DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Adelia M. Hoyt memoir and photographs

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Page 117

UNFOLDING YEARS, 117 

myself. This all seemed to be quite remarkable for one of his age, since he is just a year my junior. 
That summer of 1947 I spent another week with the Kales when Mrs. Neff took her vacation. I was not feeling so well at the time but the change did me good, and with the coming of cool weather I soon picked up again. I no longer had any reason for concealing my age, and my eighty-second birthday, December 3, 1947, was made quite an event by my friends. I was presented with a beautiful birthday cake from Mrs. Maxwell's Chapter N of the PEO Sisterhood. I was showered with cards, letters, flowers and other gifts. Many came in person to congratulate me. 
Best of all, Hoyt and Naoma Hammer were there to share the festivities. Hoyt was in the insurance business and had Ohio as his territory. He was called to Baltimore, the headquarters of the company, for a conference and Naoma came with him. I am sure the company did not arrange the time in honor of my birthday but it was a happy coincidence. No matter how much one appreciates good friends the tie of blood kinship is strong. Although Hoyt was only my great nephew his mother and grandmother had been very dear to me, and now I had learned to know and love Hoyt and his wife for themselves. 
It is time for this narrative to come to an end. I wonder why I ever started it? What is the urge which drives so many to try to put into words the thoughts and experiences of their lives? In the case of noted personages the effort is justified. No doubt in their case there is a sincere conviction that their life history will be of interest and help to posterity. They may also wish to forestall some less appreciative biographer. With me there is no such delusion. Perhaps it was in part the urge to write which has followed me all through the years ; or perhaps I was impelled to relate this story for my own satisfaction. Whatever it may have been, I have enjoyed recalling the events of my life, which if of little account to the world at large, have meant so much to me.

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UNFOLDING YEARS, 117 myself. This all seemed to be quite remarkable for one of his age, since he is just a year my junior. That summer of 1947 I spent another week with the Kales when Mrs. Neff took her vacation. I was not feeling so well at the time but the change did me good, and with the coming of cool weather I soon picked up again. I no longer had any reason for concealing my age, and my eighty-second birthday, December 3, 1947, was made quite an event by my friends. I was presented with a beautiful birthday cake from Mrs. Maxwell's Chapter N of the PEO Sisterhood. I was showered with cards, letters, flowers and other gifts. Many came in person to congratulate me. Best of all, Hoyt and Naoma Hammer were there to share the festivities. Hoyt was in the insurance business and had Ohio as his territory. He was called to Baltimore, the headquarters of the company, for a conference and Naoma came with him. I am sure the company did not arrange the time in honor of my birthday but it was a happy coincidence. No matter how much one appreciates good friends the tie of blood kinship is strong. Although Hoyt was only my great nephew his mother and grandmother had been very dear to me, and now I had learned to know and love Hoyt and his wife for themselves. It is time for this narrative to come to an end. I wonder why I ever started it? What is the urge which drives so many to try to put into words the thoughts and experiences of their lives? In the case of noted personages the effort is justified. No doubt in their case there is a sincere conviction that their life history will be of interest and help to posterity. They may also wish to forestall some less appreciative biographer. With me there is no such delusion. Perhaps it was in part the urge to write which has followed me all through the years ; or perhaps I was impelled to relate this story for my own satisfaction. Whatever it may have been, I have enjoyed recalling the events of my life, which if of little account to the world at large, have meant so much to me.