Month: March 2023

It felt great to see my boys take off in their prospective businesses. Nick, so successful already and Joe ready to take on the world and head into the uncharted waters of self proprietorship. My advice, over and over again to new entrepreneurs, is to get ready to jump without a parachute. After thirty six years without an outside “Paycheck”, I would know. The ups and downs of self employment are extreme. That being said, my business was again heading into the holiday season. The twenty eight or so straight days of work between Thanksgiving and Christmas were going to kill me. This year, the store was breaking records. Hopefully, it would be a banner holiday season too. We shall see.

The usual fatigue that I experienced for so long followed me everyday. Every night around nine o’clock, for twenty years, I faithfully downed my Gleevec, now Tasigna, knowing fully well that without this chemotherapy agent my Leukemia would return. The bright yellow plastic zip lock bags emblazoned with a large Radiation symbol and “Caution- Chemotherapy Agent”, “Please store and handle with care”, are visibly laid within the shelf of my bedroom end table. The brown pills, that are individually stored in blister packs offering one months supply per pack, were my lifeline. Rounding the corner towards twenty seven years of handling this uninvited phenomenon called cancer, I feel that in this point of my life…I am just rolling again. My first blog, three years ago, began with the same title.. ..”Just Rolling”. It meant that my life was going smoothly. That business was cruising along and growing. My family was growing, we had a new nice single home and the future was bright. ” Just Rolling” should be my mantra moving forward.

We spent Thanksgiving up in the great State of New York at the in-laws. “Da Bronx” was always an adventure. The mass amount of humanity encountered while driving on the Cross Bronx Expressway and Bronx River Parkway engulfed you in vehicles of every make and model imaginable. The mass amount of food and family banter was always enjoyable and after stuffing our bellies for three hours, we filled the car with leftovers and injected ourselves back into the masses. The next morning, I would be getting out of bed and entering the Black Friday mayhem. A big economic weekend forecaster of future business for the rest of the holiday sales season. Ours flat out sucked. Last year was huge on the same weekend and we had great sales through the end of the year. I was pretty worried. The following Monday, back to the grind, something unusual happened. We got hammered! Everyday from that day on was crazy. Who cares that I got shut out Black Friday weekend. Business was brisk and the numbers fantastic. We ended up having one of the best December’s in the history of Belaggio Jewelers. Also, one of the best years! Yep…”Just Rolling”. It feels so good to say those words again. What a great state of mind. I just wish for peace and prosperity in the world this new year approaching. After completion of my January bloodwork at U of Penn and the tests that accompany them, we’ll see if the good luck and rolling vibes continue on. After all, we’re finally getting caught up to the present day life and times of Jeff. Let’s get through the results of my new testing coming up and fingers crossed…we’ll keep rolling.

Next up: Labs Are Great…But…*%$#&!

Finally feeling somewhat better after my Covid affair, it was time to get to work. Joe was coming home in mid September and it was my mission to get his auto detail shop up and ready to go for an October 1st grand opening. The biggest hurdle I would face was the zoning and permitting process with Warrington Township. On my first attempt, I was met with a brick wall. Auto businesses were a tough proposition and required special zoning variances, planning meetings, attorneys and a lengthy process. As per the assistant zoning commish…”Good luck”. I left the township building feeling demoralized and worried that this endeavor was dead on arrival. No way. The next day I regrouped and headed back to plead my case. This time I asked to speak to the head honcho. A gentleman named Roy who listened to my pitch, reviewed my plans and location, and surprisingly, signed off on my zoning application with a flick of his pen. It might have helped that he was retiring in a few months. Did I seriously pull off a miracle? You betcha!

