As lifelong educators, Jack Armstrong and Barbara Share have created quite a few lesson plans. When the time came to explore retirement living options, they approached the task like true educators: with well-defined criteria, meticulous checklists and a willingness to adapt their plans.

Now residents of Westminster at Lake Ridge, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., Jack and Barbara began searching for the perfect retirement lifestyle early – and considered locations from Maine to North Carolina. Ultimately, the two academics were swayed by the opportunity to return to a true campus and enjoy a college-like lifestyle.

Jack Armstrong and Barbara Share are lifelong educators who carefully reviewed
all their retirement living options before
moving to Westminster at Lake Ridge.

It was their mutual passion for education that initially brought Jack and Barbara together. Married for 30 years, the couple met while working on a curriculum-development project for the Council of Independent Colleges.

With experience as a college professor and an academic dean, Jack was leading the project. Barbara was serving on the team from the College of Mount Saint Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio. After teaching at both the elementary and high school levels for decades, Barbara had begun teaching college courses and was the director of the continuing education program at Mount Saint Joseph.

“While I was interacting with her as a part of that team, she quickly got my attention,” Jack recalled. The couple began a long-distance relationship, which continued for several years. By the time the project ended, Jack and Barbara had decided to get married.

When Jack was offered a job at a University of Maine satellite campus, the newly married couple moved to the eastern coast of Maine. “It was a great place to live, and a marvelous place to start our marriage,” he said. He served as the academic vice president and also taught at the university before retiring.

Both nature lovers, Jack and Barbara enjoyed the breathtaking scenery and diverse wildlife in Maine. However, they grew weary of winters that began in October and ended in May. “We retired in Maine, but after a year or so, we started looking south,” Barbara said. “I have some hip issues, and I wanted to be able to get outside without being afraid of falling.”

Jack and Barbara started planning. They made a list of must-haves. They narrowed down their locations, and they hit the road. “We took several weeks and  explored a number of areas,” Barbara recalled.

After willingly breaking two of their own rules, the couple settled on a new home in a golf community south of Wilmington, North Carolina. “We promised ourselves that we weren’t going to buy anything on that trip, and that we would never build a house,” Barbara smiled as she recalled. “We broke a couple of our rules, but it was a good experience.”

Jack and Barbara lived in the community near Wilmington for 14 years and enjoyed their proximity to the beach. However, they began to think about the next phase of their lives and started planning for retirement once again.

“With our educational backgrounds, we tend to be list makers and planners,” Jack explained. “That’s just part of our personalities.”

A passion for education brought Jack and Barbara together. They met while working on a curriculum-development project more than 30 years ago.

The planning started when Jack’s parents moved to a CCRC – a decision that was extremely uncommon among their generation. “My parents moved into a CCRC in their early 70s, and they were glad they didn’t wait any longer,” said Jack.

Frequent visits to Jack’s parents convinced Jack and Barbara that they wanted the lifestyle and security offered by a CCRC. As they began to look for the perfect community, location became a major factor. While they were living most of the year in North Carolina, the couple continued to spend the summer months at Jack’s cabin in Maine.

“Every year, we were making this 1,400-mile drive, and we’d stop in Vienna, Va., and stay with my sister for a couple of days,” Barbara recalled. When Barbara’s daughter and her family moved from California to near Richmond, Va., the D.C. Metropolitan region started to look even more attractive. During one of their visits, the couple picked up a copy of Guide to Retirement Living SourceBook and began researching local retirement options and identifying potential communities.

When Jack and Barbara visited Westminster at Lake Ridge, they knew they had found their new home. “I was really tired of filling 80 bags full of leaves every year, and I saw these beautiful cottages, and I knew I was ready,” said Barbara.

In addition to the location and the amenities, Jack and Barbara were also thrilled with the sense of community they found at Westminster. “Having been part of an educational community all of our adult lives, the campus-like atmosphere that was offered here was very appealing,” Jack said.

After moving, both Barbara and Jack quickly became involved in an array of activities. “There really are more activities offered here than you could even begin to take in,” Barbara said. “There are educational things, fun things, movies, so many interesting things – just everything you can imagine.”

Having been part of an educational community all of their adult lives, the campus-like atmosphere of Westminster at Lake Ridge appealed to Jack and Barbara.

Barbara works in the gift shop, which donates its proceeds to community service projects, and serves on the library committee. She is also a member of a memoirs group and has recently started painting for the first time in her life.

A lifelong environmentalist, Jack has been spearheading some of the community’s efforts to become more environmentally conscious while decreasing operating costs. Currently, he is working on a project to get residents to switch out all their regular light bulbs for newer, more energy efficient bulbs.

The couple also enjoys walking on the community’s nature trails and observing the many species of birds that call the community home. “It’s so beautiful here,” Barbara said. “I saw four Herons down by the lower pond just this morning.”

Beyond the wide range of activities, Barbara and Jack have enjoyed meeting so many fascinating new people and making new friends. “As soon as we moved in, we were embraced by everyone. They took us right in, and we had friends from the get-go,” Barbara recalled.

To individuals who fear moving to a retirement community, Jack and Barbara suggest considering everything they have to gain. “People don’t realize that moving to a community like Westminster will not mean losing their support network,” Jack said. “In fact, they’re going to increase their support system; they will have plenty of camaraderie, plenty of interaction and so many more friendships.”

