Transcription
The best thing I've ever done, the most important thing I ever done is melting everything. I don't even know how my life would have developed, you know.
Yeah. And uh I've had a good life and uh you know I've done everything I've wanted to do in my life, but the most important thing I've ever done without a doubt was the decision I made in 1977 to make Milton my son. And people say, "Well, he's not your biological son." No, I couldn't love anybody more that I love Milton. You know, he's my son. and uh he's added so much to my life and uh >> and he'll continue to add so much to my life.
You know, >> the part of the story that people find the craziest was probably my age and the lifestyle that maybe I was living at the time. Uh, there probably wasn't anybody wilder in Tampa than I was. We took Milton to the wrestling matches. It was Rocky Johnson against superstar Billy Graham. 2 3 days later, who walks into the gym, Rocky Johnson. They had their little boy with them, little Dwayne. Back then he was a pebble. Now he's a rock. And that's how the relationship was started.
>> Have you ever seen an arm like that in your life? >> Have you ever I got a baby arm? >> Yeah. Everybody who ever met Milton at the gym became like his best buddy. We started um working out. He started with just the 15 lb bar. Within the first year, he was bench pressing 135 lbs. If Yankee Stadium was the house that Ruth built, then the body shop gym was the gym that Milk built.
>> Milk is special cereal. Quarter cup of walnuts, quarter cup of pumpkin seeds. >> Cut up some dates. >> All this the food is supposed to be good for the brain. >> Uh let's see. Doing everything we can, you know. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> It's good.
Um, let's go back to the beginning of the story and it can be wherever you want to start the story. Um, you know, wherever you think. >> I was just kind of wild back then. And, uh, I was actually Magic Mike before Mike. So, at a club over in Clear Water they had opened up and u just living a good life. Meanwhile, there's a boy with Down syndrome for the last 7 years living on the other side of town, Milton, who was being neglected, somewhat abused, malnourished. So, I'm having a good time. And Milton's dealing with his life. And um so fast forward um I wound up meeting his sister and we went on a date and she told me about Milton. I took her actually I took her to see the original Rocky movie and the date I apparently went well. So she asked me would I like to go the following Saturday to go pick her brother up. It was his 15th birthday and I said, "Sure, why not?" You know, I was 23 years old and um we took him to Circus World. Milton had this way. When you meet Milton, you love Milton. It's he he's had that effect on everybody he's ever met in his life. And um but when I had picked him up, backtracking a little bit, I had picked him up at the foster home. And when I say it was a dump, it was a dump and no air conditioning. And this is in Tampa. Uh, sleeping on a mattress on the floor. And I knew, you know, spending the day with him, I would have to return him to that situation. So, >> was it a foster home? >> He was in a foster home. the parents had died when they were all young and they all kind of had to go their separate ways and they because they all were pretty young themselves and um I said let me check into finding him a better situation. So I knew of the children's home in Tampa. So that Monday, two days later, I went by there and um I asked to speak you with somebody, a counselor or somebody, and he told me I'd have to wait. And I waited and I waited and I waited. Nobody was helping me. So I said, "Screw it. He come live with me." And I mean, I don't know. You know, sometimes things I don't know why they happen. Who tells you? I came from a very loving, giving family. My parents, my grandparents were wonderful people. Anytime. My dad always said, "If you're in a position to help somebody and you're not going to hurt yourself doing it, why not do it?" I I figured I owned my own business. I was renting a four-bedroom house. I figured he'll come live with me. You know, he'll go to school during the day. the bus will drop him off at the gym and we'll start working out and um I'll start feeding him. Back in those days, being that I worked at the hottest nightclub in town, I never paid for food. There was a Wind Dixie almost right next door to the gym. The girl back in the deli would give us uh fried chicken dinners with macaroni and whatever else for 25 cents. I'd give her free passes to come into the club.
>> But I do love seeing the pictures of of Milton and he I mean, he looks incredible. >> Yeah, Milton was uh And the thing was we could eat back then I stayed probably I don't know about 180 pounds. We could eat a half a gallon of ice cream a day. We would for a time there we were eating come over to the gym. We'd eat a half a gallon of vanilla Bryers ice cream with the Edamints uh banana crunch cake. We just sit there and eat the whole thing, you know.
