Articles on "Moving and Downsizing"
A platform for discussion
I have made several presentations to groups on my project recently. Last week I presented the project to a group of about 170 social workers, senior-serving and health care professionals at the annual Social Work Luncheon held at Vinson Hall in Mclean, VA. My presentation was taped and edited into 3 digestable segments. Segment 1 – Introduction, Inspiration, Everyone Is Aging, The 7 P’s, Perspective, Possessions Segment 2 – Pricing, Proximity, Purpose, People, Positive Attitude Segment 3 – The [...]
Maintaining a Great Friendship: Moving to a Retirement Community
Maintaining relationships and social contact has always been extremely important to Lee Hughlett, so it is no surprise that she found a friend in the process of selling her home. Over the years, the mother of three worked a variety of jobs from retail to human resources. One she truly enjoyed, however, was later in life at a dating service when she returned to the working world after dealing with a health concern. “I wanted to go back to work [...]
An Overview of the 43 year old retirement community resident project
If you are new to this blog and my project, I put together a “cliff notes” version to get you up to speed. Introduction Click here for my letter to the residents, staff and families of Paul Spring Video that describes my vision for the project Preadmission paperwork and screening These two posts summarize the preadmission process Admissions Health Screening Downsizing Although I didn’t actually move my furnishings in with me, I went through the process of selecting what I [...]
The emotion of moving is ageless
“How can you truly experience the feelings that the elderly have when they move to a retirement home? You’re not going to feel the deep loss of giving up many possessions, losing your lifetime home, your neighbors, and many friends.” This is an excerpt from an email that I received recently. I love emails like this! Being challenged on this concept forces me to give aspects of this project alot more thought. My thoughts on this have taken me down [...]
Getting Help From Senior Move Managers
As I mentioned in my previous post I asked the members of the National Association of Senior Move Managers to share with me ideas, concepts and words of wisdom to help me through the downsizing process. I have copied excerpts from their emails to me below. I can tell you that walking this road alone is an overwhelming and confusing process, knowing that there are professionals available that can objectively help is very comforting. “We all have things we love in [...]
The Crockpot Chronicles!
“You don’t need to take the Crock Pot.” That is just one of the many comments I received from blog readers who viewed my brief video in entry#6 where I shared the items (one of which is a crockpot!) that I thought would be appropriate to take with me on my move. Click here to view Until I went through this exercise, I never really recognized the importance or the significance of the crock pot in my life. That crock pot represents something that [...]
Downsizing and Transition (Part one of many more posts I am sure!)
Armed with my 1-bedroom floor plan and the knowledge that I was really going through with this project, I headed home to my 4-bedroom single family home. Although I won’t be taking up permanent residence in Paul Spring, I want to put myself in situations that will force me to experience the feelings of making this transition. I felt that the first step was deciding what belongings I could take with me. I prepared a video that shows you the [...]
My New Apartment
I estimate that I have visited at least 500 senior housing communities in my career. I have taken tours that have explored every inch of a community, eaten meals, conducted seminars, interviewed staff and residents for articles, and have even participated in a video game tournament with residents. However, I have never truly looked at a community the way I did as we left the marketing office to see my apartment. I can only describe the feeling as “breathing new [...]
I am 43 years old and living in a Retirement Community
“Forty-Something” Man Moves into Assisted Living Community Local publisher strives to inspire adult children to be more aware of the experiences their aging parents have in transition. Vienna, Va. — Steve Gurney is 43 years old, exactly half the national average age of residents living in assisted living communities. On Feb. 9, Gurney will experience first hand what it is like to move into one of these communities by taking up temporary residence at Paul Spring Retirement Community in Alexandria, [...]
Musical and Life Partners
It was their mutual passion for Old Time music – the traditional music of Southern Appalachia – that brought William and Frances “Fritzi” Wisdom together at a square dance one evening. Bill, who plays Southern Appalachian banjo and Fritzi, the mountain fiddle, met with their instruments and have been musical and life partners ever since. They have played internationally and toured festivals in North Carolina and West Virginia. For many years, they held lively Friday night jam sessions every week [...]
Everyone is Aging
A 43-year old in a retirement community?
ProAging features innovative tools for senior-serving professionals to better serve seniors, caregivers, and their families.
View Blog »
