How do I want to live as I age?

I asked Jeri McClenaghan-Ihde, a member of our Board of Directors, who works with Direct Supply but participated in the Senior Housing Ideas Competition with AG Architecture, about her participation.

Aging in Community was a wonderful opportunity to take time to consider what we do as architects and how it can affect the world around us. Here are my thoughts...

Architects provide environments which support strong care models. Having and understanding the philosophy or motivation of our client's thinking allows an architect to produce a customized answer to the question, "How do I want to live as I age?"

I would like to have as many answers to that as possible. It is a very personal question, intimate in fact. Does your spouse know your true answer? How about your kids? You may even be afraid to write the answer down.

I challenge all who read this to consider answering the question and sharing it your readers.

AG's motto, by the way, is "We create community in every sense of the word." They've identified community as the key to living and working, and not just for the elderly.

How do you want to live as you age? It's easy to say "not in a nursing home." But what are the qualities of "the good life" as you grow older? Are they the same when you are 65 and when you are 85?