Oakwood: Temporary Apartment Living or Premature Retirement Community?

Well, the Oakwood has it all. There are potholders in the kitchen drawers, minimally sharpened knives in the butcher block, clean, recently-shampooed wall to wall carpeting in all the rooms. There is also a nice, clean pool in the courtyard, next to the pro-shop, tennis court and children's playground. There's a "community room" in the Clubhouse, next to which, is the on-site convenience store and a neat row of gas barbecue grills for communal cooking. There's a "Movie Night," and an "Ice Cream Social" and "Adult Cupcake Decorating." And Best of all, folks, there's an "Activities Center," which really makes my argument, that the Oakwood is secretly a premature retirement community, for me.

In all seriousness, I am pretty happy with the situation at the Oakwood because in addition to providing almost everything we need right here on the property, it also provides a window into what our lives might look like 40 years from now. We've always said that we'd like to end up in a place like this so that we don't crowd or overburden our children and I will say that if life in an "Adult Retirement Community" looks even remotely like life in the Oakwood, we'll be a couple of relaxed and happy old farts.

Life is easy here and given the circumstances of our lives, we need "easy." When we came to visit, we looked at the apartment and I grunted a disappointed mumble about sterility and lack of character. While these things are true- our apartment is sterile and completely lacking the character of almost all of our ramshackle previous abodes- there were many things we didn't consider at first glance. The most important of which, is the fact that it so easy to meet people here, it's almost laughable. Every where you go, to the playground or the Activities Center (for an adequately heart-pumping "Cardio Jam" class), there's a friendly face eager to talk and hear your story. It's comforting beyond belief to a woman who left everything familiar behind to follow her husbands dreams.

While it's not the stuff of a progressive homemaker's dreams, it is a good place to be right now. For that, I am grateful.