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A Farewell to Summer for Some

September 7, 2022 by Gary Cardillo

I always thought of myself as a real summer kid. Growing up in New York I was willing to sacrifice all the other months just to get to the summer season that started with Memorial Day and ended on Labor Day. That’s when I felt the most alive, and it was almost like watching life through a black and white t.v. that just transitioned to color. While my father claimed his favorite time of year was the fall, he would often say, “If you took out January, February, and March you would have perfect weather.” With a puzzled look on my face, I would reply, “You just cut out a quarter of the year like it was nothing.” Then I thought to myself, “I was willing to give up three quarters of the year just to get to my favorite 3 months.” I had to ask myself, “Which of the two of us was really nuts?”

Don’t get me wrong, we had lots of great activities and music that occurred throughout the year, but the fun we had, and the music that played throughout the summer was something very special. I bet my “championship” music trivia teammates, Greg and Toni White would agree “The Twist” by Chubby Checker, “Summer In the City” by The Lovin Spoonful, and the Beach Boys, “California Girls” never sounded better than in the summer months. I’ll even add Sly and The Family Stone’s “Hot Fun in the Summer Time” and what kid wouldn’t feel his summer was just starting when listening to Alice Cooper’s “Schools Out?” It didn’t matter the era you grew up in, the music never sounded better than it did in the summer, especially if the windows in your car were rolled down or you were driving in a convertible on your way to the beach!

When I was young the summer seemed to last a lot longer than it does now. Maybe it was our carefree attitudes where we crammed lots of activities into one day. We swam, water skied, and had endless games of Frisbee and flashlight tag, and those beach parties were second to none. Perhaps it’s me, but did this summer seem to be missing a month? Friends of mine up north are already dreading the end of summer. Stores have already put out their fall and early winter merchandise, and soon they will be experiencing “Tumbleweed Tuesday,” which is the day after Labor Day when it seems like summer came to a sudden stop and the merchants are desperately looking for those last customers seeking to stretch their summer vacation out a few more days. While my northern friends are starting to mourn the passing of summer, those of us living here feel like our summer with its fun activities is soon to get started. Think about it.

When we were under travel restrictions from Covid, many flocked to Florida in an attempt to move to a more desirable climate and lifestyle. Instead of people returning north for the summer they remained here with us. We may have social distanced, but we got creative and put together impromptu potluck dinners on our streets, and figured out how to enjoy each other’s company….from a distance of course. It was as if summer gained a few extra months. Then as life returned to normal many of our friends and neighbors resumed their trek north for the summer where the season was just kicking off, and we settled into the more quiet days of summer, which wasn’t such a bad alternative considering all our area has to offer. With boating, beaches, golf, tennis, pickleball, entertainment venues, waterfront shops, and restaurants why would anyone want to leave? Isn’t this what people are going north to enjoy and from what I hear, it was just as hot up there this summer! With even more activities planned by our local Chambers of Commerce, Country Clubs, and Charitable Organizations in the upcoming months, it seems like our summer may just be going into its second phase as there are a host of activities and events I’m looking forward to enjoying.

As for those who are returning now that summer is in their rearview mirror, I’m sure my music trivia teammates Greg and Toni could put together a playlist for you that would include “See you in September.” The great news is our summer is not over, and as a kid at heart who loves the excitement of summer, I couldn’t be happier.

Filed Under: Community Information Tagged With: florida home, flwaterfront, gary cardillo, newsletter, punta gorda, summer always

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

December 22, 2021 by Gary Cardillo

Do you remember the line in National Lampoon’s movie Christmas Vacation, where Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, was expecting his year-end bonus to build a swimming pool? Gathered around him in anticipation of his big bonus check arriving any moment was his entire family and of course his Cousin-in-Law, Eddie, who according to Clark said, “his heart was bigger than his brain.” When Clark opens up what he thinks is his Christmas bonus only to find out he is enrolled as a member in the “Jelly of the Month Club,” Eddie blurts out, “The gift that keeps on giving.” While this movie has become a Christmas tradition our family watches each year, Eddie’s line is one of the most quoted of all those we have collectively memorized and perhaps the one that has the most significant meaning to me.

Not that I have aspirations of joining the Jelly of the Month Club, but many times this year I have been asked, “How has business been…it must be a great time to be a Realtor?” While it has been a good year, this business is far from shooting fish in a barrel, as anyone who understands the real estate market can attest, it is characterized by peaks and valleys. However, after almost 18 years in the business, I can honestly say there is something much more rewarding than just listing or selling a property; it is the friendships we’ve made along the way. To me, that is the true “Gift that keeps on giving.”

