In Canada, one is typically called a senior citizen when they turn 65 years old. Some retail outlets will let you get senior’s discounts if you are 55 or 60, but that is rare. If you are lucky enough to be able to retire before 65, especially when you are in your mid-fifties, then it is thought that you must have done something right, financially speaking, to have been so fortunate. Do you remember the financial advice ads for Freedom 55, from years ago? That sure set a lot of us up for the Norman Rockwell dream goal. I am sure many realized that dream, but I know more people, like me, who always thought that the reality was going to be Freedom 85. 😊
55 is also the age where one has hopefully arrived at the pre-senior level where their lifestyle has changed to a much more relaxed state. It is also an age and state of people that some rental agencies prefer to rent to because they are almost assuredly past the party stage of life, thus making them ideal tenants and neighbors.
My journey to 55 Plus was not really planned and when I arrived it was with mixed feelings. Let’s look at the journey and see what pops up for thoughts and experiences. Remember too, that 55 Plus, is more about a state of mind than it is an age, although the age is important to a degree.
Denise and I, along with our daughter Emma, lived in many places over the course of our lives and all have been “home” to us in all ways that matter. In mid 2000, we bought a townhouse style condo in the Briarwood area of Saskatoon and lived there until mid 2019. It was here that I turned 55 in 2015.
Briarwood Villas, Saskatoon – Screen Capture from Google Maps (2024)
51 – 425 Bayfield Drive, Saskatoon, SK – Photo by Don Cheke (2006)
The townhouse style condo was a great place to live, and we enjoyed many great experiences while living there. We had terrific neighbors for the whole time we were there, so that was a real bonus. Both Denise and I spent time on the condo board over the years, and even that was a good experience.
It was in April of 2019 when I lost my job with the glass door company, and Denise and I had to make some changes due to finances. Although we were not keen on having to make those changes, there were some positives to be pondered, one of which was moving to a place without stairs. A two-story, with basement, has a lot of stairs and both Denise and I were getting tired of all the ups and downs day after day. The bedrooms were upstairs, and the laundry and quilting area were in the basement, so much up and down day after day.
Denise and I decided that we could save money by renting an apartment style condo and we could eliminate the stairs if we picked a building with an elevator. Note that we Canadians love to choose the right terminology for where we live, as it establishes one’s class in society. In jest, an apartment, in posh-speak is a “rental” for single people, or low-income earners, or transients. A condo, on the other hand, is posh-speak for the yuppy or those on the higher road. Renters and rentals are derogatory terms. Condo and lease, on the other hand, are posh-speak for the successful. I prefer the latter! 😊 How does that go, champagne tastes on a beer budget? LOL!
Denise, being ever vigilant and on the ball, began the search for our next residence. It wasn’t long before we found a building that was selling units, but had a few for rent, due to the fact that they were not selling very well at the time.
Move from Briarwood Villas to the Saratoga, Saskatoon – Screen Capture from Google Maps (2024)
The Saratoga, Pawlychenko Drive, Saskatoon – Arrow points to our unit – Screen Capture from Google Maps (2024)
When Denise and I were first married we moved to, and lived in, an apartment for about a year. By the time we moved to the Saratoga, we had long forgotten that it is important to pick just the right suite. At the Saratoga, we picked one of about three rental units. It was a corner unit on the main floor and was very bright with all the windows it had. It was a lovely looking place, and brand new too, something we were grateful for. Sadly, the place had many flaws. The biggest flaw was the noise. Oh, the noise! The apartment was right next to a wooden stairwell and all day long the sound of elephants going up and down was most prevalent. My working space was right next to the stairwell wall, so I wore headphones all day long while in there. The building too, allowed pets and had many multi-family households living in some of the units. When Covid arrived, the guy directly above us decided that he would buy a treadmill and would run on that for about twenty minutes twice a day, so you can imagine the joy that was to experience. To add insult to injury, was the size of the in-suite laundry room. It was obviously designed with the old-style washer and dryer in mind, because when they added the new modern larger units, we could not even open the door all the way to get in. We ended up taking the door off and living with the sight of it all day long. One last thing. The building owners allowed pets, and every day, many times a day, residents would take their dogs outside, just in front of my window, and let their dogs relieve themselves. Gosh, do I ever hate the site of dogs taking a poop! I ended up having to keep my blinds closed most of the time.
