I knew when in found this site, I'd stumbled upon the real deal! Thanks for answering my questions, and especially for setting up my tour at Hancock and Moore. I am really excited!
Marjorie Flowers.
You're going to have Jimmy Moore give you a tour, Marjorie, and that's quite a treat. Jimmy - who is in his 70's - is a real character and that's his very favorite thing to do, show off his company, introduce you to a lot of his staff, and tell you how they make the best furniture in the country. You'll see a 'family' atmosphere at the factory rather than bells ringing and supervisors watching. You'll also be amazed at the lack of motorized robots and machinery, and virtually no computers on the floor. All you hear is sewing machines and pneumatic staplers throughout the place and a lot of 'good mornings'. Don't get lost in the leather room, you can burn up a lot of time there seeing big hides of all 400 leathers. As soon as you walk in the door to there you'll meet Christie, who is always chipper and has a infectious laugh. From there on its just a down-home experience and they make you feel very welcome. Have fun and allow about 3 hours minimum.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
Marjorie, be sure to take a camera or at least have your phone with you. Jimmy likes to have his picture taken with his guests and if you get a good shot it could be a keepsake for you if you purchase H&M furniture. Also, be sure to let him know if there are any pieces or leathers that interest you, he will make a point of showing any he has in production. Ask him about the visit and sale to the Saudi Prince, it's a great story. Have fun, it's a great half a day.
Larry
A friend will be joining me on this trip, and much to my surprise, she would like very much to take the tour as well. She is considering H&M for her next leather sofa purchase. Will it be possible for her to join us?
I was delighted when she decided to join me on this road trip. I was pretty certain she would enjoy Ashville, but I never dreamed she would think the idea of touring a furniture factory would be as cool as I think it is. But she's a fellow librarian, and we so tend to want to get as much information as humanly possible!
And now of the weather will just cooperate -- it's a long drive, and I'm a wuss about driving in snow, especially through the mountains!
Thought I would share this, because its a big deal to me. I just hit the 7-year mark post-op from my stage IV cancer. Had my last cancer test this past week and sailed through it. My surgeon, the great Dr. Michael Choti who is now head of the Surgery Department at UT Southwestern emailed me this evening and said "You can consider this a cure - and don't need to test any more, you're all done with cancer." And it appears of the hundreds of patients he has had over the past decades with my kind of cancer, I am the ONLY one that has never had a recurrence....he teases me that I'm his anomaly (we are good friends so he can tease).
For seven years I have waited for the cancer to return because only in a very small percentage it doesn't, and i have prepared myself for that to happen. Now he says it won't....that's a huge load lifted and something I no longer have to worry about.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
Great news Duane.
Yeah!!!
Yes, this is wonderful! I hope you will find some special way to commemorate and celebrate the day. Every year!
Cancer and cancer treatment are wicked. I so appreciate your sharing your story, because it's one of hope and perseverance.. And in the world of cancer, hope is richer than gold -- the stuff that fuels the determination to seek out the best doctors, to endure the brutal treatments, and keep going, even when the odds are against you. I've known many people who had cancer. Some survived, more didn't. But I cannot think of one who did beat the odds who did it without the hope and determination that you described in your post about yourself.
Now go do something special! Take a walk in the woods, a ride on that motorcycle of yours, read a good book -- whatever it is that is as special as the news you received today. And if I may be so bold, I'd suggest you start with a nice, long kiss with that wonderful wife of yours -- it's her victory too!
This is a subject near and dear to my heart.
I remember sitting in a Dr. Bronster's office in November 2005. He told me I was terminal with my wife sitting by my side, and that I could expect to live another 12 to 18 months or so, but that there was nothing he could do other than surgically remove what he could, but he made it clear it was hopeless, the cancer would eventually consume me. I also remember leaving that meeting not only stunned, but angry. Who was HE to say I was going to die? He'd thrown in the towel on me before we even got started. I don't quit things, and I wasn't quitting this either and the fact that he told me that it was over motivated me up to make sure it wasn't. I fired him as my oncology surgeon that same day.
The internet was my saving grace. Because I could study about my cancer as long as I could stay awake, and I poured myself into it to the point of being able to read and understand medical journals plus research tests. I had to learn the language of medicine, too. I was also able to read a story by Richard Bloch and that changed the way I thought about cancer. I wasn't a victim, I was a soldier and had a war to fight. So I did. And that led me to the great Dr. Micheal Choti who as at Johns Hopkins at the time and he did my surgery - never once did we speak of anything being terminal or hopeless.
Over the years I'd have dinner with Mike or he'd drive to my store and look at furniture and we became friends. He'd tell me "Your particular kind of cancer always comes back, I want you to know that, I've never had a patient where it didn't. But when it does return, you know that we will deal with it and that we should be able to manage it". Now when one of the leading experts in his field tells you that than you dread the periodic checkup tests, because you're waiting for the one that shows the positive and the surgery was pretty brutal, and you remember that as well. So waiting on the results was always stressful.
But now, at the 7 year mark, he tells me I'm cured. No more tests, no more worries (at least about that particular cancer). The moral of this story, and something everyone who reads this can take with them if they so choose - is that there is always someone that beats the odds no matter how bad it looks. In this instance, it was me.
Do the work, stay the course, fight the good fight and persevere as long as need be. Gather your family and friends and USE THEM for support. Get out of your comfort zone and do what needs be done. When it looks bad, be tenacious. Move Forward. Study your disease, Learn. Don't take what the doctors say as gospel. Never-ever quit.
I think to celebrate, I should go by Dr Bronster's place and take him to lunch, and ask him if he remembers me
Last edited by drcollie; 01-30-2014 at 11:19 AM.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.