Three Years Ago When Mary Was Still Around

I first met Mary back around 1979 when Stephanie and I had split up, heading down the road to divorce. I was soon moved into a nearby smaller house chose largely because it was close enough so the kids, ages 8 and 3, could readily go from Mommy's house to Daddy's house. What I needed was furniture and kitchen stuff!

Mary Poh had a shop across 125th St. from city hall where she sold everything from antiques to used border-line junk.I bought what I needed right then, she said she'd try to find some other things I needed, and I started frequenting her shop in search of treasures. We became good friends and I also photographed things for her to submit to the big auction houses.

Mary gave up the shop and "retired" at 65 but kept going to estate sales and yard sales, selling her finds to other dealers. After about fifteen years of that her eyesight started getting pretty bad. As she got near eighty she had to stop driving. I took her to her doctors appointments and once or twice a week we'd go grocery shopping, perhaps having lunch or coffee someplace along the way. About a year ago her mind started slipping and she's now in an assisted living facility but I never go see her. She hates me. She's convinced that I'm the one that put her there. Nobody can convince her otherwise.

I prefer to remember her the way she was when I took this photo of her. Damned shapely legs for an 81 year old woman! I miss her.