My Memoirs - Citizen of the World

I have to confess that the Kaiser Complex Rehabilitation was like
my mistress. My wife was jealous because I spent hundreds (if
not thousands) of hours with other people during this time. One
night, I received a call from David Barboza (who is a Town
Councilman today) saying that the Kaiser Plant was on fire. I ran
out of my house in pajamas and drove to Franklin Street.
Fortunately, it was a small fire that the skilled Fire Department
extinguished in no time. I treasure my files of countless
newspaper clippings, correspondence and photographs, especially
the one of Governor Bruce Sundlun and me cutting the ribbon at
the Grand Opening Ceremony. The end result of this magnificent
project is that we now have, in the center of our town, beautifully
renovated buildings from preserved architecture. There are now
109 senior citizens living there in private, independent apartments,
and an additional 92 in Assisted Living accommodations. At the
moment, there is a three year waiting list for a vacancy. I would
also like to add that the neighbors around the old complex have
polished their homes as well, and the value of their property has
increased a great deal.
I contacted the Town Administrator, Joseph Parella, and said that
I had an idea to build a park, Mosaico Park, on the corner of
Franklin and Wood Streets. I contacted Roberto Medeiros, a good
friend of mine from the Azores and Vice Mayor of Lagoa (a sister
city of the Town of Bristol), to ask him if he could collaborate
with us to donate a few tons of Portuguese granite stones and to
help finance a mason who could lay the stones for the future
Mosaico Park. Vice Mayor Medeiros agreed and began working
on the project. He was able to get the Town of Lagoa to pay for
the stones, and he sent João Luis Cabral to professionally lay
down the cobble stones in a beautiful design made by José Soares,
an artist residing in Bristol who was a native of Lagoa. He
donated all of his time and expertise. The only problem remaining
was how to transport the stones from the Azores to Boston. I was
able to get the necessary authorization for the transportation, free
of charge from TAP-Air Portugal, but the day the drums were set
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