Through these friendships, we’ve been all over the world from Singapore and Vietnam to Europe and South America. We traveled through the back roads of our great country and journeyed the Intracoastal from Florida to New England. We’ve met politicians and have been to some of the most dangerous locations in the middle-east. “How did you get to do all of this in such a short life span you may ask?” While I’ve experienced some very special places when traveling through our country, unfortunately the closest I’ve gotten to Europe was a road trip to Massachusetts. Sarah Palin may have claimed to see Russia from her home in Alaska, but through the intimate stories told by clients who became close friends we feel as if we experienced these real-life stories and adventures, many of which we hope to take ourselves someday.

Everyone has a story or knows of someone who has a storied background, but when you have the opportunity to spend as much time with clients as we do, their histories come to life in a way that makes you feel as if you went through a time with them. I remember one client who had been in the largest naval battle to this day. He was on a 500 ft. aircraft carrier in the Philippines and to listen to his story of the incoming fire they took, you couldn’t help but feel you were right alongside him. Other clients spoke of Communist regimes they escaped and how their families lost everything they had to come to our country. Others have been in the entertainment industry, some have been writers and still, others have created products that are widely used today. There have been CEOs and those that rose from poverty to creating highly successful businesses, going on to mentor others so they could have an opportunity to better themselves. We’ve also heard countless stories from physicians, who without fanfare traveled abroad to many third world countries administering to those in need, and did I mention a Grammy award-winning Pastor whose lives he continues to touch each day? For those of you whose stories have appeared in our newsletters you know who you are, and how your stories have had such an impact on my life, as have so many others.

Some people measure success by the sales teams they put together and the volume of business they claim they do, but we’ve learned there is something much more important to life that isn’t found in the profit and loss column.

We live in a time where the media is focused more than ever on negative news and the things that divide us, not the common ground that can bring us together. When I see thousands of people turn out in mass to simply watch the lighting of a Christmas Tree or eight Clydesdale horses pulling a wagon through the streets of our downtown with two men and a Dalmatian sitting alongside them, I think to myself, “aren’t these the timeless pleasures we seem to embrace, and innately desire to enjoy?”

Through our business the people we meet that become such good friends, are the “gift that keeps on giving,” and why we consider ourselves so blessed to be involved in such a wonderful business that gives us that opportunity every day. Thank you, for making every year so special to us, and for always reminding us, what is important in life; our relationship with each other.
We wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas, a very happy holiday season, and much good health and happiness this coming New Year.
-Gary & Gail Cardillo

Filed Under: Community Information Tagged With: clydesdales, florida, friendships, gary cardillo, gift, giving, merry christmas, newsletter, punta gorda, realtor, thank you, waterfront, waterfront living

