August 6, 2008

My 86 year-old father moved to a retirement center located about 4 miles from me. I'm glad to have him here but I know he's a bit lonely. He left his 90 year old girlfriend (Dad's a widower) in Raleigh, where they both lived in an independent living community. He'd been there since the spring of 2002.

If it's true that in our culture we're individually responsible for organizing our own fate, I'm proud of my father's organization skills and achievements. He was president of the civilian student body at Virginia Tech in the forties, served as a supply officer in the Navy during WWII, then finished his MBA at Harvard on the GI bill in 1947. He worked tirelessly and faithfully for a large New England textile company for nearly 35 years, then went on to teach and start his own CPA firm. In 1995, at the age of 74, he lost part of his vision and was finally forced to retire from business for good. But even in retirement he was an active person, helping other retirees with their investments and taxes, organizing and printing a resident directory in his former retirement community and being a good grandfather and terrific example to his grandchildren.

He's confined to a wheelchair now but his mind and memory are still sharp. We're both fairly new to this community. I've been here just a little less than three years and it's one of those small communities where most friendships were forged in elementary school. But we'll be fine. We've been the new family in town most of my life.