When I’ve written about aging, I am writing about my experiences that are taking place in the present. It’s what I am feeling, thinking, and doing. This paper is about where and how we live and the people we live with. Our senior complex has about 125 apartments, which are either studios or one and two-bedrooms. The building is four stories tall, with the west side facing the Sierras and Mt Rose, offering a complete and beautiful view. The east side faces a Blvd and Freeway that heads north and south. On the north side is a small forest, while the south side borders a short street leading into a small but nice shopping center. Having lived in Reno and its proximity for 42 years, I believe this location is as good as it gets.
The building is entirely rented out with a long waiting list. Having seen other senor facilities in Reno, we believe we live in the best. Also, our apartment is on the corner of the 4th floor, offering us a terrific view of the Sierras and Mt Rose ski area. We have a patio to sit and enjoy the scene when the weather gets warm. We’ve now been here two-and-a-half years.
Our building has a nice bar and restaurant, and we eat most of our dinners in the bar with open seating. We pay a monthly fee for food and service, which includes a cleaning crew each Friday morning. If problems occur in our apartment, we have maintenance people that fix just about anything.
The complex has a heated indoor pool, a small exercise gym, classes for Tai-Chi, Yoga, and more. We also have meeting and cardplaying rooms and a comfortable studio for watching sports/TV and lectures. It takes terrific management to make this all work, and we are blessed to have the right people in the right place. I will write next about the people we live with and our experiences with most of them.
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