THE HOUSE ON SEMINARY AVENUE

I sure liked that house, and for a number of reasons, as follows:

The city of Richmond, Virginia has, to my mind, an elegance about itself. It probably exuded that same elegance back when it was the Capitol of the Confederacy. The signature boulevards, the well-built brick homes, its pace of life make it a really nice place to live.

When dear son, then a single man, bought the house on East Seminary Avenue, I was delighted. The avenue is well-lined with trees, is a quiet neighborhood, and the house itself was well-built - I mean, REALLY WELL-BUILT. I was amazed at the thickness of the beams holding up its slate roof. It was built of brick (of course), and had a good-sized, enclosed backyard. I contributed to the latter by building granddaughter Kelly a sandbox with strict instructions to lower the canvas roof each night to keep the cats away.

It was from there that I had the opportunity to walk granddaughter to preschool, at a nearby church, and occasionally play my guitar in the classroom. I didn't like the teacher, Mrs. Z_____, for being too strict with the youngsters, particularly those (shall I name one?), who talked too much in class!!

This beautiful home saw a wedding and was the birthplace of my three grandchildren -- precious memories.

More, later.

ADVERTISING SPECIALTIES

After my parting of the ways with my ACS account (ACSII), I needed some kind of work, preferably sales. I found it in the want ads of the Washington Post.

I saw an ad for an advertising specialties salesman. Do you know what advertising specialties are? Look at the ballpoint pen in your pocket with its name and slogans; the calendars in your home, the notepads you use. They are all specialties and there are literally thousands of them on which you can print your message. I applied for the job, and although I was not experienced in this field, my sales history convinced them to hire me.

The company which got this "lucky break," was run by an individual who had years of experience in the business and was well-established. I was successful from the start, in obtaining business, but had some problems with an inefficient office staff ; a portent of things to come.

On one occasion I had worked hard to receive a $30,000 order from a non-profit organization that was holding its annual meeting in Hawaii. Two weeks before the order was to be delivered I asked ther office to clarify the deliuvery dates, and they COULD NOT FIND THE ORDER!! I left the company.

I found a similar specialties company located in Charlottesville, VA , who needed a Northern Virginia representative, and I worked for them until dear wife and I moved to Wisconsin.

More, later.

MY FRENCH AMI

On the previous blog (EUROPEAN VACATION-CONCLUSION) I wrote about visiting the French friends I had first met when traveling overseas to meet dear daughter (A SAD, SAD DAY-CONCLUSION).

When I boarded the Air France flight at Dulles International Airport, I began a conversation with the French man and his wife, seated next to me. The man and I talked most of the way across the water. Upon arrival at DeGaulle International Airport, we were met by dear daughter. The new acquaintances invited us to visit them in their city, Besancson. This proved to be beneficial because our travel plans included that city. We enjoyed three days of sightseeing there.

J___P___was the lead cardiologist at the local hospital. Every year he attended the American Medical Association as a French representative. After attending three such meetings he was invited to present a paper, and from then on made a yearly presentation. He considered it quite an honor to do so. If the meeting was in Washington, D.C., he always allowed time to visit me in my McLean home.

One year, I took him to a college footbaall game in Charlottesville, Virginia. When I asked him what impressed him most about the evening, he said that it was seeing the people standing, with hats off, while our National Anthem was played and our flag raised.

Now you have met J___P___. We have continued our friendship these many years, via e-mail, talking mostly about French wines and American politics.

More, later.

EUROPEAN VACATION (conclusion)

I arrived in Florence, Italy, late in the day and was met by my missionary friends. Because their apartment was a one-bedroom, they had made arrangements for me in a nearby small hotel, which was directly across the street from the museum that housed Michaelangelo's DAVID.

The next three days were spent sightseeing while dodging the thousand (so it seemed) mopeds that sped around the city. I did some sightseeing on my own, some with my friends, and also met many of their co-workers.

I insisted on taking them to dinner one evening and asked N____ to select the restaurant. She chose one that had an excellent reputation, although they had never dined there.

The restaurant was in a good location and beautifully appointed. N____took one look at the menu and became extremely embarrassed, as it was VERY EXPENSIVE. They wanted to leave but I insisted that we stay and enjoy the meal. I'm not sure that they did.

The last leg on my trip took me to Besancon, France, where I stayed with the French friends I had met on my first trip overseas (A SAD, SAD DAY - CONCLUSION). Read about them in my next blog.

More, later.

EUROPEAN VACATION (Part II )

My next train took me to Vienna, Austria to visit another MBC family of five. I had a grand time with the B____s, visiting the beautiful sights in the city, and absorbing the Austrian culture. I have stayed close to this family since we first met at MBC, in '74, and have enjoyed keeping up with them. When they first visited us in McLean for dinner, their son, a two-year-old, saw the food on his plate and asked his mother, "Mommy, do I like this?" "Yes, of course," she said, and he dug away at it.

I left Vienna for Florence, Italy, to visit another missionary couple who was associated with the same organization as my dear son.

The train ride was through the mountains that join Auatria and Italy. The scenery was gorgeous! In my coach was a non-communicative couple from Texas. Boarding at one of the stops were three Italian foilks who proceeded to open their picnic basket and began eating some luscious-looking salami and cheeses. One of the women (Marguerite), sliced open a good-looking peach and was biting into it when the train came to an abrupt halt. The peach stone loosened and fell down the neck of her dress! At first she didn't know what to do, but her companions began to laugh and so did I. Somehow, Marguerite managed to reclaim the stone without a problem. What a riot!!

More, later.