Three to five times per week, Fran takes a swim class or uses the pool independently, doing her own brand of water aerobics, in which she incorporates techniques she learned in classes with our personal trainer, Debbie Padden. As Fran exercises, she listens to a personal playlist of over 100 songs that resonate through her water-resistant speaker. “The pool is my form of exercise,” Fran says. “You can do just about anything in the pool, whether it’s running or jumping, and it doesn’t hurt your joints. It’s easier on your whole body, in general.”

As a Glenmeadow Lifestyle Pass member, Fran and her 72-year-old husband, Paul, take advantage of the fitness and social opportunities Glenmeadow has to offer. They could do this in their hometown of Palmer, which is 45 minutes away, but they prefer to make the drive because they say what Glenmeadow has to offer is singularly special. “It’s such a great social atmosphere,” Fran says. “The residents are marvelous. You have a great social interaction with everyone you meet: the residents, the team members, other Lifestyle Pass members. I haven’t met anyone who I wouldn’t welcome to our dinner table. It’s just a great group of people.” Paul says, “I look forward to getting to talk to the guys in the exercise room. There, I can still get a workout, but one I can pace to my ability.”

Our Lifestyle Pass provides many people who are living in their own homes in Greater Springfield with all of the benefits of living at our Life Plan Community. Members can use the fitness center and the pool, dine in our Doorstop Café and Terraceside Dining Room, and attend as many classes, events, and activities as they’d like. Each month, we send members a calendar of programs and events so that they can choose the ones that pique the interest.

Learn more about the Lifestyle Pass online, or to arrange a tour of our facilities, call 800.633.6313. Fran first discovered Glenmeadow five years ago, when friends she met at the Scantic Valley YMCA Branch in Wilbraham, who happened to live in Longmeadow and the surrounding towns, decided to try out Glenmeadow’s facilities.

Fran followed suit and liked what she found. “When people ask me about Glenmeadow, I give it a lot of praise,” she says. “They help their residents in as many ways as possible. That’s the idea behind Glenmeadow for over 100 years.” Fran enjoys our balance, strength training, and other fitness classes—as well as the pool, of course. At least a few times a week, her husband, Paul, does his own workout in the pool or fitness center. “I feel it’s important to keep our strength up and do as much as you can, when you can,” Fran says. “We want to stay as healthy as we possibly can, for as long as we possibly can, in mind, body and spirit, and Glenmeadow offers all of that to us.”

Fran says the varied opportunities for exercise at Glenmeadow have kept her bones and muscles strong and have helped Paul resume the active lifestyle he lost when he was diagnosed with cancer 15 years ago. Before his diagnosis, Paul played and coached soccer, baseball and hockey, and played golf with his brothers. But Paul and Fran’s routine visits to Glenmeadow aren’t all about exercise. The couple attend performances, volunteer with fundraisers, and dine or enjoy coffee with residents who have become friends.

Fran also helps put out “The Hummingbird”—a new publication full of articles, poems, and interviews—and Paul makes a point to fit at least one piece into the jigsaw puzzle on the table in the community room on each visit. “Glenmeadow is very important to us,” Fran says. “It really is a sanctuary for us all. Many of us leave our homes and go to Glenmeadow because it’s the best social time that we can have with people. We laugh, we joke, and it makes you feel just great overall.”