(uptempo music) (uptempo music continues) - Welcome to "Forum 360" with its Global Outlook and Local View.

I'm Ardith Keck, host of "Forum 360."

The topic today is living in a retirement community.

Our guests live in one and have chosen to live there.

We'll discuss why and what it is like.

They're both in independent apartments, although both facilities offer assisted living, memory care, and nursing when you need those to assist you.

Mary Ann Kyle is a resident of St. Edwards Retirement Community in Fairlawn, and Ruth Fowler is a resident of Rockynol Retirement Community in Akron.

Welcome to you both.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- And I'm wondering, why did you move to St. Edwards?

- People.

I was fairly lonely during COVID and I lived out in the woods in Bath.

And I was by myself, my dog died, and so, I decided it was time to be around people, and I have been around people and I'm happy about it.

- Good, good.

Ruth, why did you move?

- Well, I'm as surprised as you are.

I didn't have any intention of moving.

I'd been in my house over 70 years.

But my daughter said to me once, she said, "What do you think about this?"

And I said, "Well, I don't know, I never thought about it."

The next thing I know I was at Rockynol.

Was a complete surprise.

I hadn't planned for it.

I didn't even consider it, but- - And so, you were living in a house.

- Yes.

- before this.

And you were living in a house in the woods before this?

- Right.

- So why did you move?

You wanted to be with people.

- Correct, I wanted to be with people.

I was lonely at that point.

My husband had been dead for 15 years and I had lived by myself in the woods all those years.

So I went over to St. Ed's and there's all these people around.

I was a happy camper.

(Group laughs) - And why did you move?

- Well, I guess, maybe it was economical because my home was almost 100 years old and it was like needing everything, not at once, but roofing and driveway repair and it just became...

I guess I just thought it was economical, maybe.

- Okay, okay.

And what facilities there do you use?

Do you use the library?

- Yes, absolutely.

- Yes.

- I love the library.

We have quite an extensive library on the second floor.

I live on the third.

And I'm always in there finding a book.

- [Ardith] Do you use any other facilities?

- Well, we have movies on Friday and Saturday night.

I use that.

I do use the exercise room, but I use it for the classes mostly.

And I walk around.

We can walk around.

We have a pond with ducks and- - And a swan.

- And a swan.

And so, I walk around outside, but if the weather's bad, you can walk around inside too.

And if you go around the outside, it's over a half mile.

And my apartment looks over the woods and the pond so I'm quite happy with my view.

I still feel like I'm in the woods.

- Oh good.

(Group laughs) Ruth, what facilities do you use?

- Well, I live on the fourth floor and that happens to be the library, so I go through it, get off the elevator and through the library every single day.

So it's always there for my use, and certainly, the other residents use it also.

I should use the exercise room more.

They have wonderful programs.

They have the exercise programs.

And so, those kind of facilities are very, very- - Are you a walker?

- Not as much as I'd like to.

My balance isn't quite as good as I wish it were, and that's why I use the exercise room, to kinda get myself stabilized a little bit.

- Yes, yes.

The more you use it, the better.

- And we have nice hallways too.

A lot of the women and gentlemen walk all four hallways, so that's...

I don't know how many miles it is, but it's quite a distance if you add it up.

- Yeah, if you walk all four, I would assume.

- Yes, yes.

- Are you happy there?

- Oh my goodness.

I'm surprised how happy I am.

It's just like, I moved in, settled, and it was just, it became home.

So yes, I'm very happy.

- Good, are you happy there?

- Absolutely.

I'm glad to be around people.

That's the biggest thing.

And there's plenty to do and I can't imagine going back and living alone.

- Okay, okay.

And what about your apartment?

Is it nice?

Is it roomy?

- It's pretty nice.

I came from a very big house, so it was a few months before I got used to the space, but it's almost 1,000 square feet.

I have two bedrooms, a full kitchen, except I don't have a dishwasher.

You have to do 'em by hand.

And a bathroom, a living room, so it's fine.

