RENTING
There really is life after downsizing
October 31, 2009
David Hayes
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Standing proudly in front of several planters overflowing with bright purple chrysanthemums, pointing out her spectacular view west over the treetops of Toronto, Madalene Hill may be the happiest tenant in Christie Gardens.
The 84-year-old is on the go almost all the time. She makes jewellery that is exhibited in a display case in the building's lobby and she'll be selling it, as well as eight scarves she's knitted (so far) and Christmas stockings she's making, at Christie Gardens' annual "Holly Sale" in November. She's also started an exercise regimen with a fitness instructor.
"I thank God every night that I'm here," she says. "To think that I said no when this apartment first came up. I nearly lost the place."
Hill, fit and youthful-looking, has a grey perm and on this day is wearing a pink top and black slacks. She lives in a cozy one-bedroom with that big deck where she grows flowers and tomatoes. It's clear she wants to tell anyone who will listen that the biggest mistake seniors can make is remaining in their home instead of downsizing and moving into a rental building for seniors. She should know; she was putting off just such a move a few years ago.
"I kept saying, `Three more years. In three more years I'll move,'" she says, shaking her head.
It wasn't so much the transition to renting that bothered her. She and her late husband had both rented and owned at different times throughout their lives. "I just thought, oh gee, it's so much work to downsize, to get rid of all the furniture, sell the place.
"Thank goodness for my kids."
Hill, an avid golfer and curler, was married to golf pro Alf Hill and, as she puts it, "we had a great life." Alf had started at a course in Scarborough. Later they lived in Peterborough, Windsor and Orangeville. One memorable period was spent at Turkey Point Provincial Park where Alf was the club pro and greenskeeper at a charming nine-hole course surrounded by marshes, bluffs and an oak savannah with panoramic views of Lake Erie. They lived in a house which was attached a pro shop and small diner.
In 1991, they bought a three-bedroom townhouse in Brantford – with a backyard for Hill, who is an avid gardener. They also owned a condo in Titusville, Fla., across a bay from the Kennedy Space Center, where they watched the shuttle launch into the sky. But Alf suffered a stroke in 2005 and his health declined as he developed Alzheimer's disease.
Their four children, Karen, Stephen, Diane and Linda, urged Hill to sell the home and move into a seniors' residence. Linda, an Anglican minister in Ottawa, pointed out that many of her parishioners waited too long, until someone broke a hip or had some other health setback, forcing the family to rush their parents into the first place they could find. Diane and Karen researched the market and gradually assuaged their mother's fears that she would have to move into the old-fashioned image of an old age home: a shared room with one window and people dying all around.
After her children took her to see a number of places, Hill settled on Christie Gardens, a 25-year-old charitable non-profit run by a volunteer board. Offering rental apartments, "life lease" ownership suites and long-term care beds, it has an excellent reputation. There are fitness and computer classes, concerts, lectures and excursions around the city or out-of-town, evenings of bridge, cribbage and Scrabble, a small private dining room for 10 that can be booked for special occasions and a nurse-practitioner on call 24 hours a day.
As soon as Hill walked into the building she had a good feeling about it so she put her name on the waiting list.
But a few months later, when Christie Gardens called to say an apartment was available – one with a terrace where Hill could garden – she initially said no. Her kids finally convinced her that with their help the downsizing and moving could be done and the couple moved in on Valentine's Day, 2008.
Shortly after moving in, Hill underwent hip replacement surgery and a few weeks later her husband passed away peacefully so it was initially a tough period. But today Hill is thankful her children pushed her to move.
"When we sold our townhouse the money went into an annuity that pays me so much a month," she explains. "When you're young I think it's wise to buy a home. When you rent it's easy to just spend the money you have instead of putting it into mortgage payments that will give you security. When you're older, though, I think you should definitely rent.
"I used to paint when I was young," she says, pointing to a framed painting of flowers hanging on the wall.
"And I always said, when I'm a little old lady I'm going to go back to painting. Now my kids say, `Mom, you're a little old lady now, when are you going to start painting?' But now that I'm in this place, I'm too busy to paint."
David Hayes is an author and award-winning feature writer who has been a renter most of his life. If you have stories or information to share about renting, he can be reached at lifelong_renter@sympatico.ca.
Toronto Star