In honor of National Assisted Living Week (Sept. 8-14), we are spotlighting residents at The Hamilton Assisted Living. We also are spotlighting residents at The Arbors Independent Living in Port Warwick as part of an all-encompassing Senior Living Week celebration.
Care of our residents is the heart of what we do. Our team works to support these individuals to live their best life. We are thankful they chose to call Virginia Health Services senior living communities home.
The Arbors Independent Living
Lynn Bush: New to Virginia
When you didn’t call Virginia home until two years ago, moving into a new place might be considered a challenge. Lynn Bush hasn’t felt that way about The Arbors Independent Living.
“In capital letters, I love it here,” she says. “Absolutely love it.”
She moved into The Arbors about two years ago from Colorado. Her son and his family relocated to York County and she wasn’t interested in living across the country from her only grandson.
Her son and daughter-in-law “found this place and it is perfect,” she says. “I don’t have to cook, I don’t have to clean up too much. I just love it.”
Lynn says she likes the variety of menu items at The Arbors — “it’s not just a couple of things, it’s an actual menu like at a restaurant and changes all the time. It’s good, and it’s hot when you get it.”
She also takes advantage of the complimentary transportation to get to doctors’ appointments. She gave up her license before moving and, being new to the area, doesn’t know how to get around.
Lynn says she is getting to know more about Virginia by taking trips arranged by the Life Enrichment Director, including to a farm in Mathews where she adored the pups.
“I’m a major pet fan,” she says. She also likes it when the pet therapy dogs visit on Mondays.
“I want to see more of the area on sightseeing trips,” she says. “I have seen practically nothing of Virginia except when we go on the bus. Only thing I see with my kids are my grandson’s baseball games.”
While she doesn’t play Bingo, she participates in other activities such as arts and crafts, and attends whatever socials she can.
And she does it all in the company of the friends she’s made while living at The Arbors.
“Everybody here — staff and residents — are so friendly. I don’t know how they all remember my name. The staff impressed me. They knew my name when I came. It’s just super friendly.
“When I first got here, my brother helped move me from Colorado. I had a fair amount of stuff; my kids had brought my furniture. A young man helped with my bags and told me, ‘welcome to Virginia, you’ll find us to be friendly here.’ And it is. It’s noticeable.”
She says she surprised herself by making good friends quickly because “I’m not usually very ‘joiny’ and it takes me a while to get close to someone. It didn’t here, something just clicked, and I think a lot of it is the attitude. Most everybody is happy to be here.”
Why Virginia?
Originally from Ohio, Lynn lived in Florida for 20 years — “it’s hot, sticky and there’s big bugs there” — and Colorado for about a decade.
“It’s so beautiful, just everywhere you look there’s scenery. You drive down the road, you see mountain goats. It’s incredible,” she says.
For all its natural beauty, the public school system left something to be desired. Her grandson had the opportunity to select a region for the family to move for better schooling opportunities.
He chose Grafton and is a catcher on the baseball team. He also plays for an American Legion team, a summer team and picks up other games whenever he can.
“He’s only happy when he’s playing baseball,” Lynn says smiling.
Her grandson had a built-in group of friends moving the region, having met several kids from here while playing travel baseball.
“Grandma’s not bragging,” she says, “but he’s really, really smart.”
She thinks her son and daughter-in-law are “super excellent parents. Their whole life exists around him. Yet he’s not really spoiled, he’s a really good kid, gets good grades, he’s active, he’s in with good people. It’s amazing. He just turned 16.”
Family life
Lynn says she’s from a “big, blended family.”
She said there were 10 people in the house while she was growing up.
“You always had someone to play with. I truly loved being in a big family. Thought that’s what I wanted, but it didn’t work out for me and I’m grateful for that,” she says.
While in Florida, she was a telephone operator for 20 years. It was her dream job, though she no longer can pinpoint why.
“I loved my job, but there were a lot of things about it that I didn’t love,” she says. “I was directory assistance. They gave us 17 seconds to give a greeting, what city and state, hear the request and find it and send it out. All of that in 17 seconds. That’s fast … By the time I retired, we basically covered the United States.”
She’s carried over some of her long-time hobbies to The Arbors. She enjoys crocheting, knitting, quilting, and the organized painting projects.
“They started a book club, and I always have a book in my hand. I wanted to join, but I read too fast and I don’t like being told what to read. I read a lot of mysteries, crime. I like true crime; I like that in television too,” she says.
She also likes history, and often says she can’t believe how much she’s lived through.
“Time just goes by so fast — when I think of the things I’ve lived through, doesn’t seem I’m as old as I am … Man walked on the moon, who would imagine that.”
She says she is looking forward to exploring more of Virginia and spending time with her family.