It wasn’t long before Denise saw a sign go up down the street announcing that a new 55+ luxury lease condo building was going to be built. It boasted luxury living with a meeting room and a small gym. It boasted underground parking and extra storage space at the front of each parking stall. It boasted 7 appliances, including in-suite laundry, and so much more. The sign also indicated that it would be pet-free, and obviously children were not welcome as residents. Denise made an appointment with the rental agent to view a similar building on the other side of the city. They were using it as a show suite to entice new renters to the new building which was currently only a sign on a billboard. Both Denise and I loved what we saw and signed up immediately and placed a deposit to hold our spot.
Move from the Saratoga to the Somerset, Saskatoon – Screen Capture from Google Maps (2024)
Somerset, Pawlychenko Drive, Saskatoon – Screen Capture from Google Maps (2021)
It was almost two years before we finally got to move into the new place. Although we made the best of the last place, and still had much joy while there, we were so happy to move. We both felt like we landed in the lap of luxury. We had picked a spot on the top floor facing east. We chose a unit far away from the elevators and stairwells and a place that had one block firewall between us and the next suite. It was, and is, just the perfect place. It has a similar layout to the last place, but they made the master bedroom a bit smaller to make the living room and the second bedroom a bit larger. The laundry room is just awesome, as it has enough room for the large modern washer and dryer, as well as shelving units which double as our storage pantry.
Park Area Out My Front Window at Street Level – Photo by Don Cheke (2021)
I should mention at this point that I was never so glad to move as when I learned after our new place was built and we had moved in, that the same builder was going to be building two additional buildings directly across the road from my front window at the Saratoga. That would have been 4 years of construction noise if built consecutively as opposed to simultaneously. I am sure I would have gone mad or pulled my plug to escape the crazy. Below, you can see a picture from this year, where the first is almost complete with residents now beginning to fill the suites that are ready.
The Saratoga, Pawlychenko Drive, Saskatoon – Screen Capture from Google Maps (2024)
The first thing I really noticed in the new place was that everyone in the building is very friendly and most are open to stopping and chatting in the halls and in the elevator. People even remember our names! Although there are many people older than Denise and me, the building still feels young at heart, not like the place where my mom lives. Mom’s is a senior’s residence, and although it is lovely in its own way, the folks all seem very old to me, which I suppose they are. Although I would live there if I had to, I am just not at that stage yet. Note that Denise and I have our name on the very long waiting list for a suite at Mom’s building.
Because of the nature of our building, there are many folks who like to meet weekly for coffee and arrange for many activities and functions. Although I have gone for the occasional coffee break and function, I just find them so loud. Chitchat too, is a bit too light, unless I steer the conversation to a somewhat deeper level. That can happen, but it quickly reverts to the weather, complaints about the building owners, and sports, which makes me want to get up and run.
Meeting Room in Condo Building – Photo by Don Cheke (2024)
You might have noticed the far back wall in the meeting room. There are many books and puzzles there. Denise says the book are mostly cast-offs, so of little value to her, but this is where I have been borrowing puzzles from to build in my suite. Much cheaper than having to buy them! As I was writing this, I thought to myself, “I bet there is oodles of Zane Grey and Clive Cussler in that library!” LOL! No offence is meant to those of you who love these authors. To be honest, I have never read them. Maybe they are good, after all! Maybe I don’t know what I am missing! 😊
Just so you get the sense of it, we are most definitely a senior’s building. People hang something on their door, or set something outside their door for every occasion – Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc. They try and add tacky junk here and there to decorate the building, although they are squelched quickly by the building owners due to fire regulations. Nonetheless, they would decorate in old-age-tacky if they could get away with it. The other day, I went downstairs and I walked by the common room (meeting room) and lo and behold, there were people singing and playing ukuleles. There were a few others just watching and it looked to me like they were having a great old time. I would never participate in this kind of thing as it is just not me. I couldn’t help but think too, that there certainly is a noticeable age difference, which is clear based on their choice of music. They are singing what I considered silly songs from the 40’s and 50’s and as I pause by the door it dawns on me that here is the generational difference. Because the 40’s and 50’s was their time, that is the music they listened to and that’s probably why they gravitate towards it. Come to think of it, they were singing The Road to Tipperary. Based on my age, I am from the next generation and much prefer to listen to Pink Floyd or something like it.
