My story with John J. Iskierka III-customers and me

Strictly speaking, John J.Iskierka III was my first independently developed foreign trade customer and my good friend.
One day in 2004, he found me on a quartz website where I worked with a friend and asked if I could provide a far-infrared surgical lamp. I said YES, and he sent me a sample. It took me two weeks to give a better sample than the original. Later, John praised me very much, greatly enhancing my confidence in my work. It was a bulb produced initially by 3M. After 3M stopped production, he spent a long time finding a suitable supplier. He tried suppliers from more than a dozen countries and regions until he found me. The first order was for 1,000 bulbs, and only 1,000 yuan was added, equivalent to about 121 US dollars at the time, and it didn’t change much later. But this is the order that I am happiest about. Any number of subsequent orders cannot replace the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
John was already in his early fifties at the time. He shared with me a lot of his daily life and views: his views on China and the United States; how he sold antique telephones on Amazon and thus met his lover Val, who traveled thousands of miles to get married; his and Val’s websites and emails; which product projects are worth my attention; their company is not significant, and his boss is still working in his 90s; John has a small farm, he likes his donkey very much, and kindly invited me to visit his farm if I have the chance, but unfortunately I have never had the opportunity to meet him.
The phone bill was costly then, but we also communicated by phone. John’s voice was hoarse and not pleasant, and my oral level was not very good, so most of the time, we communicated by email. Although the number of orders for this lamp was small and my profit from the price increase was minimal, John’s email broadened my horizons. After John retired, he knew that my profit was meager, and he reminded me to pay attention to the price increase. He is my most heartwarming friend.
It is deplorable that, with John’s retirement, our contact with him diminished until we completely lost contact. But I always miss John and hope that everything is well with him.