Andrew Carins, General Manager at Renaissance Retirement Living: “Did you know that most people consider moving from their family home either because of a health event or other circumstances that arise in their lives that make it difficult to stay in their homes?”
“We lived in a very very large country estate. We had a lot of land, a big house, and the two of us were just rattling around in the house. It was lovely living there. We were there twenty two years and all of a sudden it stopped being fun.”
“One day when I was cleaning out the gutters. I fell off a ladder and broke my back. And that was the thing that said ‘we have to make a move’. And that's when I decided ‘no more of this nonsense – we're going to do something about it!’”
For other Renaissance residents, there came a time when the gardening – a hobby they may have previously loved – became all too much to handle.
“I felt that I was too old to go doing gardening all day. Then the kids all left home and I was left all by myself except for the animals, but I refused to move – the animals were old! Finally there were no more animals. I was tired of yard work. And so we came out – just to have another look!”
“I was fed up with gardening. Fed up with maintenance. I wanted somebody to look after it for me and this sort of living is where somebody else does it.”
“Ten years ago we heard a radio advert, and for something to do on a Sunday afternoon drive we came out here. We saw the first few villas on First Avenue and thought ‘very very nice’ and well maybe at some future date we could come and live here. It would be very nice to retire one day.”
There’s no doubt that the wonderful community at a retirement village can be a great source of support and comfort to residents.
“Well for us it was the children mainly, they said if one of us was left alone we would be in a great place with great company and it would be a lot less worrying to them and to the one that was left. That was what they felt.
“But we waited – and that's when the children really were pushing. My daughter-in-law is a doctor and she was saying ‘you have to get Stelly somewhere. You don't know it could rear its ugly head, Stelly still could get sick.’ My children encouraged me to come in here.”
“When my father passed away it left me with my mother who was incapable of looking after herself and they had refused to do just what we have done. So we said in 1992 we will not do that to our children. It's not fair it's our responsibility to look after ourselves.”
“I wanted something different. I wanted a different lifestyle.”
At Renaissance Victoria Point we’re always happy to welcome you to our village for a personal tour. The best way to find out the reality of retirement village life is to come and see it for yourself!
We’d love to show you around and introduce you to some of our residents. They’ll share wonderful stories of their life in our community and why they’re glad they made the move.
Call Renaissance today on (07) 3820 7700 or get in touch online to find out more about our outstanding Victoria Point retirement living.