Pictured above: Clarence and Kathleen Kemper
My wife Kathleen and I lived in the Boston area for over 55 years and absolutely loved it. We're often asked, "Why did you move to Lenbrook?" It's a short question, but there are really three parts to it:
Why did we choose to move from our home to a retirement community?
Having had the opportunity to work with senior adults over the past 13 years, I count myself truly lucky. It's given me such incredible perspective about life and aging that serves me well not only professionally, but also in my own life with my aging parents and with my friends who count on me for advice regarding their aging parents.
When I became president and CEO of Lenbrook after serving as its chief financial officer for almost five years, people would ask, "What's different about being a CEO than you might have expected?" The simple answer is, I expected my "new job" to be more about people. But what I have found is it is all about people.
My husband and I were wanderers. We have moved over 29 times, leaving old friends, making new friends, learning to laugh again, learning to socialize again, learning to have fun again, and learning to live again.
Living and working with seniors has taught me simply this: “So much of the very essence of life is realizing what you have in real time.”
After more than 20 years in the field of wellness and senior living, I recently experienced a profound "ah-ha" moment during a 3-day training program led by the nonprofit organization called the Eden Alternative.
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