Notes from a dimly but attractively lit office.
Since January 3, I’ve toured 9 communities — from Pennsylvania to Florida to Nebraska — with a travel-bedraggled cadre of coworkers. In each community, resident groups told us how and why they decided to move to that particular community. So, gleaned from the conversations and in their own words, residents’ wisdom — or something like it:
“One day, my husband walked in and said, ‘That’s it. I’m through gardening. We need to move.’”
“There’s a life after what I’ve been living, and I just found it here.”
“This is doing the adult thing.”
“One day, you’re going through your daily routine, and then you say, ‘Things have changed, and I have to change with them.’”
“If you don’t like it here, don’t even think about going to heaven.”
“My daughter came to see the place with me. She said, ‘You go there.’”
“If you don’t want to live to 100, don’t come here.”
“Especially as you get older, you like to be your own boss.”
“I came kicking and screaming, but my wife had said she wouldn’t kiss me anymore unless we moved. So we moved, and two weeks later, I tell you what: I knew it was the cat’s meow.”
“I was 76 when I moved here. I’ve been here 3 years. Now I’m 73.”
“They said I wouldn’t like it here. They said it’s just like some fabulous resort hotel. I said — but I like fabulous resort hotels.”
“We have a wonderful Japanese gardener. He wears a large hat, and he’s from Australia.”
“The cookies are too damned good.”
“Some of the 90-year-olds give great parties.”
“On our second visit, a man walked by our lunch table ¾ he didn’t stop, just kept walking — touched my arm and said, ‘You’ll gain 10 pounds in the first month.’”
“All I can say about maintenance is: When you call, you better be dressed.”
Travel aid.
Touring’s tough, so here’s a tip to keep the spring in the traveler’s step: Caffeinated Maple Bacon Pops from Lollyphile. They’re vegan, of course, and just one lasts all the way from Philadelphia to Chicago’s Midway.
2012 predictions already.
Save big on light bulbs when a second sun appears.
Hello — I loved the quotes from your touring. I hope my husband still cares whether or not I will kiss him when we’re old enough to live in senior housing.
I also loved the comment about the resort hotel… I LIKE fabulous resort hotels.
Would you mind if I included a couple of these comments in my talks at LSNI? I am doing a couple of talks there on what to expect from advertising and also how to use financial qualification to help close sales.
These are fantastic quotes! I love them!
I also love the adjective you used in your first paragraph: “travel-bedraggled.” That’s fun to say!
“I was 76 when I moved here. I’ve been here 3 years. Now I’m 73.” That’s just priceless.
Thanks for listening so well, and for sharing!
Thanks, all, for your responses!
Lynn, please email me at charris@glynndevins.com, and we’ll work something out.
Melanie, “travel-bedraggled” is way more fun to say than be.
Charles,
Enjoyed the blog and the quotes you made are great! I think they would make better TV than the spots on your company reel. Get that kind of stuff on video and you’ll have something!
Recently I’ve been creating campaigns for State Mutual Insurance and their move into Medigap insurance coverage and have discovered that there is a need for veterans like me in senior focused marketing.
Again, great quotes in the blog, real personality, engaging stuff, I hope you can do something with it.
Richard Zempel
Your blog coaxed met to smaile a lot, I love the humor.
Love this! You should do a YouTube with these. It’d be a hoot!