The Story Of A 

    Weird, Different, and Unique Fella 

With Big Dreams

By Joe Why Kelly 

 

Have you ever gone out with your friends and wondered why every time something crazy happens, it always happens to you?  You try to stay in the background.  You try to hide behind your friends.   But for some reason, your still the one that has to be right in the center when the crazy happens.  Well I’m right there with you.

It’s me.  And this is my story.

The Baby

I was born a long time ago.  Well not that long ago.  I’m not old.  But I am an adult.  Not all the time.  And definitely not a mature one.  But legally, I’m an adult.  I was born on Super Bowl Sunday between the 49ers and the Dolphins.  Joe Montana against Dan Marino.  The couple in the bed next to my mom said they were gonna name their son based on the winner.  Dan or Joe.  But my parent’s said they already had my name, Joe,  picked out.  The 49ers won so now I guess we’re both named Joe.  But I go by Joey.  And I have a nickname too, Joe Why.  Why?  I don’t know.  People just started calling me that one day, and I liked it.

 

The Kid

After I was a baby, I turned into a kid.  A quiet kid.  And a calm kid most of the time.  Not all the time.  But most of the time.  I wanted to be unpredictable.  Just when you thought I was calm.  Bam!  The crazy would come out.

I cracked my head open the first time slamming it against the window.  Those we’re my first stitches.  I wasn’t a big fan.  So naturally I go and dance like a ballerina behind my brother as he was swinging a golf club.  That was the second time I got stitches in my head.  There was a third time I got hit in the head.  Something about my brother hitting me with a glass bottle.  I think that might have happened before the other two incident’s.  But it turns out the more times you get hit in the head.  The less you remember I guess.  There was also a time I fell off the monkey bars at recess.  My mom always talks about this one because I never told anyone.  I just sat through the rest of the day of school with a bloody head.  By the time I went home my hair was all hard and sticky.  Yeah, I probably should have told the teacher.  It was pretty bad.

This is about the time I met my friend Ox.  As adults we were roommates for a while.  As kids we just liked to cause trouble.  It seems like every time I went over to his house i would accidentally break something.  The biggest thing of course would be his moms outside table.  I feel bad, but I can’t help but laugh.  And of course on the first day of kids camp we went and broke a window.  So naturally we had kitchen duty the rest of the week.  We would spend the night at each others houses all the time.  Of course I would sneak off and play “Pretty, Pretty Princess” with his sister, but that’s a different story.

My brother and I always liked to wrestle.  We didn’t fight a lot, we just wrestled for fun.  And even though I was older, it seemed like I was the one that got hurt most of the time.  Now I’m not talking about the small injuries.  Those just made us wrestle harder.  But the big injuries, the broken bones, those injuries brought the wrestling match to an end.  My brother always makes the joke that I’ve never broken a bone in my body…. He broke them all for me.  One match ended with him pushing me off a small cliff in our back yard and breaking my arm.  On accident of course.  And another time it ended with me breaking two of my fingers.  Oh, those were some good times.

As a kid, dogs were always attracted to me.  I would be walking in the center of a group of people and a dog would come by and it would always come to me first before it went to anyone else.  I didn’t like this.  I was scared of dogs.  I think that’s part of the reason they liked me.  They could sense it.  I guess they wanted to show me that there’s no reason to be scared.  I know that now.

And even though I didn’t like dogs.  Some of my parent’s friends were giving away puppies.  So my parent’s offered to give me one.  My sister had a cat.  My brother, I don’t even know what he had.  But my parent’s wanted to get me a little puppy.  So I said yes, and now I had a puppy.  And I loved him.  He wasn’t scary.  He was small and cute.  He just wanted to play.

Well a week later I wanted to show him off to my friends.  The one’s that lived around my neighborhood.  So they all came over and I came running into the house and stepped on the poor little puppy.  There is nothing worse than that original squeal an animal gives out when it’s been hurt.  I heard that under my foot and I felt so bad.  I broke his back.  That was one of the saddest day’s of my life.  My mom had to take him to the vet to put him to sleep.  There was nothing they could do to fix him.  That was the last time I had a dog.  That’s a traumatizing experience for a little kid to go through.

I promise this story is not a sad story at all.  It get’s better.  I didn’t learn how to be funny from that experience.  That’s just one of the many experiences I’ve gone through that made me who I am today.

