One of my favorite places for both condos and single family homes is Cherry Valley Meadows. Located off Cherry Valley Road and 76th St.’s in Caledonia they have a nice rural feel with walking paths but with easy access to the East Beltline to get you to shopping areas. This stand alone condominium, presented by Julie Hayes from Berkshire Hathaway, has just over 1,700 sq. ft on the main level where you can easily do all of your living and yet have room for family and guests on the lower level. Priced at $564,900. it’s a beautiful home and it just may have everything you’re after. Call me if you’d like to see it or would like to be kept updated on Cherry Valley Meadows. 616.292.3712
My daughter just turned 45, WAIT, WHAT?!? Didn’t I just turn 45?!? Alicia is my first born and blazed into the world 9 weeks early, weighing all of 3 lbs. 2 oz. I believe this is when my resolve about life started. After 3 miscarriages Dr’s said babies were not to be for me because of an abnormality with my body. I kept a journal and marked every day of that pregnancy with a star, another day, another day, and with a lot of bedrest I was determined to keep her safe until she was at a minimum of 32 weeks when I knew she had a fighting chance, when I knew that every day after that was a blessing ……. Fast forward to 2023 and nothing like the cold dose of reality to slap you in the face. She is 45!! Birthdays can remind us that time is moving along and maybe it is time to adjust our sails. Time to look at that bucket list or start a bucket list if you don’t have one. Time to take that risk and do something fun and/or challenging that you have been putting off. It could be time to take a good look at your home and decide if, with a few modifications, you can stay in place as you age or do you need to move? I had to throw that one in there because that is what I do, help my fellow seniors with lifestyle decisions. Life keeps moving along and change is inevitable. It is your attitude that makes all the difference. Pick someone older than you that you admire. My pick was always Betty White. What a lovely, funny, kind woman. I am sure she had days that weren’t so great, but she always kept moving, always seemed to have her mindset on the positive. Did you ever notice how people cringe when they say how old they are? Why? If you are in your 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s OWN it and give thanks to the good Lord above that you are alive, have lived longer than some of your family members, friends, and classmates, and get that head on straight, we Seniors still have a lot to do.
So, what exactly did my daughters birthday make me realize? That I need to act on my impulses when something pops into my mind. It is time to stop saying I will do it later, I will go there next year, I will visit or call my friend tomorrow. The question is not how old you are, it is how old do you appear, how old do you act? At 70, I am still working, I’m President of my 750 homeowners association where I live (quite frankly I never saw that one coming), I help with my great granddaughter 2 days a week, I meet friends for lunch, do my own yardwork, keep my house up to date, spend time at what I call my North Office near Mackinac Island, and yes, I do sell homes there too. I love to go to the Caribbean in the Winter, and I’m in 2 book clubs. This is me, but probably isn’t you. Some of you may do more than me, some less. You have your own set of things that make you, you. Do them! I know there will probably come a time when my sails will need to be adjusted, and when that happens, I intend to do it gratefully and gracefully. Happy Birthday Alicia, and thanks for the attitude adjustment!
“If you leave a child’s share of an inheritance outright (i.e., no trust) and the child is divorced or sued after you pass, that entire inheritance might be lost. Many inheritances have been wiped out by IRS liens, malpractice claims and other risks that all could have been avoided with a simple trust… Using those magical words in a precise manner that the law requires can let the child inherit money in a trust and be the sole trustee but have those assets outside his or her estate and out of the reach of his or her creditors. That is a smart move. Use trusts.” Hedge Life Law
Here is a link to a great article on estate planning from Martin Shenkman, a contributor to Forbes Magazine
An elderly man was once asked what it was like to be old and to know the majority of his life was behind him.
He said that he has been the same age his entire life. He said the voice inside of his head had never aged. He has always just been the same boy.
His mother’s son. He had always wondered when he would grow up and be an old man. He said he watched his body age and his faculties dull but the person he is inside never got tired. Never aged. Never changed.
Our spirits are eternal. Our souls are forever. The next time you encounter an elderly person, look at them and know they are still a child, just as you are still a child and children will always need love, attention and purpose.” ❤️
We first became aware of Jamie Lee Curtis when we laughed atA Fish Called Wanda, accurately described by Rotten Tomatoes as a brainy comedy with widespread appeal. She was smart, tall, beautiful, funny, quick, and had fabulous short hair. We loved her. But she never won an Oscar. Finally, in 2023, after about 45 years of acting, she won the Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once, apparently the eighth oldest actress to win the award.
Why do we care about Jamie Lee Curtis? Because we have continued to love her over the years, as she has remained smart, tall, beautiful, funny, quick and has kept wearing fabulous short hair. (Except in her Oscar role.)
That era seems finally to be on the wane—we were thrilled to see The Woman King. Perhaps studios have begun to realize that older people, including older women, like to see themselves in authentic roles, and have plenty of money to spend on movies.
As we age, nearly all women notice that they become somewhat invisible in the world, but in the golden era of the women’s film, older women really were expected to fade quietly into the wallpaper. Aging actresses would be relegated to playing anonymous matrons and dowager aunties. But the women in 80 for Brady and Book Club want to be seen on their own terms, whatever those might be.
this for a taste! Tom Brady, playing himself, shares our ideas about retirement—try not to do it but if you have to then start something new. And because of the star actors—and Mr. Brady—-this is not a sacharine story about the doyenne of a large family with nothing to do but cook for them. As Time magazine put it:
Do we really want to see them [i.e. women over 40] stuck playing wise matriarchs of big, sprawling families? Ho-hum to that.
Time also has the best line, about dressing up:
Fonda’s Trish, a beauty queen who’s still got it, comes decked out in a great wig (she travels with a suitcase full of them) and some sort of evening garb. But Tomlin strides in, leggy and elegant, in a drapey black sequined tuxedo that, rather than coming off as an effort to turn back the clock, merely stops time. It’s a statement look that whispers rather than shouts, a kind of shorthand for all the ways it’s possible to assert your space in the world, through word and deed as well as the way you present and carry yourself.
That’s how we see Jamie Lee Curtis, too. Leggy and elegant, not trying to turn back the clock but instead stopping time.
Ms. Curtis, we are your best fans, and so happy about your Oscar! Even those of us older than you see you as a role model. That’s why we are issuing an open invitation: please come and speak with a group of fabulous women, here on Lustre’s platform. If you say yes, we think Tom Brady will come too. Imagine the conversation! No stepping back for this crowd!
It’s March already! How has the Winter been for you? If moving has been on your mind, your current home is too big, the floor floor plan is not quite right, stairs too difficult to manuver, you’re too far away from family, friends or services you need, or you just want to interact with other Seniors, let’s talk about your options. Call me at 616.292.3712 or email [email protected] You’ll get no pressure, and there are no expectations, except maybe a cup of coffee.
I have moved my fair share of families with kids over the years. But if you think it gets easier to move as as we grow older, sometimes it doesn’t. Moving from where you raised your family can be difficult for Seniors too. So if it’s time for you or an older family member to start a new chapter in life, an SRES can help with the transition with knowledge, empathy and a slow but steady hand. Call me at 616.292.3712.