>> So you guys are working out hard. Yeah, I worked that hard. I mean, I was Yeah, I worked out real hard. >> What are you training today, Bruce? >> Bomb legs. >> What are you eating, Bruce? >> Myos. Either my eggs are over Dunkin Donuts. Either crispy cream or glazed donuts. >> We're going to look around your gym. Are you all right? What a setup you got here. >> Let's get it going, buddy.
The unusual thing was >> until that May of 1977 at 23 years old, I had never met anybody who had had has Down syndrome. Um whether it was uh maybe they were institutionalized to some degree back then or whatever, I just had never met met anybody. There was nobody in my schools. Most of the guys in my gym had never met anybody with down surgery before until they met Milton.
>> Hey, >> the people of the gym was like one big family, a dysfunctional family, but it was like a big family. You know, my gym had a reputation. We were a small hole in the wall of gyms, but they knew about us all over the country. Milton was at the forefront. He was a trailblazer in the inclusion revolution. And then once Milton, you know, started lifting weights. That's when I reached out to the special schools and said, "Send me some more." And I reached out to Jesuit High School and I said to their um community service program, "Hey, I need some help." and we started the Handicap Fitness Foundation and we started having them and we started training them and then a couple years later they started the the um weightlifting for Special Olympics. They never had it before. I mean Milton thrived. Milton was he was kind of the superstar, you know.
You want me to leave you there? >> You going to play the music and dance a little bit? >> Yeah. I just felt like the coolest like kid ever because it's like who else has this amazing like legend of a brother that's just sitting on the corner waiting for you to come home from school and walk me home? And um and then of course at the gym like he was always there and I was basically raised in the gym. I was you know my diapers changed on situp boards and um practicing tennis from the age of 3 or four years old on the back wall of of the building and like being a part of that from the day I was born like that's just in like it's just in me and who I am to this day as you know an almost 45year-old woman. But I it's just such an important like part of my life and it's what I I preach to the kids that I I coach and you know everyone that comes into my life is just I I tried to inspire them in the way that my my brother and my father have inspired me.
Jacqueline and Milton, they've been inseparable. Even like now, Jacqueline comes up here. It's about a 45 50 minute drive from Tampa. And she visits with us, you feel usually four times a week. Do >> you want to play air hockey? >> Ready? Go. Use your muscles. Hit it. Hit it. Hit it. >> No way. How did that happen? So, I'm the director of tennis at a prominent prep school in Tampa, Berkeley Prep. Um, but I also volunteer and run um it's called Tennis for Fun, and it's part of the Special Olympics. So, it's the tennis portion of Special Olympics, and we run uh clinics on Sundays. the athletes come out and they practice their skills, I want to push them and I want them to excel and I want them to be the best they can be on and off the court, right? Like it's not just about the sport. Um, I want them to see that making an impact on the world and helping others and how, you know, one action can really change somebody's life um is just so it's impactful, right? And I think some people don't realize how impactful it can be, but you know, I see now like what one decision um made by my dad at a young age, how that has just impacted my world and so many others that, you know, are fortunate enough to to know and to be a part of Melan's life.
>> This Monday night, Wrestlemania 5, one of the biggest matches ever. the world champion Sergeant Slaughter against this young man, Captain Ron Slinker. Can I see you for a minute, Ron Slinker? >> All right. You're a good man. >> So, Ron, tell me, I know you got a you got a big match coming up. I know you've been working hard. You've been training every day with Rocky Johnson and the allpro defensive lineman down there at University of Miami, Dwayne Johnson, who we all know about and respect so well. Uh, so tell me, Ron, I know you're ready. I know you're getting ready. Sergeant Solder, tough competitor. Do you think you can beat him? >> Yeah. >> Great. That's good words from you, Ron. One more question, please. >> I know. Captain Ron Milton. >> Oh, look at that.
