The following was written by my late wife Elaine. She wrote a long book, a diary really, from which this is one passage:
A“Toast” to My Retirement (“The Case of the Korbel Wine”)
I retired from the school system after my nine-year career as the homebound teacher and taught private piano lessons in my home. As I write this, I still have a few piano students but haven’t taken any new ones for three years, planning to phase out of teaching as the last students gradually leave, and the “story of my jobs” will be completed when the last one moves on to other activities.
In late 2001 the last piano student left……..so now, 2002, I was a piano teacher but am no longer doing that. From Blue Cross file clerk in Detroit to private piano teacher in a small rural area is a long, interesting path, with memorable experiences in between, and it’s the whole story of my “career life.” It’s been “a trip!” –fun, interesting, and challenging, with memories to last forever.
On a snowy day, the UPS truck struggled to our door with a box of 12 bottles of Korbel wine. We never order wine, but our name and address were correct, and since it was near the holidays, we expected to find out it was a gift. But from whom? I called Korbel in California to ask who had sent it, and was told that it was someone with the last name of Greene. It remained a mystery, knowing no “Greenes.”
We enjoyed a bottle, a couple weeks later, and gave one away, and soon found out that Carolyn had made arrangements with the Greenes to have a shipment of wine sent to our address because Carolyn was planning to be at our house soon and she could take the wine back to the Greenes. But nobody told us!
The story ended when Dave and I went to Carolyn’s for a visit and took the 10 (no longer 12) bottles in the box with us, and we all had a good laugh about it, including the Greenes.
To be continued…
***
About the Author: RD Blakeslee (1931 – 2024) built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.
Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family
Question of the Week