Within a month, working alongside my friends Vladik and Ed, on my days off and nights, a beautiful Red, White and Blue themed Auto Detailing shop was born from an ugly duckling of a garage. Joe named the business after his long time hockey number… 26. 2SIX AUTO DETAILING was coming to fruition. The only thing that we needed was for him to get home. He built a beautiful website for the business while he was waiting to leave Ohio and when he got home, helped finish with the last details of the shop. Thank God. I blew my shoulder out carrying a 14 ft metal ladder and I was getting way too old to be doing construction work. I went into full sell mode at my store selling jewelry and Premium Plus auto details. On October 1st the garage door rolled up. Appointments rolled in and the beautiful, shiny, clean cars rolled out. Joe’s girlfriend Kara would be moving down from Ohio to join him in a few weeks too. They were on their way.

Meanwhile, number 1 son was in full transition mode too. October 1st was his big day. We had facilitated the moving company a few weeks prior and Nick had flown down to Ft. Lauderdale in the beginning of September to meet the movers and set up his new apartment. He only spent a few days there and flew back to Philly to finish up with some work details and prepare for the final transition to Florida. Lori was so upset. It was rare to have both boys home at the same time. Canada, California, Sweden, Cleveland, Florida, like a Merry-go-round. We would gladly take the two weeks of them here together and Lor was able to take her coveted Christmas card pic! As Joe was performing his first 2Six detail, Nick would begin driving to Virginia where he would board the auto train for his 24 hour journey to paradise. He’d begin his sunny new endeavor as a Senior Agent at the Meyer-Lucas Group, Compass Realty , Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach. Officially, he was marketed as part of the Sports and Entertainment division. Congrats to my boy. He was able to rise to the top of his field in Philadelphia in such a short time. A self made top producer, I’m sure that in no time he would conquer the South Florida market as well. Nick was also…on his way.

As a parent, you only want your children to succeed. You want them to be able to move forward as accomplished citizens and be able to be independent. If you are fortunate enough to be able to help them achieve, then why not? Physically, emotionally, financially or educationally. Whatever it takes… Be there. Hopefully, they will pay it forward by being great people and treating their children in kind. Where am I going with this? Receiving a life or death cancer diagnosis at a young age, with young children, is devastating. While you spend years and tears fighting to live and breathe, you spend the rest of your time wondering how you could possibly continue to protect them, covet them, console them and perhaps control them… if and when you are no longer here. It’s a tough pill to swallow. So fortunately, even though I still feel the presence of that proverbial “Rock” hanging over my head, I will continue to be supportive, annoying, overbearing etc. Whatever possible for my family to thrive for as long as I am present and able. Whether they like it …or not. Lol.

Next Up: Just Rolling…Again

Fully stocked with Halls Cough Drops and donning our new masks, Lori and I boarded our flight to Tampa, Florida. I guess you would say that we felt pretty guilty about getting on a plane having full blown Covid. I tried to rationalize that we probably caught covid by someone who on a prior flight that we had been on this past week had done the same thing. Oh well, as soon as we would land, it would be a beeline effort to the rental car area and directly to Bradenton. Being in our own home would be heaven compared to the last few days. We stopped at a WAWA on the way to grab some drinks and food to get us by as well as a stop at CVS for some more meds and Covid tests. We were both still very sick and needed more rest. Our fevers were consistent and chests hurting from the constant coughing and hacking. Being sick though was better in Bradenton.

The Florida weather in July was very hot and humid. Lori actually despised coming down here because of the relentless heat and daily rain showers. This last leg of our vacation was supposed to be twelve days of relaxation at the pool, beach and evenings out and about for dinner and visiting friends. The Country Club at Tara in our development was beautifully appointed and had a great restaurant and bar. Until Lori and I tested negative for the virus, we wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the luxuries afforded us. After all, after ten years of owning it, we barely were able to enjoy our home. We rented it most of the time. Purchased as an investment property and future retirement home for the winter, I only got down to Florida maybe once a year. This two weeks were the longest we had ever planned together in Bradenton and like Nashville, it was supposed to be special. We were fortunate that the club would deliver our meals to us and we could rehabilitate in familiar territory.

