speaking of Jeanette, we understand that she had a famous recliner speech to you. So can you tell us what was that recliner speech?

SPEAKER_04 8:00

Yeah, she's a gym rat, to be honest, and so she was coming back from the gym one day and being depressed. Uh, the depression and the anxiety and things that goes along with the Parkinson's had got the best of me. And I was sitting in my chair, and I was in Parkinson therapy, but I would just come home from Parkinson therapy and mole out in my chair, and she would say, you know, um, I don't like this, Bob, you know, and uh she said, I don't want to come home and find you deceased in your chair. And so, yeah, uh, that's even with Parkinson therapy, you know, if a person doesn't realize exactly you can't just go through Parkinson therapy, you have to move. Yeah, and a Parkinson, a neurologist, I should say, will tell you you gotta be active. And uh she made me realize that. She gave me that tough love, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

And is that what sparked your interest in pickleball? Or how how what then happened when you said, Oh, I don't want to die in this recliner either. So what what happened?

SPEAKER_04 9:17

Well, that tough love, and coming from her, she has a very loud voice. It got my attention. It did, it really did, and I love her dearly. And we had a conversation, and she said,

Emotional toll, weight loss, and marriage support

SPEAKER_04 9:30

Look, I don't care if you just walk. All right, you need to get to the gym, you need to do more activity. I need you to walk. Well, I started at the Y, and the track at our Y, it's up above, and the gymnasium is down below. And we had we had three courts where they put up portable nets, but they put the put the lines on the courts for pickleball. And so, wow, several days they were playing pickleball when I was walking, and I just I don't know, I made a statement and I asked my wife first, I said, What do you think? You think I could do that? And she said, I don't know, you just have to try. Because I would try to go down and shoot baskets and different things like that, you know, loving basketball, loving tennis and baseball, all growing up and such. And so I went down and I asked a young lady, her name is Sandy, and I said, Sandy, is this something that I can do? And she said, I don't see why not. She said, uh, there's a gentleman that's playing on the uh senior circuit. His name is Andy Leighton. Nice. And uh he's well known for playing pickleball. He's uh played with Ben Johns, and and so you know, he's who's who of the Parkinson world that I got to know, and it was very inspiring. And so from that moment on, Sandy taught me the game. She said, You're gonna have a hard time, Bob. You're you're not moving very well, so uh you need to do some work. And so I got into taking lessons with her, but I also would come to any session that they had down there with all of my pickleball buddies that I call my pickleball buddies now. And I learned from not just uh the young, I learned from the elder as well. And I'm telling you, there are some amazing folks that get out there and can do very well. And I I learned from them and they watched me grow. And I fell a lot, knocked over them portable nets plenty. Yeah, but Sandy would tell you that I still even today have a problem with keeping score, but I don't as often. Maybe that's just part of the in the heat of the play. But I, as a basketball player, learned to roll, and I think that impressed people quite a bit because you know you don't see six foot six hit the ground and roll very much, they just hit the ground. So I'm not bragging. That's just I learned that from basketball and playing uh softball and baseball and tennis. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

Bob, I'm just astounded as I'm looking at you. You look nothing like the person you're describing in 2015.

SPEAKER_04 12:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

And you're saying that this is all because of pickleball?

SPEAKER_04 12:44

Yes, ma'am.

The “recliner speech” and decision to move

SPEAKER_04 12:46

You're exactly right. Yeah, I I I I coined a phrase and you can look it up. No one else uses it. Okay. I since had my lovely wife because I believe in the order that the Lord says we should give credit to. And I coined this phrase, thank God my wife and pickable. So yeah. And but I first started it as thank God and pickleball. All right, but I've since added my wife in there because if it weren't for her telling me to get out of that chair, yeah, yeah, I might not be talking to you today.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

Yeah, I I believe that, Bob. It's very moving, actually. Yeah. And two things. One is I want you to know that none of us can keep score. We're always asking, what's the score? Did I do did I just serve or did you just serve? I mean, we really that is the hardest part. So please don't consider that a Parkinson's thing. It isn't. It's a real thing. But the other thing is, I am super impressed that you continue to play even though you would fall down periodically. There are many who would say it's too embarrassing. I can't let myself be that vulnerable in public. And the fact that you just persevered, I know this is going to be so inspiring to many people. And maybe Parkinson's is what they are on the journey of Parkinson's or on their on the journey of some other issues on the court.

SPEAKER_03 14:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

But your willingness to stay with it, and not only have you stayed with it, what level of play have you reached, Bob?

SPEAKER_04 14:34

At at this time, I would probably call myself uh a strong intermediate player between uh 3-5 and 4-0.

SPEAKER_02 14:46

Unholding.

SPEAKER_04 14:47

Mainly, mainly because of, you know, I I just recently have have had an ablation for from a heart. So say what that is.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

What's that mean?

