My father was a redhead...a very hard worker...and very honest. He was a very good baker, all kinds of things. In fact, he was the foreman of what is now the largest bakery in Canada. They took advantage of him all the time - we need this, we need that - they worked him to death. I remember days he'd work two or three days in a row without sleeping. He'd come home and he'd be exhausted. I never saw my mother get mad at him. She'd be sympathetic. And my dad worshipped Mom. He'd give her anything she wanted. If she wanted to go away for the summer, okay. He'd come visit her on the weekend. She got her way with everything she wanted. He was a "softie".

The big thing in Montreal was to go to the Island. We'd take the boat across, with a basket of food, and have a picnic on the Island, then come back on the boat. That was a special day.

We didn't have much in material things. No radios. Nothing. So we'd go outside after eating, in the daytime, and we'd play amongst the kids and find little things to play with. For instance, we'd play "tippie". You take a piece of wood and carve it out with two points and hit it with a stick. As it flies in the air, you hit it back with it. That's called Tippie. Another game we played was with a roller skate. We'd take a board and attach a wheel on each end and make a long skate out of it. I'd put a handle on it and make it like a scooter. And I'd go miles on it. I'd really fly. Then I'd get home, eat like a horse, and really sleep!

Every year when the school vacation started, we would have two and a half months off. Mom would take us to a farm out in the country. We'd rent one or two rooms, have the facilities of the kitchen, and go there for the summer. That was our vacation. It was wonderful! We'd get out and go pick blueberries, and watch them milk the cows. We would do the things Mom said to do, but we didn't have regular chores on the farm - we were guests. I'd go get the fresh milk, take a cup, dip it in, and drink the cream. And everyday I'd go where the chicken coops were and I'd take two eggs, put a pinhole in them, and Id eat them. Two raw eggs everyday!

I remember when I left Montreal Bubby Nessa said to me, "I'll never see you again. Goodbye." And sadly to say, I never did see her again. She passed away at 90! Without all the modern medicines, it would be like a person living to 150 today, because a common cold could wipe a person out. She used to come over everyday and babysit so Mom could go out and go shopping. She had a lot of shopping to do with all the children and boarders. And, Bubby Nessa used to like to take a little drink everyday....

Memories of my brothers...

Joe was very bossy. He would order the brothers around. I would never take it. I was mean. One time I knocked him out cold. My mother came running in, "What is it?" "Tell him not to bother me!" I was very strong when I was a kid. But I wouldn't take anybody bossing me.

Irv used to play pool, and to follow sports. He was more passive and easy going. Nat and Irv got along beautifully. They were only two years apart and they were inseparable until Irv passed away. They used to go out together to places.

Nat was a very feisty guy. If you said "This is black," he'd say, "This is yellow." He'd get into arguments. So I'd ignore him. I didn't want to fight him all the time. I'd just leave him alone. And he'd walk up to me and say "You son of a bitch", and I'd look over at him and go Wham! and let him have one. I'd knock him on his keister. It didn't make a difference. To his last breath he'd look up murmuring "you son of a bitch!" He was a funny guy, you know. He was very, very obstinate. Very obstinate. But the best hearted guy in the world.

Lou was a student from the word "go"! When he went to school, he always had the highest grades. When he was home he'd say to Mom, "I'm going in my room to study. Please don’t let anybody disturb me." And he'd go into his room and study four or five hours at a time. He became an accountant, a C.P.A. and a lawyer. When he graduated law school he made the commencement speech. He graduated Cum Laude just by studying at night, and I remember him standing on the stage at graduation, a little guy, giving the speech.

Lou worked for the Los Angeles School District. The boss called him in one time while he was working and attending school at night. He said they were trying to figure out a record-keeping system for the whole school district and his boss asked, "Louis can you do it?" Two weeks later Lou came back with a whole program of record-keeping he had devised for the school district. And they accepted it. He didn't get the credit for it, his boss did. When Lou went around to every school in L.A. to install the system, they'd think he was a student, but he'd show his credentials and then install his accounting system.

Because Jack and Norm were so much younger, and I was already out working, I really don't have as clear a memory of their growing up years.

How to describe myself? Just a hard worker. I built twenty-one milk routes in my time. I'd take a certain district that I’d think was good. But never in a high class area. I didn't like working in the high class areas. The people in those areas wouldn't buy that much and you'd have more problems with them. I got along very good with the Mexicans.

When I came out to L.A. I helped Joe on the donut route for about a month or so. Then I decided to build my own route. I started to peddle fruit and I did pretty good. I was a hustler. I'd go out and buy a load of fruit and peddle it. I made as high as $50 in a day. I did that for a year and a half. I used to take the money home and give to Mother and keep a quarter for myself to go to a picture show. That's how they bought their home

Then I went into a milk route for myself. I built the biggest route by far at the Creamery. I hold the highest record out there. It was up to $75 a day. It reached a point where I had to have help - there were that many customers. So we split the route and since Irv had helped me, I had the company give him one for the split routes. Otherwise they wouldn't hire him because at eighteen he was considered too young. I spoke up for him. Then I built the route I had back up to $75 a day, again the biggest. Later when I left the creamery, instead of selling the route, I let Irv run it figuring that when he wanted to leave we would sell it and he could get the profits of any customers he had added. But he didn't. He used to gamble a little bit.

Once I came home and my mother said to me, "That wasn't very nice of you to give Irving a bad route, he can't even pay his rent." So I went to see Irving at the drug store where I knew he used to hang out at noon. There he was shooting craps at five dollar a roll. I took him to one side and said, "Look you cut this b.s. out and you pay your rent or else I'll take that route back and sell it. With the gambling, you win one day and lose the next. You're bound to lose. A gambler won't win." But he had it in him. He loved to shoot pool. He loved sports in every way. I didn't. I was too serious-minded. I said to my mother, "Look, I'm working. I'm paying my bills. I don't know why he shouldn't." I didn't want to hurt her. That's why I spoke to him....

Looking back over my life I must say, I've never been the best to outsiders, but to my family definitely! I can look on with a clear conscience. I've never taken advantage of anyone, and I've always done my very best! Wherever she's at, Auntie Bessie knows my conscience is clear. And I say to her, "Honey, watch over me because they need me. And I want to be the father as long as I can. Not just by name, I want to BE the father to my children."