For Norm and Tina Morcombe their goal in life is to stay busy, help people and be in control of their own decisions. Which is exactly why life at Magill Retirement Village has suited them so well for the past 11 years.
Before moving to the village, the couple had lived nearby in Newton, a 10-minute drive away, for about 20 years. A combination of health issues, their experience of caring for Tina’s elderly parents and wanting to be in control of their future led Norm and Tina to make the move to the village. Although a little serendipity played a part as well.
“Tina’s only got about 10% eyesight, she’s legally blind, and I had a heart attack 20 years ago. So we thought ‘Hold on, we need to start thinking about these things before we get too old and the kids tell us: hey, you better start moving!’” says Norm.
Years earlier, Norm and Tina had spent a great deal of time looking after her elderly parents when Tina’s mum was paralysed by stroke and her father battled cancer.
“It got to the stage where I’d drop Tina off on my way to work and she was basically living with them. So we made the decision to sell up and buy another house, and we had them for 4-and-a-half years. It was OK for me, I could go to work, but Tina was looking after them seven days a week, 24 hours a day,” says Norm.
“I said to Norm, I don’t want to put our kids through what we went through. I wanted to do it for my parents, but we can’t live in the past, we have to live in the future and we’re going to make our own decisions,” explains Tina.
A serendipitous moment
With the thought of finding somewhere to live in retirement at the back on their minds, Tina spotted the village while they were out on a drive and suggested they take a look.
“So we came in and had a look. They showed us another unit and then this one and we basically fell in love with it there and then,” Norm explains.
This was just before Christmas, and in a matter of weeks they’d found someone to buy their home (including all of their furniture) and they had moved into Magill by the end of January. That was 11 years ago and they’ve never regretted their decision.
“The biggest thing is we’ve got no worries here,” says Norm. “We don’t have to worry about maintenance or anything like that.”
Keeping busy
While Tina has friends in the village and keeps busy with family who live nearby, Norm loves helping the village maintenance person, Rick, with odd jobs.
“I’m lucky that I’ve got Rick here who I can work with,” says Norm. “I can’t stand still, I’ve got to keep moving and the beauty of helping Rick it keeps me occupied, it keeps my brain going and I’ve got company. Working with Rick keeps me out of Tina’s hair.”
“That’s for sure!” laughs Tina in reply. “We keep ourselves busy, we’re not bored yet! Our goal is to keep busy and try to help someone if we can.”
Support when you need it
One of the main benefits of living in the village is the security of having trusted people around and knowing that support is there if they need it.
“I’m scared being on my own, so it’s peace of mind being here. I’m so relaxed and feel safe and secure,” says Tina.
“Tina gets nervous and my biggest concern is if anything happens to me, how is Tina going to handle it?” says Norm.
“Whatever happens we’re never going to be alone here,” Tina replies “The same goes for other people who live here, if anyone needs anything, they can knock on the door at any time, but we don’t live in each other’s pockets.”
To really ensure they’re never alone and that they have the support they need to continue the life they want in the village, the couple are on a Home Care Package.
“It’s also why we’ve each got a Home Care Package, I’m on level 1 and Tina is one level 3. To help ease our concerns of being looked after,” says Norm. “Getting the cleaning once a fortnight is the best thing we did.”
Come and enjoy village life
Tina says she loves life in the village so much that she’s regularly telling people they should come and live at Magill.
“Tina’s already organised two or three people to come and live in the village,” says Norm.
“Yes, come here is what I tell everyone,” Tina says.
Find a community you can call home
