My dad was from Minnesota, and he began his career as a coal passer on the Great Lakes, later sailing as an able seaman and boatswain on oceangoing commercial vessels in the 1950s and 1960s. My mother was from Greece and met my dad while he was traveling through Europe. After getting married in Greece, they came over to the U.S., eventually settling in Spokane, Wash. Because my mother did not speak English well and did not understand how to take care of things such as mortgage payments and paying the bills, my dad had to rely on his sister to help take care of his "shoreside business" while he was at sea. Once, however, she forgot to send in the mortgage payments for two months, getting my dad in hot water with the bank.
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