We Are One

November 25, 2021 by Gary Cardillo

Thanksgiving to me has always been the start of the holiday season. It’s a time where people seem to be a bit more appreciative of the things they’ve received and a desire to share those blessings with others. While we typically think of family and friends sitting around a large dining table decorated in a harvest motif, adorned with a variety of homemade dishes and a succulent roast turkey, I find in recent years my sentiments have turned more to ways we can share our abundance with others less fortunate. However, my thoughts this Thanksgiving season were inspired by a story I recently heard at church from a very special lady whose mission trip years ago to Nicaragua exemplified the true meaning of gratitude that will impact me for the rest of my life.
Gwen Coté, is this special lady who grew up on a family farm in the small upstate town of Plattsburgh, New York. As a teenager, Gwen began to recognize “the place and importance of God in her life”. She said, “I felt a calling to serve the poor and to help people know God was loving.” Where some of us growing up were inspired to be policemen or firemen, Gwen always felt called to be a priest, but that wasn’t an option in the Catholic Church. With fleeting thoughts of moving to a church that would afford her that opportunity, the Catholic Church was where her soul was firmly rooted, and at age 18 Gwen entered the Religious Sisters of Mercy and served as a Sister of Mercy for the next 30 years. In 2006 God called Gwen to serve in a new direction where she continued her role as a Catholic school Principal until 2017 when she retired from education.
Gwen initially moved to Punta Gorda to care for her elderly mother who was suffering from age-related dementia, but needing to work, she added, “no one gets rich being a nun for 30 years,” she applied to Sacred Heart Church. Pastor, Jerome “Jerry” Kaywell recognized Gwen’s talents immediately and hired her to be his Pastoral Associate. Technically her role is defined as meeting the pastoral needs of the people of the parish however, to those who know her contributions her handprint can be found in almost every corner of the church. Gwen reflects, “Giving was a family thing. My Mom was very attentive to the needs around her and she seated the responsibility to help others deep in our hearts from my earliest memories. She would often adopt a project and we were always a part of the service.” She recalls one of the most “powerful” examples was when her mom “adopted” a man who lived a few miles from them. The man wasn’t related to them and didn’t have family to take care of him. Gwen’s mother decided that once a month they would bring him food she had frozen from what she made the family the month before. Then on a Saturday every month for years, they would clean his house, tidy his yard, plant flowers, and bring in wood, as he heated his home with only a wood stove. This care for others leads us to the inspiring story Gwen shared with the congregation that touched the lives of everyone present.
Looking back during the time she served as Principal of Seton Catholic High School in Plattsburgh, Gwen said for several years she had been involved with a group called “Mission of Hope.” Created as a result of a mission trip to Nicaragua that was inspired by one family from Nicaragua who attended the school to help their family back in their homeland recover from the mudslides from a devastating hurricane, this non-profit took on a “life of its own.” Today, Gwen adds, “it serves the people of Nicaragua in a multitude of ways from hospitals to eldercare, food to clinics and education to hope.” However, it was that trip to Nicaragua that left a lasting impression.
Gwen recalls, “Several times I was tasked with bringing a bag of rice and a bag of beans to the homeless families living in the woods. It was perhaps enough to feed a family of 5 for a week if they had light appetites.” She continued, “We would travel along the dirt road, and wherever there was a worn footpath into the woods, we would walk in and bring our simple treasures to these families. It never ceased to amaze me that before we were even back to the road, we would hear the people calling for other families who were deeper in the woods to come. They were not calling them to come to us to get rice and beans for themselves, but instead, they were calling them to come and share in the bounty they had received.” If this isn’t touching enough, Gwen reflected on a day when she was leaving one of the homes having delivered the bags of rice and beans, when she heard a little girl of about 3 years of age calling out to her. “She was stark naked and dirty from head to toe, running down the path after me. With enormous brown eyes and a smile that overshadowed the filth, she handed me a wildflower, hugged my leg, and whispered, “Gracias, Santa dama.” Thank you, holy lady.” Gwen said, “I didn’t feel much like a holy lady. I had given her family perhaps a couple of days of food. She gave me all she had.”
Gwen’s story reminded me of the bible story of the “Widow’s offering,” found in the twelfth chapter of the book of Mark, verses 41-44. It tells how Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were placed and watched the crowd putting money into the temple treasury. “Many rich people threw in large amounts, but a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins worth only a few cents.” Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything; all she had to live on.”
During our trying times, whether through the devastating effects of a hurricane or more recently the pandemic, there have been those who selfishly took more than they needed while others shared what little they had. As an educator, and now in the capacity as a Pastoral Associate, I asked Gwen if she had seen a marked difference in how people respond to adversity over the years. She responded by saying, “I think people are people and they are the same in every age. Our country often seems negative and divided right now and if that is what you focus on, that is what you see. But people are also amazingly generous and giving. We have seen that throughout the pandemic and over and again after any natural disaster. Where you look determines what you see. If you focus on the good that is what you see. We all choose what we focus on and how we respond. If we as a country can turn the prism we see through just a little we could easily see all the goodness and kindness taking care of one another.”
As our time came to a close, I shared with Gwen my thoughts on Thanksgiving and its significance to me. I asked if there is a life lesson or message she felt could be learned. She replied, “I think the message is simple. We are one. We are one people, on one planet with one set of resources. Whatever barriers we build between people and nations are temporary and somewhat of an illusion. We will be saved together or damned together. We are responsible for one another. We need to make the tough decisions and get to work making our world better for everybody. We are ONE.”
As I reflected on Gwen’s closing thoughts, I couldn’t help but reflect on that little 3-year-old girl with the flower whose gesture of gratitude left a lasting impression on me. I had to ask myself if I was doing enough to make a difference in the lives of others, not just once a year, but throughout the year. I realized more than ever, how blessed I was and the best way to show my gratitude was to help others in their time of need. After all, isn’t that what Thanksgiving is all about?
We wish you and your family a blessed Thanksgiving

Filed Under: Community Information Tagged With: florida, flwaterfront, gary cardillo, gwen cote, newsletter, punta gorda, real estate charlotte county, realtor, we are one, wesellpg

What questions should I be asking when I am looking to hire a real estate agent?

