Friday, September 24, 2010

Musings on Life at Kendal

I've heard some people say, "I'm not ready yet for life at a CCRC." If they are saying that because they think living at a CCRC is a place where people sit around gathering dust they have a lot to learn about life as it is lived at a CCRC like Kendal at Granville. The only place where dust gathers here is in the corners of our four-car carports. When the wind blows on a dry dusty day, all sorts of dust bunnies may gather in the corners but elsewhere there are lots of assorted activities to keep us engaged. If dust gathers on anyone, it's purely a matter of choice

Some weeks I can scarcely keep up with what's happening let alone take it all in. It's a good thing Kendal helps us keep track of what's available both on and off campus by providing lots of reminders via bulletin boards, memos, newsletters, TV, and Sarah. Sarah is our disembodied caller who relays messages en masse by phone when called upon to do so.

Some times just thinking about all there is to do leaves me breathless. Without my personal weekly calendar to keep track of my choices from the great bounty of offerings I would be lost. Even with it I can miss something. Just last Thursday I made sure I got to Fiber Arts on time because I was planning to leave early. The Gallery Committee, of which I am a member, had called a special meeting to figure out what to do because an anticipated exhibitor had declined our invitation to display her works.

Before we could fully resolve our alternative plan we realized that the noon serving time was disappearing. Some of us needed to get there or miss a meal. But first we had to figure out a time when we could meet again. Easier said than done because of our busy schedules. These were the kinds of things that we had to consider: one of us had water exercises every M-W-F from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., another couldn't make it on Saturday because she had The Geek Squad coming to help sort out computer problems, someone else had a medical appointment, and so it went. We finally found a time on Monday afternoon (I just didn't mention it was when I usually went to the fitness room to workout. I figured I would just fit it in at some other time.)

Before going to lunch I hurried back to my apartment to take my noontime meds. Coming in I saw the phone message blinking. There were two messages. The first was from the Wellness Center telling me the lab tech was there waiting to draw my blood. Oops! I knew the lab tech would be long gone by the time I heard the message. I have blood drawn routinely to follow a chronic anemia problem. But this time the date hadn't made it to my calendar.

Fortunately, a quick call to the nurse in the Wellness Center allowed my to apologize, explain what had happened, and arrange for a new date. Then it was off to lunch because at 1:30 p.m. I needed to be at the annual meeting of the Residents Association. Any wonder at 2:30 p.m. I was ready for a nap or at least some sort of time out.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Speakers Series

I am in charge of the Speakers Series at Kendal at Granville.
For over five years we at Kendal have enjoyed presentations of over 100 speakers from every walk of life. When you read the newspapers, attend a lecture, or hear of an interesting speaker, you will have almost endless sources of enlightenment. We generally have one or two speakers per month, and occasionally three, and almost all have been resounding successes. The problems I have encountered are that people don't like to return phone calls. The other problem is that a speaker's DVD is often incompatible with our laptop and projector. When they bring their own equipment, things work more smoothly.

The Starry Heavens Above

Early in September, after the sun had set, a gang of curious residents took the Kendal bus to the home of Dick, one of our drivers. Dick is an astronomy buff, and he had invited us over to see the wonders of the late-summer sky. The night was dark, cool, and clear - jacket weather, with no moon and no urban lights. And like any serious amateur astronomer, Dick had a seriously massive personal telescope, conveniently mounted for us in his front yard. This was our window on the glories of the heavens.

A friend once told me that all little boys pass through their moments of fascination with stars and dinosaurs. (And maybe little girls do too.) I know I went through both phases, and they were buttressed by school visits to the Hayden Planetarium and the Museum of Natural History in New York City. In any case, this interest in things astronomical never really left me, and the opportunity afforded by Dick's invitation reignited it.

There were about ten or so of us that night. After a little instruction, we took our turns, one by one, at the computer-directed scope. For some it was easy to use. For others getting the knack of it was a bit more of a challenge. But for almost everyone there was that moment - and a gasp from the viewer let everyone know it had come - when a magnified picture of the sky suddenly jumped out of the eyepiece and the marvels of the heavens opened themselves up.

For me the highlight of the evening was seeing the four large satellites of Jupiter, conveniently strung out in a row to the right of the planet. I tried to imagine what Galileo had thought. We also saw the Hercules cluster (spectacular under the magnification of the scope), a double star (featuring partners of contrasting colors), and the Andromeda galaxy (still only smudge, but far and away the most distant thing I've ever cast my eyes on).

I had taken along my bird-watching binoculars, but they turned out not to be very useful for viewing particular objects, even those as large and (relatively) close as Jupiter. Still, when pointed at the gauzy haze of white that drifted across the sky directly above us, the binoculars converted it into an astonishing array of thousands of sparkling stars. Milky Way indeed!

