Yes, it is true. After a little over nine years at the Kennedy-Warren, the iconic apartment house next to the entrance to the National Zoo, we have decided to move to Collington, a continuing care retirement community of more than 300 apartments, villas and cottages in Prince Georges County about two miles from where the Washington Commanders play football on Sunday afternoons. While we have had nine great years here at the K-W, have made many new friends, and have loved living here, it is time to move on. We will be moving to a cottage a little smaller than our apartment here but still plenty big enough for us– with a living room, den, full kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a sunroom and outdoor patio.

So why move now? Well, we are both getting up there in years. I will turn 83 in three months and next year Embry will join the 80s club. The whole purpose of a CCRC like Collington (also called a “Life Plan Community”) is to provide the infrastructure to promote healthy aging and to provide access to additional help and support when and if needed. Collington includes a long term care component for those who are not able to continue to live independently. It also includes a fitness center and lap pool, pickle ball courts, two dining venues, numerous meeting rooms and activity areas and is situated on a 125 acre parcel surrounded by forests with several miles of paved walking trails and a small lake. Fortunately, we both are in good health for our age, but the longer we live the more vulnerable people our age are to the challenges associated with aging. Consider moving to a CCRC as a way of trying to squeeze the last drops out of the lemon.

Besides I am a believer. If you know me, you know that my company, Howell Associates, for more than 20 years provided market research, financial analysis and marketing services to the senior living industry. Our primary clients were not-for-profit CCRCs. And when I started the company in 1981, the community to be called Collington was my first client. The Episcopal Diocese of Washington had been offered as a gift a 125-acre parcel by a shopping center developer and hired me (I did not have any employees yet) to determine if building a retirement community on the site was feasible. In those days because there were few CCRCs in the Washington metro area, I travelled to the Philadelphia area where the Quakers had built the first two CCRCs on the East Coast, Foulkeways and Kendal. I was very impressed and recommended that the diocese form a not-for-profit company to develop a new CCRC modeled after Kendal. I helped the diocese put together a development team, secure zoning and market the units. The 360-unit property opened in 1985. In the early 2000s Collington got into some financial difficulties and hired my firm to identify the reasons and recommend solutions. One of my recommendations was to merge or affiliate with another CCRC with a solid reputation. While I had nothing to do with the board’s decision, they chose Kendal, which now includes about a dozen affiliates and is considered by many to be the blue ribbon CCRC provider in the country. Collington honored me by asking me to serve as a volunteer board member, which I did for six years serving as treasurer. So, when the time came for Embry and me to consider the next steps, there was really no choice. It had to be Collington.

The actual move will not happen until late March, so we have three months to downsize and prepare for the move. The decision to make the move feels right though it is a major one, and most of our friends are opting for aging in place in their homes. I can understand their decision. There is no silver bullet to guarantee that people our age will make the most of the years we have left. The decision depends on many factors, many of which we do not control, the most important being our health. And it turns out that in our case it was actually Embry who was the primary motivator behind the decision to move now, not me, though I know it is the right decision and am enthusiastic about the move.

 In future posts I will let you know how it goes. Stay tuned.