And a good view.

- Very good, and how about your apartment?

Is it roomy?

- It's wonderful.

I really do like it.

I have two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, living room and dining room, and- - It sounds about the same- - I'm sure it is.

- As Mary Ann's.

- I'm sure it is.

I do have a dishwasher, but I use it as a bread box.

(Group laughs) - A storage area.

- But it really is, because I didn't and I don't use that many dishes that I can.

- No, I don't either.

- And when people come through, I always say, "This is my bread box and it does get a big kick."

- Very good.

- But I do love it.

I basically took things and from my home and scaled it down so it really looks like I'm walking into my other house, so I like it very much, thank you.

- How about closets?

You have enough closets?

- Oh, yes.

- I do too, I have a big walk-in.

And it has two shelves and I can even put my out of season clothes in storage in my own closet.

And then the other bedroom, of course has a closet and I have a pantry closet too, which is quite extensive.

- Yes, when I was looking at them and finally decided I was going to move in I spoke to the director and she said, "Anything you want?"

So I had extra shelves put in my closet for the pantry and for stories like linens and things like that.

And they're very, very accommodating that way.

- Well that was my next question, because I'm wondering if repairs are done on time.

- Oh my goodness.

- That's something that can be very annoying.

You've got things that need to be done and you're happy with that.

- Oh, well, the thing about it is we have a gentleman, David who is always around.

The other day, I saw him in the hallway and I said, "They had cleaned my apartment and the shower door came off the..." He went right in and I said, "If you have time, what about washing these globes on my lamps on my bathroom light?"

He said, "I can do that right now."

- Wonderful.

- He's just a nice, helpful person.

- Okay, and you feel the same way, Mary Ann?

- I do, I do.

We have a very good maintenance crew, very good.

You call the front desk if something's wrong and next thing you know, there's a knock on your door and you don't even have to be there.

I feel quite safe with them coming in when I'm not there.

And I mean, they're cleaning my apartment right now.

I told her, "Be sure and lock up when you leave."

(Group laughs) - Well, they're wonderful, they hang pictures, just a couple weeks ago I had 'em hang a mirror for me.

So they do anything, whatever.

Well, I haven't had that much that I need it done anyway.

- You're reasonable, I'm sure.

- Well, I don't need anything.

- And is the cost okay with your budget?

- There's no cost.

Oh, you mean the cost of living?

- For the apartment.

- It works out fine.

Otherwise, I wouldn't be there.

- It's fine.

- And it works for you.

- It's fine.

I always choke when I write the check, but (Group laughs) what's money for?

And I don't have any maintenance to do.

- No, no, that's the big thing.

- And in the year you've been there have they raised the prices?

- They have, because of the COVID.

There was a problem with help and they raised the wages and they raised our rent, which was and they explained it to us.

- Well, if they raised the wages, that's important.

- Yes.

- Well, in my case, it was an incentive to move there so it wasn't a reduction in the cost.

And so, that has been recovered, but it's still very manageable, very manageable.

- Good, good.

And is the facility clean not just your apartment, but the whole place?

You really feel good about how clean it is?

- I do, I too, I have no complaints at all.

The laundry room is always as it should be.

People leave it the way it is, it should be.

And it's always available.

Well, not always if somebody's using it, but so it's like first come, first serve.

- It's very clean.

It's very clean.

They were going down the hall one day last week with a big machine and it was cleaning along the edges of the hall.

- Oh, wow.

- And I said to him, are you cleaning the edges of the hall?

I mean, I wouldn't even do that at home.

(Group laughs) - I think you would.

- Yeah.

- Well, I don't know.

- Well, no, not with a big house.

Sometimes some parts get overlooked.

- [Mary Ann] You're right, exactly.

- Today, we're talking about retirement communities and we have with us Ruth Fowler, who is a resident of Rockynol Retirement Community in Akron.

And Mary Ann Kyle, who is a resident of St. Edwards retirement community in Fair Lawn.

