My name is Michel Bernier and I was born in Russia on October 26, 1926 but I was raised in Paris, France. I come from a large family of about twenty five people. I have three brothers all six or seven years apart from oldest to youngest. My mother's name was Raya. I never met my mother because she died when I was born. One of my most unforgettable moments of my mother was visiting her tomb in Paris and I remember that there was a large beautiful picture of her in color made out of porcelain. My father's name was Lazera. He was a very pleasant person and a loving creature. He was also a hard worker who owned his own dry cleaning business which wasn't easy. No eight or twelve hour days for him, he practically lived at the store. Plus the fact that he had to take care of me and my three brothers. My father had a good sense of belonging and was very devoted to his children. On Sundays I felt kind of bad for him because it was his only day off and I remember him always dragging along a lot of groceries for us and that has stayed in my heart until now. The most important lesson I learned from my parents was to love my family to death and to work with them. Also I learned an old Jewish philosophy which is "pay for what you get and get paid for what you give." Some of the skills I learned from my parents were business skills, which I put to use once I had a dry cleaning chain on Broadway. The earliest memory that I have of growing up is the one of my grandmother leaving for America. I remember because my grandmother was a tough cookie and had zero tolerance of my behavior but she was also loving at the same time. Growing up I really didn't have any favorite celebrations, even as a young kid I was never into big crowds to begin with. As I got older I can honestly say that I did find true love. Muriel and I were married for fourteen years. Our marriage was excellent, she was very generous and economical and a hard worker. I would give her ten dollars and she would come back with about seven dollars worth of stuff for me and three dollars worth of goods for her. Unfortunately I screwed up our marriage and got divorced, it was a clean divorce and I practically gave her everything for being such a good wife to me. If I could give martial advice it would be not to be the guy who screws everything up and blames it on the wife. Also I don't advise being single because I believe that it destroys your whole spirit and it's a fate worse than death. Life is a beautiful thing and one of my secrets for living the good life is to follow the bible the best that you can. An important lesson that life has taught me is the one of patience, there are no books on patience. I would like future generations to remember that in life if you tell the truth you'll never have to hide and being yourself is the greatest thing that you'll ever do. Countless people have personal codes that they live by but mine is to be a free thinker with no restrictions and to believe in what you see. If I had one last thing to say right now it would be this "in conversation you always have to leave at least a small crack of the door open," which means if you as a person leave yourself open it will be easier for people to talk to you and approach you.