Nathan Sugarman
Nathan Sugarman was born in Russia in 1895, one of four brothers and a sister in a farming family in a small country village within the Vilna province. His mother tended the family farm with its chickens, land, and apple trees, while his father worked wherever he could. There was no formal school where he lived, so a Zayda who lived nearby taught him Yiddish, Chumash, and Tanach. When Nathan was about ten or eleven, around 1906, the family followed his father to America, traveling from Russia across the border to Germany, then to Liverpool, and onward to New York aboard a ship he recalled as the Kamania.
Settling in the Boston area, in the town of Malden, Nathan attended school only briefly. Working nights and struggling to stay awake in class, he left school at thirteen and took a steady job, later working about five years at a large company he associated with Borden. He saved his earnings to help his family buy land, and together they built a dairy farm that grew from four cows to thirty. He met his future wife while delivering milk to her family in Everett, and married her at twenty-three. When the Depression strained the business, the family sold the farm and Nathan took a job in a poultry house.
Nathan spent twenty-eight years in the poultry business, starting as a chicken flicker and working his way up to a trusted position with keys to the shop, overseeing orders and workers. He and his wife raised two daughters and a son; he lost one daughter at age forty-seven, and his wife died after a long illness with cancer. His son built a career in California in automobiles and aviation-related work, and his family included a grandson who became a dentist. Around 1978 Nathan moved to Dallas to be near his surviving daughter, where he lived independently, stayed active at a senior center, and was known for making friends easily and for his lifelong belief in hard work and honesty.
Full Transcript
...born? In Russia. In Russia. Do you remember... A little bit. Okay. What do you remember about your town in Russia? Well, I was born in Russia in 1895. A long time ago. 86 years ago. Right. and the families are given of farmers, all the like. Yeah. The quarter to my young gentleman was given a captain, given a butcher in Europe. In Russia? In Russia. Yeah. Uh-huh. We had chickens, we had land, we had apples and trees, farming. You lived on a farm? On a farm, yeah. That they used to sell. My mother also, she took care of the farm. What, what, your mother got to the farm and your father?
My father used to go out and try to work. Right. How many children were you in the family? The family, we were four brothers and a sister. Okay. Can you help, Jack? What? Were you the oldest or the youngest? I think I showed you the picture, didn't I? Right, I have the picture. Have you got a picture? I've got the picture outside the butcher shop. Yes, we're going to use it for our book. Okay, what do you remember about... Did you live close to a little town in Russia? Well, we grew in a little doff, like to say a country place. A therefore, yeah. A therefore, yeah.
But we were a Vilna-Gobernyi. That's the main step, like Boston. Right, right. Gobernyi is the province. Yeah. Yeah. And then in 1902, so I got the only part of it, he was born in America. So how old were you then? I was only about 1902, 1906. I was about five or six years old. Okay Did you go to school when you were that young Where In Russia No No I had a Sede He taught us what he taught us He taught us what he taught us. So you never went to school? No. So your Sede taught you everything you do? Sede taught us what he taught us.
Did he used to sit at a special time with you every day? Oh yes, he used to sit. I had a good home and Sede. He lived next to us. I see. So you never went to school? Not in Russia. Not in Russia. Okay, so your father came to America. My father came to America and I gave in in 1906, I took a sick ticket, and I got a knuckle and brought it here. My father's a brother, was in America already, and he's the one that took my father over here first. And then he was working around here, whatever he found. He didn't have no steady trade, so he started working in the rags shop.
Soaked the rags, wool and stuff like that. What did they do when they soaked the rags? Were they soaking them, just to get them clean? No, to separate them, sort them. And he was making it five, six hours a week. A millionaire. It's all right, but then it took us to get back. We seeked the tickets, and I got back. And a semester, we came together with us. And where did you... Okay. And when you came, Nathan? When we came here, I went to school a couple of years here. How old were you? I was 11, 12 years old. I used to get up at 12 o'clock in the morning and help them.
I was 13 years old already at 12. I used to go to school and go to sleep. I used to fall asleep I used to get up at 12 o and then at 6 o I got through wash up and go to school So I was tired and I used to fall asleep So the kids bothered me and they started getting fresh You know, I was pretty near as tall as I am now when I was 12 at all. The kids started bothering me and I hit one kid. The teacher was going to give me a red hand and I stopped him and they threw me out of school.
