Fortunately, my 82 year old mother is in great shape and spirit. Recently selling her home in California she decided to finally move after my father’s passing almost 9 years ago. Her reasoning was that she didn’t want to live in that house all by herself anymore, plus she had given up driving. She had made new acquaintances at the Senior Center and became fast friends with a group of ladies that encouraged her to check out a 55 Plus community where many of them lived at in the same town.
I’m happy to say that after a short wait, something in that community came onto the market and she found a smaller home to purchase. Literally taking matters into her own hands, she is currently in “the process” of rejuvenating and updating it. My mother "the supervisor" is making important decisions, while she can, undertaking an extensive re-model working with carpenters and contractors. Vibrant and happy, and putting in long days , she’s working to make her new home fit so she can “age in place”. She’s tearing out the bathrooms and replacing fixtures, removing carpeting and laying hardwood floors. The house came with a wheelchair ramp and is a one story. As her friends help her paint, she stops to make lunch for them and her workers. What an undertaking for an 82 year old! Her vehicle is now a golf cart, she lives on a course but has never played. A "Senior" bus comes by and will take her to wherever she needs to get to around town. I’m proud of my mother that she has taken charge of her future and for now is living independently with universal design updates in her new home.
Lake Country Builders in the Twin Cities is a member of NAHB, National Association of Home Builders and are proud to be Certified Aging in Place Specialists (CAPS).
Visit www.nahb.org and click on Aging in Place. There you will find topics, checklists
and directories of Remodelers & Professionals, like Lake Country Builders, who are dedicated at making your house a home for a lifetime.