<p>PackMom, I agree. I was just visiting someone in the hospital. I met a guy who was having day surgery. He was in his upper 70s/early 80s. He had no friends or relatives with him. He paid a driver (a stranger) to sit with him, the driver left during the procedure, and was then to pick him up when he was well enough. I found that kind of sad. It might be that he never had kids, and doesn’t have living relatives or a close friend. It might be that they live far away, or that he did not want to worry them. I did not ask questions, but it something to consider. If one lives in NY and all of one’s children are in the midwest, westcoast, or south, it is very inconvenient for family.</p>
<p>My FIL was very ill for a few months, and he lived in a townhouse which is 15 minutes from civilization. What I mean by that is that there was no access to a taxi service, no nearby grocery store that could deliver, no nearby pharmacy that could deliver, no bus service (we would have loved to hire a person to help him by cooking, light cleaning, etc., but many folks who take these jobs do not have cars). That 15 minutes away from the center of a town made a large difference when he was very ill. My own mother does not need to climb stairs, she has a doorman who can lift a heavy package for her, she has access to food/medicine if she is ill or it is too icy outdoors for her to get these things for herself, and she has access to cabs and buses. It makes a big difference for her and for my piece of mind.</p>
<p>How sad, how sad. And that guy had no friends?? I figure even if I’m not near my kids, I need to have friends. Especially if I’m not near my kids.</p>
<p>I don’t want to move near my kids because it would be burdensome, but then again being far away is burdensome, too. There are no easy answers. Moving somewhere new just to be taken care of by your kids doesn’t seem right to me, plus I’d feel so dependent on them since I wouldn’t know anyone but them.</p>
<p>Very Happy, I don’t know if he had friends, but obviously he did not have any that were able to be with him, or that he chose to share his surgery info with. He resorted to a stranger whom he paid to drive and stay with him.</p>
<p>As one who loves Vermont and has vacationed there on numerous occasions and bought a January time share in Stowe many years ago, I do not think that I could live there year round. But I feel deprived if I do not visit at least once a year. I need my sugar maple fix!!!</p>
<p>dke, I see many in the late stage of retirement, when health is a little more touchy and friends are not necessarily around any more, making that difficult move to be near kids. There are senior apartments, assisted livings and so on, with others in similar situations. So less isolated than you might think, and less dependent on kids than if in your own house. Certainly less burdensome for the kids in times of crisis. But yes, it is hard to imagine oneself at that point. </p>
<p>Anyone here thought of co housing? I have many friends moving into co housing right now. Mixed age, hopefully less expensive, at least in some cases, more companionable and community minded than living in single family housing.</p>
<p>A hot tub is my dream add on, for cold winter nights.</p>
<p>Probably stay in the Valley. Mild winters and summers. Spring and Fall are fabulous. Close to mountains and ocean and rivers. Still see bald eagles from downtown. Growing conditions great for all kinds of stuff; Including Head Cheese and Bleu Cheese, and prunes for when you need it.</p>
<p>VH, my main dislike is the winter weather, though early spring isnt great either. Now if they were able to move Stowe, Burlington or Manchester down to the Carolina’s that would be perfection.</p>
<p>Are there any other library junkies out there? How good is the supply of new fiction and nonfiction in those retirement areas? If I live to be too old to take care of my needs any nursing home will probably do, but I don’t want to die of boredom in any location.</p>
<p>The public library in the community we are looking at is comparable to our local public library but i have access to a large university library so I will be deprived.</p>
<p>Here is a good link to compare public library holdings.</p>
<p>This link gives the circulation numbers, should I presume every library as large as my award winning blue collar town one is as good??? Anyone in love with the library in their retirement wish area please comment…</p>
<p>I don’t think I would miss the racks of books in a library - I tend to just buy the ones that I’m interested in. However, I have imagined myself going to our town’s library upon retirement and spending time in the reading area around the fireplace on a cold winter day and reading various magazines.</p>
<p>wis75, sorry for the delay in responding to your post but my wife and I have been out of town putting a down payment on a new retirement home in a Tennessee golfing community! Yippee!! Yes we did pull the trigger after much mulling over a move for quite some time.</p>
<p>Re the library link in my post #213. If you go to the link for more information you will get data regarding library holdings-books, audio tapes, videos, subscriptions, interlibrary loans and budgets which include money for new books. By comparing your local library data with one in another location a person should be able to get a general comparison between the two.</p>
<p>We were assigned to Sarasota about 25 years ago for work. I disliked it for a long time but after raising kids here we came to realize it is a great place to live, with excellent medical care, decent shopping within 50 miles, great restaurants and a very scenic environment (we live less than 1/2 mile to the Gulf and can bike the barrier islands easily). Downtown Sarasota is redeveloping into a urban-like group of shops and restaurants with ritzy condos above.</p>
<p>Guess we’ll stay for now, but the population doubles in the months of January thru March when the weather is the best.</p>