“A Place at the Table” for Everyone: Leanne Feels Right at Home in Our Family-Like Senior Living Community
Like any major life transition, such as changing jobs or buying a house, moving to a senior living community ushers in a mix of emotions. On one hand, it’s exhilarating to think about living life without the burdens of homeownership or concerns about future healthcare needs. On the other hand, you may also wonder whether you’ll be truly happy in a community like The Village at Germantown.
For a deeper dive into feeling at home at a senior living community, we spoke with Leanne B., a retired educator who moved to The Village nine years ago. Since then, she’s cultivated a life rich in deep connections, service to others and maybe a trivia contest or two.
Starting a New Chapter in Her Story
Leanne, a Southern literature enthusiast, spent her pre-retirement years as a middle school librarian and high school English teacher—and she still works part time as an elementary school literacy coach. After her husband passed away in 2017, she began to think about what her next few decades might look like.
“I started touring senior living communities because I have no children and I didn’t want my nieces and nephews to worry about who’s going to take care of Aunt Leanne,” she explains.
So, what drew Leanne to The Village? “For starters, my two sisters lived in Germantown,” she says. “Also, I loved that everything from Whole Foods to the public library was within easy walking distance … even though we have a great library here.”
What really stood out, though, was how The Village provides a full continuum of care in a setting that feels like a family, not a facility. “Here the staff tends to all the ‘ages and stages’ in a very caring, personal way,” she says. “They’re just the best.”
What Makes The Village a Village?
After settling into her home at The Village, it didn’t take Leanne long to connect with her new neighbors and become familiar with the daily rhythms of our community. Nine years in, it just feels like home.
“I can look out my window and say ‘oh, there’s Brannon walking her dog or Jack picking produce in the garden.’ Sometimes I feel like Gladys Kravitz from ‘Bewitched,’” she laughs. “But this is what community is all about. You invite people into your life while respecting what makes everybody different from one another.”
One thing Leanne values about life at The Village is the opportunity to befriend vibrant, fascinating people she might never have met otherwise. “When I first moved in, I grew close with a woman who helped break the Enigma code during World War II,” Leanne says. She also got to know Dr. Jerry Francisco, a retired pathologist who played key roles in the autopsies of Elvis Presley and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Even folks you’ve just met treat you like they’ve known you forever,” she beams.
While The Village is famous for its family-like setting, Leanne has one more reason to feel connected here: Her sister resides at The Village, too. “We attend the same water aerobics class and have taken several day trips together. Baseball games and the Van Gogh Exhibition are two of our favorites,” she says. “I also like to tease her about being the ‘older’ sister, even though she’s younger than I am.”
Purposeful Causes, Trivial Pursuits … and Peaches
Engaging in meaningful activities has been shown to dramatically improve the quality of life for older adults and as Leanne has discovered, moving to a senior living community makes it all the easier. “It’s almost like having my own chef, concierge and personal assistant,” she laughs. “I don’t even have to worry about changing the filter on my furnace.”
For Leanne, leaving all those household chores behind has allowed her to dedicate more time to social justice causes and tutoring young people. “You never know what the future holds, so I try to make the world a better place than the way I found it,” she says.
When she’s not advocating for worthy causes, Leanne finds plenty of time to socialize. On any given day, you can find her discussing local news with friends, meeting with her book group or helping her team win first place in The Village trivia contest. “With all the reading I’ve done over the years, I guess I’ve learned lots of things that aren’t really worth knowing,” she jokes.
Every July, Leanne also hosts a peach dessert party, where she serves everything from peach cake to peach ice cream and a special peach punch. “In addition to friends I’ve known for years, I also invite people who are new to The Village, so they can feel welcome and at home. There’s a place at the table for everyone.”
Thinking of Moving to Senior Living? Leanne says, “What Are You Waiting On?”
“Don’t wait too long to make your move,” Leanne urges. “Also, stop worrying about leaving ‘things’ behind when you transition to senior living. I’ve learned that material things don’t matter nearly as much as experiences, and I’ve enjoyed a lifetime’s worth of joyful activities and pursuits over the past nine years.”
To schedule your tour of our Holleran Choice Community, call 901-737-4242.