Jim Skamarakas

My old office did not go anywhere; it is with me wherever I plug in my laptop. But MY Office was the room in Orlando, Florida on Beacontree Way where all my awards, certificates and things hung on hooks on the walls. All of my books and CD’s and tapes stood stacked on the shelves and the floppy disks sat in lined cabinets with well organized labels on them. Paperwork was in drawers, and stuff of importance was in the safe and always locked.
Then I took my new job and relocated to South Florida. And took our only child out of school, and tried to sell the house and also look for a tenant. Looking for a place to live in the Fort Lauderdale area introduced us to sticker shock. And look for a school to get reality shock about the lack of openings in the Catholic Schools. But the kindness and consideration of Monsignor Noel Fogarty secured us a spot at St. Gregory the Great in Plantation. One act that we made every effort to repay in kind with our time, efforts, donations and service to the community. It is a gift he gave us Anna and I could never repay, but always thank and remark to others on how well he ran the parish and the school. He handled the parishioners of the parish better then any we have every seen. No one goes to heaven on a free ticket, and no one just plopped their kids in the school as if it was a public school with no parental obligations.

By the Way, it is worth reading the bio of Monsignor Fogarty including such insights as his time as a nationally-recognized hurling goalkeeper, his taste in music, like myself and other great people - http://www.miamiarch.org/ip.asp?op=D100011&lg=E

The clown I worked for had no work for me in Fort Lauderdale. I sat on the bench for a few weeks after going to school for 2 weeks in Seattle, WA and self study training at home for a month. When he saw me in the Tampa office he wanted to know why I wasn’t in South Florida. I asked about working from our home in Orlando and he said it was not possible. When I explained the situation about the school he insisted there was work in South Florida and it had great opportunities. So I stopped hanging out in the Tampa office and resigned myself that there was no need for someone in Orlando. Then the clown I worked for hired someone and sent them to Orlando. They rented an apartment across the street from our house.

We went from 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 car garage, swimming pool and my office. We went to a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment. The rent was higher then we paid on the mortgage and taxes. The school was way better but the tuition was double. The area was beautiful to drive around but the auto insurance doubled. The weather was gorgeous but it was the first time a hurricane flooded our living room and dining room out. The neighbors were friendly but it never felt like home, it was an apartment. We lost our backyard pool where Anna swam with me at night once or twice, but we picked up a huge outdoor pool with showers and heated whirlpool area. And we went from a long drive to the beach to my eating lunch on the beach many days both at restaurants and just sitting on the bench watching the ocean come in.
In all that we lost, we gained so much more.

But today as I sit hear in my office scanning in pictures for Brighid’s Sweet 16 DVD, one of them has her in MY office, with plaques and awards on the wall. Not here but back in the old MY office.

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