Last night the world lost a Great and Beautiful Soul, Mr. Sheldon Hyatt. I got a call last night from my best bud, that Sheldon (Shelly) had passed in the hospital in Florida. Outside of my circle no one would be expected to know his name, but Shelly was a second father to me. I mentioned in a previous post that I had met Craig in a peer group on my first day of Stony Brook Prep and we quickly became close friends. Within a year, 42 Howe Road, the Hyatt home which was a mile or so from house, become a second home base for me. I would call 516 6*8-42**, go knock on the door and Craig, his mom, Rosemarie, or his sister, Michelle would swing the the door open as if it were my home. I come sit at the kitchen table and pour myself a glass of Diet Pepsi, which they always had in the fridge. Even if Craig wasn’t there I would sit and chat with his mom or Michelle. Shelly would come home from work at Restaurant Hours about 11PM or so and he would pull up in his fancy car in full suit, slicked back hair, and pour himself a drink. He would call out to me with his big beautiful smile, “Hey Georgie Boy!” and he would come to the table and sit with us. Never once, never once did he ever say anything like “don’t you have a home” or alike, he rather always made me feel like I was supposed to be there and as if I were an obvious part of the Hyatt family. I was blessed!
From my limited understanding Shelly and Rosemarie met in the air on a plane! Shelly was a handsome Jewish New York born man and Rosemarie was a spicy blonde Puerto Rican airline attendant, a real NY West Side Story! This was the second marriage for both and from when I knew them, they had a lovely home in Long Island, a pool and boat, and two beautiful children, Michelle and Craig. I also mentioned in a previous post, that one day Craig invited me to work with him at a new top shelf $30 million wedding catering establishment his father was the head developer/general manager for, as the first bus boys. We were worked like dogs and in this high end but often Harsh and now Notoriously known to most people in NY, Mafia restaurant environment (The Thatched Cottage) and I wanted to never go back after the 1st night. I didn’t necessarily need the work, but my mom would not let me quit. I learned more in restaurants working under Craigs Dad and under, next to, and above everyday people from my age to my parents age, about hard work, people, and myself than any university. Shelly was the driving force in developing and managing some of the biggest and finest Wedding Catering Halls in New York, such as the Fox Hollow, Lands End, the Windmill, and the Thatched Cottage. I remember coming back to NY after my Freshman year undergrad in Boston. I was back working in the restaurant for the Summer. I had spent the year having fun, meeting friends, skiing in Vermont, and finding or maybe Searching for direction in my life, in other words, I was failing out of school! I never went to class, didn’t care about grades, and I was feeling pretty terrible in general about myself. Shelly was the big boss at the Thatched Cottage so he wasn’t involved with our work directly, but ran the whole place, so when I did see him he would of course talk to me. I would be there in my tuxedo, working hard, but also thinking I was pretty slick/cool. Whenever Shelly would see me he would totally call me out in front of everyone in the restaurant to see, saying things, like “you better straighten up”, “Wake up”, “You are a Smart guy, Smarten up”! He knew how to humble me and while it was always embarrassing, he knew I needed to be humbled and I always felt like it was out of LOVE!
Craig and I did a lot of snow skiing together and his family invited me on a trip and pretty much Craig and I had the choice of locations around the world. We chose Zermatt, Switzerland, to ski at the Matterhorn. Despite the rest of the family not being skiers, they somehow agreed and we had an Epic trip to Belgium, Switzerland, and Northern Italy! Related to Shelly, one of the many vivid memories was the plane trip back, I remember two things. One was Shelly and I played cards (Gin Rummy) for at least 4-5 hours straight. I was 16 yrs old and I remember waiting for him to get tired of playing, but he never did. We were chatting the whole time during playing which is built into the game. I remember his exact Huge smile and while this is one of my best friends father, in those moments I felt like I was his best friend. I feel like if I were of another generation that he and I would have been a best bud! Second thing I remember about that flight back was I thought I was so devious smoking a couple of cigarettes, which was allowed then on planes!!, and thinking no one knew. But I am pretty sure Shelly knew and said nothing:)
Craig and I did a lot of snow skiing together and his family invited me on a trip and pretty much Craig and I had the choice of locations around the world. We chose Zermatt, Switzerland, to ski at the Matterhorn. Despite the rest of the family not being skiers, they somehow agreed and we had an Epic trip to Belgium, Switzerland, and Northern Italy! Related to Shelly, one of the many vivid memories was the plane trip back, I remember two things. One was Shelly and I played cards (Gin Rummy) for at least 4-5 hours straight. I was 16 yrs old and I remember waiting for him to get tired of playing, but he never did. We were chatting the whole time during playing which is built into the game. I remember his exact Huge smile and while this is one of my best friends father, in those moments I felt like I was his best friend. I feel like if I were of another generation that he and I would have been a best bud! Second thing I remember about that flight back was I thought I was so devious smoking a couple of cigarettes, which was allowed then on planes!!, and thinking no one knew. But I am pretty sure Shelly knew and said nothing:)
I know Shelly always aspired to own and develop one of his own Catering Halls. Certainly, given that he was well known in NY as a go to guy to develop/manage high end catering halls, it would seem like a likely interest and pursuit. I will say that one of the many lessons I learned in Catering and in Restaurants is that “life is not always fair”. Good hearted people just trying to put food on the tables for their families get treated like crap and nasty eccentric restaurant owners get wealth and notoriety. In instances it was literally life and death. I have come to know a good number of restaurant owners in NY and some in Boston. While they were all relatively wealthy people, they also share the trait of being relatively tough and callous people as well, to put it mildly in some cases. As you may know there have been more than 15 criminal charges against the owner of the once, Thatched Cottage! Maybe Shelly felt like he never reached his dream, never developed a multi million $ restaurant on his own. I know he was known by some in the business to be a hard A$$ and in general a hyper-practical thinker and while not a perfect person, I do know if it were up to him he would have treated people exponentially better than pretty much all the restaurant owners I know. I did sense his frustration with this seemingly unfair division of power and wealth, but as I mentioned I knew and saw the love in this great man! He loved his family, he loved his friends and I loved him too. He may not have developed the restaurant and the wealth associated with it, but to me he was RICHER than any of them! He worked hard, kept a loving heart, and of course did his very best! I can only be in awe of the Riches he possessed in the family and in the love he built around himself! Shelly may you rest in PEACE AND LOVE and thank you for always treating me like I was a special young man! My heart goes out to my second mom, Rosemarie and my friends Michelle and Craig! Be certain, he touched so many lives as this is just a few of my experiences as a Korean American punk friend of his son's!
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