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Inner-Vue, by Hazel W. Jasper, resident of The Fountains at Boca Ciega Bay
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Adjustment to new surroundings in a retirement home often causes trauma in an aging person, but this need not be the case. Ask Victoria. After sixty-two years of married life in New England "Vickie" buried her husband and three days after the funeral motored to Florida with her daughter and entered a retirement home.
Immediately she made friends and is a very popular personage in her new setting. She enjoys the sun-down cruises especially, and has even been fishing. A few of the things she managed to bring she found she didn't need and she missed articles she could have used or had been sentimental about, but she hasn't looked back. Hers is a remarkable adjustment at the age of eighty-nine.
Then there is Eleanor who at the same age in independent living, gets around with a walker visiting the bed-ridden in the nursing home. Both Eleanor and Mitzi (below) have recently weathered stays in the hospital.
Mitzi at ninety-seven, still on her feet and mentally alert, has been a resident for twenty-six years. Mitzi hasn't "rocked a single boat" that I've heard of, yet she still has spunk and is first in her seat a Sunday morning worship. She is legally blind but reads her Bible with the use of a magnifying reader.
At ninety-eight Dorothy went swimming with dolphins.
Jon, who just celebrated his one-hundredth birthday has been here even longer than Mitizi and is well cared for by a daily companion.
Their lot is certainly easier than becoming dependent on complaining or even caring relatives. One penalty of living so long is that the familiar faces who loved and were loved in return have faded away. Unrealized dreams may still be realized I found.
Personally, I decided at a "young" eighty-one that I wanted to choose my resting place, not have it arbitrarily chosen by my daughter who really knows little about Florida. (I've lived in the Sunshine State for thirteen years.) Before deciding, I visited five possibilities. I asked for two things: a view, and a bathtub to soak away my arthritic pains. I have both now. After visiting the place several times to test the congeniality of the employees and get a "feel" of the atmosphere I decided to take a calculated risk.
After all that planning I hesitate to admit that it has taken me a full year to realize that I am contented and even happy.
True, I am missing the development of my grand-children a thousand miles away which is regrettable but there is always the phone and e-mail at hand. I see them only twice a year; however, one evening in the pool the peacefulness of the place and the beauty of the sunset suddenly enveloped me. I became overwhelmed with happiness for the first time in too many years.
I've decided that you can "Roll with the punch" and that truly "Life is what you make it." It wasn't an easy decision at best, but the past is behind me and I am trusting my Lord in every way for the rest of my sundown years. I am praising Him for bringing me this far in reasonably good health and placing me in pleasant surroundings.
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Growing Young at The Fountains, by Flora Outlaw, resident of The Fountains at Lake Pointe Woods
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 How old is old? Is it seventy, eighty or ninety? Our conception of age changes as our years increase. When we are fifty, seventy seems ancient. Then when we are seventy, others are not old until they are eighty or ninety. It is often quoted "you are only as old as you feel."
To make the decision to move to [a retirement community] is a big one. My husband and I made the decision because we wanted to downsize to a smaller place. As we are in our eighty's, moving to an apartment and having to soon move to a [retirement community] seemed foolish. Other people make the move for many other reasons. After making our decision, we found that The Fountains had an independent living [area] and we made our move.
In the beginning it was stressful to see so many walkers and wheelchairs. However, we find that when one's body needs help getting around, it does not affect one's healthy attitudes and spirit. A mere wheelchair does not make anyone old. You realize this after getting to know the worth of the individual.
As I look back over the three years that we have lived at The Fountains, I feel sad to think about the Residents who have died and others who have gone downhill healthwise. However, we must make adjustments for that and realize that it is a way of life.
On the plus side it is wonderful to see people who have made a happy home here, who enjoy the activities and people, as well as the amenities offered by The Fountains. It is gratifying to have friends who forgive forgetfulness, slowness and other afflictions of aging.
I often tell the story about what happened one New Year's Eve. There was a party that lasted until midnight. The next morning there were two walkers found, abandoned at the party site.
There are many wonderful, friendly people who live here and more moving in every day. Making friends with caring people, having activities to keep us busy, and reason to get dressed for dinner in a friendly atmosphere is how we grow younger not older. The many romances that occur among the Residents are more proof of that. There is encouragement all around to make life interesting and to grow young at The Fountains.
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