It was a Friday afternoon in August, 1999, on a long narrow strip of some washed beach.

It was a good time to be alive.

Good time to be in real estate, too, as bright and hot that year as an afternoon on the

floor of the Gulf.

My dad was one of the most famous in the country, 21.

Jeff Begins and his family have been in real estate for decades, tending the snowbird

Haven in Tampa.

On this one right here.

And on this particular Friday afternoon, he was getting ready for one of his signature

beach barbecues.

A semi-regular perk, which not only he enjoyed, it helped attract and retain his excellent

team of agents.

It was a small close-knit family, so we'd have office happy hours, office get-togethers

and the whole team would come through.

Now we do beach parties and cookouts and those type of techniques.

One of these agents had a particularly interesting background, a diplomat's ex-wife, Rosemary

Christianson.

Hello, agent Kathy McKinnon was impressed by Rosemary's slightly more formal style.

She was the type of person where she's got nylons with her shorts.

You know, she has to have her nails done.

But reserved, standoffish?

Oh no.

...