Connie

She was a waif of a child when she arrived in the states from Spain. Living in Brooklyn for most of her younger years, the new language came easily and there was never a shred of Spanish as the years grew. Her Father was a craftsman and earned a living for his family by working with his hands. I have heard many time of his talents and industry but her Mother was well known and appreciated by those that knew her; Baba was the example of the work ethic that made the early immigants well known. She never shirked a job others never noticed. I didn't know her well but well enough to appreciate her willingness, no, her desire to help, wherever it was needed. Connie grew with those habits ingrained and in many way she was like her Mother. Lets say she was a modern Baba who fit into any place she desired to be. Connie and Marty were married at a pretty early age and like Connie, Marty was just as motivated and industrious as was most children of the earlier nationalities that came to this country in the early 20's. He was a small child that arrived from Scotland. How two, as apparently dissimilar, as were those two, got together is mystery I am not privy to, But get together they did, added three to their family and went about with Marty spending over 40 years with General Mills, changing over to Hunt industries long enough to acquire a pension to go along with one from his first job.

But this tribute is for Connie and I long ago wrote of Marty at the time of his death. Connie passed away today after defying the Doctors who had predicted she would pass away soon after she took a fall and spent almost 4 weeks of hanging in there with a heart and lungs that wouldn't give up. I first got to know Connie when my wife was to take my two girls and and a 6 month old Christopher to Utah to place the girls in school. Connie, in her positive way, refused to allow Louise to drive there unaccompanied with no one to care for Chris. Who is this person I remember asking myself? I found she and Louise had become friends after an all girls luncheon, with Connie coming to visit regularly so as to make Louise, a Mormon girl, make coffee during her visits. That trip took on even greater importance when they were snowed on September 9, in Rawlins Wy. and it took 3 days there before the plows could open the road. As time progressed and Connie became one my closest friends. I was so grateful to this 60 inch dynamo for staying with Louise and caring for Chris' dirty diapers and all else. This is a great example of Connie's unselfishness and dedication to a necessary job. This, more than anything else exemplyfies who she was - a strong personality who wouldn't back away from where she saw work. We became very close to Marty and Connie. Marty passed away about 17 years ago. Connie passed away this morning almost blind from Macular Degeneration but still indomintable but yearning to join her beloved Marty. I have spoken to her many times through these years and we always ended with the words "I love you" and I did. She will always be one of the great spirits that has touched me for good and I am a better person for having known Connie-- my friend.

Warmer Than a Handshake

It was a blustery winter day in February that I set out to make what was to become a yearly event to upper northeast New York State. My boss, Lloyd, was with me and this was my first buying trip to the glove center of the country. While there were many women's gloves imported from Italy, men's gloves were still primarily made in the Twin Cities of Johnstown and Gloversville and Lloyd was showing me how it was done. It was always a pleasant event going from this manufacturer to another over the course of the day. We were to spend 2 full days there viewing the various gloves made by the several businesses. Most of the companies welcomed the opportunity to let us take several samples back to our hotel room where we would spend two full nights poring over the way gloves were made and which ones would fit our buying budget. While it was somewhat laborious, it was my first trip and I found it very interesting, We would spend the two nights writing the styles down and then as another sample showed more promise, cross off the first and in this way gradually reduce maybe 50 samples to the 6 or 8 we would actually plan to purchase. I learned which were pigskin and which were cape -skin (Lamb) and the various grades and appearance of each; which were hand sewn as compared to machine sewn and other interesting facts about gloves. Ultimately we would arrive at a given number of which to buy and which to eliminate from our buying plan. I would make this trip and go through a similar process for several years following this first trip. I was the buyer of menswear in a department store for seven years before the store would close and I was to be employed by another retail department store in another city. But that is story to be told at another time.

The gloves purchased would begin arriving at my store in September and we would begin advertising them as the weeks passed by. As the buyer, I would supply the advertising department with necessary 'copy' so they could smooth it out for the buying public. One time I wrote my copy and used as a headline "warmer than a handshake". It was used in that manner in the paper and some years later, long after I had left the retail field, I saw that line used by another department store trying to sell gloves. That made me feel good that some one else felt it was an appropriate line to be used in advertising gloves. Small achievements are food for memories. I enjoyed those trips very much and although I worked far into the night making my decisions they were memories I had long ago forgotten until I happened to pull an old pair of gloves from a rarely used drawer. Thus are memories rekindled and brought back to mind and although it has been many years since that first trip, it was a small voyage into new learnings that even today, with this writing I have remembered a peccary pigskin from a sueded capeskin. Not only are my hands warmed by this look at the past but so is my heart and mind as well.

My Quest

It is quite well known amongst my close friends and family that I am a diabetic. Oh I don't advertise it but when I deny myself eating a large beautiful piece of pie, people look and usually understand. Do I weaken once in a while? Oh yes! But in general, having seen some with amputated feet or legs, it is sufficient for me to resist. However when it comes to chocolate it is very trying to curb my temptation. I have done some traveling in my business days, most to the Orient where acquiring chocolate is a problem. Japan, forget it. Those guys would insist I eat sweetened grasshoppers when they are "in season". Ugh! I remembered Korea was the next country I was to visit and I figured maybe there? Well, I was right. In the basement of the hotel I stayed at was a kind of a Army PX store and it had fun sized Milky Ways. Oh I forgot to tell I am also cheap. When I would bring candy home to Louise, she would always take the good stuff knowing I didn't care as long as mine was chocolate. Before I get back to Korea I must admit that there were days when I would get desperate enough to eat Bakers cooking chocolate and think it was wonderful. Now you must admit that is pretty bad, but, I needed a "fix". 

So, returning to Korea, the basement store and the Milky Ways, they were available in the States for about $2.49 but those bandits wanted $3.95 for a bag and I just wouldn't permit my cheapness to pay that inflated price-never mind they had to fly it in from the U.S. and there were transportation costs involved. Don't confuse me with the facts The price was exorbitant and I just bore up with the strain of temptation. But now we head for Hong Kong and I was on the shuttle boat from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon and decided that I would visit a market place at the head of the incoming boat dock. Lo and behold! What did I see? A big sign saying "See's Candies" Eureka! I'm saved. I went in and must admit I went overboard but can you blame me? Two countries I had visited with no success, but I might have guessed the Brits, who at that time still owned that piece of China, liked their chocolate too.

So, I vowed never to be caught in that situation again and began to set my thoughts in motion and think I have a solution. Its a bit weird but it works. I have used Chocolate syrup in milk. I have used powdered Slim Fast in water as advised and that is now my solution. I carry Hershey's Chocolate syrup with me in my travels. If I stay in a hotel,- no problem. I call down for some ice and proceed to mix up a glass full of ice and water--in a home, there is always a bathroom handy and I can live without the ice. My mixture takes care of my cravings. So there you have it. I have solved the unsolvable. My quest is successful and I am sufficiently fulfilled. Lets hear it for Hershey's syrup. Don't leave home without it!!