Fruitful friendships developed within the boundary of the block where I grew up in Pittsburgh. This is a lovely story of one of these relationships and what grew out of it.
We always knew the Small family; the parents were friends and the children were too. We all grew up together. There is this one cloudy area where I can't remember whose idea this was; however, my mother and Mrs. Small decided to form a business. They would advertise their services to people who needed to clear their houses of furniture. A death, a divorce, maybe other circumstances would lead to this decision. The two women put an advertisement in the Pittsburgh Press classified section, offering their services and ending with this line: "We get the best prices."
People called; my mother and Mrs. Small went to see these prospective clients; the women began to get jobs. They would go out and meet these clients and take a look at the houses, then began putting price tags on furniture, pictures and other art work, and sometimes just plain junk. These sales always took place on a weekend, usually Sunday.
For a long period of time my mother and Mrs. Small were quite successful. There were lots of sales. Because my father's income supported our family, my mother was able to save the money she earned as an entrepreneur.

Why do I call this a "lovely" story? It is a story rich in meaning.

First of all, you have to be a certain kind of person to come up with such an idea and carry it through. You need chutzpah--confidence to know what the market will bear, who will buy what, and what home furnishings are worth. You have to be able to put out a worthy and competent image.

Second, and this part of the story I find quite moving; nobody in the Golding and Small families suffered from our mothers' activities. Between making appointments during school hours and scheduling the sales on the weekends, the Golding girls and the Small boys had a mother at home when they returned from school. Clean and quiet spaces were provided for homework, both mothers were vigilant about healthy snacks and fresh air and exercise, and my father and Mr. Small came home to a well-ordered home and a fresh, home-cooked meal. Beautiful.

When Chuck Small and I were teenagers our mothers asked us to help in the sales. I remember the two of us spending one Sunday in the basement of one of the houses, selling used irons and cutlery. We each got a twenty dollar bill for our services and I used my money to buy a birthday present for my boyfriend.

My mother saved her money and in the spring vacation of 1965 she treated us to the best family vacation we ever had; a week in a big, fancy, over-decorated hotel in Miami Beach. And what happened to me during that week is something every girl should experience; there were lots of families on vacation, staying in the same fancy hotel, and I was the queen of the whole place. Boys fought with each other to sit next to me on the beach and I went out every night on dates to movies and parties. Even my father who tended to be strict fell in love a little with the image of his daughter kicking up her heels on spring vacation. My parents let me stay out longer at night than they ever did in Pittsburgh. Thanks, Mom.