One time a salesman came to our house to talk to my parent’s.  I was outside playing with my brother and sister and I had no idea there was a stranger in the house.  Well I had to go to the bathroom.  I ran in the house and yelled,” POOP!”  Because I had to go.  Imagine my surprise as I see a strange man sitting on the couch with my parent’s.

When I was in grade school I had an orange coat.  I wore this coat everywhere.  To school, to church, around the house, to bed.  I would sleep in that thing.  I loved it.  Well soon winter ended and I still wanted to wear it.  Then spring ended.  It was still super fashionable.  Summer didn’t stop me from wearing it either.  We went to the beach.  I remember wearing that orange jacket with no shirt underneath.  I thought I was cool.  It was 90 degrees out.  I was wearing a nice big winter coat shirtless  My belly was hanging out.  It’s probably a good thing I stopped doing that as an adult because as a kid it’s cute and funny.  As adult it’s the kind of thing that makes people think your a redneck.  I could be the inspiration for some great jokes.

Even as a kid I could make people laugh without even saying a word.  All I have to do is look at someone with my special look on my face.  I loved making people laugh.  This is where the dreams started.  I wanted to entertain anyone and everyone.  I was shy so I didn’t want to talk to them.  I just want to make them laugh in my own unique way.  And it worked every time.

The Teenager

In Jr. High, I met my friend Jacob.  Yes, it’s the same Jacob that you still see in my videos even to this day.  We had P.E. together.  And neither one of us are the best athletes.  I mean, I’m pretty good, but I’m not the best.  We just liked farting on the hard wood floor and making it echo throughout the gym.  The girls loved it.

During my sophomore year of High School, I started taking video production.  It was great.  I learned how to edit videos with two VCR’s.  I learned how to use the video camera, and line it up to make great shot’s.  But my favorite part was acting and being in front of the camera.  This just confirmed those dreams I had earlier as kid.  Only now I had it on tape.  So I had proof that I could be funny.

Now let’s talk about where I fit in with the crowd in High School.  The truth is, I didn’t fit in at all.  I wasn’t one of the popular kids.  I was in the background most of the time.  Sometimes people didn’t even notice I was there.  You might look at me now, putting myself out there on YouTube, looking confident in front of the camera.  But the truth is I’m not.  I wasn’t in High School and I’m not now.  I try to be.  I want to be.  But it’s not easy.  I was the quiet kid in class that never said a word.  Even now today when I get mixed in with a crowd, I blend into the background and barely talk.  I may crack a joke every once in a while.  And it’s always hilarious.  But most of the time I don’t say anything.  It does take a lot to put myself out there to the public every week in a new video.  Especially when i get very few views and negative comments.  But I’ve learned not to care what other people think.  I’ve just got to be me.  And that’s what I’m gonna do.

As a Senior in High School i got a job at Godfather’s Pizza.  This was my very first job and probably my favorite job.  I was a pizza delivery driver.  Kids loved me.  They would always run out and greet me because they we’re so excited.  Of course I would love a random person too if they brought me pizza.  Especially if I wasn’t the one paying.  But it wasn’t as fun when I delivered to older guy’s in their underwear.  That wasn’t cool.  Some of them would even pay with change and count out their money to the last cent.

But the best part about working there was the people.  I loved all my co-workers.  We would dance and sing in the back. Listening to the oldies.  I would accidentally eat their pizza.  They would yell at me.  It was great.  My boss would yell at some of them for dancing in the back, but would laugh when I did it.  He was probably the best boss I ever had.  He treated all of us workers so well.  We were all very sad when Godfather’s closed down.  But we wish him a happy retirement.

After work hours was when things got really good.  Some of us Godfathers friends were so close.  We would joke with each other at work and party after work.  One time we went out to a 24 hour miniature golf course and we we’re there for hours.  And that was after “Hooters” of course.  I mean “Denny’s.”  That night was so fun.  My parent’s we’re super worried I didn’t get home until 2:00 in the morning.  It was great.  We would also take trips to Seattle, or to the ocean, or to a movie, “Pirates Of The Caribbean.”  I miss those day’s.  And I miss those friends.  Sometimes I see posts from them on Facebook and click “Like,” but that’s about it. It’s probably time for a Godfather’s reunion.  We need to do it again.

The only one I still talk to on a regular basis, face to face, is Jacob.  Oh, by the way, Jacob worked at Godfather’s too.

