Constant One
Dave Hoffman
After living nearly 60 years, you get accustomed to experiencing new beginnings, or new stages in life. My first truly significant new beginning was when I met Kathy. We quickly fell in love and started spending more and more time together. It was a change for me as I was used to playing sports or going to the bars with my friends after work. To now feel the desire to stay around home and just spend time quiet time with her was completely different. And as the years went by, I started to realize she was my best friend. The time we spent talking or quietly reading or watching TV was priceless. I didn’t know it then, but looking back we had both made a choice to put our relationship and our marriage first in our lives. This was critical to weathering some of the storms that would inevitably come over the years.
My next big new beginning was when we started our family. As with most couples, there was a strain on us as we handled midnight feedings and the overall 24/7 nature of having kids. Honestly, Kathy did most of the work as I was focused on being successful at my job and tending to the responsibilities of home ownership. But I realized as the kids started to grow that I had to make some choices. Luckily, I chose to sacrifice some of my hobbies in favor of the kids’ interests. I knew I had to balance my work life and home life, and that meant making the most of my time with Kathy and the kids. So I stopped hunting and playing golf in favor of coaching and Scouts. This alignment of my interests with those of the kids allowed me to maximize my precious time with them. I didn’t always get it right as work and projects sometimes got in the way, but I know if I hadn’t made a conscious effort to push my life in that direction, I wouldn’t have spent nearly as much quality time with Kathy and the kids.
There have been many more new beginnings as Kathy and I have journeyed through life together over the past 34 years … like the year we moved 5 times, the overseas postings in Geneva, Dubai, and Frankfurt, the inevitable health issues as you grow older, and the loss of parents and siblings. Through it all, you come to realize that God is always with you … sometimes walking beside you and sometimes carrying you. He is the one constant in all new beginnings. His support and love gets you through it. And it also helps to be married to the love of your life!
Dave is married to the love of his life and best friend, Kathy. He has three grown children, two working and one in college. He’s retired and enjoying every minute of it. He loves to hike, backpack, or just hang out in the woods with his two retrievers. He also enjoys reading and watching movies, especially westerns and mysteries. He has been volunteering with the Boy Scouts for the past 25 years, and is looking forward to getting more involved at Imago on the Resource and Leadership Teams.