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Why Not? Patrick M. Kennedy Some, that is many, seniors choose to bite the bullet and live with others of their own age in a senior’s resident home. Not a caretaker place but just a senior’s apartment complex. Maybe all the kids are gone, married, or just moved to another place on the planet. Maybe a loving lifetime mate has passed on and life is just too lonely. Or maybe none of the above, just plain loneliness sets in and the boredom of being with younger people who just haven’t been there or done nothing becomes a drag. You know, you are ‘the life of the party until 8pm.’ Or ‘I’m smiling all the time because I am hard of hearing and I can’t hear their stories anyhow’ Those are good reasons to move on to people of your own kind … aged and experienced. Seniors with fewer medical issues often choose retirement communities or senior independent living. In fact, some retirement communities may have lower age restrictions, accepting residents as young as 55, attracting a much more active population. That’s not bad. The activities and amenities you will see in many retirement communities include swimming pools – indoor or outdoor depending upon the geography and weather of the area, golf courses and/or putting greens, hiking trails and fitness clubs, life near a river or a lake, as well as restaurants and maybe a small bar onsite, and local restaurants that will give seniors a special deal. Some of these homes offer all the utilities, cable or satellite TV, free Internet, and all kinds of recreation and socialization for one monthly price they call rent. Instead of sitting playing solitaire all day you can play cards down in the community lounge, and even have a bite of the Continental Breakfast they prepare every morning. Poetically: Were over the hill but don’t feel sad, this side of the hill ain’t all that bad, so give us “five” and then a smile, to us who have been here for awhile. We have each day and what it brings, and on our pensions live like kings, for the press that accuses what we take, to coin a phrase, “Let them eat cake.” That is the attitude you will find at most of these places filled with people who have made the same decision you have. And that is the point; decisions of this nature are hard. You are starting over and starting a new life, ‘AT MY AGE?’ you may scream in your mind and maybe at the bathroom mirror. I have so much now, why should I change? And the answer usually is: it will be for the better, you hope. Renewed content and happiness are the keys here. Feeling or showing satisfaction with one’s possessions, status, or situation is being content. Happiness is having pleasurable or satisfying experiences. If you have those now then the decision is made, stay where you are. If not, move on because what can you lose but misery and boredom. Your old friends and relatives will always be there and be at your side not matter where you are. So the answer in most cases is, ‘Why Not?’ Life is short and getting shorter so make the best of it. So listen to Bill Cosby, “In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
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