We didn't become children again that night. But we recalled some of the simple pleasures and happy anticipations of childhood. And we were reminded that the there is much to be gained by seizing opportunities to move beyond our day-to-day lives and to touch realms of existence that ordinarily lie beyond our ken.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

I Feel at Home Here at Kendal

I was ready and eager to move here! Our big old house, which was beautiful and much loved, constantly needed some repair or update. It was becoming increasing difficult to get the walks shoveled, the lawn mowed, and the weeds pulled. Furthermore, after working in and out of the home for most of my life, I wanted more time to read and volunteer.


Also, I had worked as a financial planner and many times some person nearing retirement age would come in for planning of his/her own and tell stories about helping aged parents and stressing out about what should be done, usually whether or not to insist mother or father go to a nursing home. Sometimes it meant uprooting older people at a time when it was harder to make friends and adjust to different surroundings. I soon made the decision that my children were never going to worry about what to do with mom. I would make that decision myself. We were fortunate that Kendal, a CCRC, was being planned right here in our community. However, we did do a thorough investigation of its finances and services which did not come up wanting.



The hard part was downsizing! I think I spent the better part of the year going through stuff in the attic, garage, and basement. My husband was a big collector and accumulated lots of family history items. We also had antique furniture from his family. I could spend a whole "blog" on just that subject. We have a friend whose work is interior design, so we gave him the floor plan of our Kendal cottage and decided together what pieces would work where, and then invited the children to choose from the rest. John and children decided what documents to keep and we contacted different historical societies to find out what interested them. When we brought some items to the OSU Historical Society, we were given a lovely tour of the archives.

When moving day came, and our furniture was in place, I really felt at home! Our antiques contrasted beautifully with the contemporary design. We were among the first residents in April, 2005. We had no sidewalks to the main building and the trees and shrubs were still being planted. And then we watched our surroundings become just lovely! We have growing trees and shrubs and residents have planted gardens in public places as well as around cottages and villas. I love to see the creativity of each gardner in the areas around the porches.

Aanother time I will tell you how I spend my days and weeks. I do have time to read now and belong to two book groups, and am participating in other volunteer activities. Lawn care, snow shoveling, and window washing are someone else's concern! It is just great! We gave a good life.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Right Time to Move to a Retirement Community?

Hello ... and let me introduce myself. I'm Reed Browning, a resident at Kendal at Granville, a CCRC in Ohio, and this is the inaugural entry on the new Kendal at Granville Resident Blog.

As you'll see in the coming weeks, several other residents will be joining me in sharing with you some accounts and musings about our life at Kendal. Basically we're just having fun in this project, and we plan to tell you what's going on here. But we also hope to trigger your curiosity about Kendal, and so we hope you'll let us know if there are particular subjects you'd like to hear about.

I don't know what topics my colleagues will be bringing up, but as for me, since I'm just getting started on this blogging thing, I think I want to begin with an important and serious subject that friends have heard me talk about - the benefits of not delaying a decision about moving to move to a CCRC.

Here's the background. It's known that I love living at Kendal, and so I sometimes get into conversations with people who are wondering how long they should wait before moving to a CCRC. I usually wind up giving the same general advice: make the move while you are still in good health. Why? Because then, even as you enjoy the two great advantages of living in a CCRC - the simplifying of your life and the comfort of knowing that you will be cared for if illness or disability should come - you can plunge into activities you enjoy.

If asked to give examples of what I mean, I tend to draw on my own experiences here and on what I've seen my friends doing. Do you have hobbies you want to spend more time with? Well, our rural setting encourages gardeners, our spacious campus invites casual bicycling, and our on-campus pond and Indian mound draw hikers. In the cooler evenings of the spring and fall, residents get together for conversation in the courtyard, over lawn games, or during strolls. Indoor hobbies flourish too, with (for examples) swimmers having their pool, fitness fans the exercise room, woodworkers their shop, artists their studio, book clubbers their regular discussion meeting. And everyone, of course, has the library.

I may also note that our residents are often drawn to attractions near our campus. For example, Denison University, sitting just north of Granville, welcomes residents in its classes (I've enrolled in four), while its program of cultural events - lectures, exhibitions, concerts - draws many from our community, with a Kendal bus providing transportation. As for the town of Granville itself, it is nothing less than a picturesque jewel. The village's main street features restaurants, ice cream parlors, clothing stores, lovely churches, and a variety of typical small-town businesses. And everywhere you turn - the public library, the grocery store, the post office, the hardware outlet - the service is friendly and efficient. Granville is filled with nice people.

Finally, if there is an inquiry about the possibility of an occasional interlude of big-city life, I reply that Kendal is only about a 25-30 minute drive from Columbus. As Ohio's capital and largest city, Columbus offers restaurants, theaters, concerts, two major league professional teams, a world-famous zoo, a nationally-honored public library, and the many attractions of The Ohio State University.

So, to get back to my opening point. I'm a great fan of the concept of the CCRC. To anyone who is seriously thinking about whether it's time to move to a CCRC, my advice is generally to act while you're able to seize the possibilities offered by life in a retirement community. Or to put it succinctly: earlier is better than later. Even briefer: carpe diem.

Please let me hear from you if you have questions or comments.

Reed