So are there disadvantages to living in a retirement community?

- I haven't experienced any.

I'm free to do as I wish.

I still drive, so I come and go and as needed I haven't witnessed any really, no, I don't wouldn't even know what to look for.

- Okay, Mary Ann, any disadvantages?

- I haven't found any yet.

I haven't been there that long.

Only a year and a half, but I can't think of any right now.

- Great, great.

And are there field trips?

I know you both drive so you can get places that you need to, but do they take you places?

- Oh, my yes, yes.

- Yes, today, well, twice a week they take people to the grocery store.

I don't use the service, but they go to Fair Lawn Shopping Center one today.

And then later on in the week they go to Montrose to the Acme, et cetera.

And they'll drop people off at Sam's or wherever.

And I don't know exactly how long they stay, but I think they tell the bus driver when they'll be done.

And if he comes around and they're not done, he comes around again.

So they take us on trips.

We're going to Brecksville to a restaurant this month.

We're going to Copley to the bakery.

And I do go on those trips and they're taking us someplace else this month.

Last month we went to The Weathervane.

And so, there's always something going on and it's enjoyable.

And they do take you to the doctor and the dentist too, if you need the ride.

- Ah-huh, okay.

Ruth, how about you?

- Well, we have basically the same, we have what they call the grocery runs twice a week.

And the transportation is always available.

If they needed to go to the doctor, people use it to go to the hairdressers.

Although we do have that facility at the Rockynol.

Trips we just got back from a trip to the Glass Factory.

And we've been to a play in Uniontown not Uniontown in Hartville and the flea markets, everything.

- Wherever you might wanna go, they can provide.

What about Blossom?

Do they take you to Blossom?

- They do.

I haven't been there.

I'll be a year this month, so I haven't had full advantage of all the trips, but they have taken 'em to Blossom, because I hear people talking about it.

- Did they take you to Blossom?

- Not that I know of, but today I put information about the Light Opera down.

- Oh yes.

- And hopefully we'll plan a trip there.

I mean, you can suggest stuff.

And I do have private Blossom tickets, so I'm not so interested in that.

But I would like to go to the Light Opera at Wooster, so hopefully we can get it- - That's always a nice place to go.

Well, I guess they go to baseball games so you know the Akron Arrows.

- Right, right.

- But like I say, I haven't been there that long to really know what the trips are like.

Although I did go to the black classroom.

- How long have you been there?

- Every year, this month.

- Okay.

- About the same- - About the same time.

- We have just been there about the same time.

We have the other thing that they took us to just last week was Mamma Mia at the Revere School.

- Oh, okay, nice, yes.

- And it was quite good.

It was, they served breakfast.

At no cost to us.

And we saw the play, it was really good.

- We have a busload going for voting tomorrow- - Oh, good.

- Because we have a new place to vote so that'll be convenient.

I am going with them, because I thought it'd be easier to ride the bus than to try drive myself.

- So they do make an effort to keep you occupied.

- Oh my goodness.

- They do.

There's plenty to do.

- Sometimes overlap.

- There's plenty to do if you want to do it.

And, but you don't have to do anything.

Nobody stands over you says you have to go.

- Have you made friends there?

- Absolutely.

(Group laughs) - I think everybody's a friend and it's just what I like about it there's not cliques, you just fit in with anybody and everybody fits in with you.

It's very, very comfortable.

I love it, yes.

- And I imagine most people are kind of like you, so you end up happy with mostly everybody.

- I haven't had anything yet.

- What about food?

- Maybe have my bath.

- Can you choose your meal?

- We have an option at dinner of, yes, the soup, salad and or soup and salad and something else that you can choose.

And there's two options for the main course.

And other than it's fixed.

So yes, it's very flexible.

- Okay, how about you, can you choose?

- We have two options too for dinner, but then if you don't like either one of 'em, there's a side menu and they're changing it with the season.

She said there'd be a new one starting just like four pages and there's plenty of options on it.

