Senior living sales and marketing teams could learn a few things from two centenarians who recently talked about life, bucket lists and their secrets to longevity.
Joy Graham, 101, a 19-year resident of Spring Harbor at Green Island in Columbus, GA, and Martha Brown, 107, a 21-year resident of Parkway Village, a Baptist Health Community in Little Rock, AR, shared their wisdom during a recent virtual roundtable hosted by senior living marketing group Varsity.
Both talked about their love for their communities, the staff and their fellow residents, offering a few insights into the life of a centenarian in a senior living community.
A safe place to age
Graham was Spring Harbor’s first resident. When the ribbon was cut, she said, she walked through the front door and knew “this was where I belonged.” Graham said she always worked hard and played hard, and the community “helped me get old.”
“I never dreamed I’d reach 90, much less 100,” she said. “I’m very thankful God left me here. I can enjoy my grandchildren, and I can do a lot of things now I couldn’t do before.”
Although she said that her arthritis and poor balance keeps her from participating in many of the community’s activities, Graham happily shared that Spring Harbor has a variety of amenities, including an exercise room, bowling, badminton and a swimming pool — Graham was the first to swim in the community’s pool.
Brown said that with the care she receives, she has been able to stay in her individual apartment. She also is proud of doing her own laundry every day.
“They try to keep me from doing it,” she said. “You have to keep going or you won’t go. I get up everyday and do what I have to do. I’m going to keep on doing it.”
When asked for their secrets to longevity, Brown said that she just doesn’t think about being old. Graham chimed in that they both “just take one day at a time.”
And their bucket lists are simple: both women said they want to remain independent and mobile. Brown said she wants to maintain her mobility so she can stay in her apartment. She works on that goal by walking the halls in her apartment every day, as well as by walking to the dining hall for her meals.
Benefits of senior living
Living in a senior living community, the women agreed, has helped them live better lives, from daily contact with people to entertainment options, to having help at their fingertips for everything from finding a missing cell phone to finding a misplaced remote control.
“I think you need contact with other people,” Brown said. “They have entertainment and something going on all the time. You can go to anything you feel like you can go to to keep up.”
In response, Graham said that she has marveled at Brown’s stamina and said she was “almost ashamed of myself. She does more than I do, and I’m not as old as she is.”
“I just live here with all these beautiful people,” Graham said. “I love it here. I intend to die here. That’s the reason I moved here. You come here when you’re feeling good and you can do all the exciting things you can do.”
Brown said that she’s been selling the senior living lifestyle since she moved to Parkway Village. In fact, her 97-year-old sister finally agreed to move to the community and will live in the building next to hers.
Brown said that there are “all kinds of advantages” to senior living, including being around other people and having a variety of activities available. Her one piece of advice to anyone still living on his or her own is to move immediately if you decide to quit driving, because that’s a major life adjustment.
“I think it’s a great place to move to, and people need to move a lot sooner than they do,” Brown said. “They’ll enjoy it.”
Graham compared senior living with living on a ship.
“You have a ship, and it’s got everything in it that you would need,” she said. “When you dig into it, you get into it and enjoy everything they do.”
