senior retirement

Skyline Retirement resident Judy Mayotte joins Suzanne to give a tour of her apartment.

Judy says, "I just love my apartment. I've lived in refugee camps and in grass huts. So I'm living in the lap of luxury here. But I also have lived for a number of years in condominiums. I lost a leg in Sudan, in the war zone there, and couldn't manipulate a lawn mower or things like that, so I'm used to living in condos and apartments. So it was not difficult for me to move here. I have one of the smallest apartments here at Skyline. t's a one bedroom, most people and particularly couples will get larger ones. But I have never been happier than I am right here in this little apartment. It's just wonderful."

Learn more:
* Skyline: https://skylineseattle.org/
* More senior living podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/category/discover-senior-living/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Judy Mayotte has been living independently at Skyline Retirement in downtown Seattle for six years. Judy joins Suzanne to talk about how she decided to move into a Life Care Community.

What led her to move here? Judy explains, "I had come back from living a number of years in South Africa, and I bought a condo. Because I lost my leg in the war zone in Southern Sudan a number of years ago, I knew that probably at some point I would need some kind of care. So I bought one that had three bedrooms so that I could have a caregiver. And then I realized it's really going to be lonely if I'm the only one here, because when you live in a condo, everybody's going out. And I thought I'd be home alone, and that made me think, why don't I look at some of these life care places? And I moved back to Seattle. I had taught at Seattle University for a period of time. and fell in love with the city and the state. And so I wanted to live here.

"My husband died almost 50 years ago, I've been alone for a long time and worked overseas. And I decided that I wanted to come to a place like Skyline, because mainly I wanted community. For many people moving into a place where a lot of people live together, that can be really difficult if they've lived in their home for 45 or 50 years. They've accumulated everything, they have memories there ,they raised their children there, they have their garden, they have so much, but also they need more care. And I think the transition for someone that has lived long in a place is more difficult than it is for a nomad like me."

"There are so many fitness opportunities for us, as far as classes are concerned. There's the school, gym, exercise classes, stimulating talks, musical programs. I want to emphasize that a place like Skyline, we have built such a fine community here, it is an inclusive community rather than exclusive community of people. You have all these people with incredible life experiences that you're eating dinner with, you're sharing a movie with, or having in for a cocktail before dinner. And you can be with people as much as you want to be, or you can be alone as much as you want to be. Keep active and keep your mind active, and we have plenty of opportunities to do that here. 

"We have the Skyline Residents Association, and then under that umbrella are a number of committees. There's the dining committee, caring committee, fitness committee, the spiritual committee, whatever. And people really have an opportunity to engage in those committees and really get to know other members."

Learn more:
* Skyline: https://skylineseattle.org/
* More senior living podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/category/discover-senior-living/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suzanne is joined by Judy Mayotte, an 87-year-old resident of Skyline Retirement in downtown Seattle who lives independently. This is a Life Care Community, in which they take care of seniors from independent through memory care, should they need 24-hour care later in life. You pay an upfront fee, but the quality of care can be much higher.

Judy says, "It's very, very easy to live here... We've got two towers of independent living, and we have our own apartments that have a kitchen, bedroom, living room and everything. And then there's another tower called the terraces that is attached to it. In the terraces, there is assisted living, and full care, or skilled nursing. And one of the beautiful things about that is that sometimes one partner, one spouse, will have memory care needs, and can move over to memory care, but the other person can remain in independent living, and never have to go outside to go visit and be with the person that is in memory care. They can spend the whole day over there together. They can do all sorts of things, but the other person, they'll keep the independent living and still remain on the same property. Many of us have lost our spouses, or never married. And so you have a lot of single people, you have a lot of couples, and you have several people where one lives in independent living and one lives in memory care. There are many different kinds of arrangements."

Judy adds, "My deciding factor in moving to Skyline was simply that I liked the atmosphere, the feeling of community here, the layout of the apartments, and the floor to ceiling windows that give you light."

Learn more:
* Skyline: https://skylineseattle.org/
* More senior living podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/category/discover-senior-living/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.