And... on occasion, I've been prone to embellish a bit... be the king of hyperbole... get caught up in the moment.
But then along comes a tale that if I hadn't seen it for myself... it might be hard to believe it.
This thing could have written itself even if I had never met the guy.... but it might be thrown in the fiction category by most of you.
Fortunately for me, I got my chance to prove it was indeed non-fiction a few weeks back.
After working with his family a few times in the past, I was aware of who he was... his back story... and the crazy awesome chapters he's authoring daily... and for those of you living under a rock in Central Iowa... I have someone you should get to know.
His name is Jerry Lowe.
Born in the African nation of Sierra Leone, Jerry was adopted by the Ron and Brenda Lowe family of Tama. I had previously photographed the Lowe's older sons, Dylan (South Tama County, '07) and Austin (STC, '13).
About the time we did Austin's session three years ago, I was hearing stories about this young man that the Lowe's had been blessed with.... how much he could eat... how much muscle and strength he was putting on... and how many high school defensive coordinators he was making lose sleep.
I had never actually SEEN the guy... but his reputation was clearly already being built.
One doesn't win the state fair deadlifting competition two years in a row as a high schooler taking on grown MEN without turning heads... And you can certainly put this photographer turned workout enthusiast in the category of dudes that were impressed.
Lifting 580 pounds plus on deads... 400+ on bench... rushing for over 1000 yards on a state playoff football team (even with an injury that cost him several games a year ago) and did I mention he lead the Trojans to a third place finish in soccer last year?
Dude's got skills. And I know I'm probably embarrassing him, but I mean this in every complimentary way possible when I say this....
He's a freak.
And the best part is? He's about as soft spoken as they come... polite... friendly... and you can tell he's thankful for everything he has been given.
Maybe that's why he works so hard in the weight room... as to not waste his God given gifts. It's a hard lesson to learn when you're in your 40s and you suddenly realize how much time you've wasted and how you wish you could go back and do things all over again... So it makes me extremely happy to see a young man doing everything he can to reach his potential.
And while he makes things look easy that ordinary folks like me drop their jaw over... I know those things aren't given... they are earned.... with dedication, hard work and a burning desire to be better tomorrow than you were the day before.
So, it's clear that there's a full on bromance going on here... and I was the first to admit to Ron and Brenda the day of Jerry's session that I wasn't sure that I wasn't the one having the most fun.
It's supposed to be the other way around.
But as it turned out... picking the brain of Jerry on lifting... football... his native Africa... the future. Make no mistake... I was getting an education... and loving every minute of it.
I kinda figured at some point we'd have to incorporate weight lifting into the equation. Perhaps it was his humble nature, but no dumbbells, no trophies, no mentions of going to the weight room were brought up.
That simply was not going to do.
Awards were fetched, weights were included and then my favorite part... the accepted invite.
I asked Jerry if he wouldn't mind going to my home away from home... The PowerBarn Gym near Ferguson for some images. For those of you unaware... think Anytime Fitness crossed with your grandpa's old barn... and that's where I go daily to get better.
Jerry would undoubtedly tell you it was his treat to make the trip to the fabled barn nestled in the country west of Ferguson, but reality was, the honor was all mine.
He promised he'd be back sometime to get in a REAL workout, and I'm looking forward to it. In the meantime, he's enjoying life as a king candidate during Homecoming week... being the featured back on the state's third ranked Class 2A football team (5-0 and rolling), and most importantly living a Godly life he's thankful for.
And you know what? I'm thankful I got a new friend out of the deal.
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