“I am certainly glad the kids found this place for me. I really like Virginia; I would like to get to see a little more of it. Hopefully, maybe when football season starts, (my family) will have more time to take me to see some things. In the meantime, I just sign up to go wherever they go to see what it’s like.”
Merendinos: Family is where you are
Their children had their best interests at heart. Tony and Terri Merendino moved into The Arbors Independent Living about two years ago from an apartment off Styron Square.
“My darling children decided I should be in a senior dwelling and not have to worry about anything,” Terri says with a smile.
The Merendinos resisted for a while, but with Tony in his 90s and Terri being 88, it was time to leave the cooking and cleaning to someone else.
They have a two-bedroom apartment.
“It’s huge. Even the kitchen is so big. There’s a beautiful bedroom and we use the other room for Tony’s office and den,” Terri says.
The Merendinos have three children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Most of their family lives nearby. Transplants from New Jersey, Tony and Terri settled in the Newport News area about 40 years ago when Tony took a job managing the region for Pepperidge Farm.
When their son visits, he helps Tony with the paperwork. One of their daughters does their grocery store shopping.
It gives the couple plenty of time to visit with family and friends, go to the socials and other events at The Arbors, and continue telling their story. And, of course, bragging on their grand and great-grandchildren.
“I’ve had a very interesting life. I thank God all the time,” Terri says. “I love people. I’ve learned a lot. Our grandchildren are really something — they’re very smart.”
Working Girl
Not even school could get in the way of Terri being a star employee — starting at 13.
She spent the summer as a temp in her uncle’s law office when she was 13. She raised eyebrows when the lawyers realized she had taught herself to type and could take dictation.
Terri spent time in high school working as temporary secretaries in several companies in New York City, not far from her family’s home across the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J.
“My whole life I have been hired by everybody,” she says, laughing. “When I tell you I’ve probably 30 or 40 jobs in my life. I would be working somewhere and would be offered another. I opened a lot of companies.”
She planned to go to law school after graduating high school.
“The I met him,” she says, referencing Tony in the next room. “That was 68 years ago.”
They met while both were attendants in a friend’s wedding. Another bridesmaid also had her eye on Tony, Terri says, but “I told her she didn’t have a chance.”
He didn’t have any paper or pen to take her phone number, so she wrote it in the pollen dust on his car. He called the next day.
Tony was in the Navy. “He was very shy. This gorgeous guy was so shy,” she says with a grin. “I like him, he’s a lot of fun. And I decided to keep him.”
They’ve been married for 66 years.
She never did get that law degree, but has held many roles. One she enjoyed the most was leading bus tours all over the country, which she did for 20 years. It gave her — and often Tony — the opportunity to travel all over and meet a lot of people. She also planned weddings.
“I’ve had a very interesting life,” she says. “I did a lot of things, and I talk to God all the time. Life should be fun.”
The Hamilton Assisted Living
Fleshmans: Living Near Family
Robert (Bob) and Ruby Fleshman started calling The Hamilton Assisted Living home less than six months ago.
“I love it here,” Ruby says.
The location in York County is perfect — it’s near their daughter, who has them to dinner each Thursday. The couple, married 63 years, lived on the Peninsula most of their life. Ruby recently turned 89 and Bob is 86. They met after both moved here — though Bob says he had to put in the work to get Ruby to go out with him.
Bob attended the Apprentice School and worked at the Newport News shipyard for 43 years as a pattern maker, draftsman and designer, and estimated contracts for Naval aircraft carriers and submarines.
“I had something to do with all the Nimitz class aircraft carriers,” he said.
Ruby was a secretary at a hospital and church, and a stay-at-home mother for their two children. In addition to their daughter, the Fleshmans have a son in Florida who recently retired from a large national accounting firm. They also have four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, who they are delighted to see regularly.
Return to the Peninsula
The Fleshmans retired to Staunton for about 10 years before returning to the Peninsula.
“We both came from the mountains,” Bob says. (He is from High Springs and Ruby is from Rainer, West Virginia.) “We wanted to get back there.”
As they got older, they wanted to be closer to their family and knew they needed a little assistance. Bob could no longer help Ruby up from a fall alone.
“Our kids insisted on in-home care or AL for around the clock care,” Bob says. “I can’t get her up by myself if she falls.”
The Fleshmans say their children helped them find a spacious two-bedroom apartment at The Hamilton. It’s given all of them peace of mind.
The nursing team has helped Ruby if she becomes dizzy, taking her blood pressure and making sure she stays hydrated. They also enjoy having meals and housekeeping provided, and the array of activities and events that are continuously onsite.
