I first met Ted when my husband, Kenny moved me from Springfield to Birch Tree, Missouri, in October of 2008. We'd only  been married a few months. Ted was his closest neighbor. They both owned land out in the boonies.

Ted's place was five miles from Kenny's. We rented a U-Haul truck at Eminence, Missouri, between the two of us loaded up my furniture, which included antique furniture my parents had given  me, and miscellaneous pieces. When we came home to Kenny's place, Ted was waiting for us to help Kenny get it all in the house. They'd been friends for a few years, since Ted retired from the Kodak Company in Chicago, and Kenny's a retired cop.

Kenny met Ted a few years after they both retired, and their friendship grew.  He'd help Ted with problems, and take him to doctor appointments, cataract surgery, and tests. After we sold Kenny's place in 2012, and moved twelve miles to West Plains, after buying a home there.

Ted seemed slightly resentful that we were leaving him, and disappointed. But he drove over to see our house to visit, and gave us collectible plates for our house.

Ted was born in 1938. His dad died when he was eight years old. When the Nazi's invaded Poland, in 1942, they were running to escape them.

When Ted was eleven, they came to the U.S., and settled in Chicago. His mom got a job in a soup kitchen.  Ted owned a pet store in Chicago. An animal lover, he had a beautiful aquarium in his house,  after he moved to Missouri, and two Rottweilers, he named Jack and Jill. They really were his family, since helived alone.

When Ted retired and moved to Missouri in 1998, he brought his mom with him because she was in failing health. He took care of her until she died in 2010.

After we moved to Florida in 2914, Kenny continued calling him to keep in touch, and Ted calls us often. He's slightly reclusive, and a bit eccentric, but he's a gentlemen, and a sweetheart of a man.   

One time in West Plains, they were rubbing each other the wrong way over where they were going to eat. Kenny loves McDonald's, calls them "Micky D's."  Ted hated McDonald's, and wouldn't eat  there.

On one of their trips, Ted wouldn't go in. Kenny said, "I'm hungry and I'm going to eat." He said Ted just sat there pissed off, and watched him eat. Ted also hated the country restaurants in Mountain View, and called them "greasy spoons."

Ted turns eighty this year. Although they're four states apart, Kenny and Ted are still close friends and buddies.