Moving On

Winston Churchill once said, “Eating words has never given me indigestion.” I wish that I could say the same … but how many times have I had to suffer that?

I also wish there was a way I could tell you all how much fun I have had these past almost 60 years. I would love the ability to shake the hand of every person in this industry I have met, because I doubt that anyone has met with or worked with nicer people than I.

I am sitting here at my desk and allowing all the fond memories that I have gathered these many years to show themselves again, and this is going to be a very long session. I can go all the way back to 1945 when I was transferred from the 252nd Combat Engineers in Berlin to the pharmacy at the 279th Station Hospital.

I grew up in a pharmacy and was just beginning my education at Brooklyn College of Pharmacy (LIU) when I got the call to become a soldier. My good fortune was that the officer in charge at the hospital had more than sufficient points to go home, but there was no replacement in the Berlin district.

How they came up with my name is a long story, but that experience changed my entire outlook on life. I have to thank my Captain, who provided this transfer! I learned about people and how to share what one has with everyone.

When I returned home, I went back to college and graduated in 1950. In one week I took my pharmacy licensing board exams and married the most beautiful woman in the world. Here it is almost 58 years later, and that woman, Thelma, is still one of the loveliest women there is as you all know. I have maintained my license to practice pharmacy, and it still hangs proudly in my office. (I apologize for that bit of sentiment.)

I owned and operated four pharmacies during my 16 years in that end of the business. From my very first pharmacy in Rosedale, N.Y., we sold over-the counter DME products.

I still recall the first wheelchair I sold and the time I had to locate an IPPB machine. I have to admit that I had no idea what that acronym (intermittent positive pressure breathing) meant or where to locate a machine, but the nice people at Bennett were helpful in guiding me through that difficulty.

Back in the early 1950s, I realized how important durable medical equipment was and how few places there were to obtain it. It was where my partner and I had to go. We did, and have never rued the day we entered this field.