Let's talk about my friend's parents...
Last year, after significant time on the waitlist with a group of their friends, they moved to Wake Robin which is a community in Vermont designed to support individual and collective vitality and health as members age.
While Wake Robin offers memory care, applicants have to pass cognitive screening exams before being accepted into the community. My friend's parents studied and devised memory aids and ultimately both passed, but her mom gave her dad the tests again a month later and he didn't pass. The pair got in just under the wire.
My friend and I only half joke that we need to start saving money and get on the waitlist while we still can. Her parents parlayed their privilege into a really solid plan for aging well. May we all find a way to marshal our resources and follow in their footsteps as we age-- nosing out nourishing pathways that are unique to us.
On a systemic level, we as a country suck at caring for each other. And when it comes to the last third of a person's life span, our nation makes it hard to age with dignity and connection. Maybe the Boomer wave will crash onto the structures we have in place and take them out, creating space for the establishment of better and more inclusive norms.
