The StoryCorps Mobile Tour returned to Fort Myers in February and March 2024 to record meaningful conversations with people right here in Southwest Florida about their lives.
Each Monday, we’re highlighting some of the compelling stories from our fellow Southwest Florida residents.
In this installment, we hear Vic Delnore and his wife Candie Delnore talk about finding love together in their 40s, their love of books, their volunteer work, and how they say they’re busier now in retirement than when they were working.
Transcript:
VIC DELNORE: It turned out we both were, and still are, book lovers.
CANDIE DELNORE: Yeah.
VIC: Yeah. In fact, your house and my condo, they each had the same matching bookshelves. Remember?
CANDIE: The fact that we love books even today now we have in our yard the little free library, and it's in a perfect place in our Whiskey Creek neighborhood, and it's on the bike path and the walk path. So it gets a lot of traffic, and people always tell us that they just love our little library, and it gets a lot of use, and we put a bench out there so people can sit down and look at the books.
VIC: Yep. In fact, it's the turnaround point for a lot of older people in the neighborhood that do a walk each morning. They walk from their home to ours, pick a book, sit down, take a rest, and then head back. We built it eight years ago, and it's been a real success. Yeah.
CANDIE: Yeah. In fact, people will say, “Oh, you live in Whiskey Creek. Are you near the little free library?” Fortunately, that's in our yard, right. So people leave us gifts, you know, on the bench, like some bananas or…
VIC: Thank you notes.
CANDIE: Little thank you notes. And yeah, that's been fun fact.
VIC: In fact, shortly after we built it, we made the cover of the local NPR public broadcasting magazine. Remember that?
CANDIE: Oh, right. That’s right. We did.
VIC: Yeah, when they were still doing a print magazine.
CANDIE: I forgot that.
VIC: Yeah, we were on the cover of that.
CANDIE: So, we also have a lot of other interests. We like to travel. He's a really good travel partner because he does all of the uh…
VIC: Navigation.
CANDIE: The navigation part. I do all the, you know, reservations and where we're going to go.
VIC: One thing I really, really like about you Candie, is your hobbies and your interests. I like that you are a birder, because it gets us outside a lot, even though I have to walk circles around the birding group, because you guys progress so slowly.
CANDIE: Yes, we have to look at the birds.
VIC: But it gives me time to sit. I'll find a bench, and I'll sit down, and I'll make a sketch or something like that. I love that you are a fiber artist quilter, because I just really admire that art. I'm always ready to go to a quilt show just to look around. I love it when you are exhibiting in a quilt show. You're very talented that way and it's just fun.
CANDIE: But I like about you is that you are an artist, and that you can quickly sketch out something. If you're trying to tell somebody about a part or how this machine works, you instead of explaining it, you draw it with exploded views, with the little screws popping out and everything, and it's just kind of crazy. Do you have any regrets? I don't have any regrets with you even though I get angry at you, sometimes I just pat you on your head, and you know, you're kind of floating around in the air, and I pull your little string down to earth again, but other than that, we're really happy.
VIC: Yeah. Well, you tolerate me a lot.
CANDIE: I do. I do, but you're amusing in your, you know, quirky way.
VIC: A little bit of weird is good.
CANDIE: Yes, you are weird. We're both weird in our own ways.
VIC: Yes, yes we are.
CANDIE: Yeah, that must be the attraction, but you're really easy to live with.
VIC: Well, we already mentioned 37 years.
CANDIE: Yes.
VIC: And we were both in our 40s when we met, but I remember my dad saying to me at the time, a young man, you know, it's good when a young man falls in love, but when an older man like you, speaking to me, falls in love, that is a truly unique gift to fall in love later in life.
CANDIE: I didn't know he said that.
VIC: He said that to me, yes, yes.
CANDIE: So what does our future look like?
VIC: Looks good.
CANDIE: I hope it's healthy.
VIC: It looks good. Yes, yes, yes.
CANDIE: Yeah.
VIC: Well, you feed me really, really well.
CANDIE: Well, we're busy. You know, everybody thinks that when you retire and you move to Florida, that you're just going to be sitting around and doing crossword puzzles or staring at the water or whatever, or the beach. But we are actually busy. We are busier now than when we both worked. I volunteer at the thrift store five days a week. So, it's really busy. They need me.
VIC: Well, also it's for a good cause, because the thrift store is owned by the organization that… the money goes to shelters.
CANDIE: Battered women's shelters.
VIC: And also the art gallery where I volunteer is owned by the same organization.
CANDIE: Right.
VIC: So, the proceeds from the sales from both the thrift store where you volunteer and the Art Gallery where I volunteer, the proceeds support the shelters. I am thoroughly enjoying our shared retirement.
CANDIE: I really think they should think of another word for “retire” instead of “retirement.” Like, I don't know. It seems like, it’s like “the end.”
VIC: Yeah. It’s the beginning, though. It really is.
CANDIE: Anyway, we have lots to look forward to. Onward.
VIC: Yep.
CANDIE: Future together.
VIC: Yeah.
CANDIE: Happy.
VIC: Yep, looking forward to it. And it starts right now.
CANDIE: Okay!
JOHN DAVIS, HOST: That was Candie Delnore speaking with her husband Vic Delnore. Their conversation was recorded in Fort Myers through the StoryCorps Mobile Tour. This is WGCU News.
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