Author Archives

Pat Jocelyn

Pat Jocelyn worked at IBM for 28 years where she held several staff and managerial positions and taught management and employee development classes. After her retirement, she started a second career in journalism and has won several Florida Press Club awards for her insightful and heartfelt feature writing.

If it’s fun, it’s done in The Villages!

Story and Photos: Pat Jocelyn If you have seen the Blue Collar Comedy Tour—popular in the early 2000s and starring Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and Jeff Foxworthy—you know the majority of their comedy routines were based on some…

We cannot give what we do not have

Like most folks in The Villages, when I think of Feb. 14, I think about love. It’s a time we celebrate loving relationships—relationships that sustain us and provide us with affection, companionship, devotion, joy, and pleasure. Story: Pat Jocelyn Villager…

Don’t put yourself in a pickle

Story: Pat Jocelyn About five years ago I thought I’d (excuse the pun) try my hand at pickleball. It was a match made in heaven and everything I loved about a competitive sport—fast, challenging and good exercise, and I was…

It’s All About Choices

Story: Pat Jocelyn I’ve lived in The Villages for more than 10 years and have noticed something a little peculiar; some might say unsettling. There aren’t any cemeteries in our community. You’d also be hard pressed to find a funeral…

A Place To Call Home

The familiar adage “birds of a feather flock together” works well when referring to how people with similar experiences find a true bond when they’re together. For many veterans, including those recently returned stateside, that proverb often helps facilitate a…

A Widow Asks Why?

the fIFTH in our series focusing on issues facing local veterans My husband died June 16, 2014,” Pam Hunt says in a voice that reflects both pain and weariness. “We’re never going to know [what happened], which I think is…

Horses: A Mirror To The Soul

THE FOURTH IN OUR SERIES FOCUSING ON ISSUES FACING LOCAL VETERANS Rob Simison is a combat veteran who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Standing perfectly still, with his arms outstretched and raised to shoulder level, he is concentrating.…