From as early as I can remember, when I was a very little boy, I would see Allen and Theresa every summer when the Wiss's would come down to their vacation home in Avon By The Sea. I lived in a garage apartment with my family in the summertime. Across the alley, behind the Wiss's 2 car garage, Allen would work on the cars there.

He was, as a chauffeur, always well dressed, and liked to smoke cigars back there too.

One of the cars was maroon and one was black. They were big and had long front fenders with spare tires encased in them. They had long headlights shaped like bullets coming out of each side of the engine compartments. Everything was shiny. My brother, Dr. Blades, told me the maroon one was a Chrysler and I think the other was Allen's Buick.

My mother gave her children a lot of freedom, and never worried about our roaming around the alley where I would like to watch Allen wash and polish the cars. So once he took me for a ride in one -- over to his summer cottage in Neptune, NJ. I sat loosely in the front seat -- there were no seat belts then. Theresa met me on her front porch and gave me ice cream. Most of the time I would see Theresa at the Wiss's house, and she always seemed to have an apron on. I guess she cooked and cleaned. She was always friendly and kind to me and my brothers.

When Allen wasn't polishing the cars he would be taking care of the yard. I especially remember that the Wiss's had a long, tall privet hedge across the back of their property. It was so tall he used a ladder to cut the top. He would clip it so perfectly that it seemed to have had sharp edges on it where the sides met the top and was perfectly flat and level when he finished. He took great pride in his work.

Allen loved to fish, and every once in a while when he was done with his chores, he would take his long fishing pole to the beach or to the inlet. He took me with him once or twice. It was so long ago I don't recall if we caught anything. But it was very generous of him to take me with him.

Then one year in the beginning of the summer when I first saw him he looked different, very thin, and he moved slowly. He told me he wasn't feeling well and didn't fish anymore. After that summer of 1952, when I was 12, and the vacationers went home, I never saw him and Theresa again. I feel so sad thinking about it today.

Yet being a chauffeur and a maid is nice work. My great grandfather had a chauffeur too. He was always good to my great grandfather who needed help getting in and out of his shiny, square Packard when he was very old. They were good for one another. A chauffeur goes to nice places in a good car where he can enjoy the summer and be able to fish when his chores are done just like well-to-do people. And better yet, the work is not stressful. Only good, trustworthy people can have jobs like that. And that's why the Jenkins were able to work for the Wiss Family and be loved and respected by everyone.