Basement and Boxes...Ode to the Sule Family of Green Bay, Wisconsin

I have been reserving myself from writing about on of the most important period in my life while living in Green Bay, Wisconsin and attending the University of Wisc. Green Bay sometime in the late seventies and early eighties. The reason being that it ended on a very unfortunate and sad note for me due to unforeseen circumstances of which for all these years has been a thorn in my heart. The Sules were like my own family and I was indebted to the parents for having taken me into their home while I was going to college and practically homeless after my divorce from my first marriage. The father Charles Sule was like my mentor a man I had respected and admired for his accomplishments and great mind, a man who devoted his life to raising four boys and three girls all bright and successful individuals. And the mother Mrs.Sule was the epitome of an Italian mother who led her brood through thick and thin ever with a smile on her face. The kitchen cabinet drawer was stacked with coupons for just about every item at the Super Market. There was always food in the kitchen and it was a wonder how she kept everyone well fed and cloths with the huge washer constantly running to keep up with every body's daily wear. Mrs. Sule was my mother when I most needed one always concerned if I had eaten or not for the day. I cannot express enough how I loved this family more than my own.
The Sules basement was where all us 'Boys' hung out smoking pot every now and then and talking religions and philosophy into the night. Charles or better know as 'Chuck' rarely if ever took a peak at what was going on in his basement with his kids but he most probably knew more than we figured.Chuck spent most of his time facing the TV at dinner right there which was a routine and I was asked to join him most evenings as he treated me special more like one of his boys. Chuck plays the guitar and we always have a sing along after the dinner and especially on Christmas and thanksgiving days.One of the most special moments I enjoyed while living with the Sule family was the boat rides in Lake Michigan. Chuck had motor boat named the Lisa Marie after one of the girls which he likes to spend his day off with the family and I was asked to go along as the other kids most probably got enough of boating trips with their dad after sometime. I always enjoyed cruising down the Fox river passing through the bridges at Webster and Main Street as they opened the bridge to allow us through. I spent a few of my best Christmas time with the Sules, it was a special time in my life being alone without a family of my own to hang out with back then.
Jerry Sule the youngest of the boys was closest to me and we took a trip together on one of my journeys down South into the State of New Mexico where we stopped in a small town of Udall, Kansas. Jerry was a very bright and adventurous young man back then and had always dream of being a truck driver one day but instead I found out is now a plumber.He had a soft touch for animals and loved Tanya the family Samoan Husky and his favorite cat named Mingo. Jerry has always been a good looker like the rest of the Sule boys who were well feared and respected by their peers in Green Bay. I was practically left alone when in the bars because i was 'one of the Sules'. I remember an incident whereby I was targeted by a drunken Native American to pick on me for a fight. As he headed towards me with an ill intention  suddenly two of the Sules boys Jerry and John who happened to be at the bar stepped into his path and warned him to lay off.
John Sule was the brain in the family and had the business mind getting one kind of money making gig or another. We once drove a 110 feet long boat mast which was designed and created at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin all the way to For Lauderdale, Florida. As the load was not legal to be on the highway we has a pace car with Chuck leading the drive. It was one of the most exciting trip I made across the United States from the Northern most tip to the South. The mast was for the 'Evergreen' Yatch, used for the American Cup Race later. John and I also made delivery trips into Canada and other states driving a van with a trailer in tow.
My life was enriched in more than one way when I was living with the Sules at their home on the corner Hickory Hill Drive off Mason Avenue. My son Naz was a frequent visitor to this home whenever I picked him up from his grandmother's and he was always attracted to Tanya the temperamental Samoan Husky who like to snap at his fingers whenever he tried to pat the dog. I will never forget this extended family I had while living in Green Bay Wisconsin; while living in basement and boxes. It has been many years now since i started writing this blog and I had not touched on this part of my life as it was both bitter and sweet. As i said ealier the bitterness came at the end and it is something that till this day I regret for it to have happened. I take this opportunity to say thank you for their kind hospitality in extending a helping hand ro someone who was in need of a home and family back then.