 | This is Rick at our orange grove years later. It is a different grove. We bought a 10-acre orange grove in Central Florida at Montverde, Florida, but two back-to-back freezes put us out of business. |
"The ever-growing social inequality in America is incompatible with any meaningful conception of democracy, because democracy has more than just political dimensions. It has economic dimensions as well. A society which permits (let alone encourages) such disparities in wealth has a shallow notion of democracy, indeed. In fact, one might say that there is an unbridgeable contradiction between political democracy and economic servitude. If the former produces the latter, then only one of them is real. As the U.S. Supreme Court Judge Louis Brandeis noted years ago, `We can either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both.'" (Valdas Anelauskas, "Discovering America as It Is" - 1999)
I was the "happy savage," full of piss and vinegar and testosterone. It was one of the reasons my parents sent me to military school. I was aggressive and in those days settled more arguments with my fists than with words. I'm glad I'm not that person today. My temper ruled my actions. I wasn't smart; I was lucky. I was lucky I met Jane; we were two very dissimilar people. I didn't quite realize it then but my family tree was pretty fucked up. We were not special, we just had a lot of problems, some of it cultural, some of it genetic, and both families were dysfunctional, neither very giving. Nurturing was lacking from both our lives. How we overcame the many difficulties I'll never know. I guess it was perseverence to some extent, not wanting to give up, and the need to prove and heal ourselves, and the attraction we had for each other - and the fun we had. We really enjoyed each others company. Jane was very young. I was only a year and a half older but neither of us had much experience with life beyond our limited experiences. And we learned together. She was tough too. We bucked heads and locked horns. I remember right after we got married we went to a Chaplain on base to ask how we have kids and how to avoid having them. By the time we figured that out we already had two.
After my tour of duty at the Pentagon I we ready to get out and try civilian life again. I also thought I would make a fortune in real estate. My father was a broker and he talked about his deals and I guess I wanted some of that for myself. So we were going to do it. But we didn't have anything and no real place to stay. I asked my dad if I could stay at his grove property, an old termite ridden house on a 10 acre orange grove, which also served as a country real estate office. He said we could so we moved to the country and I committed to paying part of his mortgage from my real estate sales after I got my license, which took me a few months of going to real estate school. It was a bargain that would cost me more than it should have. Is everything in my life a "learning" experience?
I kept waiting for advice from the "master" since dad seemed to think he was an authority. I just never found out what that was that he was going to teach me. I worked my butt off for him. When there was no customers I worked in the orange grove. I don't know why I thought some day it might be mine or at least mine and my brothers but that never happened.
Meanwhile we had a son born after I left the service. Richard had cerebral palsy and my mother said we should put him in a home for the disabled, whatever that is, because we didn't have the money even if we had considered it, which we didn't. Richard still lives with us today. Sure it has been tough, but he is a great guy and I am grateful for the pleasure he gave us and I hope for the life we gave him.
| This is Rick at our orange grove years later. It is a different grove. We bought a 10-acre orange grove in Central Florida at Montverde, Florida, but two back-to-back freezes put us out of business. |
Jane went to work. She was a waitress and for about a year she supported us. I finally started making some money in real estate but had part of my income garnished by dad to pay for the grove. I didn't resent it then because I thought it was what family does for each other. But it turned out to be a one way street.
After about a year of working at it and taking the real estate licensing course I was ready for my broker's license and passed it on the first try. It got me a bigger cut of my commissions. Eventually I did open my own office but for many years I worked there in Davie for my father. We did move out of the house and got ourselves a trailer which I put on the property. And the old man charged me rent, which he said was necessary in order to cover his mortgage. And that was how I helped to buy the grove - which years later he sold and never even said "thank you."
