Coming Full Circle

Coming up with a title for this blog was difficult. I wanted to tie in my last show (in Aurora last week) with a long overdue reunion with my cousin Paul, from France.

As far as my business is concerned, I felt that my show in Aurora on Oct. 17-18 finally brought me back full circle to a feeling of success. It was a slow start on Friday with sales far from what I had hoped. Coming in a little discouraged on Sat. I really didn't know what to expect. The artist that I shared the room with, Betty Jo, is a friend of mine and her $5 necklaces went like hotcakes. I felt invisible in the room we shared with our handcrafted goods. But suddenly on Sat. morning there was unusually heavy traffic around my table. People were looking for me...saying things like, "there's the spoon lady," and telling me that there was someone wearing my necklace downstairs. I found myself sliding my credit card machine nonstop. People were waiting in line with multiple necklaces, credit card in hand, as I collected money as quickly as I could!

As soon as I had a break, I ran down the stairs to see who was wearing my necklace and helping divert customers my way. Lo and behold, a retired Aurora teacher who had worked with my husband, but also knew me from my days as a Plain Dealer reporter, was wearing a snowman necklace she had bought from me the day before. I immediately ran up to her and hugged her thanking her for helping me boost my sales to double what I had sold the previous day. It was mindboggling! She said whenever anyone said anything about my necklace she had on, she sent them upstairs to see my necklaces. I told her she wasn't allowed to leave her post where she was collecting admission fees or that she had to give the next person my necklace to wear.

The power of publicity! From now on, I am going to give the door attendant at my shows, a free necklace if they promise to wear it during the show. It was amazing to see how people responded. At the end of the day I had my best show EVER thanks to a lady who overheard me say that I had a bad day the previous day and thought she could help me out.

Applying to shows has been a humbling experience. I've been turned down from many juried shows that I considered higher class. I wanted to propel myself into a better position by getting in some higher end shows. I have been turned down numerously but this week I got in a show I've been eyeing all year. Called the Bizarre Bazaar, it is held in Cleveland on Dec. 13-14. (see http://www.bazaarbizarre.org/cleveland.html)The shows are also held in Boston, Austin and San Francisco. The items sold at the show are all somewhat different and unusual. I am so thrilled to be in the show. Along with a few other quality shows, I feel that I am finally getting seen by the right people.

Winding down from all the excitement of a successful show and learning that I got in a big show, as well as preparing for my show on Sat. at Kent Roosevelt H.S., I had the thrill of seeing my cousin Paul for the first time in 46 years! Last time I saw Paul, I was 8-years old. My parents were from France and left their family to come here 55 years ago. I was born the year after they arrived. But mom took me to France once in my life when I was 8 and I spent most of the summer there. Paul is 7 years older than me, and an only child. I fondly remember that he came over to grandma's house everyday to play with me. He was like a big brother. We had a good time that summer but our relationship ended there in 1962. But our relationship came back full circle in the strangest way imaginable.

Two years ago my daughter Julie and her husband Yaron, along with their baby daughter, moved back to Israel, Yaron's homeland. My father mentioned that his sister's granddaughter lived in Israel. While we visited, he phoned France and got Yael's address and phone nos. from my aunt Cecil (my dad's then 81 year old sister) who lives in France. When Julie arrived in Israel she found Yael and made arrangements to see her. My cousin Paul was visiting her at the time and so he got to see Julie. At the reunion Julie arranged for a webcamera conference for a few minutes and we spoke on the phone. We also were able to exchange email addresses. That got the ball rolling to get reacquainted. For the past two years we have emailed one another and I visited his daughter Yael and her family when I was in Israel last February. About 8 weeks ago, Paul wrote to me and said he was going to come and visit us. So this week I got to spend 3 days with him at my home. He is being juggled between me, my brother Claude's house and my dad's house. It's been fun to get to know him again and to have to use my french. I was shocked at the words coming out of my mouth this week. I used french words I haven't spoken in 15 years probably. I spoke french with my mom but when she died in 1992, I really haven't used my french as much with dad. Unfortunately we are having some major issues with my aging dad right now and Paul has had to get caught up in the chaos. But hopefully he's had an enjoyable visit. I plan to see him one more time before he leaves on Thursday.

Life does come full circle in so many ways!