Today Is His Birthday

Today is Dad’s birthday. He would have been 93.

My dad was my role model. He taught me that true leaders are servants, that giving is a lifestyle and that real encouragers show up when we deserve them least.

Today, I’m thinking about what Dad taught about retirement. Because of a late-in-life financial setback, he reached age 65 with no savings. None.

But since he and mom had planned to retire at that age, he quit his job as a Real Estate salesman in Phoenix and moved to the resort community of Ruidosa, New Mexico. How did he pull it off?

Dad found part-time jobs to supplement his social security income but leave time for the leisure activities he and mom had planned. In Ruidosa he delivered flyers for the racetrack and worked as a convenience store cashier.

And Dad was an optimist. When Mom’s health deteriorated and they had to move to Lubbock, he found interesting and fun things they could do—both drove cancer patients to doctor appointments, and my parents ended their lives as activity directors at a retirement village.

But that’s not the end of his story. After 68 years of marriage, Mom died, and the next year Dad (now 85) surprised us with his plan to remarry. He and Doris were giddy with love—I officiated at their Valentine’s Day wedding—and they spent the next year and a half enjoying each other and serving their neighbors.

My World War II veteran dad went to be with Jesus on Memorial Day, 2010, just two weeks short of his 87th birthday. He left many legacies, among them a model for his youngest boy, showing me how one’s last years can be his best years.