The Greatest Gift For You and Your Family: Making the Move to Meadow Ridge
Jane McCaffrey’s parents moved to a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) when they were in their 80s.
“That’s when my mom said, ‘Go when you’re 75. It’s too much fun to miss,’” recalled Jane. She followed her mother’s advice and moved to Meadow Ridge’s Independent Living neighborhood in 2017. It’s a decision she has never regretted.
“I’m really glad I came when I did,” she said.
The Best Gift For You and Your Family.
Meadow Ridge is a CCRC in Redding, Conn. that offers everything an individual could want in a fulfilling retirement experience while also relieving the burdens of home ownership and worries that come with aging.
Jane said moving here was the right choice for her and her husband Timothy, who passed away in 2019. It was also the best gift they have ever given their three children.
“They are absolutely delighted that they don’t have to worry about me,” said Jane.
When they come to visit, Jane’s children and eight grandchildren can focus on spending quality time with her rather than helping with home repairs.
Jane said she and Tim were happy to make the move to Meadow Ridge when caring for the large house they had built in Redding stopped being enjoyable.
“Tim loved being here. He loved having the weight of the home taken off his shoulders and not being responsible,” she said. “You don’t have to worry about pipes leaking, a tree branch falling, getting someone to mow your lawn or getting the snow plowed. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
The Security of Future Care
Another matter Jane and her children don’t have to worry about is healthcare costs and accessibility if her care needs should change. In addition to Independent Living, Meadow Ridge’s 136-acre campus also includes Assisted Living, Memory Care, Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation.
Jane chose to move to Independent Living when she was still young and healthy. This made her eligible for Lifecare, which guarantees her access to Meadow Ridge’s full continuum of care at a predictable monthly fee. As the cost of healthcare continues to rise, Lifecare ensures that her monthly rates will remain comparable to what she has already budgeted, even if she needs additional support.
Family Is Always Welcome
Apartment homes at Meadow Ridge come in varying sizes and floor plans, but all are bright, beautiful and spacious enough for welcoming guests. Last year, Jane hosted eight people for Christmas dinner.
“We had a wonderful Christmas in my apartment,” she said. Her full kitchen is big enough to cook an entire meal, but they opted to have the Meadow Ridge culinary team prepare one instead.
Jane’s second bedroom is well used by visiting children and grandchildren. She has even hosted some of her grandchildren for weeks at a time so they could attend a day camp at nearby New Pond Farm and enjoy all the community’s top-tier amenities.
“They loved swimming in the pool and eating in the dining room. It was a lot of fun,” she said.
Always a Full Schedule
As a resident of Meadow Ridge, Jane is never absent something to do or people to do it with.
A retired CPA, Jane has leadership roles on several of Meadow Ridge’s resident committees. There are about 20 such committees at the community that help make decisions on everything from activities and dining to marketing and groundskeeping.
Jane’s role as design and layout editor of the Ridge Record, a literary publication by, for and about the community’s residents, connected her with Joan Kaskell. The publication’s editor is now one of her closest Meadow Ridge friends. One of their favorite activities besides recruiting new contributors to their publication is attending HD Metropolitan Opera performances at Fairfield University.
“Joan and I go to all of those,” she said.
Jane also has a group of friends she goes walking with every morning before breakfast, another group that she gets together with to watch their favorite television series and yet another that she volunteers with at the nearby Mark Twain Library.
Trips to New York City for live entertainment—either as part of a Meadow Ridge group or with other friends and family—are also a regular part of Jane’s social calendar. The train station is just a six-minute drive from her apartment, and she can get to Grand Central Station in an hour and 40 minutes.
A Community of Friends and Supporters
Throughout her husband’s illness and his passing, Jane has felt very supported by the community.
“There are so many people here who have experienced the same thing,” she said.
The aging process naturally brings loss of loved ones and friends. But a 99-year-old Meadow Ridge resident who Jane recently befriended said something that has helped her come to terms with these hardships.
“‘The wonderful thing is you’re going to meet new people and meet new friends,’ she told me. That’s my mantra.”