You were 13 years old. I was 13 years old and I got a job steady and I was making $7 a week already. What kind of job did you do? I was working in the nuclear. Okay. With the same driver I helped. Yeah. He got me the job with his boss and I worked there for a couple of years. And then the boss sold the business. I was 16 years old and he sold the business. And I went to the big company of my boarders. And he took me in there and he told the boss up there, and he's got to give me a job.
I've got to work pretty good with everybody. He gave me the job up there. When I got a job at a company, I worked there five years. So I saved up a thousand dollars and I gave the family to buy up. My mother, she was working hard on the farm. And I decided that I'll work until I get, you know, to about 17, 18 years old. Right, okay. We're going to stop. So you were 17 and you were working at Borden? Working at a company like Borden, Whiting's new company in Boston. Mm-hmm. Up there, I was already put in four and a half, five years I worked for that, and when I got through I was making eleven dollars a bit.
At this eleven dollars, I used to give nine, ten dollars to the, you know, in the bank, and a couple of dollars for my expense. Hmm. Tell me. I put five years, and then when I saved up a couple of dollars, a few dollars, I gave it to the family, and we bought a building, land, and then my father started building for cows. We started with four cows. When we got up to ten cows, I quit my job, and I started my own with the family. Your own farm? Yeah we were farmers delivering milk you know Then we worked for about that was until 1930 In 1930, we had already 30 cows, and we had, and they had my brothers helping me out there already.
But my mother, Mr. Weston-Pee, she was working hard in there milking cows, and I used to milk cows. and we worked up a little and then the pressure came in in 1929, 1930 and we were bound up again. I decided that I want to quit the milk business because we were working too hard. My brothers made me rest in peace. They didn't, they weren't much good at the added. My elder brother was a butcher, and he couldn't help us. So I spoke up and I said to the family, spoke with him, and I said, let's sell. And I'll get a job. And I was married already.
I was going to say, what about when did you get married and how did you meet your wife? I met my wife when I got her as a customer. You were selling her milk? Yeah. I used to go to the house, I used to deliver the milk. Where did she live? She lived about in Everett, that's about a mile away from Heratik. You lived outside of New York? No, Boston. Boston, okay, okay. And this is Malden and Everett. Okay. Those are connected. And you were delivering the milk? Yeah, I got married to the customer. I got a, I liked that girl. They were a nice family.
So I thought I'd come home one day. I was about 23 years old already. Yeah. And I said, if I'm not taken, I'm going to get married. Had you ever taken the girl out? Of course. Oh, okay. Where did you go when you took her out? What did you do? Well, we used to go wherever we'd find a picture. You have to go and hitched up a horse and buggy I had. Yeah. There was no automobiles there. Right. And you went to the movies in your horse and buggy. We went to the movies or go down the beach. The beach wasn't too far from us.
I didn't keep coming up too long. You saw what you wanted? I saw what I wanted and I liked it. I made sure she was a nice woman, a nice girl. So how old were you when you got married? Twenty-three. We stood for about seven or eight years, but we sold, we saved up a few dollars. Did you live with your parents when you got married or her parents? We lived with my parents. Okay. Because we had a family. And what did her family do? Her family was in the buttonhole business. Her father, may I rest in peace, he had a factory, a port of factory, you know, supplied the buttonholes, you know, make buttonholes like they have in New York probably.
same thing for, he had a job in Boston and she worked with her father. She was a dressmate, a son. She was a bundle maker. Okay. So we got married and then we had our own home then already. On the farm? On the farm. We had three rooms upstairs and we made our home up there. But then when the person came in, I saw everything was going to the rocks. And the war was already in. The Second World War, yeah. So we decided to get rid of it. There was a Polish fella come along, he bought the place. And I told the family, I said, whatever you get, whatever we get, I don't want anything.
