Dear William (and Daniel, Catherine, Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

Let me tell you about the first house that Babcia Krysia and I purchased.

Your Dad was born on February 21, 1974. At that time, we lived at 630 Humboldt Street, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; I was working on Wall Street, at Kuhn Loeb & Co.; and I was attending Baruch College in the evenings, working towards my Masters in Business Administration (MBA).

Babcia Krysia grew up in an apartment (although her parents owned the 4-story building) in Brooklyn; and I grew up in an apartment in Forest Hills (although my first ten years were in a house in Argentina, which my parents rented).

Babcia Krysia and I decided it was time to get a place of our own, and follow the “American dream.”

We started by looking in Forest Hills — but everything was way too expensive for us there. We considered Long Island, but I was negative on that because I did not want to be stranded on an island in case of a natural of man-made disaster. Babcia Krysia did not want to live in Brooklyn because she had already lived there her entire life, and what we knew of different neighborhoods, they were not a nice place for children to grow up in. Manhattan was out of the question, for cost reasons. The Bronx was devastated by the relatively recent riots of the 1960s (at least, so we thought). We considered Staten Island, but it was just too new, and too far away; and an island.

We looked in Westchester County, but could not find anything we could afford. So, we started looking in New Jersey (notwithstanding Babcia Krysia’s then prejudice against the State).

We found some nice houses in New Jersey — particularly in Montclair, Bloomfield and Upper Montclair; but, again, we could not afford the prices.

Through Polish Scouting, we had some friends (Ryszard & Jadwiga Langner) who lived in Rahway, N.J. — so one Sunday, we took a drive there, to check it out. But, we did not find anything we liked. Discouraged, we started out trip back home. Before we got on the Garden State Parkway, to head North, we stopped at a Howard Johnson’s for some ice cream. After that, we chose (on a whim) to turn right instead of turning left onto the Parkway. That road (Central Avenue), went over some railroad tracks, and then — we were in heaven!

What a beautiful place — later, we found out it was called Westfield. As we drove down Central Avenue (from Clark towards the center of town), we saw a Realtor’s office on the corner of Grove Street. We parked our car, and just then, a Realtor was locking the door to her office, as she was headed home. I guess that we looked like good prospects, so she re-opened the office for us, and told us about Westfield. She showed us some photos of houses available for sale, and she took our income and financial information.

After a few minutes, she took us in her car to a house “around the corner” that she thought we may like. It was a beautiful house.

After that, we saw many other houses; but, we always returned to the first house we saw in Westfield. We finally got our courage to make an offer — it was more money we ever considered paying, and we did not know how we would pay for it. After some negotiation, we settled on the price — $52,500; but that included all the tools in the basement.

Now, we faced two obstacles — we needed to raise $10,500 for the down payment (20% of the purchase price); and, even harder, we needed to qualify for a mortgage loan.

We had some money for the down payment — but NOT that much! We approached Babcia Krysia’s parents and grandmother; and a friend from Polish Scouting — Druhna Jadzia (Jadwiga Chrusciel). After they agreed to fund our investment, I prepared formal Notes, evidencing the loans, and documenting the interest rate and repayment schedule.

William — a Note is an “IOU,” which means “I owe you” i.e., a contract that acknowledges that the borrower received a certain amount of money from a lender, and in return the borrower agree to return that amount of money to the lender in installments over time, and pay interest on the outstanding balance at a stated interest rate. For example, you and I can agree that you will lend me $100, and I will pay you back in 10 monthly installments of $10, plus I will pay you a 12% annual interest rate (1% per month) — so, at the end of the first month, I will pay you $11 ($10 principal + $1 interest); at the end of the second month, I will pay you $10.90 ($10 principal + $0.90 interest); etc.; at the end of the tenth month, I will pay you $10.10 ($10 principal + $0.10 interest). Thus, this financial transaction allowed me to get $100 when I needed it (and presumably, you had the $100, but did not need it for any expenditure you wanted to make); and you got the full $100 back over ten months, PLUS, you earned interest on the loan at an annual rate of 12%! Hey, William, I see you going to be a sharp financier.

