My Father Nelson's Birthday

My father Nelson Hoyt was born on this date 117 years ago, in Chicago back in 1909. I am just amazed when I think about how long ago that was. It makes me realize how fast time passes without you even noticing. My father was a dentist and always hated it. He and my mother Mary were finally able to retire in 1976, at the age of 67, to a condo here in Stuart, Florida, and both were never happier. Dad had only 7 years of retirement before he passed away but enjoyed those years very much. My mother lived in Stuart for almost 30 years before coming to live with me up in Denver, although we would travel back to Stuart 3 times a year and stay at the condo until she passed away. In any case, I took the photograph above of dad at Circle Bay, which is a condo complex next door to our building, where we would sometimes walk around and look at the boats docked there. The Monterey Yacht and Country Club, where the condo is located, has a 9-hole golf course, and most people who live here are all about golf, as was both my father and my mother. At Circle Bay, everyone has a dock space, and so they are all about boats. My parents had friends at Circle Bay, and so nobody minded us walking the grounds. These days, those people are long gone, and so if my sister Susan and I decided to walk over there these days, multiple people would probably draw their guns. This is Florida, after all. In any case, I am glad my father at least had those 7 years of retirement after all those years at a job he hated. He deserved more but luckily had those.