When David and Leslie Hastings moved to Hampden from the Boston area in 2012 to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren, they quickly began looking for a home base where David could swim.
They found us and our pool, and seven years later, the relationships they built with team members and residents here literally led them home.
“When I first came to Glenmeadow, I really wanted a tour of the pool,” David remembers. “I tested the warmth. It was only four feet deep. It was just ideal. I didn’t need to look any further.”
David became a Lifestyle Pass member, allowing him access to the pool as well as our fitness center, classes, entertainment, and dining room. “I got to know the people at Glenmeadow through my Lifestyle Pass, and I quickly discovered how fun they are to be with,” he says.
Several years later, Leslie became a Lifestyle Pass holder as well, transferring from her gym to ours for our seated fitness classes. Together, David and Leslie continued getting to know our team members and residents and enjoying our film screenings, concerts, and lectures.
After a period of health challenges—and after hearing from their financial advisor that they could afford Glenmeadow—the couple got on our waitlist and moved here last winter. “There was really no other choice in our minds,” David says. “Our familiarity with Glenmeadow definitely influenced where we wanted to live. Being Lifestyle Pass members gave us a very smooth transition into a new home.”
“The team members has always been so friendly, not just in the wellness center but everywhere,” Leslie adds. “Everyone is on a first-name basis with everyone else.”
Leslie and David settled into a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment on the ground floor with a porch. They are particularly pleased that their apartment has the same number of rooms as their condo.
Our caregiving team members and services in general, give David and Leslie peace of mind. “We watched my mom decline into dementia and fight for too long to stay in her home,” says Leslie. “I wanted to be the opposite of that. I do not want our daughter to have to struggle to work full-time, be a mother to her own two children, and care for us.
“Aging in place wasn’t the best solution in our former condo, and isn’t the best solution for everyone,” she adds. “We would have been relatively isolated and lonely had we stayed in Hampden. It’s far better to have established a presence here at Glenmeadow before we need that sort of help.”
David and Leslie find that they can still host family gatherings. Their daughter and her family enjoy our popular holiday brunches and picnics, which David says are both convenient and well-priced. And David and Leslie appreciate socializing and taking in intellectual programming from lectures and Klezmer concerts to lectures on British history. “This place has many vibrant people,” Leslie says.
In her spare time, when she is not volunteering with Trinity United Methodist Church in Springfield or driving her grandchildren where they need to go, Leslie is on the committee for Glenmeadow’s literary magazine called Hummingbird. She also researches her Armenian heritage and is also assisting one of the writers in developing a piece on some stories from her family’s Armenian heritage.
David continues to exercise here, and he says it’s made a significant difference in his health, perhaps best summed up by the surgeon who performed a triple bypass on David in 2016. “He said, ‘You’re in pretty good shape for a guy who’s 80,’” David recalls. “I said ‘God bless Glenmeadow’s swimming pool.’”
He adds, “I kept in good shape, and that’s a debt I owe to Glenmeadow.”
Share Post
Related Posts
When David and Leslie Hastings moved to Hampden from the Boston area in 2012 to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren, they quickly began looking for a home base where David could swim.
They found us and our pool, and seven years later, the relationships they built with team members and residents here literally led them home.
“When I first came to Glenmeadow, I really wanted a tour of the pool,” David remembers. “I tested the warmth. It was only four feet deep. It was just ideal. I didn’t need to look any further.”
David became a Lifestyle Pass member, allowing him access to the pool as well as our fitness center, classes, entertainment, and dining room. “I got to know the people at Glenmeadow through my Lifestyle Pass, and I quickly discovered how fun they are to be with,” he says.
Several years later, Leslie became a Lifestyle Pass holder as well, transferring from her gym to ours for our seated fitness classes. Together, David and Leslie continued getting to know our team members and residents and enjoying our film screenings, concerts, and lectures.
After a period of health challenges—and after hearing from their financial advisor that they could afford Glenmeadow—the couple got on our waitlist and moved here last winter. “There was really no other choice in our minds,” David says. “Our familiarity with Glenmeadow definitely influenced where we wanted to live. Being Lifestyle Pass members gave us a very smooth transition into a new home.”
“The team members has always been so friendly, not just in the wellness center but everywhere,” Leslie adds. “Everyone is on a first-name basis with everyone else.”
Leslie and David settled into a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment on the ground floor with a porch. They are particularly pleased that their apartment has the same number of rooms as their condo.
Our caregiving team members and services in general, give David and Leslie peace of mind. “We watched my mom decline into dementia and fight for too long to stay in her home,” says Leslie. “I wanted to be the opposite of that. I do not want our daughter to have to struggle to work full-time, be a mother to her own two children, and care for us.
“Aging in place wasn’t the best solution in our former condo, and isn’t the best solution for everyone,” she adds. “We would have been relatively isolated and lonely had we stayed in Hampden. It’s far better to have established a presence here at Glenmeadow before we need that sort of help.”
David and Leslie find that they can still host family gatherings. Their daughter and her family enjoy our popular holiday brunches and picnics, which David says are both convenient and well-priced. And David and Leslie appreciate socializing and taking in intellectual programming from lectures and Klezmer concerts to lectures on British history. “This place has many vibrant people,” Leslie says.
In her spare time, when she is not volunteering with Trinity United Methodist Church in Springfield or driving her grandchildren where they need to go, Leslie is on the committee for Glenmeadow’s literary magazine called Hummingbird. She also researches her Armenian heritage and is also assisting one of the writers in developing a piece on some stories from her family’s Armenian heritage.
David continues to exercise here, and he says it’s made a significant difference in his health, perhaps best summed up by the surgeon who performed a triple bypass on David in 2016. “He said, ‘You’re in pretty good shape for a guy who’s 80,’” David recalls. “I said ‘God bless Glenmeadow’s swimming pool.’”
He adds, “I kept in good shape, and that’s a debt I owe to Glenmeadow.”
