I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri in a pleasant and stable environment, not too much excitement, no change except that of growing and learning.  After college on the East Coast I received a job offer in the west and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Berkley was intellectually stimulating, San Mateo was a quiet place to raise children and San Francisco offered the good life -- theater, opera, museums and restaurants.

After 20 years, I started to feel removed from the “real world” and moved back to the east – coming to New York City. If San Francisco was the good life, New York was the spectacular life.  For 30 years I enjoyed every minute of living half way between Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.  I had interesting friends, great restaurants and endless cultural opportunities.  The Metropolitan Museum is in a class by itself, the opera is world famous, music and theater are abundantly available.

As I got to my mid-seventies, I began to look for a new home, one where I could “age in place,” live a vibrant lifestyle and perhaps see a few trees, hear the birds sing and smell the scents of flowers blooming during the spring. I found Seabrook Village in Tinton Falls. The more I visited Seabrook Village the more it seemed like the place for me.  My New York friends were shocked; they feared I would be isolated and bored to death. Naturally they assumed I would need a car and questioned my plan to try it without my own set of wheels. 

Well after I moved here in 2009, things did change. I have a lot of new friends, many of them rather like my old friends. With my new-found friends in Tinton Falls I am learning that there are many commonalities between us and in some cases, I am learning about new people and how each one has a story all of their own.

In New York I walked everywhere -- in the rain, the sunshine and the snow.  Here at my new home in Tinton Falls I walk everywhere in an enclosed, climate-controlled comfort. In New York I rode the subway; at Seabrook I ride the shuttle bus that goes around the campus, to the local supermarkets and other key spots throughout Tinton Falls and the county. 

Living here at Seabrook also gives me the chance to connect with the youth in the local community. The student employees who work in our dining facilities are superb in their work and wonderful to talk with. In New York I served on the board of managers for my condominium; here I am the president of the Seabrook Residents’ Advisory Council. 

In New York I walked to the Metropolitan Opera; here I take a Seabrook bus to Monmouth University for the Met Live in HD. In New York I walked to the Metropolitan Museum of Art; here I take the monthly Museum Mile bus to the Met. I have always enjoyed the arts and will continue to do so.

Living out here in the “country” I have endless opportunities as I did in New York City. The town of Tinton Falls is beautiful and provides a wonderful canvas for me to color my world. As I continue my journey I look forward to learning more about the Tinton Falls community and all it has to offer.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.