Why We Joined the Waitlist at Pennswood Village
Some people are planners and do their best to anticipate the road ahead. While you can’t plan for everything in life, a good plan, especially in retirement, can help you achieve peace of mind.
If planning for as much as you can is important to you, then getting on a waitlist for a retirement community is a good place to start. After all, it lowers the risk that you will not be able to get in to your favorite community when you want to do so.
Two couples, Jim and Jackie and Judith and David, believe in charting their course for the future, and as a result, they decided to join the waitlist at Pennswood Village.
Meet Jim and Jackie
Jim and Jackie have known each other since high school and will soon celebrate their 51st wedding anniversary. In their mid-70s, Jim, a retired professor of the history of science, and Jackie, a retired special education teacher, live in Hoboken, NJ—but they know it’s not their forever home.
In a neighborhood full of three-story brownstones, Jim and Jackie have seen neighbors who are now widows live on one floor of their large homes and become isolated from the rest of the community. “This has motivated us to look at retirement communities,” Jim said.
Another event prompted the couple to take a closer look at their future. In 2014, Jackie severely injured her leg and throughout her surgeries and rehabilitation, Jim became her caregiver. “That drove home the notion that you never know what’s going to happen,” Jim explained.
On the waitlist for one year, they plan to move to Pennswood Village in late 2019. “We want to be in the driver’s seat,” Jim explained. “We agreed to make the move to Pennswood while we’re physically up for it.”
Meet Judith and David
Judith, a New Yorker, and David, a British expat, live just outside of Newtown, Pennsylvania, where Pennswood is located. As two people with career experience in healthcare, they understand the importance of a continuum of care.
Judith saw her mother’s memory decline and watched as her father become frail. By the time her parents realized the value of a Continuing Care Retirement Community and agreed to move from New York City to Newtown, they had waited too long and couldn’t get into Pennswood Village. “It was a real eye-opener for me,” Judith explained. Soon after, she and David began touring retirement communities, but Pennswood was always in the back of their minds.
“Pennswood just feels different,” Judith said. “People really know you. You’re not just the couple in apartment 207.”
Judith and David, who have been on Pennswood’s waitlist since 2017, believe they’ll move in the next five to ten years.
“There’s a comfort knowing I have a place on the list,” Judith added. “We figured out what we wanted to do, acted on it and put it aside for later.”
Value alignment
Both couples decided to join the waitlist because they strongly believe in the importance of having options throughout the aging process. They also agree that the Quaker beliefs, respect for the dignity and worth of each life, is reflected in every corner of Pennswood Village. As an advocate of sustainability in her professional career, Judith appreciates Pennswood’s focus on environmental responsibility.
“We went to the [Pennswood] open house and we were blown away by it,” Jim shared. “The Quaker core values are important to us.” As Jackie looked around, a resident asked if she was lost. “I told her ‘no, I think I’m found,’” Jackie added.
Looking ahead—and loving it
Jim and Jackie look forward to what’s next. Jim, an avid reader, sees himself using the Pennswood Village library and perhaps enrolling in a course or two at Bucks County Community College, which holds classes right at Pennswood Village each semester. While Jackie, an experienced and international birder, plans to walk the countryside and secure a garden plot at Pennswood Village. And the couple will maintain their tradition of going out to lunch every Thursday, but instead of Hoboken, the venue will be a trendy restaurant in downtown Newtown.
For Jim and Jackie, excitement grows with their impending move. “The library, the pool, the people, our new apartment, I feel like Pennswood Village will be a haven for us,” Jackie summed up.
Once they move in, Judith and David anticipate walking their dog on the trails that weave throughout the 82-acre campus. And as an avid gardener, David hopes to start a vegetable patch.
Now’s the time to plan
Baby boomers are retiring at a rate of approximately 10,000 per day. With retirees opting for active independent living along with a continuum of care if ever needed, waitlists at retirement communities continue to grow. With this in mind, it’s never too early to start planning for your ideal retirement. If you’d like to learn more about the many benefits of living at Pennswood Village, check out our Frequently Asked Questions or call us at 215-504-1118.