Negative, finally! Four days before we would be heading home, our covid tests showed the single line of freedom. Hallelujah! We donned our bathing suits and headed to the pool ! It felt so good to be out and about. Feeling the warm sun and fresh air was beautiful. The next few days we spent dining out and headed to the beach to experience the white sands along the south Florida Gulf. I loved swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Sometimes, a gentle Manatee would swim by like a small submarine. Very cool. The few days of freedom we had were a tease and set the stage for the future and hopefully Covid free return to paradise.

Back in PA, Lor took off for the shore to begin her usual summer vacation on LBI. I headed back to work at the store. Our experiences were distinctly different. She felt great and went on to enjoy the beach and spending quality time with my parents and sisters, both teachers as well. I was still sick though. I spent the next month visiting the local Urgent care twice in two weeks and then the Doylestown hospital emergency room soon after. The emergency room visit was essential because I literally could not breathe. My blood pressure was 200/100 and had I not gotten there soon, it could have been a really bad situation. I was diagnosed with Covid Bronchitis/Pneumonia and given large doses of steroids interveneously as well as a breathing treatment. The ER doctor noted before I was released that my blood pressure had returned to normal. A clear sign that I was in great distress when I arrived there. I was prescribed steroids for a week and an Albuterol inhaler to help with my breathing. It took another two to three weeks to feel myself again. This Covid was no joke. I could genuinely feel for those people that were affected so horribly and was blessed not to have any repercussions from my encounter. Time to get moving with the rest of this summer.

Next Up: Meyer Lucas and 2 Six

So yes, I had never taken an Uber ride before our trip to Nashville. I really wasn’t thrilled to ever get in a car with some average person behind the wheel. Our driver was very interesting. An African gentleman, from a small country where his wife and family remained while he worked a factory job and drove for Uber here in the US. I could barely understand him most of the time but the drive was mostly uneventful. The Marriott hotel was central to the city and had enough attractions going on nearby that we were winging it for our five day trip. I wasn’t feeling very well after the two plane flights and our layover in Chicago. I grabbed a bag of Halls cough drops in the Des Moines Airport to try not to be thrown off the plane because of my ever increasing cough. I was eating them like candy. Lori and I checked into our room at the hotel, a handicap room on the first floor. I really needed to lay down and get myself some type of medicine. And maybe a Covid test.

We ordered some food from Uber Eats since I didn’t feel well enough to hit the Nashville scene that Lor and I had planned for. Unfortunately, the hotel had no restaurant or room service. Uber Eats was another first for me! Boy was I behind the times! This Uber Eats was great and expensive! I not only ordered dinner, I also was able to order cough medicine, Advil, a thermometer and a Covid test from CVS. It was June 28th, 2022 and for over two years Lori and I had escaped the dreaded two red line boogeyman. After all of my customers who got covid, my employees, my family, you name it. We were free and clear. Not this time. That extra red line literally took about three seconds to blow up our vacation. What did I expect? Two big weddings and four plane flights did the trick. I opened up the thermometer. That blew up too… 103.5 and climbing. I was pretty sick. Lor called room service for a day bed so she could sleep on the other side of the room. Lucky that we had that handicap room after all. We went to bed after a long, long day. Hopefully, Lori would remain healthy but I was pretty skeptical.

I thought that my cough was bad! I woke up around 4 am after hearing a cough on the other side of the room. I turned the bedside light on and Lor didn’t look so great either. She was sweating and looked like she had the chills. I woke her up and had her take her temperature…102.8 and climbing. We were done. Thank God for Uber Eats. I only left the room for the next three days to meet the Uber drivers delivering the food, drink and sustenance needed to get us through our Nashville nightmare. Also, an extra Covid test to confirm what was pretty obvious. Lor had Covid too. We were both very sick. We watched, no binged, Netflix shows all of our awake hours and slept the rest of our stay. And again, we never left the room. So much for our Nashville experience. The next leg of our trip was the flight to Tampa where we had planned to stay for an additional twelve days after driving to our Bradenton home. We masked up, arranged another Uber ride back to the airport, and headed out unfortunately knowing that we had no other choice than to board our flight. Covid and all.

Next Up: The Last Leg