Here, hiding behind a neighboring building, from a vantage point looking south on Rush Street, is my future home, The Clare at Water Tower. My apartment is probably one of those at the very top so far; the construction crew seems to have reached about the 35th floor, where I expect to live, or so it appears to me from ground level.Since the final count will be 53 floors, there's still a lot of work to be done. Ground-level photography of the building is virtually impossible now, so I haven't walked that way so often lately. However, I'm beginning to think about all of the issues involved in moving into a lifetime care senior building. Have I made the best possible choice? I hope so.
I look forward to blogging my way toward this move late in 2008. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, if any of you have made a similar move, please share your experiences. Tell me about your senior residences. What do you like and dislike about them?
There are many uncertainties in youth and middle age, but is old age even more uncertain? Will I be able to retain the independence of my enjoyable but non-lucrative writing career? How long can I remain healthy enough to avoid assisted living or nursing care? Does anyone else share these thoughts?
Copyright 2007 by Marlys Marshall Styne
Photo by the author on 10/31/07
For more information on the building, click on the link to the right under "My Links."
2 comments:
Marlys: perhaps this will help: My DM is 92 years old. I'm 70. For the past 20 years she has lived in a small apartment complex in this very small town in Ohio. She is totally independant. All she really requires is someone to clean really well & she no longer cooks much on her range......she's very sensible & realizes it's safer to use the microwave. Also my DS & I send her food that we cook at home. She gets out often to shop & walks at least once a week to the end of her street......about half a city block to do her banking & pick up a newspaper at the local convenience store. She gets her hair done regularly & manages to do most of her laundry & today she changed the sheets on her double bed. She keeps busy with reading (large print books I get for her at the library)& watches TV & is an avid fan of radio.....the talk shows mostly. Every Sunday afternoon she visits with me & my DH to watch the Cleveland Browns play & we treat her with some nice dessert. She seems to me to be fairly contented....we talk some about dying. And I have extensive notes about how she wants her funeral managed. She is visited by family, mostly nieces, grandchildren & loves to see her great-grandchildren. I think they could visit more often, but she reminds me that their jobs keep them busy! I see her most every day & my sister sees her at least once a week. I pray that if I live this long I can manage as well as she manages. From my perspective, I see a slightly shabby apartment that could use more frequent cleaning which she doesn't see because her sight is not so clear. Her hearing is fine as is her general health. I notice that her clothing around the house could be fresher, but when she goes out she always looks very well put together! I notice that on some days her color isn't too good, but her eyes sparkle & she has a very nice sense of humor & a good disposition. I believe she does so well because of her attitude & positive outlook. She lives on approximately $12,000 per year & has enough savings for a decent burial & then some. Perhaps this is more information than you were looking for, but I sense from your blog that you probably could look forward to a similar life that would be even richer & quite full since you've managed to accomplish so much & you do seem to have so many friends. I realize you went thru a period of depression after your husband died, but it's almost the same thing my mother experienced after my DFs death at age 66. Somehow she has maintained a vital spirit. I can only hope the same will be true for us. Dee
It sounds as though your mother is doing very well. She is lucky to have a family who care. I don't, but I hope that my various interests in writing, reading, and other things will keep me going as long as possible. My own mother did quite well until age 90, but her last two or three years were very difficult. I guess no one can predict what will happen, but I'm generally enjoying life right now.
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