Recalling memories of my friendship with the father of Jeff Bezos
The world knows his son; I knew his dad. This is my story about his dad.
When you compare us both, it seems unlikely that I have something that Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, would want. But I know I have something that he will never have and maybe it is something that he would have wanted at one time or another in his life. I knew the dad of Jeff Bezos; his name was Ted Jorgensen, And, I think Ted considered me a friend, or at least someone he enjoyed talking to when we would meet at his store.
Ted is the biological father of Jeff Bezos. When news broke of this in 2012, I read it in the local newspaper. I knew Road Runner Bikes, I knew Ted, but I literally had to go to my receipt box and verify that this was the same store and same Ted. It was mind-boggling.
Ted owned a local bike shop about a mile from where I lived at the time. In Arizona, the bike business is year round. I bought five bikes from Ted for the kids and me. I had many repairs, yearly tune-ups and bought many accessories. For some of the purchases, I absolutely could have gone somewhere else cheaper, but I was loyal to Ted. For some repairs and sales, I wondered how in the world Ted made any money. He was loyal to me.
Going into the store was typical, most of the time it would be just Ted, no other employees, no other customers. He had a raspy voice. He talked freely, but did not seem to laugh too much, but of course the bike business is not exactly Chuck-E-Cheese.
My story of my routine of entering Ted’s store was not exactly a warm fuzzy hello with an embrace, but it was probably a two-way street. I was too busy looking at the shelves for new equipment I could buy, he was too busy, working on a bike. I don’t know for sure, but I think he was always working on a bike each and every time I entered his store. His hands were rough with a lot of lines and wrinkles and sun spots. They always seemed to have grease on them, which makes sense if you are fixing chains all day. I remember the receipts would have dirty spots on them. His voice was gravelly. His skin was very wrinkled and he had the look of someone who worked hard all of his life.
Once we did “acknowledge” each other during a visit, we would talk. Not only about bike products, but about “stuff.” The most lengthy and in-depth and passionate conversation I remember is when he was thinking about changing the location of his store. A grocery store closed within the strip mall complex, and this really reduced shoppers. The landlord, meanwhile, did not give any rent help, and actually was looking to raise rates. Less traffic, more money. This was not exactly like Amazon looking for HQ2, but Ted was looking for a new place. Several of our future conversations were about his impending move.
Ted knew who I was, knew my transactions, remembered our talks about the move and other topics, but I always felt like he had to pull up my profile in his “old fashioned” index card box so that he could say “good-bye” and call out my name. Were we close, heck no? Was I memorable to him, don’t know, maybe he was just not good at names?
Ted did move his bike shop, about four miles north, and instead of the NW corner, he was on the NE corner. Not exactly Seattle to Virginia, but to me, it no longer was a bike ride away from a quick look for more supplies and a nice conversation. I did visit him in the new store, but not as often.
Have you ever met someone many times, but at the same place; and when the situation occurs where that same person is right in front of you, in another place you “know you know them” but can’t figure out from where? Well, one time I ran into Ted at the grocery store, he was in line behind me, as I waited for my turn. I recognized him right away. He gave me that “I know you, but” look…so I made sure I incorporated some bike shop talk into the brief conversation so he would remember me.
For some reason, I remember this one meeting way more than my many other visits to his store. I remember, vividly, that he had a six pack of a sugar drink, something like a Monster Energy type product. I remember he had a six pack of beer, and remember wondering why he didn’t just save the time and buy a 24 pack. He had a couple more items, but probably less than six total, and I don’t remember them being particularly healthy choices.
I also remember, at the end of the conversation, he said, “Nice seeing you, Don.”
Holy cow, I thought, he knows my name! This was several years ago, and I still remember thinking about Ted as I drove home. We had talks about non-bike topics numerous times, but this time I felt like I saw him “outside” his zone, and certainly nothing personal. Now, I started to wonder, is he a single man? Does he have family in town? Does he have family far away? Does he see them often? Does he live alone in a big house? A small house? A condo? Does he own a bike? ! Those “thing” thoughts went through my mind fast. I also remember thinking, “is he happy? …is he a lonely old guy.” The conclusions that came to mind: He lives alone, probably in a small condo or apartment, and does not have a large social circle.
Then, my deep thought was interrupted when I got home, I took the Doritos from the grocery bag, and watched football, and did not think about it again.
This timeline is fuzzy, it is not like I wrote notes, but the grocery store meeting was before the news broke about Ted being the biological father of Jeff Bozo. I know that for sure. Shortly after that, I think I visited the store, in the new location, after the news broke. I know, for a fact, that I did not mention anything about the news. What was I supposed to say, “Hey Ted, what is it like to be the dad to one of the richest people on this earth, and hey, here is a towel so you can wipe the grease off your hands so you don’t make my receipt dirty.”
From what I read, Ted gave up Jeff Bezos to the mother; he “signed off” on a full adoption; he was young, he was not ready to be a dad. From what I read, he lost touch and didn’t even remember the Bezos name, as that was who Jeff’s mother became, not Ted. From what I read, he was interested in “re-establishing” contact with the Bezos family, not specifically stated he was going to seek out Jeff. I can imagine how that would go, a receptionist would buzz Bezos and say, “Sir, (or do they say your majesty, or do they say Alexa)….anyway, “Sir, there is a guy out here that says he is your father.” My mind races to Elf, and the hundred other bad movie plots of meeting their long lost dad, and enjoying walks in the park…queue the music.…I am pretty certain that never happened. (A fact confirmed by a an online article).
After the grocery store, after his move, after the story, one day I went into the bike shop. Like another scene to a bad movie where everything is the same 43 times….walk in, look at the new merchandise, get to the end of the store, look up, see the grease on his hands, hear a raspy voice greet you as he looks up from fixing a ………but WAIT….this is the 44th time, and stop in your tracks, hear a record screech…..there is something wrong with this picture…..there is no Ted.
I asked about Ted. The person said Ted was pretty sick, and they were in the process of buying the bike store from him. I commented on “the news about Bezos” and asked a little about it. They acknowledged he did not talk about it much. Maybe that is true, maybe they felt it was none of my business, which I understand. It is my hope that they were Ted’s friends, and he was not dying alone.
Not too long after, when I asked about Ted again, they mentioned he passed away. Until today, when writing this article, I never did confirm this fact. There is no way they would make this up, but maybe I heard wrong, maybe, somehow it was not true.
Not because it made me too sad; we were not close, at all. There was no way I had any right to visit him when he was sick. It would have been weird, not normal.
I just wish I knew if… in his last days he knew that he had touched people; that he knew my kids liked Ted and spoke fondly of their visits to his shop; I wish he knew I enjoyed our visits, his advice on bikes and products, his tough talk against his landlord and other topics that we touched on. I really feel like Eddie, from Five People You Meet In Heaven was based on the life of Ted Jorgensen. He was plain, simple, but he mattered.
By all reports, Jeff Bezos did not want to meet Ted, when news broke about the “find.” It is a weird pattern repeated at least twice. A super rich person (Steve Jobs and Bezos) run an unimaginably successful company, they find out the identity of their biological dad, their dad runs a small business….and they show no interest in meeting their biological dad.
Well, Jeff Bezos, I met your biological Dad. He was a good guy; he treated my family well; he treated me well. I enjoyed talking to him.
And, best of all, Ted knew me by name.
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