My Dad was a jack of all trades and a great family provider. He always had a job doing carpentry or construction and was a great mechanic and even an inventor. Anyway....One morning I was having breakfast when my Dad woke up and joined us for pancakes. He was still entranced by the dream he had just woke up from. He said, "Kay I just had this dream and this number...well.. I just know it's gonna come in. Do we have any money?" Well, my Mom was an awesome kinda Mom and only had $1 to buy milk for us kids. There was no way she was giving up that dollar easily. Somehow my Dad was able to make her a believer. Man that dream must have been powerful. We finished breakfast and my Dad was gone with a dollar and a three digit number in his head that he had dreamed.
In our neighborhood there were many Italiano's and numbers runners. You get 500 -1 on a three digit number which is 1,000-1 true odds. Nice profit for the number takers. Tips on horses at Yonkers raceway came often from the inner family and friends. Everybody played the number and gambled. This was a way of life for many New York Italians, and what I grew up around. This is what my Dad had a dream of. Being so lucky as to hit the number.
That evening my Dad had been late for dinner and my Mom was worried. He hadn't called or anything. After about an hour my mom was freaking out
when we heard him coming up the stairs. Me and my sister both jumped up and ran to greet him. When the door opened. there he was with a shocked look on
his face."Kay'' he said. "it came in. That's right friends! My Dad had hit the number he had dreamed of and it was rock-n-roll at the Mancini's
My Dad asked us all for numbers so as he could see just how lucky he might be. To quote an old wise man. " you'll never know if your on a heater unless you play it" Well this is how my Dad also thought and left the next morning to go to work and play the list of lucky numbers he had jotted down the night before.
The next night we waited in nervous anticipation for Dad to come home again and see if the lucky numbers we gave him came in. The door opened and there he was again. This time he was really freaked out. He not only hit the number again but this time he had $5 on it. Elementary my dear mathematician
$2500. Us kids started jumping up and down, Mom and Dad were kissing and hugging us. What a happy time for our family.
On the third day my Dad took the day off from work. The business he worked for, (Globe waterproofing) was slow and had been up for sale for a while. Hard times. That's why we only had a dollar two days ago. The day went on. We played outside after school and now it was time for dinner. I think we must have had Porterhouse Steaks or something like that for dinner that night. Again my Dad was late. Real late. Mom was OK this time and just relaxed and read her paper. But wait... Hey... Footsteps.... Now the door. Just seeing the amazement on my Mom and Dads faces when they met at the door was enough to realize that he had done it again. They looked like they had witnessed a miracle. And a miracle in deed it was. Priceless.
The next day my Dad bought the business he was working for and named it AAA Waterproofing. This is how my Dad got into his own business. Incredible. I always wondered but never knew just how much money he hit for on that third day. The business supported our family for the rest of my Mom and Dad's lives. I sure love this memory and hope you enjoyed reading it.
Enjoy your families my friends Wizzzmo
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