In my younger days, life in our quaint village was simple yet fulfilling. As I turned 15, a desire for independence and responsibility grew within me, and I started babysitting. But the sporadic work couldn't fund my dream of attending college, so I sought a steady job at the local drugstore.

With courage, I asked the owner, Mrs. Kay, for a job. Despite my sister's warning about the challenges of scooping ice cream, I was determined. Mrs. Kay offered me a position, and I was elated to join the drugstore team.

My days were filled with making ice cream sodas, or "cabinets" as we called them, and serving customers with a smile. The drugstore became my second home, and I formed strong bonds with the locals, relishing the sense of belonging.

While I cherished my time at the drugstore, my dream was to become a teacher. I applied to Rhode Island College of Education and was accepted. However, a chance encounter with Mrs. Kay's brother, a pediatrician, sparked a new idea—I could become a pharmacist. I applied to the College of Pharmacy, and though I lacked funds for tuition, a heartfelt letter secured me a spot on the waiting list.

In the meantime, I began my studies at the College of Education. Fate played its hand, and I was later accepted into the Pharmacy College. Balancing studies and work was tough, but I embraced the challenge.

As graduation day approached, I felt immense pride and accomplishment. My journey to becoming a pharmacist had not been easy, but it had shaped my life in meaningful ways.

Working at the drugstore taught me valuable life lessons—hard work, perseverance, and seizing unexpected opportunities. The connections I made with customers and coworkers enriched my life.

Looking back, I realize the drugstore experience was more than just scooping ice cream. It was about connecting with people and forging my path in the world. The memories of laughter and camaraderie fill my heart with warmth.

I am grateful for the opportunities and experiences that came my way. The drugstore became a place of growth, where I nurtured my dreams and learned life's essential lessons. It taught me that embracing unforeseen possibilities can lead to a fulfilling and successful journey.

Going back many years, I lived in very small village village, I mean small computer cities and towns today. And it was just one drugstore, hardware store and a grocery store. And we did have a couple of churches. But we live brightened it, right? Graduating the center of the town. And I mean, it was on the main road going from Providence, Rhode Island to conflict, De Ville, Connecticut, and so on fun with my my neighbor, or girlfriends and bike and swim and everything, but as I got to be 15 years old, so I started babysitting, which was not real. I mean, it was a job, but it wasn't. How can I say that I knew I was gonna go to work every day. It was just when people asked do I need to do.

So as soon as I turned 16, I went to get job a paying job that said I would rely on because I wanted to go to college, and I would have to save money. So there was a drug store in town where my sister already work and the soda fountain. And so I asked her if I could get a job there. It was a like, four minute what? Oh, no. She said, It's too hard to scoop ice cream, your risk gets going up. But most of the time, she was some kind of risk being of some last type thing. And I said, Well, I'm going to ask for a job anyway. So I went in and I talked to the owner who was a woman, her husband had died. And she had three grown sons who were the Second World War. And so she was running the store pretty much on her own with one or two clerks. So I asked her and she said, Well, we'll see.

So wasn't long. And my birthday was January 30. And on April 30, I remember it because it was my father's birthday. She hired me to work that I was excited. So excited to do it. And never once did they ever problem with me. This by the way, my sister, I don't know. But what made her you know, the Alicia, I never probably anyway, I worked on so department, and there was only the owner of the store. And one or two clerks, like I said, so I had maybe four hour shift to start. I remember and it was making Sundays and ice cream. Cab tablets. We called it in Rhode Island, not milkshakes. And that was a funny thing. Nobody get why called a drink or cabinet. But that was what they called it.

And so anyway, I worked and was probably I was in high school, but getting ready to graduate. And I had applied to go to Rhode Island College of Education to be a teacher, because that's about all you could do in those days to be a secretary or department store or something. So I had applied and I was accepted. And one thing about it was it didn't cost you anything. classes or anything. You just went to school you paid $40 athletic fee. And that was it because it was a state one school. And that was a four year program. So just before I was starting my first year, my boss her name was Mrs. Kay. And her brother was a pediatrician. And he one day he came to visit her and then she lived upstairs and so she had he had gone up to visit early came down to get some ice cream. And I was getting it ready for him. And he said you'd make a nice pharmacist. And I'd never had thought of that. And I started thinking about it. That's kind of interesting.

So I applied to the College of Pharmacy too. And it was late in the summer when I got an acceptance to go. I didn't have any money saved, and that tuition was $175 I think a year so I don't have any money. No money from the family. I had the small amount of money I made sometimes It was 45 cents an hour by 10 hours, you know, I had to give half of it for my board. So, cuz I was a sixth child out of seven. The first one who graduated from college, by the way, but anyway, so I wrote a letter to the dean of the college and I said, I really like to go, but I can't afford to go this time. But please put me on a waiting list. So I thought, well, if I don't stay in school, I may not. You know, if I if I started to work full time, I might not wonder then work, go go to college. So I decided that going first year college, filing College of Education, and then transfer. And so I did that. And the app at the end of the first year, I had already applied to the pharmacy college.

