When the truth is found to be lies and all the joy within you dies don’t you want somebody to love don’t you need somebody to love…
-Jefferson Airplane, 1967
I was reading a story about 91 year old, Jean Stevens from Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, who had been aging in place with her husband of 60 years, along with her twin sister June. Nothing unusual here, except for the fact that her loved ones are both deceased.
Husband James’s corpse was exhumed shortly after his funeral and strategically settled on the couch in the garage; where it has remained for over a decade. Her twin sister June, who died last October, resided in the spare bedroom dressed in her best house-coat; doused in her favorite perfume.
When authorities uncovered the morbid “living arrangements,” Jean Stevens calmly reported: “When you put them in the cemetery, that’s good-by…” Seems Jean wasn’t ready to let go.
Aging in Place Alone, Single, and Female
“Single women find particular harbor in CoHousing.”
-Senior CoHousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living by Charles Durrett, 2005, P. 187
The population 65 and over has increased from 35 million in 2000 to 40 million in 2010 (a 15% increase) and will then increase to 55 million in 2020 (a 36% increase for that decade).
The 85+ population saw an increase from 4.2 million in 2000 to 5.7 million in 2010 (a 36% increase) and is projected to 6.6 million in 2020 (a 15% increase for that decade).
Over half (54.6%) the older noninstitutionalized persons lived with their spouse in 2008. Approximately 11.3 million or 72.0% of older men, and 8.6 million or 41.7% of older women, lived with their spouse. The proportion living with their spouse decreased with age, especially for women. Only 28.9% of women 75+ years old lived with a spouse.
About 30.5% (11.2 million) of all noninstitutionalized older persons in 2008 lived alone (8.3 million women, 2.9 million men). They represented 39.5 of older women and 18.5% of older men. The proportion living alone increases with advanced age. Among women aged 75 and over, for example, half (50%) lived alone.
Senior CoHousing: Recreating a Sense of Place and Home
“Some years ago I lost my husband and went through a difficult time. But I am glad that I lived here when it happened since it meant that I never felt unsafe. I was not together with other residents all the time but I knew they were there for me if I needed them. And when I came home at night I could feel the warmth approach me as I drove up our driveway.”
-Mollebjerg in Korsor p.3
many others seeking solutions to challenges facing elderly family members, architect Charles Durrett found an old idea—with a contemporary approach; he coined it “CoHousing.”
Durrett challenges us to imagine living in multiple individually owned housing units (20-30) which are oriented around a common/community open area. A...
If you are ready for the transition into the next exciting stage of your life, you couldn’t do much better than active adult community. These are friendly communities where social activities take precedent. If you retired from your job but not your life, here are ten good reasons to live in an active adult Community: