It was 5:45 PM when Vic Hunter pulled into the entrance of the Foxbriar County Club. The eight mile trip took almost 90 minutes. As drove around the circular drive searching for a place to park, he wondered how in God's name did he put up with that traffic for 15 years. That traffic was the reason why Vic rarely ventured out of the house between the hours of 7-10 in the morning and 4-7 in the evening since he retired three years ago. It took a real special occasion or a lot of coaxing to get him out during those hours. Today it was a combination.
The special occasion was a party for Brooke Stafford, the daughter of Vic's friend, Mike Stafford. Brooke had just received her Ph.D in Urban Planning from Northwestern and last week was honored at a dinner for being selected a "Future Leader" by some prestigious foundation that Vic never heard of before. Since there were only limited tickets available to each awardee for that event, Mike thought throwing her this party would give all their family, friends and his business associates a chance to celebrate her success.
When Mike first invited him, Vic was non-committal. Although the distance in miles between Vic's modest suburban ranch home and Mike's neighborhood was only those eight miles, the income and lifestyle gap was, let's say, significant. Residents here lived in gated communities with houses that had garages with more square footage than Vic's place. He definitely didn't fit in with most of this crowd but when Brooke called and insisted, he said he'd attend. After all, she said, if it weren't for his help, there would have been no reason to celebrate.
About a year ago, Mike approached him to see if he'd be interested in helping her with a project that was part of her doctoral work. Brooke was working with a suburban county health department to revise and update their emergency response plan. Mike knew that Vic had spent over 30 years in government doing that type of work. Brooke, he said, was book smart but needed some real life experience and guidance. Mike also knew that Vic had spent the last ten years of his career recruiting and mentoring Masters trained new hires and on several occasions mentioned how much he enjoyed that part of the job. It seemed like a good match.
While Vic enjoyed his retirement and the "every day is Saturday" lifestyle, he sometimes missed the interaction with young people who wanted to perform public service. So when Mike asked him to help his daughter, he jumped at the chance. Vic found Brooke to be a very willing student who was not only intelligent but also possessed very good people skills. She was a real joy to work with and the six or so hours a week he spent with her was time well spent. He had such a good time doing it, he wondered if he would ever have another opportunity to do it again.
As he made his way into the club, Vic decided to duck into the men's room and check his appearance before he ventured into the club's banquet room. He couldn't remember the last time he had a suit on, let alone dress shoes. After straightening his tie, he stepped back and gave himself the once over. At a little over 6', he really didn't look half bad for 65. Most of his hair was still there. although the invading grays were slowing winning the battle with the dark browns. He was in great physical shape and sometimes got carded when he asked for the senior discount at various stores. But the days he felt every bit of those 65 years were becoming more frequent.
Taking a deep breath, he entered the dining area. Just as he suspected, this was a place for the rich and famous. As he walked past the tables, he noticed there was more silverware at each place setting than he had in his entire kitchen. There was a swag bag on every seat. Just another advantage of working around the younger generation he thought. He knew what the fuck a swag bag was.
He spotted Mike and his wife Elaine and started to walk over to their table. Before he got there, Brooke intercepted him and gave him a big hug.
"Vic, I'm so glad you decided to come. I learned so much from you. I can never thank you enough."
Brooke grabbed his hand and pulled him along as she made her way across the room.
"Come with me. I want to introduce you to my friend, Amelia."
The special occasion was a party for Brooke Stafford, the daughter of Vic's friend, Mike Stafford. Brooke had just received her Ph.D in Urban Planning from Northwestern and last week was honored at a dinner for being selected a "Future Leader" by some prestigious foundation that Vic never heard of before. Since there were only limited tickets available to each awardee for that event, Mike thought throwing her this party would give all their family, friends and his business associates a chance to celebrate her success.
When Mike first invited him, Vic was non-committal. Although the distance in miles between Vic's modest suburban ranch home and Mike's neighborhood was only those eight miles, the income and lifestyle gap was, let's say, significant. Residents here lived in gated communities with houses that had garages with more square footage than Vic's place. He definitely didn't fit in with most of this crowd but when Brooke called and insisted, he said he'd attend. After all, she said, if it weren't for his help, there would have been no reason to celebrate.
About a year ago, Mike approached him to see if he'd be interested in helping her with a project that was part of her doctoral work. Brooke was working with a suburban county health department to revise and update their emergency response plan. Mike knew that Vic had spent over 30 years in government doing that type of work. Brooke, he said, was book smart but needed some real life experience and guidance. Mike also knew that Vic had spent the last ten years of his career recruiting and mentoring Masters trained new hires and on several occasions mentioned how much he enjoyed that part of the job. It seemed like a good match.
While Vic enjoyed his retirement and the "every day is Saturday" lifestyle, he sometimes missed the interaction with young people who wanted to perform public service. So when Mike asked him to help his daughter, he jumped at the chance. Vic found Brooke to be a very willing student who was not only intelligent but also possessed very good people skills. She was a real joy to work with and the six or so hours a week he spent with her was time well spent. He had such a good time doing it, he wondered if he would ever have another opportunity to do it again.
As he made his way into the club, Vic decided to duck into the men's room and check his appearance before he ventured into the club's banquet room. He couldn't remember the last time he had a suit on, let alone dress shoes. After straightening his tie, he stepped back and gave himself the once over. At a little over 6', he really didn't look half bad for 65. Most of his hair was still there. although the invading grays were slowing winning the battle with the dark browns. He was in great physical shape and sometimes got carded when he asked for the senior discount at various stores. But the days he felt every bit of those 65 years were becoming more frequent.
Taking a deep breath, he entered the dining area. Just as he suspected, this was a place for the rich and famous. As he walked past the tables, he noticed there was more silverware at each place setting than he had in his entire kitchen. There was a swag bag on every seat. Just another advantage of working around the younger generation he thought. He knew what the fuck a swag bag was.
He spotted Mike and his wife Elaine and started to walk over to their table. Before he got there, Brooke intercepted him and gave him a big hug.
"Vic, I'm so glad you decided to come. I learned so much from you. I can never thank you enough."
Brooke grabbed his hand and pulled him along as she made her way across the room.
"Come with me. I want to introduce you to my friend, Amelia."