Methinks I'm a pretty lucky widow.
I live in a little slice of suburbia on Maui. Most neighborhoods here are not so cookie cutter with just five or six styles of homes, sidewalks and very flat. But I picked it for the walkability. It’s just half a mile to a Safeway shopping center with several restaurants, Starbucks, Jamba Juice and lots of little shops. Another half mile from there is my Kaiser Permanente clinic, my bank, the post office, my gym (I use the term “my” loosely in this instance), the hardware store and more restaurants and shops. So when I get old and have retired from driving, I can still be very independent.
If I walk (or ride my bike) in a different direction from Safeway, the Kihei community pools await. It is open and available seven days a week from 9am until 4:30 pm. Oh, occasionally there are swim meets on the weekends and then it is closed to the casual pool people. There are three pools. The two large ones are divided into sections for water walkers, deep water aerobics, lap swim and diving. Fortunately for me and Mr. Braeden, the other pool is just for kids! Oh. And did I mention it is NO CHARGE? (I was going to say “free” but I think my property taxes help pay for it).
Just past the shopping center with my bank and all ... is the Pacific Ocean. Probably less than a mile and a half from my front door. All in all, I really do live in paradise. It will be totally accessible with or without my car (hopefully I get another 20 years of driving!)
While it would be so much more fun with Mr. Ralph, I think I can safely say it’s beginning to feel a lot more like home. For the long term.
Sounds like you have the perfect place to age in place and that's really an asset.
ReplyDeleteAging in place. Nothing like planning ahead! The Oregon condo is also ground floor, one level and walking distance to everything. Plus the bus stop to everywhere in Portland is just three blocks from home.
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