Living on her own is something that Ann Symes had never considered, but after the passing of her dear husband and being ensconced in family life for so many years, she knew she needed to find a community of like-minded people.
“We lived in Pooraka [north Adelaide] until my husband got very ill, he was diagnosed with cancer. My daughter had a massive house with a huge garage, which she turned that into a granny flat. At my husband’s request, not mine!” says Ann. “I didn’t want to leave my home, but he felt that I wouldn’t manage on my own. He was always very protective. So, we moved to the granny flat and a year-and-a-half later my husband passed away.
“After he died, I felt very cut off from like-minded people, so I decided to look at villages because I felt it was the right thing for me.”
Ann and her daughter looked at many villages until they toured Magill Retirement Village and finally found home.
I saw some beautiful retirement villages, very upmarket, but very cold. Magill was the last one I came to and when I came into the unit, I said to my daughter ‘I’m buying here’ and my daughter said: ‘Are you sure? Think about it.’ And I said ‘No, I have a nice feeling’. Honestly, I’m very happy here.
- Ann Symes
Village life is the life for Ann
Ann is known in the village as fun, friendly, generous, and always helping to other residents and with her warm laugh that’s easy to believe.
“I try to make friends and be helpful,” says Ann. “I think most of the people who come here are happy to be friends. We check on each other, all the residents interact in some way or another. I like people, I’m a people person.”
For Ann, life in the village is the perfect arrangement, she can live on her own and on her own terms, but she still has the comfort and security of living in a caring community.
“I’m not brave enough to live on my own now, so I like the security here,” says Ann. “I have the best of both worlds – I live on my own, but I have the community around me so I’m not alone. I’ve got my independence, I can close the door and I’m on my own, but outside I have everyone around. We all look out for each other.”
It’s not just the other residents who make life simple and stress-free for Ann, having the village team on hand when she needs help is priceless for her. She also has peace of mind knowing that care is available if she needs it in the future.
“I like the help, the handyman is very helpful,” says Ann. “The staff listen to you and try to do as much as they can. We’re very fortunate to have our Village Manager Kelly here [pictured above with Ann], she’s wonderful.”
Life wasn’t always this simple
Ann has certainly earned her retirement years, having moved to Australia over 40 years ago from India where she was a trained nurse.
“It took me five years to get back into nursing here, because they didn’t do the refresher courses at that time. So, I worked at Balfours packing pies and pasties, starting at 2am for five years,” Ann explains. “Then they started taking people back in for the refresher courses and I applied, and I got into the first course.
“I did midwifery in India so, when I came here, I’d had midwifery up to here!” laughs Ann. “So, I decided I would go into aged care, I was in my 40s and wanted a slower pace of nursing.”
I thoroughly enjoyed working with the older people and hearing their stories and chatting with them. It was lovely, I did it for 15 years until I retired.
- Ann Symes
Family first
As well as taking part in the many social events in the village and playing Rummikub with friends on the weekend, you’ll often find cricket-mad Ann glued to a match on the TV.
“When we first came, my daughters and I would go to the cricket matches here at the oval. It was good fun! My daughters are just as mad about cricket as I am,” she says.
Her three living daughters are light of Ann’s life and while we’re speaking with her, she receives a call from her granddaughter.
“My granddaughter, at Harvard university in America, calls me every week! She is extremely clever,” says Ann. “I’ve got six grandchildren – five granddaughters and one grandson.”
When we remark that she seems very happy and has a good life at Magill and ask if she would recommend the village to her friends, she tell us: “Quite a few people have asked me about living here and I always tell people that I’m very happy here and I encourage them to move in. ‘Why don’t you try it? Because I’m happy here.’ I tell everybody!”
Find a community that you can call home.
Find a community that you can call home.