You people can live on it. But whatever I don't want, you know, get to, my brother, he was doing pretty good there. And he said, anything you need, you'll help it. I got a job in 1930, I got a job as a ticker flicker in the slumhouse. And I started that job there with $30 a week and all the chickens and eggs I could get, I need. So when I came home and I told my wife, she must be my wife. She said, I'm going to become a chicken flicker. She looked at me. She said, don't do it. I said, I know. There's nothing that I can do.
And we had already two kids. And the third one on the way. So I said I got to get it And I know the boys And I started working at chicken flicking I was sick Sure the lice must have eaten you up a lot It's the lice and the blood. And taking a white red oil and killing it. For six months, I was a sick man. Okay! I got used to chicken flicking. I got used to chicken flicking. And the buses were nice people. They helped me a lot. And I worked 28 years with them people. 28 years? Yeah. Not flicking chickens the whole time?
No. What did you do? How did you work your way up? I had the keys. I used to open up and close. Was it a butcher shop you worked with? No, because all chickens. Chickens, all poultry, all poultry. We used to supply meat buckets. Uh-huh. And I used to make up orders. Right. And deliver orders. So you started as a chicken flicker? And worked myself up a little and took care of help. Okay. We had 10 men working until I worked there for 28 years. You became the head man? Well, a trusted lieutenant. A trusted lieutenant. Well, that's very good. Okay, now the whole time, where did you move, like when your family sold the farm, you moved into Boston?
Well, I moved into, I moved in Moldman. I moved from one place to another. So I settled down. I worked there until I was 62, 63 years old, and I retired. In 65 I retired. And still in this town? You lived in this town the whole time? I lived in that same town the whole time. Okay. What about... When I retired, I still used to work a couple of days a week. And then I started to sell chickens. What about the picture we have of you sitting in front of the kosher butcher shop? That's when I was working on a milk bag. Oh, I see.
That's from the beginning. Uh-huh. Okay. Okay. You were working, but that's your brother in the picture? That was my brother's store there. Okay. He was the butcher, but you delivered the milk. Yeah I was just at Best Buy and he was out there and picked to me with the camera All right So this little town you lived in in Boston this Molden or whatever it was Molden yeah yeah What kind of a town was it Did it have any how many people how many Jews Molden was quite a big town, a big city. Yeah? Molden had about 35, 40,000 people. And what about Jewish people?
Jewish people. We had four or five shuls in there. That many Jewish people? Yeah. Okay, what shul did you belong to? What kind of religious leaning? Well, we had a Litvak. Are you a Litvak? Yes. You're a Litvak. So you had a Litvak school? Oh, yes. We had a Litvak, we had a Rischisch. We had a temple. Yeah. And my father, we moved, and when we had him home, after we sold, we had homes. My father built a couple of homes up in there then already. And we lived right across the Shule, the Rischisch. So you went to the Roshish Shul even though you were Al-Lizbuk?
They let Al-Lizbuk into the Roshish Shul? Yeah. My father used to fight with him. All right. Were you a very, like, religious observant Jew? The family was very religious. Yeah. I wasn't able to be that way. Could you read Hebrew? No. Well, I read plain Yiddish. Okay. Your Zayda taught you Yiddish when you were in Russia? Yeah. Okay. I had a Chumetz, I had a Tanach. Yeah. So you were not an observant Jew. You went to Shoal. I went to Shoal. When I was small, I used to go to Shoal with the family. And then we had to, when I had to work Saturday, you know, delivering milk and stuff like that.
And that, when I got married, I had a pot. But I used to go to Shoal every holiday to be observed. So how many children did you have? I had two daughters and a son. I lost my daughter, a young daughter at 47 years old, only about 12 years ago. Okay, and the children grew up in this little town? Did they go to Jewish school? They went to school. My daughter graduated high school in Malden. My son graduated in Chelsea. It's right next to Malden. What did they graduate? Did they go on? High school. And then did they go on to further? He joined the service.
Right. He got married at 17. Uh And she was 16 right out of high school and he joined the service Right After the Second World War Okay and what about your daughter My daughter she went to high school and she was working Because she met her husband, and he was in the Army. So when he got through with me, when he turned out, he could come home from the Army alive. Right. And they were good married. So both of your children married very young. Okay. And they lived, did they move away from the area or they? No. My daughter lives here now. She lives alongside of me.