So I started there the next year. And it was really enjoyable. It was very small college was only about 45 students in the class. And they didn't have any much of a facility for it, but but it was pharmacy college for the whole state. And so I went there and I work part time in the Gulf shore, I got to work after right after I got out of school every day, and work until 10 o'clock at night. And that's how I have to go to be a pharmacist and I graduated in 1955. I was so happy Oh, my cry should not be I won't have to study at night, get up early and study and go to school and everything. I'll be so happy to work. And by that time, the owner of the pharmacy her son had come back from service and he was gonna take on business. So I just continued working for him. And when I graduated, he had to work as a pharmacist.

That sounds like an amazing experience. Could you tell us about one of the colleagues and friends that you made during your first job?

Well actually like a job it was it was just a small town. So practically anybody who needed anything came to the drugstore, like not groceries, but maybe you had just purchased it, they had all kinds of things for calm sake, greeting cards, newspapers, and drugs and shampoos and all that stuff. And then at Christmas time, they would add on some gifts because some people never get out of that. And so they would add you know, toys and things like that cosmetics. And it was nice because every buddy practically that you came in the store, you know, and they knew you and your family and like I said I had six brothers and sisters and so we were well known.

And just as working in the drugstore because by then my twin brother by the way, he had asked for it to happen. He would go every day after school and brand the rubbish out in the back behind the drugstore. They could do that. So they take a he pick up all the rubbish and he'd washed the windows on the drugs so windows and and so forth. And that that pharmacy was kind of sweet, it wasn't nothing but in when you were coming down the main road town of Gloucester coming down into into Greenville. You had to turn. Well, one night when I was already home in bed and my brother came rushing in and asked my mother is my hair like a hit and she's already gone to bed. Oh, okay, because somebody plowed into the drugstore front and use a brace. And they just the person that was driving the car didn't make the shirt and kept going. But I was safe and sound. Okay.

Yeah. And so the people that that I know like I say day in and day out. It's some of the same people because they come in buy the newspaper in the morning on the afternoon. And we had a system setup where if they paid in advance, you, you had a paper Monday just check on that we knew that they had gotten that paper, and that we couldn't sell any more than that amount of people. You know, we have a few extra, but you had, you had to be sure and save those 20 or 30 people every day. And then the people come in for children's things, you know, the mothers and the little ones, and sit up on those big stools and get coffee ice cream or vanilla ice cream or something like that. So you met all these kinds of nice people.

Got it? That sounds lovely. What is it? Go ahead.

No, I was just a very nice environment. event, like we had a beach that we could go to all summer long. It was run by the town. And it was like 10 minute walk from my house. And upon that we could skate on snowbank. So yeah, it was It was nice.

Yeah, that sounds lovely. Were there any challenges that you had to overcome for this job?

Challenges? Well, the challenge was, I had to go into Providence every day. And Providence was how far away it would be maybe 20 miles, I don't know. But you had to get the bus. And, or if somebody took you, but I didn't have that kind of a setup. So I had to take the bus every day, well, sometimes the bus would go, you know, eight o'clock in the evening, around that time, it would be busy, but because of the people going to work on it too. But then my dad came home at night version across, and it would be busy, because but what was nice was that I was able to go in on the bus, do my studies go down and get the bus back. And as soon as I got off the bus, it was right in front of the drugstore. So I went right to work. So that was a challenge because I you study and at work then next work till 10 00 at five, when I was there at six, my boss did my schedule around that. And he was very nice. And his wife, she, she helped, you know, we have their fill in things like that. So but the challenge was that, like when I had exams or something, you know, like I said, just to study on the time, I could get some, some of my classes, some days wouldn't start from 10 o'clock, say, or another day, it might set it up in the afternoon. Um, you know, it depended on what the class was.

So I would go in and say the early bus, even if my class was seven to one, I would go in the early bus, and then sit in the study hall or across the street. The school didn't have a cafeteria or anything but or an island school design was right across the street, and they let us use their facilities for that. So I go there, get him to work because the bus ride was probably 45 minute ride the most. And just go up there and walk up to the bus gym and go to the college and then just go over there and study. And sometimes it was a little distracting because a lot of people were there. But they make good friends anyway. And they can go get a cup of coffee then at 10 cents. And if I had could splurge I can get that English kids. And so sometimes you don't Yeah, we do that, but not very often.

Yeah, that sounds amazing. And then final question, what are some valuable lessons you learned from this experience?

I learned that you know, you had to put your mind to it. You couldn't just be off. You know, just wasting time. You have to put your mind to it. And I did work all day Saturday in the Sunday. So there wasn't even that much time there. But it just I just put my nose grind, I guess you'd say Thank God, I was able to finish the question. And I became a pharmacist, I had to check the state board exam before you could do that.

And that, by the way, in that period of time. Our core classes were up for four years. And nowadays I understand that eight years they have to go or they can get it. So and the other thing was that yeah, eventually, five years after I graduated, the state of Rhode Island combined the pharmacy school with the universe to do and so has that been that way when I was gonna go, I could not have gone to college because that was way, way down and what we would say way down because everything was far away from us. And it really wasn't what we thought it was. We I wouldn't have been able to stay on board to go to school and I couldn't afford to take a bus to go but the bus to go anyway, you'd have to go into providence and go down another bus. So that was the opportunity that I was given that I felt that I was able to go where I had been five years later, I wouldn't have been able to go.