Cathy and Steven

I mentioned in an earlier post about Joyce being a member of a Masonic organization called Triangle for Girls.  It was associated with Eastern Star, the women’s organization of the Masons. 

While Joyce was in Triangle, she held several offices in her local chapter. This is before I met her so I’m probably going to get some of this wrong. After holding offices in her chapter, she was elected to a couple of regional offices. Part of her duties included going to other local chapters of Triangle and helping them out as far as procedures and such. In this capacity, she met Cathy Beckman. Cathy was one of the officers in a local chapter that Joyce visited. They became friends outside of Triangle.

I don’t know when they met, but Steven Pastor 

and Cathy Beckman started dating. I believe Steven was in Demolay. Demolay was the boys' organization for the Masons. I think he was like 18 or 19 at the time and she was 16 or 17. Cathy’s parents were Marie and Tom Beckman. Marie and Tom

enjoyed having Cathy’s friends over, so we began playing games on the weekends at Marie and Tom’s house in Levittown. The games started out simply enough, but soon developed into something else.

Pinochle

That something else turned out to be Pinochle (pronounced “pea-nuckle” if you didn’t know). It involved a couple of decks (2 I think) of Pinochle cards. Pinochle cards were Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, and Nine. There were 4 suits: Spades, Clubs, Hearts and Diamonds. The cards were dealt out in 4 rounds of 3 each for a total of 12 cards per hand.  You had to meld, and win tricks, (Again go to my friend Google if you want more info).

The six of us would meet at Marie and Toms house on Friday night, and play Pinochle all weekend until Sunday afternoon.  There was lots of coffee and Entenmann’s cakes consumed during that time.  We would take power naps, and run out for smokes throughout the weekend. Steven and I both smoked at the time. Neither Cathy or Joyce smoked and I don’t think Marie or Tom did.

Scaring the crap out of the 7-11 Guy

On one of the smokes runs, Steven and I decided to have some fun. Steven was training to be a Nassau County Cop and I was working at NY Telco. We were in Steven’s car so we pulled into the 7-11 at about 2am slammed on the brakes, threw the doors open and got out like cops, or robbers, depending on your point of view. Well the clerk definitely thought we were of the latter ilk. He knew he was going to be shot in a robbery.  We did not abuse him of that idea when we ran into the store, ran up to his counter and asked for Winstons. I know the guy had to go to the bathroom after we left, to clean his shorts.  I have never seen a guy’s eyes go that wide. It was like in the comics when you see the character’s eyes bulge out.

We went back to the card game and laughed about it while telling the girls and Tom what happened. When I think about it, we could have been shot if the guy was armed, but that didn’t dawn on us at the time.

When Joyce and I got married, the Pinochle moved to our apartment. Tom and Marie were probably thankful.

Cathy and Steven would come over, we would fix spaghetti and eat, then start playing.

We did some other crazy stuff.  One weekend on a whim, we decided to go snow skiing in Vermont.

Skiing in Killington

This was 5 hours solid drive time. We would trade off driving so we didn’t have to make as many stops. We would leave after work Friday afternoon, drive to Killington, sleep in the car for a couple of hours, and hit the slopes ALL day Saturday. At some point we rented a room at the Lodge and we slept there Saturday night. With the lodge room rental, you got dinner. It was a kind of family buffet style. On one trip, the appetizer was Escargot. Escargot is a french dish. It is snails cooked in butter. I know that sounds gross, but after skiing all day, we were starving. I particularly liked them and the ones in our group that found it disgusting, gave me theirs. A tiny fork was used to dig the snail out of its hard shell.

Skiing after surgery

I think we were living in Queens at the time, but I developed an abscess at the top of my butt crack (I tried to think of a nice way to put that, but this will have to do). I had a Pilonidal cyst, and it got abscessed and infected. I had to have day surgery to have it lanced, and packed with gauze to clear the infection. I think I had the surgery on Thursday, and the next day, Friday, Steven called and wanted me to go to Killington to ski. I said sure, and the battle royal began with Joyce. She was sure I was going to further injure myself on the ski slopes.  She just knew I would get hurt and get fired from the phone company. I didn’t care. Steven had talked me into buying my own ski equipment and I was itching to try it out. Even if I fell and injured myself, I was not going to tell Joyce. I guess I got lucky and no problems came up. It was Just Cathy, Steven and me that trip. I think Joyce only went 1 earlier time, and did not enjoy it much. She sat in the Lodge while we skied.

Built-in Wine Fridge

When we stayed at the lodge we usually had wine with dinner. We were so cultured. The lodge had wine tastings, and at one of those, they served some German wines. One was Leibfraumilch. All 3 of us went nuts for that wine. Steven and I went into Killington township and found a wine store. We bought several bottles and took them back to the lodge. We had a balcony attached to our room and we put the bottles out in the drifted snow on our balcony. Each time we came in from skiing, we had cold Leibfraumilch waiting for us. GOOD TIMES.

Jobs for the Four of Us

Cathy was a Dental hygienist for a local dental office in Levittown, I think. Joyce was working at one of the business offices for NYTelco. Steven was a patrol officer for Nassau County Police Department. And I was working in the Richmond Hill central office in Jamaica in Queens.

Steven Gets a Promotion

Steven had always liked photography, as a hobby and had a very nice Nikon 35mm camera. He talked me into buying a 35mm camera, but mine was not as nice as his.

At some point, the crime scene investigations group for NCPD had an opening for a photographer. Steven applied and got the job. He spent the rest of his 20 years taking crime scene photos and testifying in court about the photos he took. He had to keep detailed notes about where objects were physically located at the crime scene. It was a lot like CSI, and NCIS. His job was so much more interesting than the other three of us.

