Elaine Berman, a resident of Era Living's Aljoya Thornton Place in Seattle, Washington, joins Suzanne to provide a resident's perspective of what a typical day is like at an Era Living retirement community.

Regarding her thoughts on senior living, Elaine says, "I had a big house in New York, and I said I want to stay here until I'm 100, I don't want to ever move. Don't ever put me in the retirement community. That was my advice to my son. And then when he decided to come out here and I was 84, I said, I think it's time to sell the house and move out. He said, what happened to 100? I said, well, I'm tired of worrying about the roof and worrying about the snow. And I said, it's time for someone else to take care of me. He said, I think it's a good idea if you go to retirement community, and I said, start looking for me. So I went online, that's where I started. And I filled out a whole questionnaire and you start with about maybe 35 choices and I found at least 20 that were not satisfactory. And I wanted to be somewhere that would be diverse and that would have good walking grounds because I love to walk and would be close to shopping, and so on. And so I really narrowed it down to about 10 places. And my son did a little looking before I came out to visit."

For people considering senior living, she says, "Well, I think if you're an active person and have an active life, first of all, you should come into a retirement facility young enough to be able to enjoy everything. I see a few people moving in that are really beyond that point, they're too old, both mentally and physically, and so they're really paying for an experience that they're not getting. And I think, whether it's games or reading or book clubs or walking, whatever, if you like a lot of things come in at an early age and take advantage of as many things as you can, because that's the beauty of joy, and they have all kinds of interests for all kinds of people."

Learn more about Aljoya Thornton Place, located at 450 NE 100th St. in Seattle, WA. There's more about Era Living at Answers for Elders and at eraliving.com.

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