Nana News: Nana's Neighborhood

Nana lives in Houston Ridge, a senior apartment complex. She’s moved there March 1993 after selling her home on Melvina Street in Montgomery, PA. After decades of home ownership, Nana was ready to give up the headaches. Like evicting a swarm of angry bees that bored into her bedroom walls. Like plumbing problems and having to replace a rotting roof. Like teenage neighbors who terrorized her with threatening phone calls during late night hours. Us four kids were ready too—to not have to mow her grass, shovel her snow and trim her lilac bushes.

Downsizing wasn’t fun for Nana. It was a challenge to clean out a two story, two bedroom house with an attic to fit into a small one bedroom apartment. Leaving behind her washing machine was Nana’s biggest regret. She still misses her GE Washing Machine with the mini-basket for small loads. Converting to coin-operated laundry facilities used by all the other residents didn’t sit well with Nana.

Even with the loss of her precious washing machine, the advantages of senior apartment living couldn’t be denied. A giant dumpster for trash was just steps away from her door. No more smelly garbage cans and monthly bills for garbage collection. The view from her balcony created a post card worthy vista. Fields with rows of corn or soybeans and the Pennsylvania Mountains—lush green in the summer and crimson in the fall. Much better than neighbor kids ripping through her grass on bikes and unleashed dogs making her back yard a bathroom.

As with any neighborhood, Nana’s had some good neighbors and some not so good. The good ones linger in our memory while the not-so-good ones faded away. For most of the last twenty one years, Nana’s downstairs neighbor was Hazel. Over the years, Nana and Hazel had their spats. However, in the later years, they seemed to realize the value of their friendship. Hazel and Nana both celebrated birthdays in September. Hazel was nine years older than Nana and enjoyed the luxury of living on her own with the help of her three daughters. When the ambulance came last May after Hazel experienced a fall, it was the last time we saw her. At 98, she went to live in a local nursing home. In June this year, Hazel died at the age of 99, just three months shy of her 100^th birthday. A good neighbor and a sweet lady Nana and I won’t forget.

One of Nana’s current neighbors is Chuck. A widower, Chuck’s constant companion is his little dog Griz who accompanies him wherever he goes, whether to the mailboxes or in Chuck’s truck to go to the store. For many years, Chuck has delivered Nana’s morning paper to her door every morning. He does this service free of charge for Nana and a few others who would have trouble walking out to the paper boxes early in the morning. Chuck’s a veteran who also used to work in home health care. Maybe that’s why he’s so compassionate and kind, but he’s also fun. He teases Nana all the time about taking her square dancing on a Saturday night.

Nana lives alone but I know in her neighborhood she’s not really alone. Chuck makes sure her paper is picked up each morning and, if not, he has phone numbers for all her kids. Many other neighbors, like Bud, Haley, Fay, Ruth and Kathy, always inquire about Nana during my visits. I know if she needed help, any of them would be there for her.

When Nana was in a nursing home for six weeks last year, she asked every day, “When can I go home?” Returning to her senior apartment last September, Nana knew she wasn’t just returning to her neighborhood, she was truly going home.