INDUSTRY INSIGHT
RETIREMENT COMMUNITY LIVING
SPONSORED CONTENT
These days, she starts her morning with back-to-back
fitness classes, and she has become an informal ambassador,
introducing new residents to people and programs, and urging
them to get involved.
“When you go from six bedrooms to two, it can be challenging,
but you realize how much time you were spending taking care of
all that,” Irene says. And now, she has friends to talk to instead of
a big house and garden with no one in it.
“Mom has a life that makes me want to pinch myself every
single day,” her daughter, Debbie, says. “She didn’t know what
she was missing. I feel like this move has extended her life. She
looks 20 years younger.”
WHAT DO YOU GAIN
FROM A SQUARE
FOOTAGE LOSS?
T
here’s no doubt that moving to a retirement community
means losing some square footage. But giving up a
house does not mean giving up the life you built while
living there.
Most new residents feel that their world expands post-move.
In addition to their current network of friends, community ties,
and interests, many are surprised at how many new friends and
opportunities they quickly gain to supplement that network.
When Ron Stevenson and Pam Parmer decided to move
while still in their 70s, many of their friends said it was too soon.
“Our response was, ‘Yes, until it’s too late,’” Ron says. “Physically,
we can’t do what we once could, and taking care of a house
was becoming more of a chore. We had watched older friends
becoming more restricted to their house, and it was just
deteriorating around them. Aging in place sounds lovely as a
c oncept, but we knew the reality could be very different.”
Pam assumed that their decision to move would be little
more than a change of location and scenery, and that other than
getting rid of home maintenance, their lives would not change
very much.
“I thought I would move here and I would live in my nice little
villa and my life would stay the same. And it hasn’t stayed the
same; it’s gotten better,” she says. “As time has gone on, I’ve met
people and they’ve introduced me to things they do on campus,
so my circle of friends and activities is so much larger now. This
has enhanced our lifestyle pretty dramatically, actually.”
MOTHER-DAUGHTER DECISION
Irene Petak’s move to Springhill came at age 87, and she is one
of the many who come at the urging of adult children concerned
that their parent is “aging out” of the house. Irene did not drive,
and could no longer maintain the gardens that were her pride
and joy.
“There was a lot to do at home,” Irene points out, “but it was
chores, not socializing.”
MILLCREEK
❘
SUMMER 2018
39