Any woman who is married to a man who wears red-framed glasses is one lucky woman! Red framed glasses say a lot about a man… my man. Meet Sheldon Good!

Shelly Good is my best friend and my best girlfriend. He is kind, exciting and interesting; he is my confidant and secret keeper and my minute-to-minute advisor, not just on some things but on everything! He is involved with me to the nines, darlings!

He is my banker; my traveling sidekick, the most incredible son-in-law to my mother; devoted pet owner to our pooch, Orchid, an astute advisor to our children and grandchildren, and just one really nice guy.

He is my lover, my right hand and no one says ‘Suzi,’ refusing to call me Susan, like he does!

We were both widowed. He was my first and only date! I knew instantly. He knew instantly.  We were meant for one another. We are soul mates. We are a team. When I am down, Shelly fills my cup. When he is down —which is almost never—I fill his.

I am his Suzi! He is my Shelly! I honor him to the depth of my soul. He honors me to the depth of his. There is nothing Shelly Good would not do for me. For this reason and all the rest … I revere my husband, Sheldon Good. He is my Valentine.

A brief history of Sheldon Good

For you, darlings, who don’t know my husband, here is a brief history of his life!

He was raised by working parents and grew up on the North Side of Chicago. He always had after school jobs; was President of the Student Council and enjoyed school. To this day he supports his high school, Sullivan High, and meets with his high school buddies once a year for lunch.

He was the first in his family to graduate college, the University of Illinois. He graduated with a degree in Urban Land Economics. He always tells his grandchildren,  “college taught me how to think!”

After college he enlisted in the United States Army and served at Yokota Air Base in Japan for two years. He has told me many times “my army experience taught me the importance of self discipline and I applied that to my business career.”

And what an outstanding business career he has had.

After leaving the army, he joined a real estate firm, “to learn the real estate business,” he says. He stayed for eight years and then founded his own company, Sheldon Good and Company, a brokerage and auction firm. He supervised the sales and auctions of thousand of properties.

His unusual marketing methods created the new marketing tool, the real estate auction. My husband is the father of real estate auctions in America.

Shelly’s career has been multi-faceted. He has received special recognition as Realtor of the Year for the City of Chicago in 1991 and was selected as one of “Chicago’s 25 most influential Realtors” during the past century. He is a past President of the Chicago Association of Realtors and is a published author and speaker addressing business students at Cornell University, University of Chicago, Harvard University, Northwestern University, the Wharton School of Business, Stanford, UCLA and NYU. He sits on several boards.

Shelly is a United Nation’s delegate, serving in the role as an NGO (non government official) doing his part to help the world become a better place, through the use of real estate, to live, work and play.  He has spoken as an NGO in front of the General Assembly.

To get off topic for a moment because I do not want this story to sound like a eulogy, darlings: I was in the audience when Shelly spoke before the General Assembly. On the dais with Shelly was non other than Princess Margaret! She was really quite pretty but what I could not help but notice was her diamond broach! It was dazzling, darlings, not large or pretentious, but the diamonds had to be near perfect in color! They sparkled and were almost blinding.

Now back to Shelly…

He has been active in many civic and charitable activities and served in numerous leadership roles for charitable causes. He received the Prime Minister’s Medal from the State of Israel and the Crown of a Good Name for his work on behalf of Israel.  He was recognized by the University of Illinois as the 2000 recipient of the Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award (an oil painting of him hangs in Illini Hall) and was inducted into the Chicago Association of Realtors, Hall of Fame. He served on the endowment committee of the University and was a founder and board member of the Jewish Studies program. He was named an ‘Outstanding Alumni’ of his college fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi and is still involved.

His work and service on behalf of Governments and Professional Organizations has been outstanding.  The city of Paris awarded him its highest honor, the Medaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris (Gold Medal of the City of Paris.) He was the President of the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute (CCIM), President of the 20,000 strong Chicago Association of Realtors and treasurer of Chicago Association Political Action Committee. He founded and chairs the Chicago Association of Realtors, Hall of Fame Awards Program, which raises funds for its Educational Program. And on and on…

He was the World President of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) in 1996, housed in Paris, France, and is still active today. He is a leader and a volunteer in a worldwide network of over 1,000,000 real estate professionals from 65 countries. He instituted its Prix d’Excellence Awards program in partnership with the Wall Street Journal.

I could go on and on about this accomplishment and that accomplishment but now, darlings, you have a sense of who Shelly is.

I will end this post by trying to capture my thought of Shelly in one sentence.

My husband, Sheldon Good, is a Man of all Seasons; I am proud to be ‘his Suzi’ because he is a good man.

Happy Valentine’s Day Darlings! Happy Valentines Day Shelly!

Photography by Hallie Duesenberg and via Rancho Mirage Magazine.

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