Bobby: Please Come Inside

By Robert L. Sandel

About the Book
In 1938 at the age of four, Bobby and his brother were taken to an orphanage called the Good Shepherd Home. At the time, he had two parents who both took him to the Home to live for ten years. After, he moved to live with his aunt and uncle.
Writing about his life story has helped him understand immensely the dynamics of how family functions. To this day, when he sees a four-year-old, he wonders how parents can leave a child in an orphanage without showing their love and compassion. He takes you through his life where, despite not having loving parents, he still succeeded. He shows you his family relationship and how, in the end, it was through Christian love that he was successful in giving his family that he always dreamed of having care and love.

About the Author
Robert L. Sandel’s life and career began when he left the Good Shepherd Home and was told by his oldest brother, who he never lived with, that he must graduate from high school and go onto college. The rest was left up to him to make his own decisions. In 1948, he said to himself that would start a new life. The dynamics were never easy, however, he went to college and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Math and Physics. With sheer determination, he became a salesmans for Pfizer Pharmaceutical Co. In 1984, he succeeded in winning the Salesman of the Year Award and was listed in their Hall of Fame.
In 1956, Robert was married and eventually had three wonderful children, one of whom was adopted. He now has six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. All of his family are doing well. His wife became a family therapist, and has a Master’s in Social Work. His son has traveled all over the world as a professor in Communications and written a book. His three children are doing very well. His two oldest graduated from the University of Oklahoma. One has a Master’s Degree and the youngest is still in college. Robert’s daughter is an accomplished artist and has her own studio. His oldest granddaughter also became a famous artist for a new modern family. His adopted daughter is the peacemaker in the family and is an accomplished Tae Kwon Do black belt leader.
Shortly after college, Robert became a Boy Scout leader. He loved community sports such as softball, basketball, golf, and running. He served as Treasurer for his local church in Canandaigua, New York, and when he moved to Alabama he also served as Treasurer for Tuscaloosa International Friends and Tuscaloosa Emmaus Cluster. He is an avid reader and loves to read books both political and non-fiction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Jun 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886838640

Book preview

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The contents of this work, including, but not limited to, the accuracy of events, people, and places depicted; opinions expressed; permission to use previously published materials included; and any advice given or actions advocated are solely the responsibility of the author, who assumes all liability for said work and indemnifies the publisher against any claims stemming from publication of the work.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2023 by Robert L. Sandel

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, downloaded, distributed, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without permission in writing from the publisher.

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ISBN: 979-8-8860-4443-0

eISBN: 979-8-8868-3864-0

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MY FAMILY

As a child, I never wanted to say where I was raised, I used to be called, Bobby. I was born April 3, 1934 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Now that I am older, I want to talk about my feelings and what impact the perceptions of my childhood as an orphan with a parent have made on my life.

I liked being called Bobby until my high school days. I am now called Bob. My personality is such that I find it easy to get along with people. I enjoy talking to people, and I try to smile at all times. It is hard for me to be serious. However, my life has been very good. Reading stories of people who had problems growing up in comparison to me seems simple. Christianity has always been my anchor. Now I am sharing how I came to make decisions about my life.

In 1940, I started going to Jefferson School in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I was one of the kids who always raised their hands when teachers asked a question. That doesn’t mean I knew the right answer. Being the center of attention always felt good. I was happy to make an impression so people would like me.

In 1937, I was three years old and living with my grandmother Emma. My grandmother, with all of her nine children, lived in the same house. It was fun sleeping in bed at my grandmother’s home. The bed always felt warm because there were five children sleeping in the same bed at one time. We all curled up together like one big, happy family. I lived at a place called Ziegler Court in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The house was one of many on the same street, all facing each other. While living there, I remember going to church on Easter Sunday and

receiving a chocolate Easter Bunny. This was my first introduction to a gift for myself. The chocolate Easter Bunny not only tasted very good to me, but I felt I had been given something very special.

My father never lived with us. It appears he was not accepted by my mother’s family. We really never had much contact with him. But my mother, as much as possible, loved to be out of the house and with other friends. In front of my grandmother’s home was a small courtyard. In the courtyard, the children in the area played games. Next to the homes in Ziegler Court was a sandlot used by the children to play softball. One day, on a summer evening, all the neighbors outside were enjoying the warm summer breezes. The neighbors, including our family, watched the children in the neighborhood play softball. Everyone was standing or sitting outdoors, smiling and watching the game. During that game, an errant softball came flying toward my mother. She was holding my baby brother in her arms at the time. I can still remember seeing the softball hit my baby brother in the head. Everyone was in shock not knowing what to do. This is something you never forget. No one was paying much attention to me as I watched what had happened. I thought my brother William, ‘Billy," would be okay. But he died only hours later after they had taken him to the Allentown Hospital. I kept thinking he would not have died if only my mother had moved faster to avoid the errant softball. I felt very sad. As I was only three years old at that time, no one paid much attention to how I felt about losing my baby brother.

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Bobby Sandel, our Grandmother Emma Pfeiffer, and

Brother Francis Sandel

My grandmother’s youngest son, Jimmy, was killed early in WWII. Jimmy was the gunner in the back of a military fighter airplane. His plane was shot down and crashed on a beach somewhere in Italy. During those war years, money was tight. Families, like my grandmother’s, went on welfare to survive. After the war, due to Jimmy’s death, my grandmother received financial compensation from the federal government. She was then able to pay off all welfare expenses that accrued during the second world war. My grandmother with all her debts paid off then decided it was time for all her children to find a place on their own. That was the last time I saw all of my aunts and uncles together until her death in 1946. Her funeral was very dramatic. Sitting in a small living room, all of the siblings fought over their situations and all of her belongings. They each thought something was important to only them. I loved my grandmother very much, and I even still miss her. There were times she had taken me to visit my mother in Jersey City, New Jersey. Also, sometimes she wanted me to come and visit her at her home in Ziegler Court. While there, I listened for hours to the music I played on her gramophone. But after her funeral, all the siblings left for different parts of the country.

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1938 Frank Sandel, my father, and his car

In the year 1938, my father, Frank Sandel, came in his grey Ford sedan to see us. He was not very tall, probably five feet four inches, and had medium brown hair. The car he was driving looked very nice. At four years of age, my understanding of automobiles was very limited. The auto had a smell to it. Not a new smell, but rather a peculiar smell, probably the smell came from my father’s cigarette smoking. My father always had a pleasant smile on his face. I suppose it is where my smile comes from. My father stood in front of his Ford waiting to see my two brothers and me. My father wanted all three of us brothers, Dave, Francis, and me, to get into the back seat of his Ford so he could take us for a ride. Alma, my mother, was very attractive. She had dark brown hair and was only four feet eleven inches tall. To me, sitting in the front seat of the car, she looked quite beautiful. All together we looked like a happy family. Nothing seemed out of place at the time. I was not aware of their impending divorce. According to state records, they were only married eight months. Some of my aunts and uncles stood near the car, talking to one another.

Years later, I learned the reason my father took us on the ride was because the local court had ordered my father to be sentenced to two years