BEN COLE

For years, Simon Simoudis has been working as a carpenter. He specializes in making cabinets, although he is excellent at shaping wood in any form his customers want. He has earned a reputation for himself, for his quality, punctuality, and good behaviour. He has customers lined up not just from our town but all over Victoria. His craftsmanship is appreciated by the people for whom he has worked. They say he has an eye for aesthetics; his designs are beautiful, in sync with the settings of the room for which he makes the furniture. Therefore, when I heard that he is planning to create a men’s grooming brand, I wasn’t surprised. Although it did occur to me that his steady income stream for years would be disrupted. He had given many good years to making cabinets, and all that experience would go in vain. And when I revealed my doubts about his new profession, he smiled and told me that perhaps I couldn’t see the connection between these two professions. Both are related to beauty enhan...

Some are different, better than most around them, and Simon Simoudis was one such guy. I say this time and again that I felt reassured wherever my children used to go with him, though he was a year younger than my son. It was not just me, but most parents in the neighbourhood used to think the same way. Even when he grew up as a young boy in our neighbourhood near Victoria, Australia, Simon had that conviction in himself that made everyone feel safe around him, as if nothing would ever go wrong with him present. He had that air of confidence and maturity, even when a young kid himself. We were close, and we held events from time to time-events for different age groups. And many years ago, our local park arranged a small weekend cricket match among the neighbourhood kids. It was a bright Saturday morning, and the kids were excited about the cricket match. The cricket match started on time, and everything was going smoothly till Charlie, a little kid in Simon's team, tripped badly. ...

I live near Victoria, Australia. The Simoudis family and I have been living as neighbors for more than two decades now. When they had shifted to our neighborhood, Simon Simoudis was a mere toddler. But he was not an ordinary child; he was different, more mature than his age. Just like his parents, he was always there for anyone who needed help. You could always bank upon the Simoudis wherever the community was in need. Simon was good at studies, though he was playful too. And he always got good grades in school, and he always seemed very much interested in extracurricular activities also. About 10 years ago, when Simon must have been around 16, our community organized an inter-neighborhood science fair. Any school-going student from nearby areas could participate in the event. As expected, Simon didn’t waste a moment to sign up. After all, science was his favorite subject, and I always found him making some scientific device.  I remember visiting his home one day. His father is a...

I had the honor of being present when Simon Simoudis was growing up. The Simoudis had relocated to our neighbourhood when Simon was only about seven years old. My daughter and son were of similar age, and the two quickly became very close. Simon was almost an everyday visitor at our home. They would go to plays at our place and also complete their homework together. Simon Simoudis was a bright student. He was unpretentiously quiet but also mischievously playful. He was the kind who could help my daughter whenever she got stuck on some math problem. And he would do so humbly. He never made her feel inadequate. It was the same at his school also. He was picked by his teachers to keep an eye on the class when they went on their absent. Yes, he was the senior student of his class. Even as a young kid, he had the flair for wisdom and responsibility for his age. I still distinctly recollect an occurrence when Simon Simoudis was just 10 years old. There was only one school in our town, and...