Seizing Life With Octopus Arms


Before I came to Lenbrook, I had to maintain a large home, buy groceries, fix my own meals and pay all the bills associated with keeping a home functioning, including utilities. It wasn’t fun when my water heater broke one weekend and I couldn’t get a plumber in until Monday. And when I had my total knee replacement, the three flights of stairs in my home became quite a challenge.

Now, since moving into Lenbrook, I don’t have to climb any stairs and I don’t have to maintain anything. Lenbrook has qualified personnel onsite 24/7 if anything needs to be fixed. I don’t worry about having to deal with AT&T, Comcast or anyone else who kept me on hold while telling me, “Your call is very important to us.”

Everything, and I mean everything, is included in my monthly fee — meals, utilities, Wi-Fi, the yard and gardens, gym, heated pool and heated whirlpool. I don’t need to maintain my YMCA membership anymore either because I use the gym here seven days a week.

I look forward to meals because I have three different dining venues to choose from. And in the summer it’s four when they open outdoor patio dining. My old friends envy me and I enjoy the company of my new friends.

I like to describe my experience moving here by saying I’ve become an octopus. Because it takes eight arms to even attempt to grab onto and enjoy all of the opportunities and activities offered at Lenbrook.

I take classes in Tai Chi, Balance and Seated Yoga in addition to using the gym on my own. Lenbrook takes us to the Atlanta Symphony and Alliance Theatre as well as the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens and the Booth Museum in Cartersville. I enjoy good food and conversation both at Lenbrook and at the many restaurants we travel to each week.

Lenbrook has cheerfully changed my life by making each day here a new adventure, especially with all of the new friendships I’ve made. I had an active cultural and social life before I moved here, but it’s doubled now that I don’t have the responsibilities of housekeeping and cooking. I believe my posture has improved and I know my social life has!

Bernie Goldstein is a native Atlantan who moved to Lenbrook in the summer of 2016. A graduate of Duke University and a certified public accountant, Bernie spent his career as a chief financial officer and treasurer for several large corporations in Atlanta. For 35 years Bernie was also an avid runner, completing nine full marathons.