Glenbrooke News

We are excited to post our second installment of articles designed to get to know your neighbors.

Janice Fiore is one of many homeowners still working but looking forward to retirement.   She grew up in Brooklyn,  New York and started her career as a secretary for AIG before getting married and moving to California.   She had relatives in Albany, CA where they relocated and lived for 13 years.

All three of her children were born in Berkeley but they were raised in Stockton (the city Forbes Magazine describes as the ‘Most Miserable City”).    Janice found herself a single parent and began working for the County of San Joaquin.

Q: Do you think you still have a Brooklyn accent?

A: Yes, I still have my Brooklyn accent although it has mellowed with time.  When I am excited it quickly returns.  When I speak with my sisters on the phone, who continue to live in NY, they think I have a California accent.  My kids still tease me and laugh at some of the words that come out of my mouth with a Brooklyn accent.  They all love visiting NY, and actually visit more often than me.

Q: Forbes Magazine was harsh on Stockton.  Do you think the “Most Miserable City” was a fair label?

A:  Stockton is lacking competent leadership.  Get rid of some of the Board of Supervisors, City Council members, etc., and it may be what people had hoped.  I drive all over, and there are so many depressed areas, you would think you are in a bad part of Oakland, or what Harlem once actually was!  There are nice areas, and then "pockets." Stockton has a lot going for it which I'm not going to get into, but I love the Haggin Museum, The Miracle Mile, Lincoln Center, UOP (University of the Pacific), The Fox Theater, the Ports ballpark, etc.  I've been a subscribed member to both the Stockton Symphony, which is fantastic, and the Stockton Civic Theater for more than a decade.  Of course, I make my money there, and I do spend some of it there, as well.

Q: What is your work today?

A: I am a criminal investigator with the San Joaquin County Public Defender's Office.  We also handle conservatorships and guardianships.  I used to work at the District Attorney's Office as a Child Support Enforcement Officer, but I went to the "other side."

Q: When do you plan to retire?

A: I am looking forward to joining most of my Glenbrooke neighbors for early morning coffee at the lodge, (or elsewhere) when I retire, God willing, at the end of the year!  The commute to and from Stockton doesn't really bother me, but the price of gas does!

Q: Are your children in the area?

A: Yes, fortunately, all three of my children are in the north state.

Q: Do you have grandchildren?

A: Yes, my daughter has a boy and girl.   We were all looking forward to     Story Book Park but by the time it's built, they won't be interested.  Actually, they're too old for it now.  However, they do enjoy visiting "Nonni."

Q: ‘Nonni’ that’s Italian for grandmother, isn’t it?   Did you always want to be called Nonni?

A: Yes, I hadn't thought about it, but I always thought I'd be called "grandma" which I actually don't mind, because I am one!  I'm sure my grandkids will later call me "grandma."  It was their mother's idea to call me "Nonni," and their paternal grandmother, "Nina."  Go figure!

Q: What do you look forward to in your retirement?

A: I am anxious to travel to Europe.  Although I have been to several of our United States, I want to see each and every one.  Aside from travel, I enjoy good food, good wine, and good friends. Of course, I thoroughly enjoy dinners with my family, which we do once a week.

Q: I have always envied families that are able to get together once a week.  Did you find it hard to keep that tradition once the ‘children’ were out on their own?  How did you do it?

A: After the kids went out on their own, it was even more fun when they returned for the weekly dinner.  Although my daughter is now within walking distance from me, one son is in Stockton, and the other in the Bay Area, distance is not a factor. We truly enjoy each other's company, as well as their "significant others."  We're all very open and honest with each other, and they are a pleasure to be around.  My kids, nor I, have ever been fast food junkies, but more like "foodies."  Why waste calories on food that's bad tasting, and bad for you!  I also get invited to their homes for dinner, and they do a fabulous job.

Q: Wow, lucky family.   Back to you traveling, what's the most interesting place you've been?

A: I would have to say Corozal, which is in Belize.  I was sent there on a murder case to learn about the victim and her husband, who owned a home there.  I was only there for three days, but it felt like something out of a movie!!  It was a capital case; hence, the feds paid my way!

Q:  What's the last book that you've read?

A: You know, I am embarrassed to say I can't recall!  I am an avid newsreader, and love to leaf through cookbooks, magazines, etc.  During my retirement I would like to join a book club, but not mysteries.  There's enough of that on TV.

Q: Sounds like you had enough mysteries for your work.   Cookbooks?   Do you like to cook?

A: Yes, I do.  I grew up in an Italian household.  My mother died when I was a couple months shy 10 years old.  My father was one of NY's finest, a cop, and in and out of the house.  His mother, my nana, taught me how to cook, wash windows, iron, etc.  Nana said, "If you want to eat, you have to cook!" I don't eat huge amounts of pasta, but I certainly miss the milk-fed veal we used to eat once a week.  I do equate eating with love, and it's what people do when they get together over a glass or two of vino, and enjoy each other's company. Oh, my grandfather used to make his own wine each year, and I remember seeing the pretty wooden crates with "LODI" written on them.  Who would have thunk it!!  Lodi is almost around the corner!! I've been drinking the grape since I was about ten years old.  My grandfather drank his liter a day, and lived, as a diabetic, until 83!

Q: Which Glenbrooke event are we most likely see you?

A: Probably anything that has to do with food!  No, I love theater, movies, comedy, the outdoors, when it's not 100 degrees, shopping, etc.  I am learning Mexican Train, so maybe I'll become more involved with that.  I'd like to see the lodge have a Casino night.  Maybe we could donate some of the proceeds to a convalescent hospital, or anything pertaining to unfortunate and disadvantaged elderly. We should all be advocates for the elderly!

Q:  Anything else you would like to share with your neighbors?

A: I love it here!  I had attempted to buy a home here a few years ago, but it didn't come to fruition.  However, this past August, my dream came true.

I am usually walking my dog, a maltepoo, twice a day in the Promenade Park and the Rose Garden.  He loves it as much as I.  He enjoys watching the cottontail bunnies, and the huge Jack Rabbits dart in and out of the bushes, and across the lawns.  He really wishes I would just let him off his leash so he can outrun them, but that's not going to happen.