And you can order that sometime off the alternate menu.

And sometimes it takes a little longer to come out of the kitchen, which is a disadvantage of not taking the two.

However, if you can always order steak, you can order that every night if you like it or whatever.

And so, there's all kinds of options for dining.

- Okay, and how many meals are included in the rent?

With you, there are dinner- - Just one dinner, but there's coffee available on each floor in a common room all the time.

- We have coffee available too.

But we get a brunch, which can be either lunch or breakfast and a dinner five days a week.

And then on Saturday we'll get a brunch and Sunday we get a brunch.

So we basically get two meals a day, five days a week.

- Okay, and I know during COVID you got- - Three meals.

- Three meals.

- Three meals - Because they wanted you not to go out, they didn't watch to go out shopping.

- Well, people often will order their meals, either delivered or picked up, because they just don't want to go down or they're not hungry or some reason or other.

- Does the facility do anything special for holidays?

- Oh, yes.

We're having the Mexican feast, Sanka de Mayo.

There's a party for that.

There's a party for Mother's Day with Style Show and there's Kentucky Derby party.

- [Ruth] Ooh nice.

- So there's quite a few parties.

- Oh, that's right.

- And we have two birthday parties.

Usually every month they have a common birthday party for everyone whose birthday is that month.

However, this month there's somebody turning 100.

So that she's having a special birthday party plus the common one.

- Oh, wow.

- So there's two birthday parties this month.

- We should all turn 100.

And how about you Ruth, over the special holiday?

- They celebrate all birthdays once a month for everybody.

We do have special occasions like- - Mother's Day.

- I don't know, because last Mother's Day I guess I didn't pay attention.

But there will be some special meal for that, I'm sure.

- Well, now both of you are in facilities that have religious groups that are religious arrangement.

Are there any pressures to participate in anything?

- Nothing, nothing.

- No.

- We have a lovely chapel, a beautiful chapel.

It's open all the time so you can go sit in and meditate if you wish.

And every second Sunday we have a guest minister that will give the service.

But as far as any religious preference there's no restrictions that way at all.

- Okay.

- No restrictions at all.

We do have mass every day, but no one has to go.

They also have non-denomination services every week too in the afternoon.

And we have a big assortment of religious people.

I mean, they're not, I suppose probably most people are Catholic, but there's certainly a lot of people who aren't.

And there's no pressure at all.

You never have to do anything religious.

- Any restrictions that you don't like?

- I don't know of any restrictions.

Honestly, I don't, maybe there are that I haven't discovered but well, except wearing flip-flops to dinner or bathroom robe for lunch or something that type of thing.

But as far as dress or nothing that I'm aware of.

- Okay, sounds good, Mary Ann?

- I can't think of any restrictions either.

You're independent, it's just like living in an apartment house.

You can do what you want.

You can stay in all day with your door locked and not see anybody.

Or you could go out.

- And that happens.

- And socialize.

- It does happen.

- But then your neighbors worry.

- Well, that's true.

- If they don't see you, I imagine or the staff probably worry.

- Well, they do check on us every day.

We get a telephone call.

Mine comes at eight in the morning, but most people's is a little later.

And to make sure you're alive and okay.

And you have to press, it's kind of a recording and they say press one if you're okay.

And so, you press one and that's the end of it for that day until eight o'clock the next morning.

- We have little flippers on our door that they flip up at night.

And if it's not flipped down at a certain time in the morning, then they check on you.

But usually- - We also wear pendants.

- Yes, we do too.

- How nice to know you're watched, that somebody cares about how you're doing.

- Well, it's interesting, even though they're not intrusive your neighbors pretty well watch you, take care of you or are aware of what's going on.

So it's comforting.

Not overbearing, but very comforting.

- Well, we've learned all about living in a retirement community and it sounds pretty good.

Thank you Ruth and Mary Ann for coming today and for lending us your expertise.

This is Ardith Keck for "Forum 360" with its Global Outlook and Local View.

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