“It’s three meals a day, which is tremendous, and there’s a variety of food,” Bob says. “Ruby did all the cooking many years ago, and when she stopped cooking, we went to a restaurant for 15 years. I never learned how to cook, I can’t boil water. We went out to eat all the time and it got old after a while. Now there’s a meal waiting on me down there.”
Activity Director Kirstie Saunders keeps an active schedule for residents.
“Kirstie’s good,” Ruby says. “We love her.”
They play Bingo and Uno once a week, attend events such as monthly birthday parties and live music. There’s a putter pad set up on the third floor Bob utilizes to keep up his swing. They also enjoy bus rides to scenic locations and going out to coffee shops with their Hamilton friends.
Bob also likes digging in dirt and weeds the garden and flower beds in the courtyard. The Fleshmans have enjoyed the fresh tomato sandwiches.
“I sit out there and watch,” Ruby says with a laugh.
Peggy Bruce: Rock and Roll
A whirlwind of treasures, kindness and emotion envelop you when you step into Peggy Bruce’s apartment at The Hamilton Assisted Living. It’s the result of a life well lived.
Peggy moved into The Hamilton shortly after Christmas on the heels of her husband’s unexpected passing. She is still organizing their Marlbank neighborhood home for eventual sale, and settling into her space at The Hamilton.
The Hamilton team and her proximity to her former neighborhood — 1.7 miles away — smoothed the transition.
“When I decided this was a good idea, I wanted to be close to my neighborhood. I knew my neighbors would visit,” she said. “I have some really wonderful friends; they’re more like family. The staff here is fabulous. They’re like family. The nurses are like family to me. I just love them. I’d do anything I could for them (that I could).”
In addition to the location, Peggy says she liked the sales team and the types of apartments at The Hamilton. She participates in as much as she is able.
“I have a lot of doctors’ appointments, but do as many activities as I can,” she says.
“When Kirstie does something, it’s top notch. She is amazing. The things she thinks of – I think she could write a book to help other activity directors. One my favorites is the tour of the world. We have passports that get stamped and a flag in our dessert.”
She is getting to know The Hamilton’s residents and is getting to be pretty good friends with a few of them.
“Everybody here is so kind and caring and helpful. They think of what to do for you before you of it yourself,” she says.
Before he passed, Peggy’s husband was being treating for leukemia. The former Navy lieutenant commander was not a patient person, she says, but “he was a good guy and I was lucky to have him. He just helped me so much, then it was my turn to try to help him.”
He went into the Navy out of high school, and among several locations, was stationed at Groton, Connecticut, and Norfolk.
“He was a nuclear sub guy,” she says.
They met while she was singing with the band Boulevard 58 when they performed in Hampton. The couple was married 28 years and lived in Phoebus. They traveled together often, particularly to Europe.
Life on the Road
Peggy and her family moved often when she while she grew up.
“I didn’t really grow up anywhere. Every time my dad got a promotion, we moved,” she says. “I went to three high schools. I finished college in the long-term plan with a degree in social work from Virginia Wesleyan.”
She graduated from Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach, where she says she’s lived off and on a lot. She started going to coffee houses where her friends were playing and started singing with them.
“I just kind of kept falling into bands when they needed a singer,” she says.
She’s been friendly with lots of people in the music industry, including local musicians with national acclaim. Peggy did jingles with a friend in Richmond at Alpha Audio. She was a model. She and the bands she played with took her all over the country, including upstate New York and Connecticut. And she attended a lot of concerts, especially at The Dome in Virginia Beach and The Scope in Norfolk.
“My life has kind of just been one move after another, ever since I was a little kid,” she says. “I just kind of bounced around a lot. It was fun. My poor parents, they were a little tired of me bouncing around. Can’t say I blame them, looking back.”
She says band life requires moving around a bit to find enough work to sustain you. And sometimes, you have to very resourceful. Including renting your parents station wagon to get to gigs.
She doesn’t sing much now — her voice has gotten a little gravelly. But she stays in touch with her musician friends.
“It’s just been kind of a wild ride. I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” she says. “Though there are a few places I would have liked to get through more gracefully than I did.”
Choose to call a VHS community home
Virginia Health Services offers independent and assisted living options. Both allow residents to live a maintenance-free lifestyle, with on-site amenities including dining, activities and events, 24/7 on-site staff and transportation.
The Arbors Independent Living is located in the Port Warwick area of Newport News. The apartment-style building has a restaurant-like dining room, concierge service, weekly housekeeping and more. Learn more and schedule a tour at vahs.com/thearbors.
The Hamilton Assisted Living, located in York County, and The Huntington Assisted Living, located in Newport News, have spacious private apartments with daily dining, a nursing team 24/7, transportation and more. Visit vahs.com/thehamilton or vahs.com/thehuntington to learn more about our assisted living communities and schedule a tour.