She took care of me, took care of her mother, father, two years old. And she, that's why I'm with her now. You're with her now. Okay. I'm not living with her, but she's alongside of me at all times. What made your daughter come to Dallas? Your daughter. daughter. Her husband graduated with Dallas for engineering. You mean she moved here because of her daughter? Her daughter, yeah. Okay. And... How many grandchildren do you have? I have grandchildren. I got one here and three in California. Do you have any great-grandchildren? Five in California and one here. May, Izmir, you look like such a young man. What do your grandchildren do?
My grandchildren, one is a dentist. He's got his own office. Where? In California. And the other, his brother, he's with his father now in the automobile business. And his daughter is married to a flyer. He's a pilot. He's a pilot and a mechanic. Okay. Also in the armor. Okay, Nathan, let's back up a little. What do you remember? Do you remember anything from when you, the boat trip coming over to America or coming into Ellis Island? What do you remember? I can remember when we took the boat from Russia to Germany. We had to cross the bumper line. We had to still cross the border by the Grenitz.
Right, right. From Germany, we went to London, to Liverpool. By boat. By boat. It was three days. From Liverpool to New York we took seven days on the boat. And the boat was Kamania. The name Kamania. Do you remember what it was like on the boat? Were people... I was on the boat then. You were a little kid. I was small. I was about ten years old. Yeah. I was all over the boat. I got lost in the boat. The Mr. President's mother had to go look for me. Was your mother sick? Well, we did have a little seasick problem. Yeah. Uh-huh. But not much.
I didn't. You were having a good time. You were excited. I was having a good time. I was... So, from Ellis Island, we came in a recession. We stood there two days. On Ellis Island? Yeah. And you had to- From where? And then we came into Boston from New York. Who came to get you at Ellis Island? Your uncle? Your father? Oh, no. We went there. We got the boat from Ellis Island, and they picked us up in Boston, in Boston Port. Okay. Do you remember anything about Ellis Island while you were there? No. That's something I can't tell you, because I was not-I was not from the building there.
Did you make any friends on the boat that you kept up with? You know how people talk about mind shift friends? No. No, you were too young actually to remember, you know, anyone who was on the boat. But I was on one of the boat as far as that. I was never quite. You never changed. You still haven't changed. You haven't changed, darling. Amazing. Okay, do you have anything in your family life that you want to share? Any happy Any times, any, any, anything that... In my family life, well, I'll tell you, I don't think my mother had too much of a, you know... Problem with you?
She had, no, she had problems. But we took our own problems. We never bothered her. No, my brother was always, he was always a money man, the butcher. Yeah? Oh, he could have been a rich man. Would gamble and kill him. He gambled it all away? His wife, he married two brothers, married two sisters. One of them turned out to be good, and he ruined me in the milk business before he got married. That's a shame. He used to go around collecting money and gamble. That's why I got rid of the business. That's why I sold the business, because I sold. We were getting behind.
Yeah. And when did your wife pass away? Well I passed away in I think 16 69 or 60 Okay and that was in the Boston area you were living there then Yeah. Okay. And you're- But she was sick for 15 years before she passed away. Yes, you said you had to look after her. What was-what did she have? I guess her. And you- She died of cancer. I didn't look after her. My daughter was alongside. I had a woman. I had hospital beds. I had doctors, hospitals, and everything. And that's what got me to sell the business. What business? The new business. Because it was too financially burdensome.
That's a shame that things... And have you been well? Have you been okay? You have had no illnesses? Well, I was well. I was... Well, I had off and on. I was sick of here when I got to Dallas the last couple of months that I was 70 years in Boston. Why do you think that is? Well, old age, I guess. I guess so. I guess it's old age. You know, it's... Thank God I feel a lot better than I used to. I just got through with Dr. Bills. I had Dr. Bills at over $3,000. From here? Yeah, right here in the Presbyterian. But don't see in your health.
I think the Blue Cross and Blue Seal took care of that. I think when I joined it up years ago. Right. And they took care of that. I was in the hospital a couple of weeks, about a month ago, for tests. You're okay? Well, I feel a lot better, thank God. But I'm still out of commission. You don't look like you're out of commission. You spring around pretty good. Well, I don't give up. Well, that's why. That's why, because you were the kind of person, even when you were young, who never gave up. Okay, do you have any stories, funny things that happened to you in the business with customers, with the chickens?
