WEYMOUTH – The view from the living room and master bedroom windows in Kathy and Larry Lavery’s new home is an experience they never expected.
Your view is of a pond with herons, herons and ducks. In the distance, golfers play towards the putting green. It’s Sunday morning; everything is calm and peaceful. Everything is taken care of.
No one golfs or plans to, but this location is fine with them.
“It was a great experience,” said Kathy. “Everyone was as friendly as could be.”
In early August, they moved into a detached home in the Village at Weathervane, a 55-person golf community in South Weymouth, and say they quickly felt at home.
The couple, who have been married for 31 years, are both 71 years old. They never expected to leave Milton, where Kathy has lived since she was 9 and where her mother, Mary Ryan, 100, lives in her own home. Larry grew up in Dorchester and they stayed close to family, friends and longtime neighbors.
Here’s how it evolved:
Kathy taught Home Economics in Weymouth Schools for 35 years and retired in 2008 at the age of 57. She has also been a City Council member since 1984 and has volunteered with the Milton Council on Aging since 2010.
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Larry retired from the US Postal Service in South Boston in 2012 and happily spent his time reading his very large book collection, painting watercolors and going for walks.
Having no children or grandchildren, they considered a smaller house in Milton and in 2009 were waitlisted by Home Inc., which operates Winter Valley and Unquity House. There was a waiting list of 10 to 12 years.
Then, in 2018, Kathy developed knee pain due to arthritis. As she kept her parents company at their home in Milton during the pandemic, she thought more about the possibilities of “aging in place.”
She participated in a Zoom program at the Milton Senior Center with a presentation from Oakley Home Access, a Rhode Island company with an occupational therapist and contractor who evaluate homes for safe aging on the spot. In the summer of 2021, the company conducted an appraisal of the Laverys’ home. They realized that making it easily accessible would be difficult.
“We started out looking for a ranch-style home in Milton,” said Kathy Lavery. They consulted Linda MacDonald, a Hanoverian real estate agent who specializes in over 55 markets, and looked at possible senior communities from Hanover to Canton.
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One requirement was that the RIDE, the MBTA’s transit service, must serve the city where they would live.
“We wanted an option in case we might not be able to drive,” Kathy said.
Hanover had several desirable over 55 communities but not the RIDE.
They checked in with Home Inc. again last December. The waiting list was three to four years. Kathy’s knee still hurt; Larry felt physical limitations as he got older. He had “retired” from mowing lawns and enlisted help shoveling snow.
They had already looked at many houses; most needed work. A cousin in the construction industry provided cost estimates for renovation work.
“They added up to huge amounts,” Kathy said.
Many vendors wouldn’t allow inspections, so a builder friend of Larry’s took them to open houses.
“Last February we decided to stay put,” Kathy said. “We had new ceilings installed, the interiors painted and even a gas fireplace in the living room.”
Then, in early April, her real estate agent called.
“You have to see this house in Weymouth,” said Linda MacDonald. “This is exactly what you need.” She had spotted a house for sale in the Village at Weathervane.
“We liked what we saw,” Kathy said. “It had all the things we had in our own house, but it was also easily accessible (for anyone with mobility issues). Weymouth was still close enough to friends and family. We were able to keep the same doctors.”
The owner accepted her offer three days later but wanted to wait until July to hand over the papers.
“This gave us another gift of time to prepare for all the downsizing that we had to do,” Kathy said.
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Both Kathy and Larry are well organized. They developed a schedule. First things first: by the end of April, pack up all the stuff you have stored in the attic because it would be hot in May.
Then the “cleansing” began. The items were listed on the private Facebook page Buy Nothing Milton and also on the Milton MA. Yard Sale” sold. Larry has donated many of his books – a huge and emotional undertaking because he had so many. With college degrees in philosophy and English, he had continued his lifestyle of reading.
By May 10, he was giving away 72 boxes containing more than 3,000 books.
“That was the hardest part because the books defined my academic life and my personal interests,” he said. “I had to sort out a lot. But I’ve kept in mind what’s coming.
They sorted papers to be shredded for free at the Milton Council on Aging on May 13th. They had their own garage sale on May 21st and donated the $400 raised to the senior center. On May 26, Jim’s Disposal in Weymouth took away all their remains.
In early June, they were ready for the real estate agent’s photoshoot to put their home on the market. They had 60 boxes of items that needed to be moved out of sight. A dozen friends and family helped.
The house was quickly sold by mid-June.
Meanwhile, Kathy let work in the new house. They moved Larry’s pool table to the basement after repainting the floor. She had the rugs sent out from Milton to be cleaned and delivered to the house in Weymouth. A buffet and other furniture were sent to be refinished and also delivered to Weymouth.
They moved out of the Milton home on August 1 and into their new home in Village at Weathervane on August 2.
“The downsizing process can take months, and being able to develop a schedule was key,” Kathy said. “You should move while you can still pack your own bags.”
She “felt a certain sadness, left my neighborhood, left my town. But I knew the time was right. I wanted to be able to make my own decisions and choose where I was going and pack my own. ”
Relocated, they are delighted at how quickly they feel at home.
Larry can look over to the bookshelf in his office and see “old friends” looking at him. Kathy can settle into her upstairs sewing room, where she always has a project to do, including transforming donated wedding dresses into “angel dresses” for infants who died prematurely.
Her life of family, friends, reflection and creativity goes on.
For more helpful tips on preparing for a move, check out this blog post on Hebrew senior living.
Reach Sue Scheible at sscheible@patriotledger.com.
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