By Nancy Patrick

For some time, I have tried to write an article for Spirit of Abilene about every other week, but lately my life has demanded that I take an extended hiatus. Certainly not a vacation or time of relaxation, my husband and I have busied ourselves packing up our household and moving to a lovely home in Wesley Court. We hope to remain settled for a very long time. 

People unfamiliar with Wesley Court may think of it as a nursing home. Although nursing care is available, Wesley Court offers a wide variety of lifestyles for seniors. The community sits on about 70 acres on Antilley Road, not far from Highway 83/84. From the street, a driver sees a large building surrounded by a parking area as well as a covered parking lot. 

This particular building has two wings with four levels of care: one wing is for independent living; the other has skilled nursing, assisted-living, and long-term care. The independent wing offers apartments for mobile seniors able to take care of most of their physical needs. 

My husband’s Aunt Joyce lived in one of the two-bedroom apartments in the early 2000s. She had a lovely and comfortable space, containing a small kitchen, a living area, and bedrooms with separate bathrooms.

Of course, all facilities offer accommodations for handicap and accident needs—wide doorways, call help buttons, round the clock staff presence, and food plans to accommodate most dietary needs. The clean, well-appointed dining rooms  have cloth napkins and tablecloths. A huge plus is the waitstaff who learn all the residents’ names and extend limitless patience for all the individual quirks of those of us in the senior community.

The second floor of the east wing provides the assisted living apartments. These residents eat meals in a separate dining room with help from trained staff. I visited a friend who lived in one of these assisted living apartments and found the space clean and personally decorated by the family of the friend.

Also, the east wing provides skilled nursing care (SNF) and long-term care. My father-in-law became a patient in this wing before he died. He received excellent care and was treated with dignity.

Many people do not know the secret hidden behind the large building. About seventy beautiful homes are situated on large lots with well-maintained lawns. These houses include a few duplexes, but most are two-and three-bedroom homes, fully equipped with modern appliances and all the other safety accessories offered in the apartments. The bathrooms have call cords in case of a fall or other emergency. The wide doors can accommodate wheelchairs or scooters, and the floors are easy to navigate. 

The residents in the houses also use the two dining rooms for meals, have weekly housecleaning provided, weekly trash pickup, yard care, and housing maintenance. When you “buy” a house, you sort of co-own it with Wesley Court through a contract called “Executive Home Residency Agreement.” The company pays all bills, insurance premiums, utilities, and taxes. As the resident, you buy the house outright at the beginning of your residency, and when you vacate the house, you receive back 90 percent of your buy-in price minus 7 percent for the refurbishing of the home for the next residents.

It is true that living here is not cheap. Residents pay a monthly “service fee” for all those amenities I have described, including a daily continental breakfast and about 35 to 40 meals a month; however, when we added up all our expenses before this move, we decided that we could live here with less stress than in our former home. Aware of my good fortune in retirement, I certainly understand that this type of decision does not appeal to everyone, but for us, it seems fortuitous.

Being old certainly challenges everyone, regardless of one’s economic situation. My first awareness of my aging related to my physical changes. Luckily, my internal organs have remained healthy, but my orthopedic condition has transformed my active, energetic, dynamic, and vivacious self into a pain-ridden, lethargic, and physically weak woman whose height shrinks as her spinal stenosis causes chronic pain.

In addition to the physical medical changes in old age, many folks develop one of the various forms of dementia. Whether Alzheimer’s or Lewy Body, dementia is a cruel, almost demonic form of torture, not only for those with the condition but also for loved ones who endure the merciless progression of the demise of the loved one’s being.

Not only does old age present dreaded physical and mental changes, but it also awakens our awareness that this earthly life is a temporary state. It is a material existence that, once the soul departs, returns to the earth or ashes. For those with faith in God, old age and death simply provide the last lap of life’s journey. My husband and I happily reflect that we have been able to plan for this last stage of life and hope our preparations will make our son’s life easier when we pass.

Nancy Patrick is a retired teacher who lives in Abilene and enjoys writing