SPEAKER_04 15:01

Okay, I had a fifth, and so an ablation, it's a burning procedure that they go in to a certain part of your heart and they burn where the signal that comes from your brain uh goes to your heart and makes your heart skip irregular or makes it skip really, really fast, or beat really, really fast. I had that ablation done back in April of this year of 2025. Praise the Lord. I'm I'm back on a court.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

So I'm still just in awe that the person that you described that you were in 2006 is playing between a 3.5 and 4 level, because that's not easy. And I would want to be one of the other three people on the court that was

Discovering pickleball at the Y

SPEAKER_00 15:50

encouraging you and helping you. I want to do that for people, or if I'm in that situation. So can you share with us so we can all be good partners to people that maybe have Parkinson's or like we talked, just any reason? Because we never know why people are there on the court, right? And how we can help them. How, what did people do that really stuck out to you, that made you feel comfortable, that encouraged you, that helped you move forward?

SPEAKER_04 16:15

Well, I've played with some players that have had rods put in because of pickleball. I've had people that have had fusions in their neck. I've had two of them, also one in my back, not with rods, but I have a plate in my neck. So I understand about someone that's out there playing with injury that wants to move. And so if I was to encourage somebody, say with Parkinson's, okay, first of all, they must put in the work. If you don't put in the work, you're gonna injure yourself.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:54

And whether it be taking lessons, whether it be training, whether it be really, really good therapy, things like that, put in the work first, because if you don't, I guarantee you you'll get hurt.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

Right.

SPEAKER_04 17:09

And I've managed, now don't misunderstand me, I go home very stiff, very sore, and I'll spend maybe the better part of two or three days trying to get over that. And if I didn't do my footwork, if I didn't go and stretch, if I if I didn't even do that in my house, then I get very stiff. So put in the work. That's that's probably the biggest inspirational thing I think that I could tell anyone that has a cognitive issue. Everybody understands that a cognitive issue is something that is it keeps you from doing things at your best level. Like we, you know, we're not gonna be at at our best level like we was when we was 20 or 30.

SPEAKER_03 18:00

Right.

SPEAKER_04 18:00

But at I've heard of people getting Parkinson's when they're 40 years old.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:06

So uh something that is a is a saying that I like to use, and it might be out there. I don't, I'm not positive, but I I always say sickness knows no respecter of age.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Yeah, very true.

SPEAKER_04 18:22

Okay, and and that that's not a a coin phrase by me. I've heard that before said, all right, but it's something I adhere to because who wants to get hurt and not be able to enjoy something with your wife, your kids, your buddies on the pickleball court. Yeah, you know, my wife and I, we go every Friday night and we have date night. That's our thing. All right. So at 67, I have to say, I have to say I'm 67 years young. All right. I I mean, uh, and I and hopefully

Learning, falling, community, and progress

SPEAKER_04 19:00

someday, you know, uh, if someone uh either sees this video or or uh they hear this on a podcast, they'll say, you know what, maybe I need to go get me a gym membership. There you go. Or maybe I need to just go walk in the good sunlight and and uh listen to the birds and and what have you, and look at all the flowers around town or what have you. Next thing you know, they probably walked two or three miles and didn't think they could do it. I guarantee you they didn't think that when they sat in the chair because I didn't.

SPEAKER_02 19:39

And now they have Jeanette's voice to remind them get out of the recliner.

SPEAKER_04 19:44

Yeah, I don't want to find you there, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

Did you need any accommodations made for you um by the clubs or by your partners, pickleball partners?

SPEAKER_04 19:57

There's an elevator in our Y. All right, at first. I did use that.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 20:04

But I found that the stairs was good therapy for me, and then I'll do some walking around the the track and and what have you.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

And then when you actually were playing on the court, there weren't any accommodations made. You just played regular.

SPEAKER_04 20:20

You know, Sandy advised me, look, Bob, you're not going to be good at first, and I need to teach you. And so the accommodations, ladies, was this. She said, Bob, you need to play down. They're very nice and they know how to play nice. And they did. And uh they, you know, that that's why they became my buddies. That's why they became and still are great friends. So they wanted to teach me, which they did, and they wanted me to feel comfortable on the court. And also I had that little bit of issue with remembering the score. All right. I'm a whole lot better at it now, as you said. Everybody forgets a score, especially when you're, you know, when you're in a heated hand battle across the net, right? So with that said, here's what I asked my partner to do. I said, is it okay if I ask you what the score is? Perfect. And they said, certainly. Perfect. Anytime. And and I'll be glad to help you. And I was always thankful, you know, I've always been thankful that I've had them kind of people that I can play with. Not everybody is the best person uh to play with. We've all found that, right? All right, but you know what? Most of them not everybody is the worst.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Yeah, there you go.

