Marge Roskamp has lived at The Meadows Independent Living since 2013. Listen as she shares about life at The Meadows Independent Living including activities, amenities, conveniences, and more.
Thanks for visiting with us today. Can you tell us your name and where you are from?
I’m Marge Roskamp and I live here at the Meadows in Apartment 108.
How long have you lived at the Meadows?
We moved here in 2013, so going on six years.
What brought you here or what made you choose the Meadows?
Well, we had our name in for quite a while to have a place you know if we decided to move in and at that time the director would call us different times and we just didn’t feel like we were ready to go. Then, as the fall of 2013 appeared, we started thinking well you know what may be before another winter be in a little bit better place. So we came here and Mary was still here and got it all going and [we] were going to move upstairs. I don’t know why Bernhard was out roaming around that particular day, but he came home and he said, “We have to go talk to Mary. I think we should get the bottom floor.” But this wasn’t quite ready yet to rent because it had had medical business in it, which didn’t matter to us because we hadn’t sold our home or anything. So, we got it all worked out and she said we could make the change so we made the change and got this downstairs one that they had to put the carpet down and paint it and that sort of thing. In the meantime, our girls came and they started helping me pack and I tell ya I had an awful lot of stuff. [laughter] It was just unreal. But you know what, they found a lot of things they wanted to keep, so I said you’ve got to take it out of this house because it doesn’t fit here anymore. So, it was good and we moved in Labor Day weekend of 2013. We were here one month and Bernie got sick and he went to the hospital and he spent I think two and a half months in the hospital. Then he was at the Care Center for a while. But I still had him until April or from February of this past year so we enjoyed it together.
Tell me some of the things you like about the Meadows
Well, I don’t have to cook any meals. I have somebody come once a week to clean the kitchen and the bathroom and get that up again so I don’t have a whole lot of housekeeping to do. And we’ve got a nice apartment here because you can look out at the parking lots and [we are] close to most everything. So, there’s a lot of things I like about it. You probably don’t have all day. [laughter]
What are some of your favorite activities here?
Oh, I’m not really an outreaching girl, woman I should say. They have card clubs and that sort of thing and I’m not into playing. I like to read. I do a little bit of helping out in the kitchen every once in a while.
I know you mentioned devotions?
Yeah, I go to devotions on Tuesday and we have different pastors coming in and we do those. It’s always quite uplifting.
Do you ever attend the events when we have singers or entertainment like that come in?
If I can remember I do. [laughter] I don’t always remember.
What would you tell someone that was maybe considering making the Meadows their home?
Well, first of all, you have to be in the right frame of mind, that you know you’re going to leave your home and you’re going to move someplace like this and probably never move to anything different than one of these apartments the rest of your life. But, I would certainly encourage them if they’re contemplating it, to think about it, and know that it’s a very nice place and a lot of people, very friendly people [live here] and you can do your thing because it’s called independent living and it is independent living.
Is there anything else you would like to share with us about living here?
Well, there are a number of conveniences. Like I mentioned, I don’t have to cook new meals because we have meals at the dining room every day except Saturday and Sunday. You have to get outside very little. If you really don’t want to go outside, you can walk all the way around and you can get your doctor’s appointments, you can get your prescriptions filled here, um you can go down if you have friends or might know someone who’s a patient here you can go and visit them. You get acquainted with new people. I’ve met several different people and I like to visit, but I just don’t spend a lot of time out of here. They put puzzles together here, and we have hymn sings once a month. There’s a lot of activity and assisted living isn’t too far from us, and so you can go there and visit those people if you want. The Wildflower Cafe is just around the corner from me here, and I like to go there and have coffee and when friends come we can go there and find a delicious roll somewhere down the line. [laughter] So, there are a lot of pluses here. And people don’t bother you. You have your door closed and they’re welcome to come if they want or you can close the doors say because I don’t want any company or anything. You can just remain very flexible about that.
Thank you for your time! We appreciate you visiting with us today!
Well, I’m glad I could help! I just tell people if they needed a reference, I’ll be glad to show them here.
Thank you, Marge!
Thank you!