Nevets Rotsap

No, I didn't just have a stroke while writing that last header. NCPD had a policy that all employees had to have a home phone number so that they could be contacted at any hour of the day or night. NCPD would pay for the phone line as long as the phone number was listed in the phonebook. (For those of you younger readers, the phone company used to publish yearly a phone book with all the numbers and names and addresses listed in the area.) I was in there: Santa Claus 312 W. Marie St, Hicksville NY. 516-824-5423. Steven found out from some of the older cops on the force that to keep perps from tracking them down in the phone book and harassing them or worse, they listed their real number with their name spelled backwards. So Steven Pastor became Nevets Rotsap in the phone book. My name would have been Atnas Sualc. Cops are so devious, I guess it comes from dealing with crooks all day.

Steven and I try to Rebuild Mazda

Shortly before Joyce and I moved from Long Island to Texas, we owned a 1973 Mazda RX3 that had a rotary Wankle engine. 

At some point, the engine started to act up.  Steven and I decided to re-build the engine itself. I went to an auto parts shop and purchased the only book they had on the Wankle Rotary engine. It had a lot of great pictures, but the written instructions were terrible. We were able to get the engine apart. To the point of removing the rotating cylinders from the crankshaft. The instructions said “use metric socket wrench of correct size to remove the cylinders from the shaft.”  We had a standard and metric set of sockets, but this particular nut had to be 2.5 in wide.  We did not have any way to measure in metrics, so we could not buy a socket “of correct size.”  There ended our careers as rotary engine rebuilders. It also ended the RX3.  I eventually had a junk yard come and cart it off.

Cathy and Steven Part Ways

Cathy and Steven were married on Dec 30th, 1972 I think, and got divorced sometime in 1983. 

Cathy moved out to San Francisco CA. and started working as a dental hygienist out there. While she was out there she met and married her current husband Joseph, and they now live in Elkhart TX. Joseph has family in that area and they moved back when they both retired.

Training in California

In the mid eighties ATT started using more SuperComputers. One of the most popular at that time was Sun MicroSystems. Their headquarters was in San Jose at that time. ATT had a contract with Sun to train technicians on their computers. I was sent out to San Jose to learn about their systems. On the first or second day of training, we were in class working and my legs started bouncing. When I am nervous I sometimes bounce my legs to relieve the tension. I thought that was what was happening, but when I looked around, everything and everyone in the classroom was bouncing. It was my first and only earthquake. It was the weirdest I have ever felt. I was bouncing around and had no control. It went on for probably 30 or 45 seconds then stopped. All the non-California guys were pretty shaken by this experience. Count me among the shaken.

My visit with Cathy in San Fran

San Jose is only 50 miles from San Francisco, so on one of the weekends I had out there, I took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train from San Jose to San Fran to visit Cathy. This was before she met Joseph. I arrived at her apartment in the late afternoon after she got off work. That night she took me out to dinner at one of her favorite places, and we took a cable car to get there. 

Cable cars are basically trolleys, but they are pulled from one stop to the next by a series of cables and big drums buried underneath the street.  San Francisco is very hilly and it was easier to use a cable system, than to use electrical power to get the cars up and down the hills. 

When we got back to her apartment, she showed me around. At the time Northern California was in severe drought conditions. One of the ways the populace could help was not flushing the toilets as much. When Cathy showed me her bathroom, she had a sign over the toilet I've never forgotten “If it's brown, flush it down. If it's yellow, let it mellow” in other words don't flush after every pee.

I slept on the couch that night and Saturday night. Saturday morning, we got up, had breakfast and Cathy took me sight- seeing. We went downtown to the fisherman's wharf, saw the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, and an American submarine on display at the pier. By the time we got home I was beat. It was a lot more walking than I was used to. In Texas, we jump in the car and go. In San Fran, Cathy took buses, cable cars, and walked everywhere. Sunday, we just read the paper, drank coffee and caught up. Late Sunday afternoon, I took the BART train back to San Jose.

Steven and Jo

Steven met and married Jo (short for Josephine) in 1988. Jo was a widow with 2 kids, a boy and a girl. They are twins named Marc and Nichole. Jo had worked for many years as a school teacher in the area. I'm not sure if she retired or not. Steven took to parenthood like a duck to water. He had several younger brothers and sisters, so it came naturally. Jo's kids grew to love Steven as their father. They lived in Lloyd Harbor on Long Island.

Jo's Illness

Later after they were married a while, Jo developed a neurological condition that resembled Alzheimers, except it affected her sight instead of her memory. She deteriorated rapidly. For several years Steven took care of her by himself. He retired, and taking care of Jo became his job. I know Steven did not see it as a job - it was clear that Steven loved Jo very much, and his commitment to her became the center point of his life for the next several years.

Catholic Church

I think Jo was a devout Catholic, and she got Steven to start going to church with her. It is amazing the change it made in him. He became as devout as she was, and continues to this day. When he comes to DFW, besides booking his hotel, he researches which Catholic Churches in the area have mass in the mornings so he doesn't miss a day.

Jo's Passing

We got to meet Jo only one time. Steven was taking her on a trip out west to visit some of his family. They stopped in Dallas and we got to have dinner with them. She was a lovely woman, and Steven truly loved her.

Jo succumbed to her disease and died in 2015. Kelly lived in New York at the time and went to the funeral. She remembers Jo’s son giving a beautiful eulogy. She was very loved by a lot of people.

Jo’s death hit Steven really hard. He ended up leaving Long Island and moving down to Florida. He still goes to church each day, and hits the golf course afterward. He still stops over in Dallas when he goes out to visit his kids and family in California.