The Grandpa Channel: The Stories That Connect Us All

What if the thing shaping your life isn't something you're even aware of?

For more than twenty years, Slade Combs worked in advertising, helping companies understand what motivates people to act. Along the way, he became fascinated by something much deeper: the hidden fears that quietly influence the decisions we make every day.

Then his own life changed.

After developing a serious heart condition, Slade began questioning the success he'd spent years pursuing. What followed was a complete reimagining of his life, his work, and his understanding of purpose.

In this conversation with Rivers, Slade shares why our deepest fears often masquerade as certainty, how childhood experiences can shape the lens through which we see the world, and why he believes the greatest thing we've suffered can become our greatest gift.

Whether you agree with every idea or simply find yourself thinking differently afterward, this episode invites an honest question:

What if some of the things you've always been certain about deserve a second look?

Every story has two stories: the one you just heard and the one it stirs in your own life.

Download this episode's free Reflection Journal in the description and spend a few minutes exploring the questions this conversation might awaken in your own story.

To learn more about Slade and his work, click here.

Have you ever been completely convinced you knew exactly what was happening... only to discover you were looking at the wrong situation entirely?

In this solo episode of Grandpa Channel, Rivers shares one of his favorite family stories. It begins with two determined grandmothers, a keyless Toyota, a parking lot, and a locksmith. It ends with a timeless lesson about perspective, emotional reactions, and why our strongest feelings aren't always our clearest guide.

Drawing on insights from psychologist Kristin Neff's book Self-Compassion, Rivers reflects on what happens when our emotions become louder than our perspective, and why learning to pause may be one of life's greatest skills.

Sometimes the answer isn't finding a better key.

Sometimes it's realizing you're trying to unlock the wrong car.

My mom used to say that one of the great surprises of her life was that people are irrational. But as I've come to understand people, they start to become very rational.

That simple observation becomes the thread that runs through this entire conversation.

Steve sits down with marriage and family therapist Sharilyn Green to talk about the lessons life has taught them both, from raising children and navigating family struggles to learning how to listen with compassion instead of judgment.

Along the way they discuss:

One of the most moving moments comes when Steve shares a personal story about praying before a difficult lunch with one of his children, and how one simple question changed everything:

"What can I do for you?"

If you've ever wished you understood the people you love a little better, this conversation offers wisdom, hope, and practical ways to connect more deeply.

Reflection Journal

Every story has two stories.

The one you just heard... and the one it stirs in your own life.

If you'd like to spend a few minutes with that second story, we've created a Reflection Journal with prompts inspired by today's conversation. Reflection Journal here.

For more information about Sharilyn Green can be found here. 

Some stories begin with a dream.

Others begin with a leather jacket hanging in a department store.

When Robert Comstock walked away from a promising banking career to start a leather business in Uruguay, he had no business plan, no investors, and no guarantees. What he did have was the courage to take the next step before he knew exactly how it would all work out.

But this episode isn't really about entrepreneurship.

It's about the people who quietly change the course of our lives.

Robert shares stories of a father whose greatest gift was listening, a mentor who trusted a young entrepreneur with everything, the heartbreak of becoming a single father, and the lessons that only suffering can teach.

Throughout the conversation, one simple truth rises above the rest:

"Listening is the truest form of love. When you listen to someone, you validate their life."

If you've ever wondered how hardship can deepen compassion, how faith grows through uncertainty, or how ordinary people leave extraordinary fingerprints on our lives, this conversation is for you.

"Listening is the truest form of love. When you listen to someone, you validate their life."

"You've already been successful because you had the courage to go for it."

"I knew I was not better than anyone else, but I also knew I was not beneath anyone else."

Who are the people whose quiet belief changed the direction of your life?

Is there someone who listened to you so deeply that it changed how you saw yourself?

And whose life might be changed simply because you choose to truly listen today?

At Grandpa Channel, we believe we are more alike than different.

Through the mirror of someone else's story, we begin to see ourselves more clearly.

If this conversation encouraged you, consider sharing it with someone whose story has helped shape your own.

Sometimes life's greatest lessons arrive in the most unexpected ways.

For the Harris family, it started with a container of leftover walnut shrimp, one hungry brother, one determined sister, and a practical joke that quickly spiraled into a family legend.

But beneath the laughter is a lesson that reaches far beyond a refrigerator.

In this solo episode of Grandpa Channel, Rivers shares one of his family's favorite stories and reflects on why anger has a way of convincing us we've already found the truth. When we're angry, we stop looking. We stop listening. We become certain we're right, even when what we're searching for is only inches away.

