Chapter 1
" Julie, many of the employees aren't willing to move. They have their loved ones here. The ones who gave children in school don't want to disrupt their lives."
" Cindy, I am aware of this. We wanted to keep this an American made business, but we need to move it to keep it viable. We are willing to help pay for the moving costs. I even have realtors looking for them to find homes that they can afford. There isn't anything else we can do if we still want to own a jewelry business. A few people will be able to stay here. "
I knew my wife was correct. If we wanted to continue to have our jewelry company to succeed, this move was needed. Our executive director would have to hire more people. We knew we would get hate mail and threats and would have to deal with the media stating we were being sell outs and greedy. We would just have to deal with all of it. Our public relations department was preparing for a battle. We had already purchased a few buildings in Mexico and security from here has already moved there to get ready. They found homes and apartments to rent until they felt comfortable to buy a home. Our executive director was leasing her home here. She was leaving tonight to move to Mexico with her vehicles and belongings. On Friday, she had interviews set up. She spoke and was able to read and write several languages. Yes, this was scary for us and our employees. My plane was already loaded with several vehicles and several employees' belongings. My pilots and crew would be flying back and forth for several days until everyone who was still staying to be our employees would be officially moved to Mexico. We gave the employees extra money. We paid severance to many employees who chose to no longer be employed by us. They had to sign a disclosure statement that prevented them from discussing or showing others certain aspects of our jewelry business. Cindy, myself, our executive director , her personal assistant, and our entire human resource development worked hard for the move .
Cindy and I were being driven by Julian to our nephews' home for a family dinner. This dinner was being done to thank everyone for helping Paola and Jonathan with their home. We finally arrived. Christmas had occurred in Lodi at my nephew, David's home. We all got out with umbrellas out. We made our way inside.
" Thanks for making it here, especially in this raining weather, and you and auntie are dealing with the jewelry business. "
" Mijo, you're welcome. I am just glad we could be here safe. We hope the cases of wine we had delivered made it here safe from Italy."
" Yes, Tia, they are opened, and people like the taste. Please leave your coats and umbrellas with the others over here."
We removed our coats and left our umbrellas with everyone else's. We made our way to the dining room to sit, and we poured ourselves a glass of burgundy wine. Paola and Jonathan were on vacation. They made prime rib, with mash potatoes, Hawaiian rolls with butter, several variations of salads, and bottles of water. We enjoyed the meal and the conversations.
"Everyone, Jonathan and I appreciate you all here tonight. We thank you for all that you have done for us since our engagement. We wouldn't be here without all of you, especially our parents. As you can see, I am expecting. My baby bump is small, but we both are happy. We know our baby will be loved like my brothers and my laws, David and Paul's children. Leon's family is expanding. Jonathan, you can tell them the rest. " "Just like how my wife said . Yesterday, we found out we are having two boys. We already chose their names. We decided to name their after my grandfather and Uncle Rick. Our other son will be Jonathan Jr. We already painted two nurseries for them. We have decided two children only."
We got up and hugged them both. Our families were excited for them and all of us for it expanding. We talked more. Around ten o'clock is when we finally leave.
writing here…
