Interview with Canterbury Place Retirement Residence - Verve Senior Living residents, Aliza and Nissim Levy

Aliza
Our life at Canterbury Place Retirement Residence is very convenient for us, and we like it. I like my apartment, I like the facilities, I like the people. Everything is very down-to-earth. I love all kinds of art, music, and games that I join. I like the idea of going down, not every day but most days, for lunches where we meet people. Sometimes we sit with other people. I like the idea that we don’t have an assigned table, just both of us, and that way we get to know more people. I love the location. It’s very central, and for us, moving here made our life much, much easier and gave us more fulfillment in many areas.

Nissim
We like all these activities. I’m not going down for painting or things like that. It’s not my cup of tea. But the other ones, I do everything. We have one a week playing poker with lots of people. That’s what I like.

Aliza
I like everything, actually. I like the exercise. They have nice fall prevention, yoga, and drum fit. They have painting that I participate in with an art teacher, and through the computer with an art instructor, we learn about artists. I learned to play golf, and card,s and poker in a group. I participate in Quiddler games. That’s a game with words. I like to go a few times a week to the trivia. We learn lots of topics, and you meet lots of people with a lot of knowledge. It was kind of surprising for me that at my age, I reached a point where I can still learn new things and I can enjoy them.

Aliza
When we decided to come to this place, we asked our kids and our grandkids because we are very involved with our family, and everyone had a different opinion and a different explanation why it’s good, why it’s not good. One of my grandsons, whose opinion I really took into big consideration, told us, "You always wanted to join and help in camp. If you go to this place, it will be like a camp for you. The only thing is, it will be a camp for seniors. You’ll have activities, you’ll meet new people, you can talk, you can eat all together." It was so bright. I think I’m now in an overnight camp.

Nissim
There is room for improvement, but it’s nice. I like it. I’m less friendly, not like my wife. She’s talking to everybody. I’m a little bit shy, but we are okay with it. There are very nice people there, and there are some people who we don’t have any connection with, but they are still nice.

Aliza
I love the community. It’s very down-to-earth. It’s a mixed community, and I love mixed communities because you learn and you are much more open to everything, to their life, what they did, what their families do, where they are coming from. I love that it’s not only one group of people. Most people are very nice, and you can communicate with them. There are some that you cannot communicate with too much because they are more in their rooms, they like to read more, they depend on some other things, but to each his own. You have your own privacy. If you want to be with the community, with everyone, you do. If you don’t, you can always go to your apartment. It’s a very private place.

Aliza
The same thing goes for the food. There is different food to accommodate all kinds of groups, and that’s very good too.

Nissim
I like the staff very, very much. They are so friendly, all of them really. We don’t have any problem with anyone from the staff. Whatever you ask, it’s done.

Aliza
You always get an answer to a question or a problem or whatever. Maybe some things can be done a little bit better, for sure. But on average, it’s very good.

Aliza
Actually, we moved to a home like that because we have a daughter in California, and we had a certain period of time when we needed more help. We had, and we still have, health issues. Then our daughter saw a different home right across the road from Canterbury. She said, "It’s so cute, maybe you should go and check it." I said, "We are not ready to move yet." But then she said, "Let’s go check it."

We went, we checked, it looked very nice, and they tried to help us see the place and to explain everything. Then, when we came out, I saw the phone number on the building, and I said, "Oh, it’s another place like that." We came and asked downstairs what kind of building it was. At that time, the person who was in charge of showing apartments was by the reception, and she told us, "Oh, you’re looking for an apartment? I’m free, I can show you." She showed us everything. She showed us a few units, different sizes, and she showed us all around.

I liked the feeling of being down-to-earth in this place. I liked the feeling of community. The people were saying hi in the elevator and in the dining room. I felt very kind of comfortable.

Nissim
We saw the unit that we are in that day on the sixth floor, and we liked it. Then she called us a few months later. She said, ‘You know this unit on the sixth floor that you like, it’s empty if you want to come to see it.’ So we came and said, ‘You know what, let’s move.’ We made the decision like that, and we did it right.

Nissim
At the beginning, it was very hard to move, to make everything. We were lucky that my daughter from California was here, and my other daughter, also, and they helped us a lot to move and make all the big decisions. Since then, we are okay.

Aliza
It was a little tough to move because we had very, very nice neighbors and friends in our building, and it was in a very convenient area. But when we came to Canterbury Place Retirement Residence, and we saw that this area is very convenient too, then it didn’t look like we were going to miss the other place. Friends, we can drive and see them and meet them; they can come, we can go. When we came here, it took us a few weeks, and you get used to the people, to the community, to the place.

Aliza
The second day. And it’s true, I’m not just saying that.

Nissim
Maybe for me it took a little bit longer, but what they say is "Happy wife, happy life."

Nissim
Everyone asks, 'So what do you think? Did you make the right decision to move to this place? Is it not too early for you?' I say no, I like the place. Maybe we made a mistake only in one way. Maybe we should have come earlier. I like it.

Aliza
I will recommend that too. I know some people that are looking for some places, and they liked our place when they saw it. But some of them are looking for a different community, different style, different people. Some of them are looking for very upgraded places. Everyone is a little bit different in what they look for. But if somebody asks me, I will tell them that after I saw other places, I feel very, very, very comfortable and happy that I came here.

Aliza
I like this place. The only improvement that I would like to see is a little bit more cleanliness. I don’t like their laundry rooms and the machines. I wish we had machines in our apartment. I would feel much more comfortable, or if the laundry rooms were a little bit nicer. I don’t like all kinds of public areas with carpet when it’s not taken care of too well.

Aliza
In every place like that we get somebody to clean and to change your sheets. I don’t think they have enough time. That’s what I think. That’s what we have been told in a few meetings. They have very limited time. If you think somebody who cleans the apartment comes to your apartment for 20 minutes or 17 minutes, how can they clean? Maybe they can clean apartments like ours, where we are more capable and we clean too. But some people cannot clean. Somebody has to take care of that a little bit better. The cleaning people have to be more supervised. That’s what I think.

Aliza
First, I’d move earlier. That’s the first. The second one, I would take only a few things from my old place that I really love, and I’m comfortable with.

Nissim
My advice is for them to make the decision and to make it earlier. Don’t wait until it’s too late sometimes. Enjoy the move when you can. Sometimes when you make the decision, you are too late. You can’t enjoy it like we are enjoying it.

Aliza
My advice is, before you move, you have to know which area you want, what kind of suite you like, and what you are expecting to get from the place. Is that going to be convenient for your family if you have family or friends? Before you make the last decision, check three homes, three places. Check them, see everything they offer you. Think about what you are going to benefit from in a place like that, and make the decision.