Photo: Suzanne and John’s Mom.
Flowers from some staff to inaugurate our move. Note the packing boxes in the background.
A story could be written about the move to a retirement community. But what kind of story? Richard Osman of Thursday Murder Club fame saw the possibilities of all the aging expertise in such places for solving crimes, so he launched a mystery series.
Maybe something more literary would be in order, along the lines of Katherine Mansfield or the late Edith Pearlman, who sometimes wrote stories about aging.
Some folks might see the Twilight Zone aspect — but in a good way.
I better explain. When you go to a Place, you pretty much know it’s your last stop. It’s the place where you will decline, get more hard of hearing, have trouble walking, break a bone, get it fixed, and eventually die. The look of new people arriving there is invariably both anxious and relieved. The relieved end is more prominent for me right now.
You get introduced at a new-resident party, and longtime residents need no encouragement to step up and welcome you, talking about cool events (and committees), and helping you figure out how things work. I was delighted to find someone who maintains a garden plot and told me where I could compost my vegetable scraps.
These folks have already gotten used to the idea that it’s the last stop, and they are really happy to be in a place with lots of friends, interesting things to be part of, and — when trouble arises — all kinds of help. I observed an impressive level of comfort with infirmities. No one blinks if you have to ask a couple times for someone to repeat, and I saw folks with fairly severe infirmities who are still in charge of various things.
I knew one person here, only slightly, and she was very welcoming. I did see lots of familiar faces as we have lived in the town more than 40 years. Blogger/singer Will McMillan performs at this place several times a year with pianist Joe Reid, and he paved the way for me to make another friend.
Although boxes still aren’t unpacked and lots of things still feel kind of up in the air, we are doing OK. The dinners are very good. I don’t think I will be having to use our new kitchen much, and that is welcome.
PS. I am awkward with using Google photos but want you to see a funny video of our young movers. Can you figure out how this works?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/641cpVKfebMa8TzK7
My move manager took it, so in case it is locked or something, I will tell you that the three moving guys admired a big gong in the house and I told them each to take a turn with the mallet. It was pretty cute.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 