Member-only story
The Social World of Senior Living
How the threads of friendship, family, memory, and daily encounters quietly determine whether life in senior living becomes a small world — or a deeply connected one.
One thing I have been trying to understand since moving to Aging Acres is how residents relate to the world beyond these walls.
I’ve noticed that when I go around town for retail and dining, I sometimes feel like I am visiting a foreign country.
Living in an insular type of community, separated from the surrounding town, makes you feel kind of cut off from the’normal citizens’. They shop, make their own meals, and clean their own homes.
My community of residents does none of these chores and lives a comparatively placid and calm life.
We have our meals prepared for us, do not shop for food, have others cook our food, and do no room cleaning or yard work.
Living in the Past
Some residents seem to live largely in the past. Their strongest relationships are with people who are no longer here: a husband or wife who has died, children who live far away, old friends who have gradually disappeared, or family members whose lives have moved in another direction.
Their social life may be full of memories.