>> So, I guess it was 1978. The Johnson's they had been uh Rocky had been wrestling in another territory and they had come back and they were going to be in Tampa for three or four months. So instead of taking a uh a hotel motel back then uh for 3 months, four months, I said just come stay at our house, you know. So Milton and Dwayne, they shared a bedroom. I gave Rocky and Ata uh my bedroom. I slept on the pullout couch in the um in the family room. Hey, the more the marrier, you know, back then it was but it was a lot of fun. and Rocky was always a character and Milton and Dwayne even though there was 10 years difference in age they had like a bond. I still remember um >> an instance when I wasn't there uh I was a metapart in the gym but then I found out about it that um one of the guys at the gym was saying like you know >> how can Bruce take care of this >> and Rocky overheard him and Rocky went to the guy and said don't ever use that word again he has a game stays Milton >> and uh >> yeah, I get emotional just thinking about it, but um Rocky always had Milton's back, you know, from day one. And uh it was a a real unconditional love between the two of them.
also somewhere in um whether the beginning or at the end of this the thing would I be able to have like a picture of my parents and dedicate it. So when I decided that Milton can come live with me, I was living with my brother at the time and I threw it at him and he says, "Sure, why not?" You know, and uh he had never met Milton. I had only met Milton one time. So, I called my parents and if you've been involved in sports, there's always like two kinds of coaches. There's the one coach who will yell at you and tell you you screw up and you suck. And then there's the other coach who's going to put his arm around you and go, "Bruce, you did a great job. You're you're a star. Keep going." You know? So, um I I talked to my parents. My mom gets on the phone. She's one kind of coach. She goes, "You can barely take care of yourself. How can you take care of a 15-year-old down syndrome?" And then my dad, the other coach, gets on the phone goes, "Bruce, you're smart. You accomplish anything you put your mind to. Um, you're not going to take on anything and fail at it. So I support you and you can always count on me. To my parents, Milton was a son and uh they loved him just like their biological sons and daughter and uh and uh my my paternal grandmother knew Milton well cuz she she lived into her 90s and uh everybody just loved Milton.
It is most treacherous of all for pedestrians right now. Sidewalks are blazed over most of the area. If you have a chance to hire someone or do it yourself, try to get that ice cleared.
>> Okay. So, Freddy Solomon wanted us to come up, you know, to spend the week for the Super Bowl. And I'm like, this is uh 1981. And I'm like, Fred, you got to concentrate on the game. We're not coming up there. It's cold. Um, we'll watch it on TV. You just have yourself a big game. That's all. And, um, about three hours before the game, uh, Freddy's calling the house. He's got to talk to Milton. Milt, how am I going to do? We're going to score a touchdown. We want to score two. Yep. Yep. 88. Two. Two. And then, uh, it reminded me of uh, Muhammad Ali and his training, Boudini Brown. And Freddy, you know, Freddy was Muhammad and uh and Milton was Boudini Brown. He was the yes man. But Freddy, it was like superstition, I guess. Good luck, you know. Milton was like Forest Gump, you know. And um and then uh yeah, the 49ers win the Super Bowl and uh then we had a big party for for Freddy when he came back to town. But he was very influential in in Milton's life and Milton loved him very very much.
>> Has Fred retired? >> Maybe. Maybe not. >> I see them all the time. I play with them all the time. >> Frank, can you still do it? >> Oh, night and day. >> You could do that. You run that option, huh? Come on. >> Give a kiss.
>> Milton was the most responsible person I knew. He could take care of the dogs. Uh, I had bought I got Jacqueline a horse. I actually got it for myself of a pony for Hanukkah 1984, I believe it was. And um, Milton took care of the pony, took care of the dogs, took care of the cat. And over the course of our lives, um, Milton and I, we've had 22 dogs, two cats, two pigeons, and a and a pony. And um and Milton was like the animal whisperer. But uh when Milton first came to me, he didn't know how to brush his teeth. He didn't know how to wipe his butt. I But you showed him it once or twice. He learned so fast. Nobody gave him credit for learning, you know, that that he was as smart as he that he he is. You know, like I said, I used to leave town when my daughter was playing tournaments throughout the country, throughout the world. I'd leave for a week and Milton knew how much to feed each dog, when to feed each dog, how much to feed the cat, how much to feed the horse. Even when I moved here, nine and a half years ago, one of the dogs we rescued was not good with other dogs. So, Milton slept out back. I had four 300 foot suites. So, Milton had his own man cave out there. So my dog Pinocchio, he uh Builder spent every night with Pinocchio out there. And Pinocchio probably in a 24-hour day, probably had somebody with him at least 20 hours a day, either Milton or myself. And Milton would take him out 6:30 in the morning, he'd poop, Milton would pick it up, dump it in the can, and be back into the house, you know, and uh ready to do whatever we have to do next. And uh to be honest, most most people are unable to handle responsibilities the way Milton was able to handle responsibilities.
