Golf

There are two things you can do with your head down
- golf and pray.
Lee Trevino

Daddy has done both for virtually his entire life.

I have no clue as to when he first started golfing, but it was a serious avocation until disability ultimately cheated him out of playing. In fact, he actually hit a hole-in-one when he was 79 years old. That is so amazing to me.

Of course, being Daddy, he couldn't wait to teach his sons to play as well. How old they were when they first held a golf club I don't know, but I'm sure they were very young.

Daddy golfed at every opportunity. He golfed with my mother, with his friends, with his sons -- in general, anyone who was willing and capable of hitting a tiny white ball with a club. When they visited Europe, Daddy brought his golf clubs along. When my parents were looking for a retirement community in Florida, they chose one in a golfing community. The traveled from their home up north down there when the weather got too chilly to golf, and returned when it warmed up enough for them to golf here. Their townhouse there looked out on one of the courses. I think, in many ways, my parents were happiest during that period of their lives. I know Daddy loved living there.

I wish I had learned to golf from him, but I was never an athlete (and I'm still not, Lord knows) I was also a clumsy, myopic kid. Frankly, putt-putt can challenge me! I doubt I would have been any good at it, but I do wish I could have shared his love of the sport with him the way my brothers do. My youngest brother is a dedicated a golfer as Daddy ever was. It's just one more commonality they share. The elder of the two is more casual about the sport, but still he is interested and plays a round every now and again.

There is a picture hanging in my parents' den that I love. It is a photograph of my Dad, flanked by my brothers, all holding clubs. I believe the photo was taken by my brother-in-law, but on what golf course I just don't know. What I do know is that not only is it a technically great photo, it demonstrates beautifully the love that these three men share: love of a game, and love for each other.

Golf is one more thing that Alzheimer's has stolen from Daddy. He never mentions golfing at all, in any context, and takes almost no interest in even watching a tournament on TV these days. The cruelty of it all is virtually unthinkable.