Family – Wanderings

Thanks Bro’

joe September 19, 2011 Family consumers co-op, fillmore, gene suttle, western addition

It’s been 16 years since my brother Gene succumbed to AIDS on September 18, 1995. There have been many memorable events in our lives. Some of them are good and some, not so good. He was the academic brain of the family – you know, the 4.0 kind of guy. He graduated from Mission High School in San Francisco in the top of his class. Even got an A.P. Gianini award and scholarship.

Gene came back to San Francisco after his Masters in Social Work. He devoted much of his life to the S.F. Welfare Department, and moved on from there to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. It was there that he made a name for himself. He was Area Director of redevelopment in the Fillmore. He faced anger from blacks and whites, but persisted in making the Fillmore what it is now.

Pastors, Rabbis, neighborhood activists and government officials praised his work. He served under many mayors – Moscone, Feinstein and Brown to name a few. For his work, he was honored by having Gene E. Suttle Jr. Plaza at Fillmore and O’Farrell named in his honor. If you are in the City, stop by the Plaza on the east side of Fillmore. He worked to make the Fillmore more than it was, but a reflection of it’s past – witness the resurgence of jazz in the venues of the Fillmore. Part of what he worked for was to recreate some of that culture.

Gene attended UC Berkeley, and it was after I returned to San Francisco that he introduced me to Consumer’s Co-Op of Berkeley. It was there that it was impressed on me to really know what your food cost you. Gene was a budgeteer (thanks to Grandmother), and he wanted me to understand that a dollar for a package might not be a deal – the $2 package might have 3 times the food in it. He and the Co-Op constantly urged members to figure out the price per ounce – forget the price per package. They called this “unit pricing.”

“Unit pricing” has stuck with me to this day. Out comes the cell phone or watch to do the calculation. That’s why I so often find that the $15 dollar sale package actually costs more that the $17 not on sale package.

There’s more about Gene, but that’s for another day. Thanks Bro’

Really Great Morning!

joe February 19, 2010 Family, Uncategorized

There it was – some noise as I lay in bed at 8 a.m. What was that? Oh…it was my cell phone stuffed in my pants pocket. Grabbed it just in time to see that the call was from area code 405 – Oklahoma, but too late to answer the call
It was Gladys and I missed the call!
She left a message as I stumbled out of bed to start another day. Before I could get that feeling out of my mouth and head, the house phone rang and my wife said “somebody named Jones.” I of course knew that it was Gladys not giving up in reaching me.
Thank goodness she didn’t. It has been over 40 years since we had seen or talked to one another.
Just so you get the flavor of history, Gladys was like my grandmother’s adopted daughter in Pauls Valley, OK. When I was a little kid (in elementary school), Gladys was like an older sister, and my grandmother would have her babysit my sister, brother and I. This woman was like a star singer in church, and sang in churches all around Pauls Valley. I have many memories of sitting in church (yes, kids set through church back then) and listening to her sing.
We had an absolutely amazing time talking about how we have been trying to find one another. At one time, she and her husband were even Pastoring in a church in Richmond – I just happen to find that 2-3 years ago on the internet. From Richmond, they moved to Carson, CA, and I could just never seem to make connection.
Even when we were in Oklahoma for a reunion in 2005, we tried to find anyone in Pauls Valley who knew anyone that I remembered, all to no avail.

How Did We Connect Now?

While working on the move of my blog, there was a post about Bethlehem Baptist Church in Pauls Valley, and I wanted to test the link, and got to their website. Found that there was a new pastor, and that the history of the church was still posted. While re-reading the history, saw Gladys’ name, and started searching the internet again, but wasn’t able to find anything (not even the link that mentioned her in Richmond).
Went back to the Bethlehem Baptist website and saw that there were Newsletters. Started reading, and was surprised to find Gladys’ name listed as one of the “Mothers” of the church on the list of people who were presently serving (Deacons, Ushers, etc.). Okay, that meant she was alive and must be living in Pauls Valley. Found a link for Pastor Eaton with a FaceBook address, and fired off an email to him. Asked him that if Gladys was indeed in Pauls Valley, would you please let her know that an old friend was looking for her, and gave him my phone numbers to pass on.
So, there it is in a nutshell. This has been a fantastic day! Gladys had tried to find me, but been stymied, and was so glad to connect. We spent 20-30 minutes on the phone going over (as best we could) the last 40+ years of our lives. Her kids and grand kids have done well. In fact, one of the grandkids plays for the Indianapolis Colts (after attending Stanford).
Can’t wait as we begin sharing pictures and family information back and forth. So thankful that this time, I persisted in trying to find and contact her. There’s a lot of family history to catch up on, so I’m sure we will be spending a lot of time on the phone and sending pictures back and forth.
What a way to begin a day!

Beware The Snakes!

joe May 11, 2009 Family

Really!

Otis, our cute little 25 pound lean, mean fun machine dog was in the garage with Karen and I, and as they were leaving to go back in the house, he stepped on a baby rattlesnake on the walk.

He will spend several months recovering from two bites by that snake. Apparently it's that time of the year, when there are a.) lots of baby snakes and b.) lots of snakes. [more]Seems that during late March to early April, the snakes breed like cats (according to one veternarian) and as a result, BAM – in May, there are all those little babies.

Since babies are not yet skilled in venom control, with every bite they inject a full load of venom. This makes them more deadly than their parents. We were fortunate to get Otis to a veternary clinic that had rattlesnake anti-venom within 15 minutes of the bites. On the way, I was yelling at some slow drivers, who insisted on driving at or below the speed limit. There may also have been some red lights that were red at the wrong time.

He still has a lot of pain, but that is managed with drugs (just like a tobacco patch), and his appetite has returned. He's not as spunky as he used to be, but that is because of the drugs.

The moral – always check your doorstep for rattlers. They like the warmth that is sometimes there. How the baby got on the walk beside our garage (near our front door) is a mystery. One neighbor says she has seen snakes on her door step at least a couple of times this year.