April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
AVILA-BOUND
Giving up homestead means freedom for couple
Currently, their home is six acres of land in the small town of Warnerville, where they feel the isolation of elderly rural life creeping slowly into their daily routine.
"We've found that older people here live isolated and, in many cases, lonely lives," Mr. Fleischman explained. "Everybody lives in their house, and they don't have much chance for associations."
He also found the Warnerville area not an "especially good place for elderly people to live because there are limited services available."
Concerns
The couple is 30 to 40 miles away from a major hospital and specialists who are experts in the ailments of the elderly, should anything happen to either one of them."We're concerned about health services because of our age," he explained.
The Fleischmans are also concerned about their growing inability to take care of the acres that surround their house, which they've owned for 30 years.
"We don't have children, and we have to take care of this house and maintain three acres of property -- mow grass, trim and prune trees, blow snow in the winter out of the driveway," he said. "When we were younger, it didn't bother us to do this, and we enjoyed it. After 30 years, we wanted to be liberated from this kind of burden."
New freedom
At Avila, the Fleischmans believe they will have the freedom they've been looking for.Unlike other retirement communities, they found Avila's mission statement to align with their own sentiments, saying that "the idea of residents with a certain kind of environment, security, freedom, fulfillment and personal growth" appealed to their desire for a greater sense of independence -- and a greater sense of being in community with other people who share their interests.
The Fleischmans also look forward to having ample time to devote themselves to volunteer work.
More to do
Mrs. Fleischman, a former dietician, wants to serve in local nursing homes as a go-between, ensuring that residents are being adequately treated. Mr. Fleischman says that she's looking forward to doing that at Teresian House, which will be right next door to their new home.Mr. Fleischman taught English at Cobleskill Agricultural and Technical College for 30 years. He looks forward to assisting in the development of the Avila library. He also looks forward to an accessible social and cultural life.
"All of the things we're interested in, like classical music, concerts, theater, libraries and bookstores, are near Avila," he said.
Believers
The reason he and his wife have already put down a deposit on the in-development residential complex, he stated, was simply that "we believe in this whole enterprise."The Fleischmans' decision to move to Avila was finally confirmed when they met the diocesan officials behind the construction and development of the Avila community.
"Some years ago, I had an aunt who spent the last years of her life as a resident at Teresian House," Mr. Fleischman said. "What always impressed me was the attitude of all the employees we came into contact with when we went to visit her. I was impressed by the philosophy of caring for people that pervades this institution. It had to do with the order of nuns there; that was the source of it. And I thought that 'this is the way it should be.'"
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