It's a story about family, forgiveness, humility, and why some of life's greatest wisdom comes from ordinary moments around the dinner table.

If you've ever been convinced you were right only to discover you missed something important, this conversation is for you.

What is the meaning of life?

It's a question many of us ask when life doesn't unfold the way we expected.

For Karina Oshiro, that question became deeply personal when one of her parents went to prison while she was in her twenties. What could have defined her family as a tragedy ultimately became the beginning of healing, growth, and a completely different understanding of purpose.

In this conversation with Rivers, Karina shares why she now looks back on that season with gratitude, how difficult experiences changed the direction of her life, and why some of our greatest blessings arrive in forms we never would have chosen.

Together they explore what it means to build a meaningful life, trust the unexpected, and keep moving forward when the future looks nothing like the one you imagined.

One of Karina's lasting reminders is simple:

"Growth isn't linear. Do the things that scare you. It may not look like what you thought it was going to look like, but it's worth risking."

If you've ever wondered whether something painful could become the beginning of something meaningful, this conversation is for you.

The Night I Destroyed My Father's Station Wagon

When Steve Harris was a teenager, he borrowed the family station wagon for a summer evening with friends. What started as an ordinary night ended with a destroyed engine, a junked car, and a lesson he would carry for the rest of his life.

In this heartfelt Father's Day episode of Grandpa Channel, Rivers shares a story about his father, Lou Harris, whose response to a costly mistake revealed the power of patience, forgiveness, and quiet strength.

More than fifty years later, Steve still remembers that moonlit summer night. Not because of the car he ruined, but because of the grace his father showed when he had every reason to be angry.

This episode explores:

Sometimes the lessons that stay with us longest aren't the ones we're taught.

They're the ones we're shown.

Thirty-four years ago, my wife and I received surprising news: we were expecting triplets.

What followed was one of the most exhausting, joyful, overwhelming, and memorable seasons of our lives.

In this solo episode, I share stories from those early years of raising triplets, including sleepless nights, the legendary "car seat theater" survival strategy, and the countless people who helped our family along the way.

Looking back, what stands out most isn't the chaos. It's the kindness.

The friend who shared an idea.

The family member who stepped in to help.

The people who made a difficult season just a little easier.

Sometimes the most important life lessons aren't learned in dramatic moments. They're learned through the quiet generosity of ordinary people.

If you've ever been through a season that felt overwhelming, this episode is a reminder that we rarely make it through alone.

Grandpa Channel explores one question:

What did life teach you the hard way?

Each week, Rivers sits down with thoughtful guests - and occasionally shares personal stories - about the lessons that can only be learned through experience.

Because what a lifetime reveals can steady another.

#parenting #raisingtriplets #familylife #lifelessons #gratitude #community #grandpachannel #storytelling #parenthood #familystories

Finding purpose in life through an unexpected setback.

What do you do when life suddenly stops going according to plan?

For Mike Allen, a difficult season at work sparked a deeper conversation about purpose, self-worth, family, and what really matters. What initially felt like fear turned out to be something else entirely: a question of worthiness.

In this thoughtful and deeply personal conversation, Mike shares how uncertainty became an unexpected invitation to step back, reevaluate, and ask bigger questions about the life he was building.

Together, we explore what it means to find purpose in life when the future feels unclear, why life's setbacks often teach us the most important lessons, and how some of our deepest beliefs remain hidden until circumstances bring them to the surface.

If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, uncertain about your direction, or questioned your worth, this conversation offers a thoughtful reminder that clarity often arrives in unexpected ways.

Because sometimes what looks like fear on the surface is really a question of worthiness underneath.

Connect with Mike Allen:

https://hearebros.com/

Grandpa Channel

Jenny Richards is a Juilliard-trained pianist, mother of four, and hospital chaplain whose life took an unexpected turn toward spiritual care after profound personal loss.

In this conversation, Jenny reflects on what life taught her the hard way after losing her youngest sister to suicide, working with oncology patients, and learning that some of life’s deepest questions never fully resolve.

Together, Rivers and Jenny explore:

Jenny also shares her experience working with cancer patients, the lessons chaplaincy has taught her about human connection, and the quiet realization that perhaps meaning is not something we fully solve, but something we live inside together.

If you’ve ever wrestled with existential questions, grief, faith, purpose, or feeling overwhelmed by life, this conversation will likely stay with you.

Subscribe to The Grandpa Channel for more conversations about what life teaches us the hard way.