After planning a couple of retirements, Jack and Barbara are relieved to have found the perfect home at Westminster at Lake Ridge. The couple made their lists, checked them several times and then waited until they found a community that fit their exacting criteria. Following their long search, these two lifelong educators are thrilled to be back on campus.

The best books leave the reader anxious to start each new chapter. The best people are no different. They approach the next chapter of their lives with anticipation and a sense of excitement that propels them into discovery, promotes creativity and provides a rich view of life.

Julia McLean Williams, at age 84, still can’t wait to turn the page! Throughout her many adventures all over the world, chapter after chapter have been added that continue to shape her life and philosophy.

Now living at Chesterbrook Residences, an active assisted living community in Falls Church, Virginia, Julia thrives. “It is a place that nourishes,“ she said. Chesterbrook Residences is a non-profit, mixed income assisted living supported by Lewinsville Presbyterian Church, Immanuel Presbyterian Church and Temple Rodef Shalom.

One of Julia’s earliest professional experiences set the tone for her remarkable career and her approach to life. In a job at the beginning of her career, she was asked to teach a severely handicapped child who had hydrocephalous. She found she had to become a scientist and search for ways to reach the person in this silent little girl.

“One day as I looked intently into the child’s eyes, I saw a sudden and unexpected flash of life, like a light, in her eyes,” Julia said. “I realized in that profound moment that she could understand love in the same way I did.” From then on throughout her teaching career, she looked into the face of her students to find that flash of light to build on. Following this experience, she was asked to start the first class for exceptional children in the public schools in Lincoln Parrish in Louisiana.

A great ten-year “chapter” took place in her life when Julia, her husband and children moved to the high plain of Bolivia, South America. Before their departure, they spent a year completing Spanish Language study in Costa Rica. Their work in Bolivia was to help the Aymara Indians improve their agricultural techniques and thus their well being. “We all became citizens of the world in those years,” Julia said.

Upon return to the U.S., Julia was asked to start a non-profit special school in Raleigh, NC. It incorporated her philosophy that interdependency is the highest form of maturity, not independence. “I put normal, gifted and handicapped children together because we live in the world that way,” she explained. The school is called Learning Together, Inc. and continues as an exemplary, award-winning program after 30 years.

Several years later when Julia was president of the Mission Board of the United Methodist Conference in North Carolina, she was involved in taking teams to Bolivia to work on special projects there. In a remote area in Trinidad, Bolivia, a team worked with a small group of lepers. Marcelo was the first leper they met. He was nearly blind, could stand, but not walk. He lived in a pitiful small room behind an abandoned hospital. He was isolated and ill.

Julia McLean Williams, at age 84

Julia remembered, “When I put my arm around him, he cried. He told me he was crying because no one had touched him for 20 years.”

Despite his circumstances, Marcelo thought only of the needs of others. He attributed his joy and concern for others to a vision he had in the middle of the night years before. He said that in the vision Jesus came and stood beside his cot and said to him, “Marcelo, use who you are and be happy.” Even the decades since this happened cannot dull the impact of this chapter. Marcelo has challenged the hundreds of people who have heard his story to “use who you are and be happy.”

After retiring, Julia developed macular degeneration and could no longer live at home alone. She began the extensive research of retirement facilities that led her to Chesterbrook Residences in Falls Church, VA.

“I looked at several places and knew I wouldn’t survive in them because there was no stimulation,” Julia remembered. When she walked into the lobby of Chesterbrook, the experience was much different. “People were sitting in lovely nooks, talking and laughing. The atmosphere was alive with energy,” Julia said. “I knew I was home. I never regretted moving one second.”

When she isn’t busy with Chesterbrook‘s many activities, Julia is often with companion, Bill Meyer. The two met shortly after she arrived at Chesterbrook. Her newfound love is one of the many things she treasures about this new chapter in her life.

Today, Julia focuses on finishing her book, How Do You Spell JOY? The title is derived from an innocent question asked of her by a young Chilean refugee as he wrote a letter to his grandmother in Chile about his new life after being adopted by Julia’s church.

Whether as an author, educator, missionary, mother of four or grandmother of eight, Julia looks forward to starting each new chapter. After all, a new chapter offers opportunities to give and receive JOY- no matter how you spell it!

The couple was amazed by the wide array of choices available. “Some had small campuses, while others were extremely large. Accommodations ranged from tight and cramped to five-star, which felt like staying in a huge hotel,” says Bill. Shirley adds, “Activity programs at the communities varied from little or none to extremely busy calendars run by large staffs.”

After a long search, the Mortimers found Mallard Landing, an independent living community in Salisbury, MD. “When we approached Mallard Landing, we felt it was the right size, with condominium-style apartments that satisfied our wants and needs,” they remember.

Having finally found the perfect community, the couple was anxious to move in. “The staff at Mallard Landing provided plenty of assistance to make our transition swift and smooth,” Bill relates.

Bill and Shirley quickly became involved in their new community. They have found their new neighbors to be “like family,” and that has really helped them adjust. They have gotten to know many of their fellow residents and are enjoying becoming a part of the close-knit community.

Bill concludes, “Both Shirley and I enjoy living in our condominium apartment; we feel like it’s been our home for a long time. We are involved in the wonderful activities here, and the surroundings are great. Our campus is beautiful, making life here even more enjoyable. We are home!”