{"id":5013,"date":"2025-11-12T23:38:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T23:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/?p=5013"},"modified":"2025-11-13T00:14:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T00:14:12","slug":"the-retirement-village-gardener-who-tends-to-his-grandfatherthe-retirement-village-gardener-who-tends-to-his-grandfather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/retirement\/the-retirement-village-gardener-who-tends-to-his-grandfatherthe-retirement-village-gardener-who-tends-to-his-grandfather\/","title":{"rendered":"The retirement village gardener who tends to his grandfather"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"5013\" class=\"elementor elementor-5013\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-d511b35 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"d511b35\" 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-798cd70\" data-id=\"798cd70\" 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-bf33e59 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"bf33e59\" 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>F<strong>or Toowoomba gardener Harley Brady, a part-time role at Retire Australia\u2019s Drayton Villas Retirement Village, came with an unexpected perk: being able to spend more time with his grandfather, Brian Brady, who lives in the village.<\/strong><\/p><p>What started as a job tending the gardens has become a unique opportunity to strengthen their family bond.<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d Harley says. \u201cI get to see him more often, and we catch up at village events. Sometimes I finish work and go straight to his place for a visit \u2014 it\u2019s great to see what he gets up to.\u201d<\/p><p>Harley joined the Drayton team in July 2024 after a phone call from his grandfather. \u201cHe heard the previous gardener was leaving and asked if I\u2019d be interested,\u201d Harley recalls. \u201cI said yes, and he got in touch with Michael, the Village Manager. That\u2019s how it all started.\u201d<\/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-9cd2a0a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9cd2a0a\" 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-5134537\" data-id=\"5134537\" 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-7a2def7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"7a2def7\" 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<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Picture5-1024x682.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-5016\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Picture5-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Picture5-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Picture5-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Picture5-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Picture5-585x390.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Picture5.jpg 1054w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Just some of the gardens at Drayton Villas that Harley maintains. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\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-a01485d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a01485d\" 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-57f09ca\" data-id=\"57f09ca\" 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-f7cc051 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f7cc051\" 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>Brian had already been singing Harley\u2019s praises to the team. \u201cWhen I started, they pretty much knew everything about me,\u201d Harley laughs. \u201cMy grandfather was happy his hard work paid off.\u201d<\/p><p>A gardener by trade, Harley runs his own business and works part-time at Drayton. \u201cIt\u2019s the best workplace I\u2019ve been at. Everyone was lovely from the start \u2014 it\u2019s family-oriented and people really look out for each other,\u201d he says.<\/p><p>He also finds joy in small moments. \u201cResidents are always thankful, even for simple tasks. What\u2019s simple for us can be a big thing for them.\u201d<\/p><p>And knowing he\u2019s helping care for the place his grandfather calls home makes the work even more rewarding. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to know I\u2019m making things better for a family member, on top of my regular duties.\u201d<\/p><p>Working at Drayton has also deepened Harley and Brian\u2019s relationship. \u201cI get to spend more time with him than I used to. Sometimes I visit him at happy hour \u2013 it\u2019s great to be involved in that!\u201d Harley says.<\/p><p>Brian, who has lived at Drayton Villas for several years, describes the experience as rewarding. \u201cIt\u2019s lovely to see him around the place and know he\u2019s helping to keep the gardens looking so good,\u201d he says.<\/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-aa13726 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"aa13726\" 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-dbc7763\" data-id=\"dbc7763\" 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-4fdf4f4 elementor-button-success elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"4fdf4f4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-lg\" href=\"https:\/\/thedcmgroup.createsend1.com\/t\/y-e-quyudud-l-yd\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Return to Newsletter<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\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>For Toowoomba gardener Harley Brady, a part-time role at Retire Australia\u2019s Drayton Villas Retirement Village, came with an unexpected perk: being able to spend more time with his grandfather, Brian Brady, who lives in the village. What started as a job tending the gardens has&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5015,"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":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retirement"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5013","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=5013"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5052,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5013\/revisions\/5052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}