SPEAKER_04 21:47

Either. Okay, so you have to make them accommodations and and just love everybody. That's that's kind of my motto, is just to love everybody.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Well, that's a life lesson for you. So, first, I just want to say there are nearly a million people living with Parkinson. So, already you are an inspiration for those who are just diagnosed and feel like this is the end of my life, and they are seeing you after all these years, and you're on the court, and you're playing it

“Thank God, my wife, and pickleball”

SPEAKER_02 22:20

better than I play. And I've been playing for two years, so come on. And then you're just inspiring with your your whole heart and your and your partnership with Jeanette. So, thank you for that. Now I want to ask you in this incredible life journey you've had and you're playing on the court, what life lessons have you gleaned? Either life lessons that you bring from your life that you find yourself using on the court, or lessons while you were playing on the court, and you thought, whoa, I just learned something really important here. I'm gonna be sure to incorporate that in my life. Can you share a life lesson or two that you've learned?

SPEAKER_04 22:58

Certainly. I think the biggest thing, ladies, that I've took away from this was it helped me be a better servant for God. All right. And loving Jesus as I do. Why, when you're a servant for the people, you're not a grumpy person, if I might say, because I am scripturally based out of the out of the Holy Bible. The Lord tells me I need to be a cheerful greeter. So being a cheerful greeter not only done that for me in the church, but it also done that for me on the court. When you're greeted from people on the court and they're like, wow, Bob, glad to see you today. Hey, I'm happy that you're here. That just, man, there's there is nothing, nothing more inspiring than than that. That's the that's the greatest thing from the human nature that we have that we can inspire other folks because of a good example. And there they did. They showed me a great example, and I've tried to carry that forward. I love to show kids how to play. And sometimes they just want to get out there and hit the ball back and forth, and even without a net, you know. But look, I I'm just glad that they're down there doing it, you know. And then they eventually figure out, look, you know, I need to learn how to hit this thing over the net, you know, and then they do that, and uh then they begin to learn what it is to stand behind the baseline and hit the ball over to the other side of the angle on the court. And and you know, you you see that you see that in their faces, you know. And so them are they're uh they're life lessons that that you learn. Okay, Bob, be be kind and be nice. And so Sandy the other day came and she, I know she's gonna hear this, but Sandy her hollered down on the uh

Playing level, heart ablation, and comeback

SPEAKER_04 25:00

what we were playing the other day, and and she says, one of the other gentlemen, she said, Y'all be nice because I'm sending some ladies down there to play with you. Uh she said, I know Bob will be nice, but you be nice too. But we had a big laugh about that, okay? It was just a big laugh, you know. And um, it was funny. But that's true. You gotta be nice because that's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

That is so sweet. And be a cheerful greeter. I love that. I love that. So, how can people find you, Bob?

SPEAKER_04 25:30

Google Bob Grass Pickleball. You're probably gonna get plenty of information. I have a LinkedIn account where I talk to a gentleman quite frankly frequently overseas in Chile, and you can find me on Facebook. Uh you know, Bob Bob Grass Pickleball pretty much gets any kind of information, either Google or even Facebook.

SPEAKER_02 25:53

Fantastic. And I know caregivers of those with Parkinson's or partners with those with Parkinson's have I know have gotten a lot out of what you've just shared too, because it's a it's definitely a partnership when one has a struggle and the other one is supporting. Both are putting in a lot and bless you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. So lovely to have you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 26:18

I appreciate it so much for you ladies giving me time. I appreciate that you felt that I was someone worthy at all, even to you know, take up your time. But to anyone out there, inspiration is something that has been dear and deeply on my heart. The middle part of the United States doesn't have as much of pickleball in it. All right. We have a lot on the east and west coast. Uh, you know, in the Carolinas, in Florida, up in New York, and we also have a lot out on the west coast, all up and down in Oregon, clear all the way down through California. So, you know, I just want to I want to reach out and say, let's get something going in the Midwest. Missouri has a lot of Parkinson's in it. A lot.

SPEAKER_02 27:17

That is a wonderful message, Bob. We will put that out to the universe, put it out to the broadcasters, and let's get pickleball into the middle of our country because it is an amazing game. And you're an amazing guy. Thank you. Thank you so much, Bob.

SPEAKER_04 27:35

Thank you. We have a lot of pickleball, we just don't have the understanding of Parkinson's and pickleball. Parkinson's and pickleball.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Wow, yes, such a font of information for us. Thank you. And thank you all. Oh my gosh, thank you for tuning in and share this episode with anyone you know who has Parkinson's, knows someone who has Parkinson's, fears

How partners can help and safe adaptation

SPEAKER_02 28:00

they might have Parkinson's, because this is the inspiration that everyone is gonna need. Bob is amazing, and we're so lucky to have had him. Thank you all, and we look forward to a new conversation next week. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Bye-bye. If you love our podcast, we'd be so grateful if you'd take a few seconds to follow or subscribe to Life Lessons from Pickleball. This ensures you'll never miss an episode and helps us continue these wonderful conversations.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, go to the show page and tap the follow button in the top right corner. And on YouTube, click the subscribe button under any of the episodes. Thanks so much. Hope to see you on the court.