Please meet A.C. Morgan, known to family, friends and myself as Lord Morgan. Back in 1980, this now handsome man could talk me into doing almost anything! As his nanny, I was to be one that guided him, taught him, took care of him and challenged him. But he was the only child of the Morgan family, who knew he had mom right where he wanted and usually could get away with anything because of his smile and ability to talk his way out of it. When I left him to come back to Ohio, I left part of my heart and my favorite stuffed animal with him. He gave me love and adventures that would last me a life time! So, lets begin the story.....
When everyone else was picking their colleges or getting married, I was secretly applying for a nanny's job on the East Coast. I came up with this idea when my dad through a fit about me wanting to enlist in the army. I knew I was going to go away on my own and explore somehow, I just didn't know how. Then one day our Home Economic teacher talked about how she put herself through college by being a nanny and when it was the right time I asked her just how she did that and if she could give me information on it. I was unhappy at home, just like most teenagers are. I now know that it is God's way of helping the child detach from the parents and the parents to let go of the child. Back then I thought it was just because they didn't understand me or like me. So I applied to the Overseas Maid Agency in hopes of being picked by the perfect family and beginning a new life somewhere other than Pandora, Ohio.
I remember getting a letter in the mail from a family that lived in Darien Connecticut. It was a single mother raising 1 son who's name was Arthur Cecil Morgan (AC just as his dad) but family, friends and myself called him "Lord". It was just a name. Not meant to be anything other than, that's what was known in the family to do. I admit that it took me awhile to get use to, but it was just another adventure which you'll see later on in the blog. After all the goodbyes, mace for protection from my dad, hugs and kisses, I boarded the 727 and thought I was big stuff... but inside I was scared to death. I had never done anything without my brother Darrell and my dad. I had never been away from home. And here at the age of 18, I was sitting on a jet with an open seat beside me wondering what was ahead. Would the lady recognize me from my photo that I sent her and what if they didn't like me or I didn't like them, or I got lost? All these things were going through my head and also....... why in the world did I decide to do this?! ........just as THE Howard Cosell sat down in the seat beside me. Now that I'm older I'm wondering why he wasn't sitting up front in the plush section. But he didn't. He sat right down beside me and I knew he was someone but I didn't know who at that time. I just knew I heard him on the tv during football say," And this is HOWARD COSELL! The flight was very quiet, I wasn't going to speak to a strange older man and he was into his paper. But then my quiet moment became an embarrassing nightmare when I was walking down the steps in my heels and jeans, trying to act like I knew what I was doing and where I was going, when all of a sudden I missed the step and went to fall and Mr. Cosell caught me from going down. Red faced, I thanked him as he asked me if I was ok and I replied, "Yes, Thank you", and went on my way. I had no clue what I was doing or where I was going. I was to look for a blonde haired lady with a young 11 year old blond headed boy with a sign that said, Teresa Frey on it. Finally I saw the sign and there stood a lady who looked like a model with this little boy who didn't want to be there and beside her was a man who looked like an attorney. Later on I found out that Bob Epstein was a very well known business man of the Connecticut area.
Life as Lord Morgan's nanny was full of adventure. One of the first things that I remember is Molly showing me the two vehicles that I would be driving with unlimited gasoline and useage. The first was a Renade Jeep, baby blue and awesome! But the second one scared me to death! It was a midnight blue, 1980 Mercedes 450 SL Hardtop Convertible. I can remember thinking, that car costs more than I will make in a life-time and she wants me to drive it?! It took me 2 days to get the courage and then I was loving it! But the jeep was the fun toy! My job was to take care of Lord and my living area. She had a maid who had been with her growing up and now with Lord. He did the cleaning and cooking and was an amazing older man who never married. Just gave his life to Molly and his mom. I grew to love him also. I can remember taking Lord to the grocery store one day and he was being his ornery self and wanting everything under the sun, and I said, "Lord, stop that! I mean it!" and I will never forget the looks on people's faces because of me talking to "Lord". I grew to not pay attention to their looks after awhile. I really loved the family and Lord and I grew very close but I was also so home sick. I missed loved ones and friends, allot. But as time went on I joined the Country Club so Lord could take his swimming lessons and met other nanny's there and then life became exciting! I always had the weekends off because Molly would spend them with her friends and family and take Lord with her. So the other nanny's and I would go into NYC and go dancing, shopping and exploring. One time, Molly gave me tickets for the other nanny's and myself to see, Van Halen at Madison Square Gardens. We had no idea that she bought us box ticket seats! We walked into the box room and seen that there were 4 other seats and in walk these 4 Italian guys who we were happy to have join us... but after talking with them and showing them the refrigerator where all the beer and soda was (pop back home), they then left and we realized that they took along with them our purses. So we had to take a taxi all the way home, because they took our keys also to the car, pay for that taxi then to drive us back with our extra set of keys to get the car so we could be home. Later on we received our purses and everything except for the money in the mail.
I learned allot as a nanny. I learned that you have to make your happy. Money doesn't buy it. That money is just a tool of survival and no matter how much you have you always want more if you get caught up in that. Lord Morgan now goes by his given name of A.C. Morgan, just like his dad and he has turned into an amazing man. He not only survived the plane crash in 1998 but his office (I think on the 11th floor) was in the World Trade Center tower that was destroyed on 9-11-2001 and he survived that also. Although I have many other memories as a nanny, I would like to share with you the story of A.C. Morgan as an Iron Man. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do every time I read it! Just click on the link. I will also be posting the old photos of Lord and I in the 1980's when I was his nanny and he was 11.
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