Well, on June 26, 2013 Jo Ellen and Tony moved from their happy home in Rindge, New Hampshire, to an uncertain, foggily unclear future in a nearby retirement community by the name of Rivermead Village. Located in Peterborough, just 2 towns (21 minutes) away from Rindge, Rivermead Village is what is referred by the know-it-alls as a CCRC ... which stands for Continuing Care Retirement Community. A good friend, when I sprang that term upon her, asked me, with some trepidation, "And which of you two is in need of continuing care." Clearly, the designated title does not convey the nature of the place very well.
Continuing care is not what we get .... it's what we're going to get, someday, if we aren't lucky enough to do our final conk out while sleeping or in a train wreck or anyway in some sudden and conclusive way. The rates to stay in a CCRC are high, because once you're there you are assured of good care right through to the very end, and that's a nice thing to not have to worry about any longer.
Well, anyway, here we are and, guess what. We're happy. Not only are we busy, engaged, active, energetic, etc., etc. We are part of a congenial circle of folk, friends all, who daily share our lives. We sup and sip with them most every day. Some of us, the younger, and more vigorous, chat and exercise together, and hike and snowshoe the local trails. Others play bridge, do jigsaws and crosswords, play chess and checkers. We hear lectures on all manner of topics (global warming; local geology; faith and its failures; etc., etc.), attend concerts, go to movies. Believe me, it's not a dull life. Also, the food is very good and that counts for a lot.
This was our first New Year's celebration in the Village. In fact, it was the Village's first New Year's as the Village is a new addition to the main campus (called just plain "Rivermead"). and we, all of us here, are the very first to take up occupancy. We're just across the street (oh, 5 minutes walk) from the main campus, but we have a separate identity in many ways, not least in the average age since the original Rivermead has been around for 17 years or so. By the way, this is a non-profit outfit, so all the payments go to our benefit, not to some wily investor.
Again, this was our first New Year's celebration here and Jo Ellen and Tony agreed to take part in the Variety Show planned for New Year's Eve. Jo Ellen hadn't been doing music actively (she's been an accomplished pianist and organist in her day) for over 25 years. Tony is luckier, having participated in singing and music making most of his life, although never with any great ambitions in that direction. Regardless, we thought this would be fun, and it was. I'm including a link here for you to check out our offering on Youtube. I hope you enjoy it. You'll see that we did. Since this camera video has gone through a couple of processes, it doesn't work too well on Youtube, so for best results just view it without going to the full screen mode. Just click HERE.
Continuing care is not what we get .... it's what we're going to get, someday, if we aren't lucky enough to do our final conk out while sleeping or in a train wreck or anyway in some sudden and conclusive way. The rates to stay in a CCRC are high, because once you're there you are assured of good care right through to the very end, and that's a nice thing to not have to worry about any longer.
Well, anyway, here we are and, guess what. We're happy. Not only are we busy, engaged, active, energetic, etc., etc. We are part of a congenial circle of folk, friends all, who daily share our lives. We sup and sip with them most every day. Some of us, the younger, and more vigorous, chat and exercise together, and hike and snowshoe the local trails. Others play bridge, do jigsaws and crosswords, play chess and checkers. We hear lectures on all manner of topics (global warming; local geology; faith and its failures; etc., etc.), attend concerts, go to movies. Believe me, it's not a dull life. Also, the food is very good and that counts for a lot.
This was our first New Year's celebration in the Village. In fact, it was the Village's first New Year's as the Village is a new addition to the main campus (called just plain "Rivermead"). and we, all of us here, are the very first to take up occupancy. We're just across the street (oh, 5 minutes walk) from the main campus, but we have a separate identity in many ways, not least in the average age since the original Rivermead has been around for 17 years or so. By the way, this is a non-profit outfit, so all the payments go to our benefit, not to some wily investor.
Again, this was our first New Year's celebration here and Jo Ellen and Tony agreed to take part in the Variety Show planned for New Year's Eve. Jo Ellen hadn't been doing music actively (she's been an accomplished pianist and organist in her day) for over 25 years. Tony is luckier, having participated in singing and music making most of his life, although never with any great ambitions in that direction. Regardless, we thought this would be fun, and it was. I'm including a link here for you to check out our offering on Youtube. I hope you enjoy it. You'll see that we did. Since this camera video has gone through a couple of processes, it doesn't work too well on Youtube, so for best results just view it without going to the full screen mode. Just click HERE.