Ramey had to learn to get out of her own way. A long-time mediator who likes her solitude, she really wasn’t too sure about having someone around on her property. While not “exactly reclusive,” she wasn’t interested in forced socializing over a cup of coffee every day. She wanted a balance of self-reliance and some […]
Read More...A Husband with Dementia Leads to Home Sharing
When the dementia of her husband required more help than she could handle alone, Kathleen began looking for someone who could help lighten the load. Not someone who is a professional caregiver, but simply another pair of hands. Using Her Network She found Alice through her network of friends and community. Alice, in her early […]
Read More...How She Left Silence and Discovered Freedom
“I didn’t like the silence,” said Janet explaining how she ended up choosing a life of shared housing. At the time, she was living alone after the divorce in the house of her twenty-five year marriage. She also retired from stressful, more-than-full-time job as a litigator. Her experience of the silence was such that she […]
Read More...Sweet Surprise in Discovering Shared Housing
“It’s a sweet surprise to me,” says Janet about living with Kathleen as home-mates. How It Happened Kathleen and Janet were already friends. They met when Janet was Kathleen’s Episcopal priest, and Kathleen served on the vestry (a church board). Their friendship included vacationing together – Kathleen with her husband and son. After Janet had […]
Read More...“I’m Bourgeois Now,” Says the Former Commune Member
Richard doesn’t look like a former commune member with his starched oxford shirt, fancy watch and short-hair. “I’m bourgeois now, but I’m a hippie inside,” he says. The commune he helped to found, Packer Corners Farm, lasted for twenty-five years. In its day it was famous. The Experiment It started when Richard and friends from […]
Read More...Remember “POSSLQ?” Now it’s POSSSLQ!
POSSSLQ is the phrase that Sharon and Deb use for their relationship. When they got in touch with me and I read their booklet, POSSSLQ: ELDERS LIVING OUTSIDE THE BOX, I was deeply gratified and excited. Their experience is one that I know is possible if and when we are open to it. It goes beyond […]
Read More...Meanwhile They Own a Condo
Judy and Donna own a condo they have lived in for almost 20 years. Says Judy, “By buying together and moving in at the same time, it is all fair. No one has a foot over the other. We have mutual respect and a 50/50 arrangement.” They were already housemates when they made the decision to […]
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