{"id":2895,"date":"2024-03-27T04:40:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T04:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/?p=2895"},"modified":"2024-03-27T04:44:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T04:44:07","slug":"i-just-never-wanted-my-children-to-get-a-phone-call-saying-your-mums-had-a-fall-youve-got-to-find-a-bed-for-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/health\/i-just-never-wanted-my-children-to-get-a-phone-call-saying-your-mums-had-a-fall-youve-got-to-find-a-bed-for-her\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;I just never wanted my children to get a phone call saying \u2018your mum\u2019s had a fall, you\u2019ve got to find a bed for her.&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2895\" class=\"elementor elementor-2895\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-c4603f4 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"c4603f4\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7c4845f\" data-id=\"7c4845f\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2ce9ff6 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2ce9ff6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>V<strong>irginia Thiessen worked in aged care all her life and knows what happens to people when they suffer a traumatic accident when living at home alone.<\/strong><\/p><p>\u201cI just never wanted my children to get a phone call saying, \u2018your mum\u2019s had a fall, you\u2019ve got to find a bed for her\u2019,\u201d said the retired nurse.<\/p><p>She swapped a four-bedroom home in Glen Waverley, 19km southeast of Melbourne&#8217;s CBD, for a light-filled three-bedroom apartment at Ryman Healthcare&#8217;s Bert Newton Retirement Village in Highett, 16km southeast of the State capital.<\/p><p>Ryman Healthcare\u2019s Nellie Melba, Weary Dunlop and John Flynn retirement villages were closer to the home she had built with late husband Tony, and lived in for 43 years, the move to Bert Newton, which opened its first stage in July 2023, meant she was closer to family.<\/p><p>\u201cOnce my husband died it became a house, not a home,\u201d she said.<\/p><p>\u201cWhen I heard there was going to be a Ryman in Highett and my family are in Elwood, I knew I\u2019d never get any closer.&#8221;<\/p><p>Now spontaneous gatherings for a roast meal, or taking grandchildren to sports practice, which were previously restricted by a 40-minute drive, are regular occurrences.<\/p><p>Virginia is also relishing the sense of community developing at Bert Newton.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-500f00b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"500f00b\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-76ac2ad\" data-id=\"76ac2ad\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-65e2236 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"65e2236\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Picture10-1-300x200.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-2898\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Picture10-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Picture10-1-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Picture10-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Picture10-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Picture10-1-585x390.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Picture10-1.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-25c3529 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"25c3529\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e9f2a9a\" data-id=\"e9f2a9a\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-75c742a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"75c742a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>\u201cFor me the move is what I dreamed of doing, and here I am,\u201d she said.<\/p><p>\u201cI call it my little piece of Heaven because it\u2019s quiet, it\u2019s warm, it\u2019s community and it\u2019s convenient because everything in the area is close by.\u201d<\/p><p>In the coming months the sense of community will develop further with the opening of amenities including an indoor pool, caf\u00e9, and gardens.<\/p><p>\u201cI can\u2019t wait to take a glass of wine and a chair outside and have someone yell out \u2018I\u2019ll come down and join you in five minutes\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p><p>Virginia is evidence that she does not have to stay in her retirement village.<\/p><p>\u201cWhen I retired at 55, we bought a 17.5 ft caravan and for 19 years we\u2019d go away in it to amazing places,\u201d<\/p><p>She will embark on two trips this year, The Ghan train journey with friends from Probus and to Japan.<\/p><p>\u201cI worked in aged care all my working life,\u201d she said.<\/p><p>\u201cI have gained such internal peace from being here because this address will be my address until the day I die.<\/p><p><strong>\u201cI make light of it, I\u2019m living independently, and I\u2019ll go to assisted living when I need it and after that I\u2019ll go to the dying room anyway,\u201d she laughed.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia Thiessen worked in aged care all her life and knows what happens to people when they suffer a traumatic accident when living at home alone. \u201cI just never wanted my children to get a phone call saying, \u2018your mum\u2019s had a fall, you\u2019ve got&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2895"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2901,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2895\/revisions\/2901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}