Dear Class of ’73
Dec 2018
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All
After being retired for 11 months and doing something most days, it is hard to believe we got so much done on the weekends prior to retirement. Doing chores and fix ups at our own pace seems to get a better result and allows us to make better decisions. We spend at least 2 times a week playing golf and enjoying our time together. We also try to do things we never had time to do previously.
We sold our house in Sunrise and we bought in Ocala last August. (Webmaster’s note: the new address is available upon request) The house we purchased was in very good shape but needed to be updated. We moved in, and immediately started totally remodeling. We gutted bathrooms, kitchen and other spaces. We are supposed to be done in about a week, we shall see. It has been a challenge living in a construction zone for 4 months, but some how we have survived. We are especially looking forward to having a kitchen sink.
Our kids are doing great. Ben, the oldest, is still in DC working as an engineering analyst for the FDOT. He is such a prolific reader, the job fits him to a tee. We have visited there a number of times and always find some new and interesting things to see or do. I highly recommend DC as a vacation spot. Many really great museums are free and so are other interesting places to visit. Ben is still unmarried but has been seeing a lady for some time, so who knows.
Quin, the youngest, is in Orlando working in IT for Hilton Hotels. We do get a savings on friends and family at their locations. He is currently living with a long time girlfriend. They bought a house in one of the suburbs and seem to be happy. We see him whenever we go to Orlando. He is also our dog sitter when we travel.
We have not taken a long trip yet, as we are still working on our new home and we have a 13yo Golden Retriever that does not travel well at his age. He still wants to be a puppy but just does not have the strength or stamina. Whenever we travel we do drop him off at Quin’s, but he has his life and is not always available. We have never had our dog at a doggie daycare feeling it would just kill him.
Our lives have been really great since we got married 42 years ago. We have traveled a lot and enjoy each others company. We tend to think in a similar fashion and are willing to do things together. At the end of May , we went to St.Louis for a niece’s graduation. At the end of July we went to a family reunion in northern South Dakota. We took Julie’s dad with us. That we a real challenge, as he is a grumpy old man and generally did not have a lot good to say. The adults from Julie’s family are all got together at a VBRO. We then went to IC for a family get together with my family. A lot of fun to see families and young babies. Unfortunately, we had to be back in Florida to close on our new house, so we could not stay for the C/O ’73 reunion. We will make 50 as it will be a special event, I’m sure.
Again Dave, thanks for doing this website for all these years. You have done a wonderful job, and as I may speak for the entire class of ’73, you have done a great job of keeping us informed and together through this site.