My husband and I moved to St. Johns County about twenty-seven years ago, before there was even cell service in our area. He was an internal medicine physician and I managed his medical practice. We were essentially a husband and wife tag-team duo. Meanwhile, our daughter kept us busy with her extracurriculars, dance recitals, after-school clubs, and, of course, golf. It was not until my husband introduced her to the game at the age of 10.

She naturally picked up golf rather quickly, so we enrolled her in lessons here at King and Bear with Anthony Vaughn. We were thrilled at her progress with the sport she came to love – so much so, her father and I considered moving to the neighborhood. 

A few years later, my husband retired and took up the full-time position as her golf coach. This became our new life, and we fell in love with it. Traveling to places we had never been before just to see our daughter compete. The bond brought to our family was unreal. 

Before we knew it, our daughter started high school at St. Joseph Academy in 2013. She played on the varsity boy’s golf team for all four years and advanced her team through various stages as the captain. She was succeeding academically, athletically, and had an array of achievements throughout.

Around her senior year, in 2016, my husband was diagnosed with colon cancer. Through his chemotherapy treatments, he never missed a single one of her tournaments. It took a toll on us as a family, but golf was our outlet. Within a year, my husband passed away the day before my daughter started at Flagler College in 2017. 

The upkeep of our family’s home became too much to bear given my husband’s absence, various hurricanes, living on excess land, and the river. I heavily considered moving. I drove by King and Bear almost every day and had friends who lived in the community. It was easy to fall in love with the neighborhood. 

That’s when I made the decision to sell our family home and start fresh just about a year and a half ago. The transition was surely difficult, but our great neighbors and loving friends within the community made our move possible. On October 29, 2020, my daughter and I were officially welcomed to the beautiful World Golf Village community, King and Bear. 

As for my daughter, she has stuck by my side through it all. She graduated in May 2021 with her business administration degree from Flagler College and enrolled shortly after at the University of North Florida to obtain her Master's in communication management. Her hopes are to one day work on the media side of the PGA TOUR.

She recently just accepted her first career-oriented job. It was in her time as a Master's student at UNF that she learned about a volunteer opportunity at the PXG Women’s Match Play Championship here at King and Bear hosted by the Women’s All-Pro Tour. She took the opportunity and within weeks, she was given a full-time position as a digital producer for the All-Pro Tour, headquartered in Texas.

It is amazing how, even when it appears nearly impossible, life always comes together with a little bit of faith. I am grateful to have harnessed a newfound security within this neighborhood and those around me. I never thought I would have ever had this feeling again since my husband’s passing. I am truly blessed to reside in World Golf Village and I absolutely adore where I live. I look forward to all the activities within our community and feel honored to be a part of it all. I am hopeful and content knowing that, not only are my daughter and I happy, but my husband would be, too.