When I got home, I shared my experience with Denise and shared my own lyrics for their song that I came up with while coming up the elevator. It goes roughly something like this:
I’m on my way to Tipperary where the old people smoke dope.
I’m on my way to Tipperary and I never wanna get that old,
that I’m singing this song which makes me want to chuck,
So, let’s sing something better, like Comfortably Numb.
Denise and I had a great laugh as I recorded this while I was entertaining her with my latest creation. I asked how I could put that in my blog? I suggested adding audio, but she teasingly said, “OK, stop recording this now! Push stop! Really, stop now. Step away from the microphone! 😊
One of the things I love about the location we live in is the massive park and wetland area around us, with its well-maintained paths and its numerous benches for places to rest and ponder life.
Park Area Around Home (green marks home) – Screen Capture from Google Maps (2024)
Park Area Looking Toward My Building – Photo by Don Cheke (2021)
Pond Near My Building – Photo by Don Cheke (2021)
There are only two things that I don’t like about our new place. The first is the ever-increasing rent. After the first year, they raised it by $90/month. The second year they raised it again by $65/month, and we just received another notice that it will be increased by $95/month this coming October. I imagine that the rent will continue to rise until we have to find a different place to live or find another means to lessen our other expenditures to compensate for the rent.
The second thing is the train horns. Although we have been near the tracks for the last 24 years, the new place is in a direct and clear path for the incessant train horns. In the previous two places, the line of sound was blocked by other buildings. The Briarwood Villa condo also had the good fortune of being near a controlled crossing, with lights and a barrier, so the trains didn’t need to blow their warnings. We also had a crazy resident on site that made it his mission in life to ride the train company ad nauseum if they had an engineer that blew his horn to spite him and others who might complain. As I said, the new place has a direct line of sound and there is a small crossing to a farm that is not controlled, so the horn gets blown at least three times every time a train passes. It then blows some more further along at another crossing, which I assume will get lights and a barrier in the near future due to its main road crossing status. It is a relatively new building area but building up fast.
Train Tracks (red) – Green marks a controlled crossing – Orange marks an uncontrolled crossing and line of sound. Screen Capture from Google Maps (2024)
For the most part, getting older and living amongst the 55+ has been a great experience so far, but I have noted that I have had to give up another Rockwellian fantasy. That is believing that as I get older, I will garner more respect, as in respecting one’s elder. The fact of the matter is that I am getting far less respect than I ever did while out and about then I did when I was younger. Whether this is due to the pressures of a fast-growing city or the ever-increasing prices of things, people just seem to be showing so much more aggression, not respect, toward others, and not just toward me. I know that my driving has changed since I have gotten older and think about such things as red light and speed control cameras, and so forth, so I get a lot of horn blowing coming my way. It is hard not to react to it, but it is best not to do so since one might possibly invite a road raged crazy to come after you if you do. Again, this is likely due to the changes I mentioned before and not necessarily because of my driving.
On a similar note, I was taking my mom to the hospital for an eye clinic visit (shots in the eyes for macular degeneration). When I was dropping her of before going to park, I was accosted by a psycho woman who thought I was in her way from getting into the vehicle that was behind me in the line of drop offs. She was so abusive! She kept calling me a fat f_ck over and over, until I finally just ignored her and she stormed off, but not without first slamming her walker into my car door. Things like this, and the incessant horn honking make me want to stay home and never go out. I think that the moral of this story is that people don’t fear older people like they might someone younger, someone more able to kick their ass, if they did that to them. Again, no respect! Makes me think of Rodney Dangerfield. “I don’t get no respect!” 😊
I really should end this blog post on a positive note, so I will just sum up by saying that I am certainly very happy with where life has taken me, and I still think and feel very blessed for the place I have landed with my DeeDee. Although I wish I knew the things I do now when I was my younger self, I guess by doing all the work to this point, I have been fortunate to develop the wisdom that I think I have. That is a good thing!
Here’s hoping that you find your own aging to your liking!
Donald B. Cheke – April 15, 2024