So much for our finance lesson — now back to my story.

Our next mission was to get a mortgage loan.

Banks have various criteria they look at before they agree to lend money. Consequently, before you can get a loan from a bank, you have to qualify for the loan.

At that time, one of the main banks in Westfield was Lincoln Federal Savings. Babcia Krysia and I filled out an application for a loan, and submitted our Balance Sheet (which is a statement showing our assets and our liabilities); and our recent income tax returns, which showed our income.

We clearly did NOT meet the Bank’s criteria for a loan (because our income was not great, and our assets were low, and our liabilities were high); nevertheless, I was invited to come in and discuss my application with a loan officer.

His name was Doug Smith. I came, wearing my best suit, and explained that I anticipated finishing my MBA soon; that I had a good job on Wall Street; and that I was willing to work hard to fund this investment. Mr. Smith agreed to recommend the approval of the $42,000 mortgage loan to us. Based on Mr. Smith’s recommendation, the Bank agreed to give us the mortgage loan. Mr. Smith is one of the heroes that influenced my life.

The Closing (the ceremony, during which we sign the mortgage loan papers, the bank makes the loan, we give the agreed upon purchase price to the Sellers, and the Sellers give us a Deed to the house), was held on August 14, 1975.

After the Closing, we spent some time “fixing up” the house. Babcia Krysia’s family and my family came over to help clean, and paint, and do whatever was necessary, so that Babcia Krysia and I, and your Dad, would have a nice place to live.

We moved in on the last day of August, 1975.

On October 19, 1975, we had a House Warming Party. Here are some photos from that Party:

Some notes about the people in these pictures:

Roman Bielski: Son of Dzidka/Maria & Zymunt Bielski.

Zygmunt Bielski: Husband of Dzikda/Maria Bielska; they lived in Bayridge, Brooklyn; he was an electrical engineer; and was involved in Polish Scouting.

Helena Boguniewicz: She was involved in Polish Scouting, and a friend of Pra-Babcia Neumann; she lived in Elizabeth, N.J.

Joe Ciolino: He was a music student at Hunter College; he used to date Olenka.

Helena Dagys: Mother of Tuncia/Janina Dagys/Dobkowski & Adam Dagys — I knew them from Polish Scouting; Adam was in my boy scout troop; they lived in Jamaica, Queens, N.Y.; I dated Tuncia, but then she decided to marry Kazik; Mr. & Mrs. Dagys owned a sail boat, and they took me sailing several times; also, they gave me (actually, sold me for $1) my first car — a 1955 Chevy stationwagon.

Konrad Dobkowski: Son of Kazik Dobkowski & Tuncia/Janina Dobkowski.

Ryszard Langner: We knew their family through Polish Scouting; his wife, Jadwiga, had a wooden leg, due to a World War II injury.

Rafal Ornaf: We met through Polish Scouting; later, his parents and all the kids (Hanka, Halina, Rafal, Gabrys, Michal & Malgosia) moved from South Brooklyn to Forest Hills — he dated my sisters and your Babcia Krysia; he is your Dad’s Godfather.

Basia Paprocka: She and her family were close friends of my Parents; she and my Mom met in English Language School in Forest Hills. Her husband was Bronek Paprocki, and they had one daughter, Ewa Paprocka. The exotic fact about her (in my mind) was that she and her husband were cousins (I do not know how far apart).

Irka Rak/Dziezbinska: She was from Connecticut, and I used to date her; until I canceled a date when I got a flat tire close to Tuncia’s house – she got miffed at me for calling her from another girl’s house (women – I just don’t understand them!).

Henia Rudzinska: Mother of Andrzej Rudzinski; she was close friend of Pra-Babcia Neumann and Pra-Dziadek Neumann; Babcia Krysia grew up with her kids.

Andrzej Rudzinski: Son of Henia Rudzinska.

Ania Stachowiak/Chorelik: One of our friends from Polish Scouting; from New Britain, Connecticut.

William — cherish your friends; and take lots of pictures of them. Also, invest in real estate as soon as you can — remember: Location, Location, Location!

Love,

Dziadziuś Paweł.

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