When Ken and I became members of Kootenay Columbia Seniors Housing Cooperative last Sept./2006, it was difficult to tell who was the most amazed: our friends and children, or ourselves. After all, seniors’ housing is for “old people”, not active seniors who still hike, camp and ski, so that type of accommodation had never been considered. We did know that we no longer wanted to do all the work on our three acre farm at Creston, and knew that we didn’t want to live in a senior’s condo in town, but never seemed to progress beyond that point in our thoughts.
A surprising set of coincidences changed all of that. While camping on the Arrow Lake, and lamenting that we would have to rush home to water, mow grass and tend the garden, we did make a decision to sell our property. What we would do next was an unknown except we knew we did not want to leave the Kootenays. On the way home I picked up a local magazine that had an article about a group of seniors from Castlegar who were forming a housing cooperative consisting of independent living units and also a care facility. After rereading this article for three or four days we took the big step and phoned one of the contact people, Elmer Verigin, to set up an appointment to get more information. The rest is history.
We became members in September and in November we selected a duplex, and in March of 2007 we sold our Creston property. We have attended numerous coop meetings, and since all decisions are made jointly, we have had input into the development of the project. We have come to know many of the other members who are an “awesome” friendly group. When our homes are built and we all move in it will seem like “family” all coming home.
We will still have our independent home, but no yard work, lots of open space where we can walk, and when the time comes that we can no longer do these things there will be a care facility that we can move into without ever leaving our friends and neighbours. And the best part is that it is still in the Kootenays, which we never want to leave.
January 8th, 2010
A new year in a new decade in a new community; surely that much newness deserves some reflection.
As I sit in my favourite chair, enjoying my morning coffee and viewing the surrounding mountain vistas, with the sunshine streaming in through the large window, it is not hard to be positive about the move to Grandview
Heights. More surprising is the fact that this feeling exists even on those dreary winter days that I had previously found depressing.
Grandview Heights has become more than just a new home to Ken and myself. There is a feeling of community and family that is often lacking in today's world. As members of a cooperative, we have all worked together to build this very unique community and continue to work, each contributing their individual talents to fulfill the original concept of a senior's complex that will allow us to move through the various stages of aging from independent living to assisted care, while surrounded by friends and neighbours.
Although we frequently return to Creston, where we previously lived for 26 years, there are no regrets about having made this move. We still live in the Kootenays, which we never want to leave, surrounded by mountains, and have a comfortable home, but not the maintenance worries of clearing snow or lawn mowing. When we went on an extended vacation for two months last summer we simply notified the strata, locked the door and drove away without a worry or care. Now, that is what living in retirement should be.
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