Tuesday, April 28, 2009

life again.


unfinished... Current mood: amused
ive half ended this- and re-read it and the worst part is- that what i was aiming to write about- i dont know where my mind went- so off..... ah man no good,

I wish I could just close my eyes and type everything that I think in an orderly manner without really knowing what I was tying at all- kind of allow my mind to do the typing. A lot of things I write, I almost don't want to write in fear of someone reading whats really on my mind. I guess part of being Jessie is always having people trying to figure Jessie out- so if I lay it out on the table so easily, then whats left of me?
I never like to use punctuation really- im a big fan of the dashes- and multiple dots…. Because I feel like each of them give more of an announced pause, to allow the reader to understand that I want them to pause, think about what they just took in, and absorb it.
I have traveled often and one of my biggest mistakes in the past two years of my life is not bringing a journal along with me to talk about each of the characters I have met- I could truly write an incredible book….. With the help of a good writer, of course.
Just thinking back to last November when I was on the auto train to florida with all of my belongings stuffed into my car, ready to change my life, I met a ex-politician and his wife. I cant account for their names, but they turned out to be great conversation at dinner when I was sat alone, so they sat with me. We all ate together and talked like we were family friends. They were both taking the train to visit their son, who lives in Orlando. The three of us enjoyed each others company so much, we sat an extra hour to talk after dinner. They told me about their son and how much he loved hockey, meeting the president, travels they had experienced in the past… We were later removed because the waitresses wanted to go to bed and it was almost eleven. The couple gave their farewells and I went to sleep satisfied by such a good conversation.
I believe that one of the biggest joys in life has to be those types of conversations. You meet strangers and exchange information and talk about life and learn life lessons from them too… such a satisfying feeling follows.
On my most recent flight home from visiting friends and family in Philadelphia, I met a woman named Sophie. A Russian woman, a mother, a grandmother, a story teller, a friend to many, and one of the most gratifying people I have ever met in my short lifespan.
Sophie moved to the U.S. in 1975 and taught music at a school in Detroit. She was very poor, but that didn't stop her or slow her down, she was, after all, pursuing the American dream. She bought bread from the bakery that had been a day old…. The woman at the bakery grew so fond of Sophie that she began giving her 2 loaves for the price of one. You would too, if you met this woman. After a short time in America, one of Sophies friends asked her to sign a document stating that she purchased a home (and explained the whole concept of using credit in america and not paying cash for things), because according to this friend, the man who was living there was supposed to be very poor and unable to afford a home like this. A few years later, Sophie would then sign the documents saying that she sold the home.
This kind woman did not know the person who was living in the home that she technically owned, but he wanted to meet her to tell her how thankful he was for her kindness. He turned out to be an Italian man who was making a living in america by importing gold and selling it to stores and such. Sophie was asked by this man to open a store to sell $100,000 worth of jewelry that he would give to her to make a profit- she turned his offer down claiming that she couldn't sell anything, she had never sold a thing in her life.
So the two of them remained friends and two years after his proposal, he came to sophie at her job pointing out that her job was not right for her. She was working extremely long hours and he insisted that she buy his jewelry off of him at $10.00 a piece. She gave in to his offer and bought the jewelry and sold the pieces that day at $10.50 a piece because she was not aware that they were worth twenty to thirty in the stores. The items sold in a half hour. Sophie was very pleased to find that she made more money in that half hour than she made in two hours at work, so she continued to do business with this man and sold jewelry in neighborhoods. She eventually moved up to selling in a high-end salon in Detroit. By this time she was making better profits because she had realized the prices were much higher in jewelry stores. Eventually, she moved up to dealing with a Belgian man, she flew to Belgium with a fanny pack full of money and bought diamonds to bring back to the us with her.
Skip ahead a few years, Sophie decided to move to Sarasota florida, where she purchased a condo on the beach at $95,000. One or two years later the condo below hers was selling at $200,000. Realizing the profits to be made, she bought the condo as well. She sold it 2 years later, quadrupling her money at $800,000.
I could really keep going and tell the rest of her story but my wrist really hurts. This woman never went to the doctor- she insisted that in order to be healthy, you have to eat healthy, stay happy, surround yourself with loved ones, never stress, don't become a doormat and allow others to walk all over you. Speak your mind and be respected. She didn't believe in medicine- she'd take a warm bath to lower stress. Homemade chicken noodle soup for illness. This woman had her wit, she was a beautiful person and the thing that shocked me the most when she told me was that she is eighty two years old.

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