The Adult

Now as adults me and Jacob can drive.  We really like to go on road trips.  Especially since Jacob has a sweet green 1972 Dodge Dart.  We took a road trip to see some of the other Godfather’s Pizza’s around Washington State.  Just to see if there version’s of Joey and Jacob lived up to the high standards we set.  They didn’t.  The Joey and Jacob and all the other workers in the Port Orchard Godfather’s Pizza are the best there’s ever been.

We’ve taken other road trips as well, Mount St. Helen’s we saw a little tiny eruption.  Some ash shot up out of that thing.  It was pretty cool to see.  And some small earthquakes.  We went to the ocean.  The cold, cold, Washington Pacific Ocean.  But it’s still worth it.  We went and saw the Seattle water treatment plant.  It’s really interesting how they clean the water for drinking.  Maybe someday we can go on a road trip with our lady friends.

My dating life has never been something to write about.  Mainly because it’s pretty much non-existent.  But that’s actually okay.  I’m not looking for a lot of short term relationships.  I’m not looking for one night stands.  I’m looking for the one woman out there that I will be with for the rest of my life.  And I can’t say I’m not looking forward to what happen’s next on our wedding night.

I have had a lot of crushes on girls in the past.  And I really liked a girl right after High School.  But she moved away.  And even though I thought she would eventually come back home.  She never did.  But God know’s where my future wife is.  And eventually, when the time is right, we will cross path’s.  That is what I’m waiting for.  And I don’t want to ruin that by being with the wrong girl, or someone else’s girl, because then I won’t be good enough for her when she does come along.  And I don’t want to risk hurting her.  Or even worse, losing her and missing out on the great gift from God.  And she is doing the same thing for me.

I even wrote a song about her.  https://www.reverbnation.com/joeykelly4/song/25206826-you-and-me

This is about the time my sister brought home a boyfriend, Ryan.  Eventually they would get engaged and become married, but when we first met I told him a lie that I would later…. not regret.  I still think it’s funny.  I told him that my sister, my brother, and I we’re not the only kids to my parent’s.  We had a younger brother named Johnston.   He had a falling out with my parent’s and he always fought with the rest of us kids.  So my parent’s decided to send him off to Canada when he was about ten and we haven’t seen him since.

Ryan believed me, but at the same time he didn’t believe me.  But then when he asked my mom about it and she confirmed it, he really believed me.  I guess I get my story telling from my mom who didn’t miss a beat.  We make fun of him to this day.  He believed every word of it.  Just to set the record straight, my parent’s never sent one of their kids to Canada to live by himself, at least not to my knowledge.

About four years ago I started having trouble with my esophagus.  It wouldn’t allow the food that I ate to go through my sphincter to my stomach.  So all the food would pile up in my esophagus.  It was really hard on me.  I lost a lot of weight.  I weighed only about 115 pound’s right before the surgery.  I didn’t have any energy.  I had to quit my job.  It was really painful.  This went on for two years.  I had an an endoscopy and they diagnosed me with severe achalasia.  And with insurance confusion I had to wait to get the surgery required to fix it.

Eventually I was able to schedule the surgery.  The first surgery they had to perform was to get all the food out of my esophagus.  While I was sleeping they removed the food through my mouth.  I’m glad I was sleeping because that would have been terrible.  Then I was on an all clear liquids diet until my next surgery.

They went in through my stomach through five incisions just big enough to get the arms of the robot into my stomach.  The Doctor controlled the robot with a computer.   They cut the sphincter at the bottom of my esophagus to allow food to pass through.  Then they took the top of the stomach and wrapped it around my esophagus to create a new valve.  This was to keep the food, or stomach juice from coming back up.  I am so thankful for this surgery.  My only regret is not being able to see that robot…. because I was sleeping.  That would have been awesome.

You can see the whole hospital experience here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfpZDLzPmGo

Now I can eat again without any problems.  I was on another liquid diet right after the surgery.  But not any more.  I can eat any time, any place.  And I’ve put on around 20 pounds since the surgery.

The Future

One of my hobbies as a teenager was making short stupid videos.  I had a cheap VHS-C camcorder.  And I edited all my videos with two VCR’s.  When I think about that now, it’s actually pretty impressive.  None of those videos made it Online.  But my friends and family enjoyed them.  And I had fun making them.  The most memorable one is a video where I played both characters and I just talked to myself.  It turned out really good for being edited with a couple of VCR’s.