October 25, 2021 by Gary Cardillo

If you’re looking to sell your home, you’ll want to hire an amazing listing real estate agent to help—and there are certain questions to ask so that you can pinpoint the right professional for you.
It’s smart to be picky! A great real estate agent can help find buyers to sell your home fast, and for more money. Make the wrong choice, and your listing might languish. Then, the lowballing bargain hunters come circling—it’s not pretty. Here are some questions I recommend you ask:
1. What are your credentials?
2. Do you specialize in this neighborhood?
3. How do you arrive at the listing price?
4. How much will selling my home cost?
5. How will we communicate?
6. How long will the process take?
As always I am here for you and will answer any question you may have to help make the transaction as smooth as possible.
Gary Cardillo
RE/MAX Harbor Realty
941.979.0939
www.flwaterfrontliving.cm

Filed Under: Selling Real Estate Tagged With: charlotte county, florida, gary cardillo, move to punta gorda, moving, newsletter, real estate, waterfront realtor

The Joy of Summer, Fulfilling Our Goals and Dreams

June 22, 2021 by Gary Cardillo

If you are like me, it seems the older we get the faster life appears to be passing. Oftentimes I find things I recall as happening a year or two ago occurred three or four years prior and I sit amazed at how quickly those years passed. Recently I’ve lost a few close friends and have others who are struggling with health issues and it seems the reoccurring comment I hear is, “don’t take life for granted and stop putting off your goals and dreams another day.” Even those not going through any kind of challenge have shared with me their desire to live a more fulfilling life. I then think of a comment Pastor and Televangelist Joel Osteen once said that has resonated with me, “There are many great books and inventions lying in cemeteries that never came to fruition!” “Is this my time to finally give myself permission to set time aside to fulfill my desires?” More importantly, “What legacy do I leave my son when he never sees me fulfill my goals and dreams?” The quote attributed to Walt Disney, but is presumed to be said by Disney Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” has recently taken on a whole new meaning for me. “Why do I find myself always in front of my computer when not with clients showing property?” When we first moved down from New York 22 years ago we went boating, played tennis and golf, visited the beach, and started writing a book that I have yet to finish. “What happened? Why am I not permitting myself to set time aside to enjoy those simple pleasures before it is too late and I can’t enjoy those moments to their fullest? Why am I reflecting on past memories and not making new ones?”

I have always been a “summer kid,” at heart. Summer was a time when everything came alive and those memories have been frozen in time and seem like they just occurred yesterday. Simple things like bike rides, trips to the beach, days spent boating and exploring new areas by car were those simple pleasures that hold such as special place in my heart. Now I’m hearing friends of mine who are on the road fulfilling dreams of traveling the country this summer in an RV, something they never did before. Another special couple we know is cruising their way up the Intracoastal from Florida to New York and ultimately completing the “Great Loop” as they return via the Mississippi. They have been documenting and sharing pictures of their travels on daily postings where you feel like a stowaway on their great adventure. For some these adventures have been planned for months, for others, it has been more spontaneous. In contrast, my recent adventures by car have taken me to such exotic places as Costco and Trader Joe’s where I am mesmerized by fresh-cut flowers and displays of barbeque grills and patio furniture. “What happened to our boating trips to places like Tween Waters in North Captiva where we felt like we were on vacation, or our excursions to the beach and small towns along the way with their quaint shops and restaurants?” As for golf and tennis, Tiger Woods and Roger Federer have nothing to worry about as I’m not even sure which end of the racquet or club I’m supposed to grip.
I’ve often laughed at those who are looking to move to Florida who tell me how often they are going to go to the beach, enjoy boating, and playing as much golf and tennis they can fit between all their outdoor activities. When asked why I’m laughing I typically respond with, “Sure you are and before you know it six months will pass and you won’t believe how little you did those things, yet your life will seem so busy.” I continue by saying, “We fall into this “manana” mindset where what we don’t do today we feel we can always do tomorrow and before you realize it weeks and months have passed and you haven’t done many of the things that brought you here in the first place.”
Have I become my father who always looked forward to the weekend and then spent it admiring his handiwork trimming bushes and washing the car while others passed by on their boats or in their cars on their way to the golf course or to unknown destinations? If Covid didn’t have a way of taking stock in what’s important in life, certainly those daily reminders from friends saying, “I’m not putting off another day what I have been wanting to do all my life,” is something worth acting on.
Apparently my wife Gail didn’t think I was implementing this goal fast enough and took matters into her own hands and signed us up for a golf membership. Giving myself permission it was O.K. to put the computer aside for two hours I felt like a kid with a new toy as we had a fun-filled round where my wife showed me the finer points of using someone’s pool cage to have her golf shot land in the middle of the fairway! While I never learned that trick in junior golf, it made me realize all the special moments I was missing, and wonderful memories I wasn’t making.
Golf may be just the beginning of recapturing some of those lost opportunities I took for granted, and hopefully, soon I’ll finish that book I started to write so many years ago that gave me so much enjoyment. While I don’t know if it will be a best seller one thing is for certain, I’m going to make the most of this summer and start to enjoy pursuing those goals and dreams I’ve been putting off far too long. 
-Gary Cardillo

Filed Under: Community Information Tagged With: gary cardillo, golf, newsletter, pg realtor, punta gorda blog, real estate, summer, waterfront

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