Well, custom, no. Oh, I did have trouble once a day with an inspector. Not trouble. I used to buy a second-hand, you know, I'm great at poultry and sell time at the restaurants. Second-hand poultry? Second-hand poultry. I've never heard of second-hand poultry. Okay. You used to buy second-hand poultry. Yeah. So a couple of friends of mine told the inspector to watch me. Yeah. A couple of leadership boys. They, the master took you. So when I went to the restaurant I used to sell chickens and I saw the inspector I went out and I took the I had a car already I had a little world pickup I took the poultry and that I had the poultry in the place but I went in one door and I went out to ride it out through the back.
Yeah. And I put it back on the truck and I drove away. What, what was so wrong about selling secondhand chickens? What do they mean? They're not the top quality? Is that what it is? And you You were selling them for top quality or you weren't? No, no. So what could the inspector do to you? The inspector would see and he'd open the port, he'd open up. He'd tell me to dump it or throw it out or take me in. I knew that. But were the chickens good for eating or you wouldn't sell them? There was nothing on them but bones. Nothing on them but bones.
So what did the restaurant do with them? I didn't care. What do you mean? When I worked for, that's why I put in, that's why I worked for the same company, because I used to get the chickens from them. I see. This was a side business. That was a side business. I made more of a side business than I made on pay. Ah, that's what you call a yid git z'chanetza. Okay, what other? Oh, if I start talking, I can never tell you that in my life. Well, come on. Come on. You've got lots of room on the table. I'll be sitting on your life if you don't look out.
That's all right. I don't mind. I'm enjoying these stories. What other things did you do? Oh, not much. Honest, I was all the way through. Well, that's good. That's the most important thing. In fact, one day, I'll never forget in my life, when I, my boss, you know, we've done a big business. In fact, he used to send life poultry to New York, trackpoints. And I used to, and he gave me the key to, for everything. in the show that it's a poultry, there was people that come over to me to say, Nathan, you can become a millionaire inside of a year if you play with us.
I said, what kind of a play do you want to play? Sell us a few crates of chickens, two, three crates of chickens. We'll pay the top. You couldn't. I said, not me. Not me. After 28 years I since pulled my name for money. I said, I'll be a poor captain. That right but you be a captain who can sleep at night Because the boys were very good to me when I needed money The boss comes over to me he said Suga he said I know you in trouble because my wife was sick during the time that I've worked. He said, how are you doing?
I said, Aby, no less. Because I am getting plus. I said, I'm way behind in the hospital. The wooden memorial was in Neverett. I owe them more close to $2,000 already. in doctors. Yeah, but they came through when they came by. Wait a minute, Sheldon. Before I said any more, he said, how much money do you need? I said, maybe you can't help me. He said, how much money do you need to clear the bills? About three, four thousand dollars. He looked at me. He said, go in the office, I'll tell my sister. She made me a lot of chicken. Isn't that wonderful? That's why I worked there.
Well, that's very important. That is... Did you ever... Were you ever in the military? Were you ever in the army? No. No, I was exempt. I was exempt from the First World War. Why were you exempt? Because I was a farmer. Ah, they didn't take farmers. No. Okay. And they closed the butcher shop, too. And Mr. Estefis, my mother told my brother, he said, close your butcher. Close it up for whatever time, because- And then he won't have to go. And you come here. Right. In this town that you lived for 28 years, and there were lots of Jewish people, did you ever have any relationship with the non-Jewish people?
Was there ever any trouble in the town? Everybody lived very well together. Well, the only trouble we had was with kids. We had to go to Taslech. We had a creek in back of our farm that connected to two cities, and Everett and Molden. We used to have a fight every Taslech. We used to have the Everett gang come down and start throwing stones. So some of the Jewish boys got together and they took care of those kids. So they didn't throw stones at you when you went to Tashlop anymore? No, they couldn't even win at them. Oh, good. Let them know that we stand up for something.