This is not it.  But I created my first YouTube video with the same concept.  “A Conversation With Myself.”  Here is my first YouTube video.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdrzHZ2Drjw.  Yeah it’s low quality, just like most of my first videos.  But I was just a beginner.  And I’m still just a beginner.  But I keep improving as I go.  I’m still learning.

I started putting my videos online six years ago in my early twenties.  Since then I upgraded to a digital camera and computer based editing software.  I still have a lot of fun creating videos.  I’ve created over 100 videos since I started six years ago.  Some of them are funny.  Some of them are more serious but still entertaining.  Some of them are music videos.  And some of them you’ll probably ask yourself, “What the heck am I watching?”  I mean, I don’t want to call some of my own videos stupid.  Although that might be a word I’d use if they were someone else’s videos.  But I was just learning and they are getting better and better as I keep making more videos.  I have new ideas and learn to techniques every day.

My videos a geared towards people who might not fit in with the crowd.  Like me.  We are People that have big dreams that other people will never understand.  The “In Crowd” just doesn’t get that we don’t think the same way they do.  We like being different.  We like being weird.  They will say that we’re too random.  But so what!  It’s good to be different, and random, and weird, and we will never change.  And nothing can stop us from going after our dreams!  And we will be successful.

You can see all of my videos here.  https://www.youtube.com/user/4170joey/videos?shelf_id=19&view=0&sort=dd

So far I have not had any huge successes with my videos.  But I enjoy watching my videos and I enjoy making my videos.  So that is what’s important.  I’m going to keep making videos.  And I’m going to try my best to make them the best they can be, even if I don’t have a lot of viewers, or the best equipment.  I’m not going to quit.  I have a lot of ideas and scripts written for future videos so I’m excited about the future of my videos, and my business.  http://browhy.com

In my young adulthood, I started writing songs.  I took piano lessons as a kid.  I taught myself how to play the guitar.  And I’ve played on the worship team at church for many years.  But now I decided to write my own songs.  So I created a band, “BroWhy.”  Because I didn’t want it to be just about me.  I chose the name “BroWhy” to include my brothers.  Although they never really committed to it.  It’s basically just me.  I played all the instrumentals and I even sang some of the song’s myself.   Even though I really can’t sing.  And I don’t want to be a singer.  It’s not my passion.  I just like creating music.  I got my brother-in-law, Ryan, to sing a couple of my songs.  But he really wasn’t interested in singing for me on a regular basis.

So I haven’t found the singer I want for my music yet, but I still recorded a lot of my song’s.  And I tried to make them as good as possible without a lead singer, or even background singer’s.  But there is still a lot of improvement to be done.  So don’t count BroWhy out.  You can listen to some of BroWhy’s song’s here. https://www.facebook.com/thejoewhyshow/app/2405167945/ And eventually we will find that perfect singer that will bring all of our music together.

This is still the beginning though.  I’m still young.  There’s been some great stories in my past that I shared with you here in my first book.  But I know there’s still some spectacular stories in my future as well.  I can’t share what they are here in this book.  Mainly because I don’t know the future.  But I do that that I have big plans.  I have big dreams.  I have God’s favor over my life.  Not to mention, I have super cool scripts written for future movies.  Just to leave you with a little tease.

So keep your eyes open.  And watch out for what will come next on BroWhy.com. http://browhy.com

The End.

But still the beginning!

See you in the next part of my journey.

And just like Joey, your story is not over either.  No matter what has happened in the past, it doesn’t have to affect on your future.  You decide what happens to you from now on.  Follow your dreams.  The dreams that God put in your heart.  And share your success stories with me.  Leave a comment on one of my YouTube videos, or my blog, to let me and everyone know how you made your dreams come true!

About The Author: Joey Kelly

You want to know more about the author?……. This whole book is about the author.  What more do you want to know?  If there is anything more you’d like to learn about Joe Why Kelly, leave a comment on one of his YouTube videos.  Ask him a question.  Make a suggestion about future videos.  Let him know what you think of his videos.  Did this book help you?  Inspire you?  Make you laugh?  Let him know.

Did it make you angry?  Hopefully not.  But if it did.  You don’t have to leave a comment.  But for the rest of you., feel free to leave a comment any time.  Just kidding you can leave an angry comment too.  But not too angry.

Thanks for reading.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I hope Part Two can be even better.  And of course your story can get better too.

Copyright 2017 JoeyKelly, BroWhy.com