>> Look at Mil's technique, Jacqueline. Mil's got that picking technique. >> I tell you, he was the most responsible person. I knew I could trust Milton more than I could trust anybody else.
>> So, where was that taken? He was in Tampa when he was I guess his mom was still alive and then I'm going to guess is he probably was about maybe four years old there maybe. Yeah. Mill. Who's this baby? >> That's you. Were you cute? >> Yeah. >> You sure? >> Yeah. Who was the cutest baby? You, Milton Hulk? I >> think you might have more photos than Dwayne.
>> So, a year ago during Hurricane Milton, the nerve of them to name a hurricane after Milton. Um, Milton was unable to walk. All of a sudden, he was unable to walk. So, I rushed him to Tampa General Hospital and Jacqueline uh text a Johnson and told the situation with Milton and she said um Dwayne would be reaching out to her. So, Dwayne reached out to her um 5 10 minutes later and he said whatever Milton needs Milton will get. And um so we were able to come home with peace of mind knowing that he was going to take care of everything, which I'll forever be grateful to him, his family, and um we were very very lucky that people love and care about Milton, and they want the best for Milton. And Milton will always just will get the best. No matter how I have to pull it off, he will always have the best because he always gave me his best and he gave everybody else his best. He deserves the best.
>> Hey, how are your dates? >> Got you some watermelon. >> Oh, yeah. >> You got water as well. I've been blessed that I've had some really good health care aids and I mean a couple of great healthcare aids and but you have to pay for that. Who saves you know nobody says well let me save a million dollars or half a million dollars for healthcare in the future.
>> You do it. You do it. I mean, I would say like life has definitely been more challenging and um different for the past yearish, a little maybe a little more um when we got the diagnosis of Milton having Down syndrome related dementia. Um but knowing my father and myself, I guess like we don't run from something that's hard, right? And I think that um you know not everybody sees the day in the day out right then and it's it's much more my father but um you know we'll never do anything different like there's not you know he deserves to be in his home. He deserves to be with his dogs. He deserves to be you know around the people that he you know loves and loves him and in his environment. You know, there's days that are harder than others. And you know, it really I I it's hard for me to put in words, but like for me, it's like that again like just shows like the kind of man my father is, right? Like there's not many 73year-old men now that are going to, you know, that really could do and take care of my brother in like the way that's needed. And I'm not, it's not just having him sit there. It's it's all everything throughout the day. And >> who's stronger, you or Dewey? >> Me. >> Oh, you're stronger than The Rock. Okay, I believe that.
>> Milton's nickname is Milton Hulk. You see, this was a mural that we had painted on his bedroom wall in Tampa. So, when we left the house after whatever is 35 years or uh 38 years, I took a picture of it and I blew it into a poster. Milton's weightlifting belt, Milton Hulk. But uh when Milton would sign his name, he signed Milton Hulk. But uh yeah, go going back in my life 48 years.
>> Would you change anything? >> I wouldn't change a thing. And um not it was the best and the most important decision I ever made in my life. Was I thinking probably real clearly back when I was 23 years old? Who knows? You know, but I knew I knew I could do it and I wouldn't change a thing. And like right now for the last year, I leave my house like 45 minutes a week. I run out to go to the bank and maybe while I'm there I'll run into Publix which is right next door and I'm back home and but I want to be here. I have healthc care aids but I'm also hands-on too. You know Milton is my heart. He's he's he's my heart and um I'll do whatever it takes for Milton to have the best care. you know, now that life has brought us here where he's I'm a grown adult and he's 63 and we've had our challenges in the past um you know year and a half or so. And um there's nothing that I wouldn't do for the both of them. And um I I think that that's like for me it's like part of my purpose. It's to to be there to to support them in any way I need to to comfort them to um just I mean they're both my heroes and like there's nothing I want to do for them. I'm so thankful my daughter that my daughter has the heart that she has too and uh Milton brings that out in you and the end.
>> That's good. >> Awesome. Let's go in here and see.
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