Читать книгу From Homemaker to Breadwinner - Myra Ph.D Nourmand - Страница 5

Like my parents and countless other Jews who had survived Nazi Germany, Arnold arrived in the United States with few belongings and a determination to succeed. My mother’s sister, Anne, knew Arnold’s sister. Both sisters felt that my mother and Arnold shared much in common. Two years after my father’s death, Anne acted as a matchmaker and convinced my mother and Arnold to meet. My aunt Anne saw an opportunity to improve my mother’s life and acted on her behalf.

My mother and Arnold became good friends. They had much in common: their European roots, their native languages, a commitment to family, and a common experience of wartime tragedy. In 1956, they married. The three of us—Arnold, my mother, and I—traveled together for their honeymoon. We stayed in the Concord, a hotel tucked away in the Catskill Mountains.

Initially, when I told friends about my mother’s plan to re-marry, they asked how I felt about Arnold: How could my father’s shoes be filled so quickly? What if I didn’t get along with him? But I never had these fears. I was happy for my mother, and Arnold and I immediately formed a bond that, to this day, has remained strong. Two years later, my baby sister, Betty, was born. With her birth, we were four.

For many years, Arnold earned his income selling sewing machines. He often worked at conventions, where he would host a booth demonstrating the superiority of his products. Surrounded by onlookers, he would grasp a piece of fabric, slide it under the machine’s needle, press down on the foot pedal, and raise his hands in the air. The machine whirred as its needle bobbed up and down.

My new father sewed pockets on aprons, embroidered designs on cloth, and monogrammed initials—all with hands-free ease. I stood by his side, wearing an apron with a heart-shaped pocket that was created by this marvelous machine.

At first, I was a reluctant prop. But my trepidation vanished once I heard the warm words of passers-by. They would tell Arnold what a lovely daughter he had. I realize now that he was teaching me, at a young age, the skills required to sell successfully.

Arnold was a savvy salesperson who knew how to build a business. With the sale of one machine, he bought two more. Eventually he sold enough machines to be able to lease a sewing machine store. That store’s success allowed him to buy another one. He then set his eyes on a new retail endeavor. Arnold pulled together his resources and approached Paul Swado, owner of the well-known Swado’s Furniture Store.

Swado’s was in the heart of Downtown Buffalo’s Polish district. Here, Arnold knew that his ethnic roots would work to his advantage—he shared the same language and culture as the shop’s customers. Mr. Swado sold his company to Arnold. Now my father was the owner of one of the busiest furniture shops in Buffalo, New York.