Live Your Best Life

Tenants of The Estates at Hawthorne Village of Ocala find more than just a new home. They find a place to thrive.

Easy Living

Joann Shelburne pulls a book from her bag.

“I usually have it with me so I can read at the drop of a hat,” she laughs, admitting that she spends a lot of her time reading and enjoys the beautiful library at The Estates.

Joann is 85, and although she grew up in Lake Worth, she has lived all over the country, including California, Ohio, New York, Connecticut and Alabama. Once her four children were grown, she decided to start an antique business, selling her special treasures and finds in an antique store. This business took her throughout England and once to Scotland, and after 10 years, she sold the rest of her antiques and moved back to Florida in 1996.

By the end of 2013, she was growing tired of all the upkeep of owning and maintaining a home, and she decided to visit The Estates at Hawthorne Village of Ocala.

“I just felt at home in Florida, and I looked at a lot of different places. I felt that The Estates at Hawthorne Village of Ocala suited me best of all,” Joann says. “I’ve been very happy, and we have a lot of great people here.”

She moved into The Estates in February 2014. After all of her travels, she’s found an oasis there, and still loves to go on adventures through her books. Since living at The Estates, Joann has also enjoyed visiting the library, meeting the other tenants and doing chair yoga once a week. Joann loves the variety available at the chef-prepared dining buffet, especially the lovely salad bar and fresh fruit. She loves her apartment, and one of the highlights of her week is turning the task of doing laundry into a good time with her dear friend Lucy every Sunday.

“We wash our clothes together and talk because no one wants to do that alone,” she smiles. Finding lasting friendships at The Estates is one of the many great things about this life here.

Favorite Pastimes

Elizabeth Leighton’s balcony door is open, letting in the cool air of a rainy morning.

“The balcony is basically part of my living room,” she says. “I like the outdoors.”

Betty, as she’s called, moved to The Estates three years ago. She was getting tired of the cold in Minnesota, and her daughter, Beth, thought The Estates was the perfect place for Betty to call home in the warmth of the Florida weather. Betty trusted her daughter’s opinion, and she visited the independent living community for the first time in October 2013.

“I really liked it, and I met everyone right away,” she says. In a spacious second bedroom of her apartment home, Betty’s piano sits with sheet music open, waiting to be played. Music was always important to Betty. She started playing piano when she was 8 years old, collecting all the sheet music she could find. She passed her love of piano on to her son, David, and now she keeps the piano for him to play when he comes to visit.

Even though Betty doesn’t play piano anymore, she enjoys listening to beautiful classic selections that fill her home with her beloved favorites. She also spends her time knitting, reading on her balcony and exercising at AJ’s Fitness Center. Betty started a book club, and she volunteers her time to organize and sort through all the books at The Estates’ well-stocked library.

“There isn’t anything I don’t like about Hawthorne, to be honest,” she says. “Everything you need is right here.”

Terry agrees, adding that the staff members are so friendly, and she and Martha keep each other laughing.

Terry is 90, and she’s as happy as can be with her home at The Estates. Her apartment around the corner from Martha’s has a porch that both women enjoy. After Terry’s nephew helped her find Hawthorne Village, she says that she and Martha “just clicked.” They’re practically inseparable now, and they keep a gin rummy card game going between them “because she cheats,” Terry jokes, poking Martha.

Their daily routine involves heading over to AJ’s Fitness Center in the morning and working out on the elliptical for 30 to 40 minutes. They’re dedication is commendable.

“How do think we got these great bodies?” Terry winks.

The laughter between these two doesn’t stop for long. They are excellent examples of the healthy, independent and fun-loving lives tenants lead at The Estates.

All-Inclusive, Worry-Free Living

Hawthorne Village of Ocala, is a not-for-profit, full-service retirement community, conveniently located near Paddock Mall, major health care providers and a variety of cultural and historical venues. The Estates of Hawthorne Village offers exquisite apartment homes for the independent retiree, who seeks an active lifestyle with an all-inclusive monthly rent. Worry-free and maintenancefree living awaits you at The Estates, as weekly housekeeping and linen service, two restaurant-style meals per day, transportation to medical appointments and scheduled life enrichment activities are just a sampling of what is available to the tenants. The Inn at Hawthorne Village of Ocala, is a lovely, home-like setting for those individuals who need assistance with daily self-care in a supportive and attractive environment.

As part of a full-service retirement community, Hawthorne Village of Ocala provides a full spectrum of care to meet all of your health care needs, including a state-of-the-art inpatient and outpatient Bounce Back Rehab and skilled nursing—all of this, on one beautifully manicured and easily accessible campus.

The Best Of Friends

Six months ago, life changed for Martha Vanderspool. She’d been living at The Estates at Hawthorne Village for almost three years and had enjoyed playing games, putting together jigsaw puzzles and sitting outside in the sun. But, when a new tenant, Terry Lorenz, moved in around the corner, Martha not only met a new neighbor; she’d found a best friend.

“She’s mostly my hobby,” Terry laughs and points at Martha sitting next to her on the couch.

Martha is from Illinois, and she has four children and four grandchildren. She’s 91, and her time at The Estates has been full of relationships. She’s lighthearted and lives in a beautifully decorated studio apartment home. On her first visit, Martha was very impressed with how lovely, clean and impeccably maintained the community was.

“Cleanliness is really important to me,” she says.

Who’s Hangry?

The food you eat directly impacts the way you feel, a ecting variables like blood sugar levels and brain chemicals. Try out these eating habits the next time you’re feeling cranky:

› Start the day right with the most important meal of the day—breakfast. Eat something light and non-fatty. And don’t forget the fruit.

› Two servings of fatty fish, such as salmon or herring, per week will benefit your mood with just the right amount of omega-3s.

› Mediterranean-based diets have been shown to lower depression rates because of their high concentration of B vitamins.

› Just say no to high-sugar foods that falsely elevate dopamine levels and leave you with a sugar crash.