Put it away they say of love
That lasted oh so long
Put it away like yesterday’s glove
Or an old forgotten song
And so I have…I’ve put it away
Its ghost rises now and then
Reminding me of joyful days
That, now are long forgotten
~ Gemini Joe ~
I
learned a lot about washers, dryers, and refrigerators. I used to go from house to house to service the appliances. When I couldn’t fix someone’s washing machine or dryer, they had no choice except to buy a new one. Sometimes, they asked if I could remove their old appliances. I’d bring them home and work on their old washers and dryers in the garage. Most of the time, I was able to rebuild them by taking parts from one and putting them in another. I thought of it as a challenge.
Then a funny thing happened. I went into one house and saw a picture on the mantel. The girl looked familiar to me. Remember, I told you about my school days and how I got to be elected to be captain of the class? Anyhow, there was a little girl named Mary Grego. Wow, she was gorgeous. When were older, all the jocks wanted to date her. I was pretty sports minded but I didn’t go heave ho into all that because I didn’t have the equipment, like the helmets and such, so I stayed away from it.
Time went on and I never saw any of my school pals again, until then. I knew right away, who it was in the picture. I said that’s Mary Grego. I went to school with her.
The mom said, “Yeah, that’s my daughter. What’s your name?”
“Joe Finno.”
She picked up the phone and got in touch with Mary.
Mary said, “Mom, don’t let him out of the house. Tell him to stay right there please.” She came running down and burst in the door.
There was little Mary Grego, a woman. Anyhow, we were talking back and forth reminiscing about our school days.
She said, “Joe, I want to confess something to you. I always had the hots for you, but I didn’t know how to approach you because you were sort of standing in the shadows.
“I had the hots for you, too,” I said.
We both laughed.
It shows you the quirk of fate. I could have been going down another avenue with someone else, doing something else, and having babies with someone else.
Now, I had a friend named Frank who also worked for Sears. He said, “Hey Joe. Why don’t we open up a laundromat?” I thought that was a great idea. I had ten thousand dollars in Sears’s stock options and I convinced your mom to let me cash them in.
After finding a location nearby, Frank and me quit working at Sears and went into business. We bought secondhand washing machines and dryers. Frank wasn’t a good business partner and after a while, we had disagreements. The business wasn’t making enough to support us and I lost all the money I invested. Things were getting bad and I didn’t know what to do.
Your mom applied for a job as a waitress at the Pancake Cottage. It made me feel bad that I couldn’t support my family. I guess I was ashamed, but also, I was worried. Your mom was a beautiful woman and I knew that men were looking at her. Jealousy is a bad thing and when I drank too much, it made things worse.
It brought back bad memories from my childhood. I know it scared you when you heard me yelling. I’m sorry about that. Once I was sober, I broke down and cried, but I think the damage was already done.
Your mom started to go to Bingo to get away from me and I went back to work for Sears.