b'home from school at 3 or 3:15. And the babyI had someone in the neighborhood to care for her in the daytime.At that time, it was taking me four or five hours a day to commute to the Lower East Side from my home. I wanted tobe closer to my job, so when the opportunity came, I took it. I passed the test for housing assistant and went to PomonokHouses. By car, I was 15 minutes away. I took a demotion in my salary, but I needed to be closer to my family.My problems began really when my oldest daughter started junior high school. She was beautiful. She was outgoing. She was the party type. So, whenever the phone rang, I was worried it was from her school. I held every teacherresponsible. They all had my office number. I told them, if my daughter isnt in class, you have to call me immediately or I will hold you responsible if anything happens. So, whenever she missed a class, they called me, and I would comehome. The boys were okay. They were never a problem. But this daughtertoday she lives near me. Today shes a darling.When she tells me stories about what she did during those years, what they did at parties, I cant believe it! She tells me,Ma, you would have dropped dead then if I told you what I was doing.The two boys went to Seward Park High School in the Lower East Side. The drug scene was heavy there in those days.My kids swore all of their lives that I had a detective after them, that I paid someone to check them out. But I had myways to find out who their friends were. My two daughters used to tell me I was old-fashioned, I was this, I was that, I wasnot with the times. But they are much stricter with their children than I was with them. I have 11 grandchildren, andtheyre all doing very well.Pomonok Houses is very, very large. There were 450 to 500 tenants. As housing assistant, I made sure the tenantspaid their rents on time. I made home visits to tenants to help with whatever problems came up. There werent enoughhousing assistants. Thank God the majority of my tenants were responsible. As a matter of fact, when I left, there were nodelinquencies. Mr. Moritz, the manager, said, How did you do it? Tell me! I said, Do what? He said, You have no rentdelinquents!I joined the union when I went to Pomonok Houses. I was happy that I could be a member and participate.I went to union meetings, parties, and get-togethers.The one thing I liked about the union was that you could express your opinion, you could speak your mind, andeveryone treated you with respect. The union would say they would see what they could do about a situation and thenyou would get a call with an answer a couple of days later. Even if they said there was nothing they could do about a situation because it was part of the contract or whatever, they still followed up. I never bothered the union with myproblems. But I did call the union on behalf of some of the employees.One thing I want to emphasize is that I have neverand I am a very good detective for thatI have never experiencedor suspected or witnessed any type, any form or any shape of discrimination in the union. Whats good for me is good forthe next person and the next person. That has been my impression. And I dont think its different when Im not around.This is the way they are. Im a very good observer of character. If I were to define in one word or one sentence what theunion has done for me since I became a member of the union and since I retired, Id say the union has become part of myfamily. The people who work for the union are people that I can count on in case of an emergency or if theres a medicalsituation. Or even if I just need to talk. And they call me. This is something that touches my heart.90 '