All my life, I only ever owned one share of stock. It was decades ago, when the Pennsylvania Railroad ended, and became Penn Central.
With my husband a locomotive fireman on the PRR, then on Penn Central and later an engineer for them, I wanted to own a piece of the business that took my husband away from me so much.
In his early days on the railroad, he worked more on “the list” than on regular jobs. There were never any sick days with pay, so we were happy he was extraordinarily healthy. He only got paid for the days he worked, so we had tough decisions to make. Did he work and we would be certain the bills were all paid that month, or did he call in ‘sick’ or ‘unavailable’ and cheer on his son in Pop Warner or his daughters cheering on the team.
We always opted for the Pop Warner games, later the first proms, meeting the first boyfriends, the family dinners on special occasions, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We both worked New Year’s Day, he on the railroad, me covering organization meetings in different towns the newspaper covered. So we never went out New Year’s Eve nor even stayed up to watch the New Year come in on TV. And somehow, the bills always got paid.
On the list meant being called two hours before he was needed for work, enough time for me make him coffee and pack a lunch and for him to get to South Amboy, or Long Island or Penn Station New York to be gone for many long hours.
It meant getting up at 1 or 2 in the morning, or getting back home after the Owl dropped him off in Red Bank and he drove back to Highlands.
They were always great years, the railroad was good, the job secure, hospitalization benefits decent. But still I wanted a piece of the company with whom I had to share my husband.
When Penn Central was dissolved and it was Conrail, later Amtrak when it was formed, my one share of stock was bought up by another company. Today, it is worth about $20 or so, certainly cheaper to keep than to sell or dispose of.
That’s my entire history with stock. Until this month.
After my so very successful cryoablation at Centra State Hospital with Dr. Tomkovich choosing to participate in the trial for this new way of curing breast cancer, I tried to buy stock in Ice Cure, the Israel company that had designed the procedure and created the magic.
However, it was only available on the Israeli market and buying shekels with dollars and going through all the paperwork and costs of exchange made it foolish to do.
In August, with the growing success of this small wonderful company, Ice Cure Medical stock came to the United States and was made available on Nasdaq. Of course it’s a chancy investment, it’s new, it’s inexpensive, and not a lot is known about it.
None of which bothered me. Just as I felt I needed to own a piece of the company that kept my husband away from home, I needed to invest in the company that cured me of cancer. But this purchase seems so much better. And means so much more to me. I bought many more than one share of Ice Cure.
Now I can proudly say I own a piece of the company that has found a wonderful cure for many breast cancers! I have made an investment in a company that is aiding women all over the world.
Whether it goes up or down, whether it makes profits or not, it’s an investment I’m grateful I am able to make. EDITORS NOTE: All investment strategies and investments involve risk of loss. Nothing contained in this website should be construed as investment advice. Any reference to an investment’s past or potential performance is not, and should not be construed as, a recommendation or as a guarantee of any specific outcome or profit.
