 Home | Recent News | Dodge City | Mary Ann and Norma | Printme 01 Sep 2006 Mary Ann and Norma enjoy the perks of retirement community living |  | Caught in a rare moment of sitting still, Mary Ann Black and Norma Schoen admire the puzzle they’ve been working on together.
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Retiree Mary Ann Black loves to travel. In September, it was a 10-day cruise to Montreal. She first drove 370 miles to a friend’s home in Kansas City. They then flew to New York to board their cruise ship. What makes these adventures even more wonderful is that Black doesn’t have to worry whether someone will mow her grass or pick up her mail while she’s away. She doesn’t have to worry whether her home is safe and secure. How many people did she have to hire to get this peace of mind? None. That’s because Black discovered the wisdom – and perks – of downsizing from home ownership to worry-free retirement community living at Presbyterian Manor of the Plains in Dodge City. Black knew that if she were ever alone, she would not want the hassles and isolation of staying in an oversized home. So after her husband’s death, she followed through on a plan hatched long ago. And she’s never looked back. “I decided I’m not going to stay in a big house. I waited a year and three months before I downsized. I don’t like yard work and my husband was the cook in the family,” she said. “I had talked about the Manor when it was built (in the 1980s). We went through the open house, and I told my husband if anything ever happened to him, I was going to live here.” Black’s pro-active attitude is evident in her daily trips to a local fitness center designed especially for women. She admits it’s not her favorite activity but credits it with keeping her moving. “I hate it every morning when I get up and go, but I do go,” she said, adding that she is not about to let her annual dues go unused. After all, when she’s not traveling, she is a whirlwind of volunteer service to her church and the Manor. She thinks some retirees wait too long to make the decision to leave their homes, and miss out on their chance at the unfettered independence of an active living and wellness community. Fellow resident Norma Schoen (pronounced “Shane”) agreed. She moved to the Manor in March 2005. “I made up my own mind,” she said after her second husband’s death in 2004. “My tax man told me, you’d better go move while you want to rather than somebody makes you. ‘You’ll be mad the rest of your life. Enjoy it while you can’ To me this is better than living home alone. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Schoen enjoys embroidering tea towels (she did 400 during her banking career) and an avid scrapbooker. She has created 139 scrapbooks about her family, her life and her career. Her scrapbooks include 11 created during her years at the bank where she worked and one really big scrapbook is about her life. “I started the story of my life but only got to 1972 and I quit.” Every one of those scrapbooks came with her to the Manor. They are in her second bedroom. Schoen quickly got involved chairing the residential council at Presbyterian Manor of the Plains. She has gone on to help wherever needed, when she’s not driving to visit family in the area, exercising or embroidering more tea towels, this time for a niece who is going to teach in Japan. Oh, and she also enjoys dressing up as the Easter Bunny to bring cheer to residents in the Manor’s health care center. “I go into health care and take treats,” she said. “I like to do crazy, ornery things. I’m a clown at Halloween. I’ve still got to do crazy things.” On a more serious note, Schoen found out first hand an important advantage of living at the Manor not long after she moved in. She discovered she needed some surgery, and because she lived in a community with plenty of support, she could do it basically as an outpatient and return to her apartment home. “I couldn’t have done that if I lived alone,” she said.
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