Annie Hoyer - Driving Through The Notch Inspires Prayer

I’ve been asked to introduce members to the BHC community by seeking out newcomers and writing what I discover. I decided I ought to include myself, as I’ve only been attending services at BHC since 2019, mostly on Zoom.

            I first came to New Hampshire from North Carolina in 1983, when my husband Bobby was hired by Dartmouth to start a pediatric practice in Plymouth. I have a soft spot for old houses, especially those that remind me of the Victorian I grew up in in Long Branch, NJ. The house we bought in Plymouth was a rundown Victorian which became our ongoing project for the 15 years we lived there. It’s hard to believe now that I once had the energy for stripping woodwork and steaming off layers of wallpaper.

            We raised our two children in Plymouth, then job opportunities took us back to North Carolina in 1998. But the friendships we developed in the stands at Little League games and standing with other mothers while our daughters sold Girl Scout cookies proved too strong to abandon. We also missed the loveliness of New Hampshire, the quiet and the long stretches of deep woods. We purchased a little house in next-door Holderness, and since we’ve retired, we’ve been spending half the year (the warmer half!) in NH.

            I majored in English at Oberlin College but immediately did an about-face and got a nursing degree from Columbia. An unusual switch, but one I haven’t regretted. I’ve had many interesting jobs: labor & delivery, research, psychiatric ward, school nurse and counselor, therapist, college teacher. Sometimes the work was stressful, usually the hours were bad. But it was rarely boring, and it was about helping people and understanding their lives. 

            I just about used up a car driving up and down I-93 to get my masters at Boston College, after which I became a psychiatric nurse practitioner. In North Carolina, my final career move was to run a medical school clinic for underprivileged kids with ADHD and other behavioral disorders.

             Once retired, I began a writing class that focused on recounting family stories. I’ve amassed a lot of material and spent this spring compiling it into the first of two books for my family. Writing, reading, volunteer work, visiting our 5 grandchildren, exercising to ward off further decrepitude and watching an excessive number of Chicago Cubs baseball games: these activities have filled my time since I retired. Although I’ll never tackle an old house again, I do still enjoy small projects like refinishing a bureau or sewing for my home.

             My parents were culturally Jewish but non-observant; hence, I had no formal religious training. The older I became, the more I recognized that the spiritual side of my nature felt unfulfilled. So, another activity I initiated in my retirement is exploring the religion I was born to. The experience has been richer and more meaningful than I ever expected. Besides BHC, I belong to a synagogue in Greenville, NC where we winter.