Page 43 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

Instead of telling them my wishes, I left a note of my wishes on the family Bible,
walked across the fields behind the house to highway US 9. I caught the bus to Toms
River and got off at Pine Beach at my grandfather, George Winterling’s, house on
Grant Avenue. He lived there with his second wife, formerly Emma Stoldt. He taught
me how to finish sheetrock walls by applying tape joint compound. After two weeks, I
earned enough money purchase a Greyhound ticket back to Jacksonville.

Arriving in Jacksonville, I discovered mother and Mr. Stich had moved to the Jefferson
Hotel on Adams Street, near Lee Street. It was summer and because of acne breaking
out on my face, I went into the bathroom to heat washcloths with hot water. I placed the
steaming washcloths over my face. Around five minutes later, I would then place
Noxzema on the skin for the night. I guess it helped dry the pimples.

With my brother Richard still in New Jersey, my mother would start crying for him as
the radio played the song, “Blue Bird of Happiness”, which only added more to her
grief.

My happiness came from my job at the St. Johns
Theater. The smash hit movie, “Romance on the
High Seas” with Doris Day had been playing for
4 weeks. The theater was still having large
crowds because there was no television in
Jacksonville. Business was so good that the
theater manager, Sheldon Mandell, promoted me
to Student Manager. I was taught how to count
the day’s cash income, report it to an owner in
New York, and place it in the safe until
depositing it at the nearby Atlantic National Bank
the next day. Working this position, I often
worked until the end of the last movie around
Midnight. I remain thankful for all Mr. Mandell taught me about the world of business.

35