No, no. Oh. I was a greenhorn then. A greenhorn, yeah. A greenhorn, a phone. Okay, yeah. So our class, we had about 42 rooms we had. We had about 40, 50 kids. Well, there was about a half a dozen bigger boys. So we had another school. They used to meet and we beat the devil out of the kids. So we used to tell the teacher, he said, grab a couple of kids, if he can grab a couple of kids to find out where they come from, we can stop it. So I said to another Jewish fellow, a plumber, he's a player, so I said, how about, let's pick out a half a dozen of our, you know, bigger boys, and we'll go first.
And the teacher said, I'll go along with you. So we were coming around the corner and here comes another game from the other school. So we stopped. When the kids, the other kids come alongside of us, the six of us, we grabbed about three kids, the bigger ones, and we grabbed and we held on to them. So we found out which school they come from and that was stopped right away. That was nice that your teacher wanted to go with you. Well, because you were complaining that we were getting beat up. Right. But sometimes, you know... Oh, no, don't say there was no way. Nothing like that.
Okay, Nathan, in your whole life, we've talked about how you came and your job and your children. And one daughter lives here in Dallas and a son in California. Yeah. If you had to live your life over again, Would you change anything or what advice would you give to your kids or your grandchildren? Well, to be honest. Absolutely. I can tell that from your whole thing. That's the first thing. To be honest. You see, there's my son. When he got out of service, he started work. For Douglas Hickrest. In the Air Force in the War In the Air Force whatever they wanted You could fire a plane But his whole business was in the world of mechanical engineering, and automobiles.
What did you think? Was he married when he was in the War? Yes, he took his wife when she was out of high school. They got married along the bedside of their mother before she passed away. I took in a cousin, a rabbi, and he put out a cupid, and that's all. This was your son? And he went right into the service. What were your thoughts when you didn't hear from him for five years? Well, I'll tell you. There was nothing I could have done, and I was in trouble anyways. But when he got back to California, he wrote me a letter, and he got a job at Douglas Aircraft, on jet motors.
He worked with Douglas Aircraft and he made a good week's pay there. I'm sure he did. That was a very important job. And he had how many children? Well, he's got three. Three children. When he went into California, he took his son. He was married in Boston. He had a little son. He was 18 months old and he took a walk with him. And now the 18-month-old son is a grandfather himself. He's a dentist now. A dentist, yeah. That's wonderful. And he's a father. Yeah. So, and then my son started to work. Then he joined up. Then he started to open up a picture place, you know, photography.
Uh-huh. He's a good photographer, man. We started that. We worked in the day. We worked in Fort Douglas. He sounds like his father. He can always find a place to put himself. Yeah. Yeah. That's wonderful. I started working for a big company selling cars. He became head salesman. He's got an office full of trophies that he used to get every year. And now he has his own car business. And now he's got his own car business. That's wonderful. That's what you call the American dream, starting and seeing that you can do something else. He had problems with somebody sent fire to his place. He just bought four acres of land for his parking you know for parking cars in a building That cost him Wow I said kid he said daddy said I haven got a cent but my credit is good for a quarter of a million dollars Go ahead, go fight with him.
Listen, that's the way you do it. You've got to take chances in America. He said, you know my son, your dentist, how much do you think it cost me to put him to school? He said, he's a good kid. I had to stay with him. It cost me $75,000. I'm sure. Every year of college. Now the kid is about two years out of the hospital, he's got his office now, and the kid bought a home for $75,000. That's very nice. When was the last time you were there? Last year. Are you going again this year? If I'll be well enough, I'll be going in February.
I mean in November. And how long do you stay usually? A couple months, two months, three months. I can stay here all the time. You stay with your son in his house? Mm-hmm. That's very nice. And they take me all along. That's nice. You want another partner? I'll go with you. No, I'll take you along. I'll say this is my granddaughter. This is your granddaughter. My adopted granddaughter. Your adopted granddaughter. Okay, Nathan, I think that we've had a nice talk. Is there anything else you want to share with me before I shut off the tape? Shut it up for a while. Anything at all? No, I'm going to ask you one more question.
