“It’s a wonderful change.”

“Aging forces us to make changes,” admits Evelyn Srigley.

“I was getting to the point where I didn’t want to climb ladders to clean the gutters anymore,” says her husband Burns. Snow shoveling had become a challenging task, too.

“Plus,” Evelyn remembers, “We were starting to feel more and more isolated where we lived.”

Most of the houses around them were rentals. Vacationers came and went with the seasons, and these visitors had no time or interest in getting to know the “year-round” folks.

And, although the Srigleys loved their home and its natural, rural setting, they frequently needed to go into town for shopping and appointments, and that meant a 30-mile roundtrip each time. “It became pretty tiresome,” they both agree.

“We experience change almost on a daily basis”

There’s something in our very nature that loves the way things have always been. There’s a sense of safety in the status quo—sometimes a false sense of safety. Fortunately, small warnings often come along to help us make changes that are better for us in the long run.

For the Srigleys, it was getting caught on a mountain pass in the middle of a white-out, a snowstorm that no one ever hopes to get caught in. They got home safely, but the event made them realize how much they really didn’t like driving in the snow anymore or being isolated from others. So they began looking around for other housing options.

“We decided we wanted to find something in between our home and an apartment,” Burns says. Something like a cottage in a friendly, close-knit community.

They visited a few places but didn’t find anything that interested them. Next, Burns searched on his computer, and they came across Touchmark at Mt. Bachelor Village.

A real find

“The main office and road weren’t even in yet,” recalls Burns. “But they showed us pictures of what they were planning, and we immediately liked it.”

“It was right on the river, with all these big trees,” Evelyn says.

So, they put down their deposit, and a year later they moved into their brand new cottage. “Everything was on time, at every stage of the building process, right up to the exact day they had promised us we could move in.”

“We got in on the ground floor, before anything else was built at Touchmark,” Burns says. “We had all the choices that we wanted: the lot, the layout, and upgrades. We had choices just like we were building our own house.”

More choices available

Best of all, the Srigleys had choices about which household chores they wanted to continue doing, and which they wanted someone else to do for them.

Touchmark takes care of all the outside maintenance. No more lawn mowing, weeding, pruning, snow shoveling, gutter cleaning, or painting. That suits Burns just fine.

As for indoor chores, Evelyn and Burns can pick and choose which ones they still want to do. Although Touchmark offers housecleaning, laundry, and chef-prepared meals, the Srigleys still enjoy doing these activities themselves.

“If there’s any thing we’t want to do or need help with (like moving something heavy or getting up on a ladder to change a bulb), there are always people around now who can help us,” says Burns. “We’re never concerned anymore about not being able to do something for ourselves.

Evelyn adds, “What’s nice is that we now have a choice.”

Grateful to move

“Before Touchmark, we both had a totally different picture in mind of retirement communities. We had to rethink it, because Touchmark is so different from what our grandparents had available to them. This is really a great place to be. The staff is awesome; all of the people are so good to us. And there are so many great things to do here. Plus, we are grateful for the warmth and caring of the residents in our community.”

Both Evelyn and Burns have served on the Resident Council, and they participate in the many unique Life Enrichment/Wellness activities and programs. Burns keeps adding onto the model railroad in their garage and taking his exercise classes, while Evelyn volunteers at the front desk, greeting people and answering the phones.

“I have an active mouth,” Evelyn says. “And I’m not shy about telling visitors how wonderful it is to live here.”

If you ask her, Evelyn will be quick to say, “Every single day, I am so grateful that we moved here when we did.”

“I see people moving in here who were forced to move because of critical health issues,” she says. “And it is so much more difficult for them.”

Both Evelyn and Burns would agree that it is much easier for people to make a change before a crisis situation develops, before you are stressed and pressed to make quick, life-changing decisions—decisions that are so critical to everyone’s well-being and quality of life.

“So we feel really fortunate and happy that we moved here when we did,” Evelyn says. “Every day, we are grateful.”

back to top