One of my gang on the Afoundria, who had also lost his job because he was a Filipino, used to live in Detroit, Michigan. During a visit with friends in Mobile, he met and married one of the Burtanog girls. He decided to live in the south and go to sea. When we lost our jobs, he returned to Detroit with his new bride. In less than a week, he wrote me that he had gotten a job as a family cook. He was making 75 dollars a month. This news buoyed my spirits and I discussed with Shirley our moving to Detroit. We decided that I would go first. Big Daddy agreed to let Shirley and Felipe, Jr., who was still in the crawling stage, stay with him and his wife. Before the end of July, I was on my way to Detroit.

     I looked up my former shipmate and stayed with him and his wife that first night. The next day, I found an efficiency apartment nearby, then went to the employment office. My first trip was a success. I found a job as a cook and chauffeur for a young couple who lived in a swanky apartment hotel. They had two preschool daughters who were cared for by a full time nursemaid.

     Looking back, I am still amazed at my audacity in applying for that job. During the interview with the lady, I was careful to emphasize that I had never been a chauffeur. I didn't claim to be a good driver. I still don't. The young mother completed her interview and said I would do if her husband approved. He was not at home, so I returned the next day for his approval.

     Mr. Joe Bernstein was in the oil business. At 32, he was a year older than I. He was about my height, but stockier than I was. When we met, he joked when I told him I was a Filipino with a 17 year old bride and a 6 month old baby boy. I told him of my cooking experience on ships and confessed that I was not familiar with Jewish cooking. He joked that if he could eat my roast pork, we would get along just fine. And, he hired me. My pay would be ninety dollars a month, my hours from 9 AM to 7 PM, with Mondays off.

     And, so, in less than a week, when unemployment was general in Detroit, I had a job. I sent for Shirley and the baby right away. They rode the bus from Mobile, a trip that took over two days. When Shirley, haggard and disheveled, stepped off the bus with the baby in her arms, she was the most beautiful sight in the world to me.

     Mr. Bernstein was away much of the time, but usually home on weekends. He seldom had visitors in the apartment or guests for meals. Mrs. Margaret Bernstein was a former member of the George White Scandals a group of nationally famous entertainers. When I told her I saw that famous stage chorus at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans in the winter of 1929, she said she was one of the dancers then. It was not long after her performance in New Orleans that she quit the group and married Mr. Bernstein.

     From the start, I knew I would like my new job with the Bernstein's. Both were very considerate and easy to please. Mr. Bernstein loved my cooking and said he hadn't had such good food since his mother died. Thank goodness I had Mrs. Bernstein's recipe books. Mrs. Bernstein did the family cooking when Mr. Bernstein was not home. I cooked when he was in or when they had occasional guests.

     I was furnished a chauffeur's uniform, cap and all. The only time I drove their family Cadillac was when Mrs. Bernstein didn't have time to take the children or maid on outings. Mr Bernstein drove his own Caddy. The first time I drove the family car, I dented it while parking in the tight apartment garage. The second time I dented it, Mrs. Bernstein made an arrangement with the garage manager to do the parking. Mr. Bernstein said so long as nobody got hurt, I shouldn't worry. It was a pleasure to work for the Bernstein's.

     The Bernstein's planned to move to Miami and build a house. They promised to take me and my family with them and build us a house of our own. I discovered how much Mr. Bernstein liked me when I heard him tell his wife, in the midst of an argument, that if he left her, he'd take me with him.

     It didn't take Shirley long to adjust to living in the big city. Though she made very few friends among the apartment dwellers, we continued our close friendship with my old shipmate, Emiliano, and his wife, Loreta. Autumn passed and winter came. Shirley and the baby were thrilled with the first snow, playing with what they could scoop up from the window sill. But, the novelty soon wore off. Shirley wasn't feel well and I attributed that to the cold weather. Even though we went to the movies on my day off, she was cooped up in the apartment most of the time. It was not a very happy life for a young woman, who had only a radio and a baby for company.

     I thought about quitting my job and returning to Mobile, but the prospect of trying to get another job on a ship discouraged me. When I heard that the merchant seamen had gone on strike, I decided to quit the Bernstein's and return to seafaring again. This time, I would join the strikers. But how to quit the Bernstein's, whom I had come to love ?

     I called Mim in New Orleans and asked her to send me a telegram saying my Godfather had died and she wanted me to come to the funeral. I showed the Bernstein's the telegram, told them I'd have to go to New Orleans, and took the baby and Shirley to their apartment to say goodby. I promised to return to Detroit, but I had no intention of coming back. The Bernstein's offered to send me money for the return trip.

     Now, who was this Joe Bernstein whom admired so much? In 1955, while working for my seamen's union as an organizer in Port Arthur, Texas, I picked up a current detective magazine. It featured an article, "What Happened to Former Notorious Gangsters". Joey Bernstein, the head of the infamous Detroit Purple Gang, was mentioned. The article stated that he was living the life of a retired gentleman at Beverly Hills, California. I was tempted to find out if this was the same Mr. Joe I had admired so much, but I did not succumb to the temptation. No matter who this Joe was, I won't change my admiration for him.