Oh, gosh, she hates to part with me. I don't want to part with you. I've enjoyed you. Tell me what your wife was like. You didn't tell me what kind of a woman she was like. A redhead. A redhead. A gorgeous redhead. A gorgeous redhead. A little better than you are. Uh-huh. A little much better. Well, in those days... I didn't care about that. They say that a fat girl is like an inter-girl. She used to sew. The children used to go out like million-dollar kids. She used to make their clothes? Make their clothes. That's nice. That's really, really nice. And she always backed you up in what you did.
Never complained. Poor. Trouble. Well. That's why I've done the best I could. That's right. because you had support and you had nobody who complained. Wonderful. Okay and your children which one do you think your children took from you and your wife They got your strength your honesty your Well, that's my children. That's your children. They say, So you think my daughter, I'd give her my work. I'd give her everything. When they got married, she was up against it. He came back for the service and they tried things and it didn't work out. There was money and this and that. Then he got a job. He was doing pretty good in a pocket watch, taking care of a pocket watch for a couple of lawyers, real estate in Boston.
Then the daughter, they put her to college. She was a scholarship, one of the biggest scholarships in Boston. She's got a job right here, teaching. She's got a good job, psychology. Is she married, their daughter? Yeah, married, but she's got trouble with her husband. What can you do? So the mother and father came here because of the daughter, and the Zeta came here because of the mother and father. My daughter wouldn't let me be in Boston. She said, Daddy, you've got nobody up there. No, that's right. You've got sick, you've got a nephew. What will a nephew do to you? That's right. You should be with your children.
And look how much love you have for your children. And your son, I think that's wonderful. Nathan, it's been a pleasure talking to you. Oh, shall I hit you? Don't hit me. What's the date today? October 1st, 1980. Nathan Sugarman and Miriam Creamer spent 45 minutes together talking. We were chased from one room to another, but we got it. I want to thank you very much, Nathan. And I have a picture to have with your story, the picture from the butcher shop. Thank you, Nathan. Anything else you want to say before we stop? Well, I'm here, I'll tell you. I got a three-room apartment now.
I live in my own apartment. I take care of it. I do my own the best way I can. I got a lot of friends. That's the most important. I got a lot of friends, and they, look it. We came in here, the rain. Vanessa don't drive in the rain. She's afraid. I ride a poor woman. I don't blame her. Yes. I woke up a friend of mine, the one that showed us the pictures here, Mr. Reeves. Right. I woke him up, I said, Mr. Reeves, I'm sorry to wake you up, but are you going to do me a favor? Drive me to the... He said, what is it?
Isn't that wonderful? I wanted to take us to the center. Wait a half an hour. So you have a lot of friends where you live in Mid Park, and you have a lot of friends here at the Seniors. The women can't move without you. Where's Nathan? That's wonderful. Nathan, to be able to... To do what I'm doing. To do what you're doing and to make friends. When did you move here? I moved here. What? It's two years. In two years, look at all the friends you've made. At your age. The first three months I was going to go home. But there's a couple of girls in the office.
They took me in, just like you. And they made me sit down. And I said, the redhead in the front office, the redhead. And there was a couple more girls. She said, what do you want to do? So she gave me work. Roll envelopes, roll pay, roll things. till I got here, Stuart. Mm-hmm. Made my friends and now Now you wouldn leave Now there so much here and you so busy and you so helpful and so active You a wonderful person See I don like to play with some of the boys I don't care a couple of guys in there. I don't care. I don't talk to them.
There's one man in there. Yeah. Well, that's people. I think you know them, Lewis. Yes, yes. Those are people and those are personalities. But I think you've done wonderful. You know what I call them? Cha-cha. You know what I call them? I play communist. Well, listen, everyone has their right to their political views. Wait a minute. When he told me what problem he belonged to in New York, I said, you're nothing with a damn dirty... Come on. All right. What were your political leanings? Nothing. Work and be honest. Work and be honest. You never belonged or had any feelings about political parties? I belonged to the citizens in Boston for years.
But you weren't a Republican or a Democrat? I was not a politician. Never politicians. No. I don't blame them. Because they're all not doing a bunch of cooks. Okay, Nathan. Okay, doctor. Thank you and zagazin. Thank you, sir.