To see Olive Dauphinee of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,
walking on the treadmill every morning and every
afternoon, you’d never guess that the 90-year-old
had broken her hip just over a year ago. It happened
in her own kitchen at home, when her hip, weakened
from osteoporosis, simply collapsed beneath her.
Until then, the Dauphinees had no intention of ever
leaving their beloved two-storey home, but when Olive
left the hospital with a walker seven weeks later,
stairs had suddenly become out of the question. The
couple had to move.
“It was a little rough leaving the nice home we’d
lived in for 55 years,” acknowledges her husband,
Edgil, 89. “But there comes a time when you have
to make the move.” They didn’t know the first
thing about retirement homes, but a neighbour
recommended Parkland at the Lakes. When the
Dauphinees visited the recently constructed
facility, they realized that all they would really be
giving up was the bother of daily chores. They
could still maintain their active lifestyles, coming
and going as they pleased. Edgil, who’s in excellent
health and still drives, was delighted that he could
keep his car, which he takes to appointments
and church. And Olive was reassured by the daily
presence of nursing staff, along with monthly blood
pressure checks and weigh-ins. As she says, “The
food is so good here that we have to be careful we
don’t eat too much.”
Having lived at Parkland just over a year, the
Dauphinees are now fixtures in the community.
The monthly wine-and-cheese parties feature Edgil
and his old-time fiddle band, as he and some of
his musician buddies serve up toe-tapping waltzes.
During the winter, Edgil goes out early to clear the
snow off fellow residents’ cars. “I’ve always liked to
keep busy,” shrugs the former bush pilot. “I can’t
stand to sit around too long—I have to get up and
go!” Regardless of the weather, he walks two or
three kilometres every morning and often takes
part in Parkland’s exercise class.
Olive loves the social life at Parkland. “Everybody’s
your friend,” she says. “We’re just one big family here.”
