We Heart Art

Market Basket is a low-priced grocery chain of 71 stores with 25,000 employees. Since July 18, there have been rallies, boycotts, and protests (like the one shown in the above, right photos at the Hudson, N.H. Market Basket) over the removal of former CEO, Arthur T. Demoulas. Arthur T., as he's lovingly called by his employees, was replaced by a board of directors now controlled by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas, a rival successor to the supermarket empire built by the Arthurs' immigrant grandparents. In the last three and a half weeks many members of the stores' management teams, sympathetic to Arthur T., were fired or resigned. And last week hours were cut for thousands of part-time workers because of the severe decline in business due to the job actions resulting from this family feud. The company also told about 200 employees they will be fired unless they report to work by Friday of this week. The 71 stores, like the Fletcher Street Market Basket, stay open but shelves are nearly empty due to interrupted shipping on the part of warehouse workers sympathetic to Arthur T.

Bill, 28, is the front end manager at the Fletcher Street Market Basket in Lowell, Massachusetts. Market Basket Store # 1. This is the site (above, left photo) of the first grocery store opened by the Demoulas  family after they emigrated from Greece nearly 100 years ago when the city was still a booming center of manufacturing. This is still very much an ethnic neighborhood, where most customers walk to the store instead of drive and shop for several items once or twice a day. Bill has worked for the Market Basket Company for 12 years and knows many of his customers by name. One woman with a toddler in tow, looked at Bill and smiled. “Sorry I’m breaking the boycott. But someone needs ice cream.” 

Q.  Do people really love Arthur T. (ousted CEO of the Market Basket grocery store chain) that much?

A.  Yes.  Absolutely yes. Arthur T. has always taken care of his employees. He's always doing these wonderful things for people and not because he's getting publicity for it. He just does them quietly because he's a good guy. And he's been doing it for years. That's why there's been this reaction. Our receiving director died just recently.  Mr. D drove to Haverhill to spend time with his widow. He's picked up the tabs for some employees' funerals to help their families. You'd think a CEO would just be there for the higher ups. But Mr. D is there for everyone - the managers, the baggers, the part-time people. Look at me. I'm 28, single. I've been working for Market Basket for 12 years and I just was able to buy a house. Not too many people my age, in my position could do that. It's because Mr. D takes care of his employees and we're able to make a living, a good living. So it's no surprise that everyone - the employees and our customers - reacted to this the way they did. We're a family. We're all a family. And the head of that family is Arthur T.

Lowell, MA

JoAnn, 62 and Greg, 63




JoAnn and Greg met online more than two years ago. She was a widow who had been married 34 years when her husband died in 2005. Greg is divorced. Both have grown children. While they see each other nearly every day, like this sunny Sunday at Benson's Park in Hudson, N.H. when they enjoyed a picnic, the two live in different houses in different states and like it that way.

Q. How is love different now than when you were young?


A. When you're young, you think you're in love, but you're really in lust and then it turns into love. In your 60s it's the same thing really. Just the other day Greg asked me if I thought I'd ever feel like this again. You know - like a teenager. Our kids are kind of disgusted by that - you know - the sexual stuff. So in that way, love is the same. But what's different is that we have a whole life behind us. We look at things differently. If I haven't seen him in a while, I can't wait to see him again, but I'm okay if I don't. I like my independence. I like my me time. I got used to that after my husband died. That's different than when you're young and you feel like you're going to die if you don't see each other every minute. I know in my heart I love Greg, but I also know I could live without him if I had to. But I don't want to.  He's it for me. I know that.

Hudson, N.H.

Sam and Hope - 16

There are those who think there's no way a teenager could know what love really is.  But many a wise person, including William Shakespeare, would disagree.  Juliet was more tween than teen when she fell for her Romeo.  And while not quite Verona, Hayward's Ice Cream in Nashua, New Hampshire, has been the summer setting for the young and the smitten for more than 70 years.

Q. Do you think you know what love is? And if so, what is it?

A. "Absolutely," said Sam.  "It's got nothing to do with age. It's any feeling which brings two humans together.  Love is a connection.  I know more about her than I do about myself.  Love is literally everything." Hope also is sure that she knows what love is.  "Love is Sam," she said without missing a beat. "When I first loved him as a friend, I thought he was perfect. Then when I started dating him I found out he wasn't perfect and I loved him more."

Nashua, N.H.

Ben and Michaela

There are those who think there's no way a teenager could know what love really is.  But many a wise person, including William Shakespeare, would disagree.  Juliet was more tween than teen when she fell for her Romeo.  And while not quite Verona, Hayward's Ice Cream in Nashua has been the summer setting for the young and the smitten for more than 70 years.  Ben, 18 and Michaela, 17 just starting dating.

Q. Do you think you know what love is? And if so, what is it?

A. "I don't know if I know," said Michaela. "But if I had to guess, I'd say it's when you care more about another person than you do about yourself." Ben said,  "I think I know. What love is for me is the feeling of emotion and attraction to a person - to the entire person with every fiber of your soul."

Q. What do you like most about each other?
A. "He makes me laugh," said Michaela. "She's cute as a button," said Ben.

Nashua, N.H.

Jean and David

Jean lost her husband to cancer in 2006.  When a friend suggested she would some day love again, she said, "I'm not interested. I already had the best.” Jean is now engaged to David, a divorcee. They are pictured above in their home in Nashua, NH.

Q.  How did it feel when you realized you fell in love again?

A.  I thought, “This is shocking, because I never thought it would happen again.”  I remember a friend of mine saying, “Do you know you are in love with David?" And I said, “I am?”  So I thought about it for a moment and I said, “Yeah, I guess I am. What a gift.” 

Nashua, N.H.

S-HAIRING THE LOVE

Q. What does hair have to do with love?

Let us count the ways. Students from Continental Academie of Hair Design in Hudson, New Hampshire like Ashley (left) and Rebecca, showed their love of community by volunteering a whole Saturday afternoon doing hair for the school's first-ever Unified Buddy Ball Candy Land Extravaganza.

A. "When your hair looks good nothing can stop you. It helps you love yourself and nothing is more powerful than that," said Rebecca. "If your hair looks the way you want," said Ashley, "it boosts your inner love and that love shows on the outside.

Hudson N.H.

*Stay tuned for the next post of Heart Beat Bloggers for photos from the Unified Ball.

Liz and Nicole

Liz and Nicole are getting married in November in front of 200 of their closest friends and family; but first there's the sweet ritual of the cake tasting. Certainly there will be more complicated decisions to be made during the course of their lives together, but few will be so rich in anticipation and butter cream. It was at Jacques Fine European Pastries in Suncook, New Hampshire that we asked the couple about the multi-layered confection that is matrimony.

Q. Why get married? Why not just live together?

A. "I don't want a roommate. I want a life partner," said Liz (left). For Nicole it's a no brainer. "You can cohabitate or you can solidify your partnership - literally sharing everything with each other for the rest of our lives."

Pembroke, N.H.