Interview with The Wellington Retirement Residence resident, Louise Harris

Life is good. I enjoy The Wellington. It’s better than being at the house alone.

They have exercise in the morning. For three days of the week, I go to exercise in the morning, and I like it. And then they have cards and things in the afternoon that I don’t do because I don’t play cards. I like to knit and crochet, and I like to sew. 

The atmosphere at The Wellington is very nice. Everybody at The Wellington is very friendly. And the staff is really helpful. 

If you have a problem, you just have to mention it and the staff’ll try and solve it for you.

I looked into a few other retirement homes, and I liked The Wellington the best. The location was one, but mostly it was that some of the others were too expensive and some were too large. 

I was very lucky with moving here. My sister came down from Edmonton. She’s on a ranch past Edmonton, and she and her husband moved quite a few times because he worked for the government, so she knew what to do. And she helped me a lot. She arranged everything for me.

I felt at home at The Wellington pretty well the first day. After my sister left, I went down to the dining room at The Wellington, and I found a few friends in there, and it was good. I didn’t know anybody, but I soon made friends.

I would tell people that it’s very good at The Wellington, and it’s probably better than some of the other places.

I don’t think I would do anything differently; probably switch some of the stuff that I gave away and bring them, and some of the stuff I brought I’d just get rid of. It’s always a challenge when you move out of a house into rooms, and you have to decide what to take and what not to take. 

I would tell people to look around and, before they make their choice, go into the place and see what it’s like. I went into a couple of other places that I was considering, and I didn’t really care for them. The Wellington was at the top of the list. It’s a good home. I like it here.