Meet Your New Neighbor – Joan C. Harrison

J Harrison, future resident

I was born in Washington, DC, and have lived in Montgomery County for 50 years. For 23 of those years, I worked for the Department of Health and Human Services in Rockville. Twenty five years ago, my husband Rick and I moved to a townhouse in Derwood. Rick, who passed away 2 ½ years ago, was a Native American - a member of the Osage Tribe from Oklahoma. We spent much of our time involved with American Indian activities here and in other parts of the country.

After his death, I slowly began to explore other living options. Thank goodness my exploration was slow or I might have missed the early opportunity to choose Ingleside at King Farm as my retirement choice.

I have 6 grown children, 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild on the way! Four of the families live in the area and the other two provide wonderful travel opportunities to Phoenix, Arizona and Dodgeville, Wisconsin. One of the things I love about Ingleside is the location, only 2 miles from where I now live, which is perfect. I am also looking forward to giving up taking care of my home, including snow removal, grass cutting, living on three floors, and having to worry about my empty house when I travel. I might add, my family is happy that I will remain close by and live in a secure residence, with assisted living and long-term care available, if needed. But right now, those things are the furthest away from my mind. I am thinking about meeting new people and participating in many of the activities that will be available at Ingleside, especially exercise/yoga classes, book club, senior trips and scrapbooking (I have already started an Ingleside scrapbook).

I love the idea of food vouchers, light housekeeping and underground parking. However, my real passion is golf. Ingleside is close to Norbeck Country Club, where I serve on the Board of Directors. I have also served on the Women’s Golf Association Board for 20 years, two of them as President.

I am very excited about moving to Ingleside. I love the well-thought out concept, I love the King Farm area and I love Montgomery County. What more could one ask for?

 

 

 

Meet Your New Neighbors – Dawn and Harry Berger

The Berger's, future residents

Not too long ago, Dawn and Harry were sitting on the shaded patio of our two story, four bedroom house in Montgomery Village enjoying the outdoors. Harry remarked it looked like the grass needed mowing and the gutters needed cleaning AGAIN (two of his favorite chores). Dawn was contemplating what to have for dinner AGAIN while rubbing her knee and wishing all the stairs would disappear. It was then they both realized they should look at some local retirement communities – and we did.

Some were too big and some were too small. Some were too far away and some catered to special groups. Then they heard about Ingleside at King Farm. The first thing it had going for it was location, location, location (as the realtors say). The Bergers have four of their five children and nine of their eleven grandchildren in this area – so they had no desire to move far away. Harry was encouraged by the pool, fitness center and the billiards/pool room. Harry had been trying for years to get Dawn to get rid of the living room furniture and put in a pool table. It never happened, of course. Dawn was encouraged by the restaurants, ladies spa and activities – maybe we could get back to playing bridge again. Both were pleased with the floor plans, the seventh floor medical facility and the all in one building plan.

There was one problem. Ingleside existed only on paper and the Bergers weren’t getting any younger. Nevertheless, they selected the Bethesda floor plan and joined the Ingleside community in the spring of 2006. It has been exciting watching things come together - attending the groundbreaking in the pouring rain, watching the building take form and meeting their to-be-soon neighbors at the many Ingleside functions – particularly at the Ingleside Fourth Floor Luncheon. Needless to say, Dawn and Harry are ready (they sold their house this spring!) and anxious to move into their Ingleside home.

So, there were many reasons for choosing to live in Ingleside King Farm –the attractive area of King Farm, the location close to our children and their families, the size and floor plan of the Bethesda apartment and the long, successful management experience provided by the Ingleside organization. Finally, the all in one building plan, as contrasted to the large campus approach of other facilities, was the final touch that made our Ingleside King Farm decision easy. We’re looking forward to living in our fourth floor apartment.

 

 

 

Meet Your New Neighbors – Anne and Mon Dickinson

The Dickinson's, future residents

With two houses to keep up and our kids in New York City with busy lives of their own, we started to consider how best to simplify our lives now that we are in our 70s. Since retirement we have lived half time in Potomac and half time on Block Island in Rhode Island. Travel, church activities, tennis, and part-time employment assure that we are able to keep busy. But we felt that the maintenance of both houses represented a burden that was best simplified.

Life in an apartment in the Potomac area first seemed like the best choice. But after a realistic assessment of our needs in the years ahead, we concluded that a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) would represent an attractive option for us.

Ingleside at King Farm met each of our criteria as the best choice for us. It provides three levels of care in a single facility assuring that we will not burden our children. It provides access to the Metro that will enable a continuing part-time work option in Bethesda as well as access to the Washington Metropolitan Area. It is situated in a neighborhood so that we will have access to shopping within walking distance. It allows the cook in the family who has prepared meals for more than a half century to have a respite. And it offers a multitude of activities on site including tennis, swimming, and exercise to keep us going.

Ingleside has the advantage of being a non-profit locally managed organization. Since we have long-term care insurance, we were attracted to the financing plan in which we can use our insurance if needed and pay entrance and initial monthly fees based only on apartment living.

We were lucky to reserve a corner apartment with windows in each of five rooms. We will be able to bring a reasonable amount of our furniture including a baby grand piano. We will have enough space to continue entertaining. And we will avoid the future challenges associated with life in a three-story house.

We have yet to sell in Potomac. When we do, we plan to place our furnishings in storage, move to our vacation house, and return to Ingleside as soon as occupancy is permitted. Wish us luck with the sale!