Meet Deborah Brown
November 16, 2022
“You know, I don’t exactly know what I’m doing that’s keeping me this busy, but it takes me all day to do it.” That’s a typical day in the life of Deborah Brown, who left The Villages with her husband Skip and moved into a beautiful 2-bedroom garden home at Lakeside at Waterman Village. She quickly joined the activities committee and now plays an active role in helping her neighbors take advantage of all the community has to offer. “We meet and do crafts, take brain wellness classes, line dancing classes… there’s something new every day.” She also helps new residents get involved in outings to places like nearby Lake Ridge Winery, the restaurants, galleries and boutiques of downtown Mount Dora and many other area attractions.
“It’s a great way to do for new people what they did for us,” Deborah explains. “Oh, are you new? Come sit at our table. Let me introduce you to more people. It’s very sociable here. People usually wear their name tags so you can talk to ‘em. If you go to the gym, you can call ‘em by name. When you see ‘em in a restaurant, you know ‘em. I’ve met more people in the six months we’ve been here than I met in nine years at The Villages.”
Deborah and Skip both appreciate the greater sense of community and security they found here. “The Villages is a senior development with restaurants and doctor’s offices and stuff, but you were kind of on your own. Here, it’s more of a community that kind of takes care of you so you’re not alone. You’ve got help.”
The Browns were enjoying an independent, active life at The Villages when Deborah had some health issues that served as “a wakeup call that we need to plan for the next phase of our journey,” as Deborah puts it. “We also wanted to stop doing yard work, house cleaning and cooking, so we started looking for a community to handle these things for us,” she continues. Lakeside at Waterman Village offered the perfect combination of maintenance-free living, activities and amenities, bustling social life and excellent on-campus medical care for Deborah, who’s thrilled with the service she’s received. “The nursing staff is very accommodating and sympathetic. They listen, they’re courteous, and they treat you with respect.”
But that wasn’t all — Lakeside also checked a couple of other very important boxes that ultimately convinced them to make the move.
After looking at several retirement communities that offer amenities and medical care, one of the main things that sold Deborah and Skip on Lakeside at Waterman Village was its longevity. “Waterman Village has been here for over 30 years, and I figured if they can stay in business that long, then it’s a reputable organization that knows what it’s doing.”
They also appreciated the stability that comes from living in a nonprofit community. While they were at The Villages, which is for-profit, they saw several communities change ownership and make frequent changes in management, which was often located far from the community. The potential for inconsistencies worried Deborah, who was comforted to know that Lakeside’s board, staff and leadership are all local and accessible.
Are Deborah and Skip happy? Let’s just say that we don’t know too many other folks who get so excited that they ask a friend to record a video tour of their new home and community, which you can watch now on YouTube.
If you’re interested in joining an active retirement community with fun neighbors like Deborah, give us a call today at 352-385-1120 and learn what life at Lakeside at Waterman Village could look like for you.
