Howdy Folks,

My appology for refreshing this thread, but I needed to save it until I had more time to contribute to it. And, thank you "Maire-aine" for starting this topic. I have to confess up front that I still have not had the time to carefully read all the previous contributions, but here's my early thoughts:

This subject is also very often in my mind. While I am very happily married (and lucky in finding "Bride Judy) I also know that it could change in a heartbeat. Both of my parents died in 2002. For the last years of their lives, I was the principle person in their lives, even though they lived in a nursing home four blocks from my home. I know ALL about nursing homes in my area. Some are horrible, some are wonderful. If at anytime anyone wants my advice on how to choose a good one, or reject a bad one, just PM me and I will give you some things to think about.

For whatever reason, my darling Judy has always declared that she knows that I will outlive her. Should that horrible thing happen, I DO have a long range goal in mind. Here it is:

Most of my working life, I have been a carpenter, builder and designer. I have a building in mind. Picture this: A very large rectangle of buildings. This would be a series of SEPARATE buildings, perhaps 20 feet square. Each of these "cottages" would be a bedroon, with a complete bathroom. These would all open onto a common boardwalk, again in the rectangle. Within this assembly of individual bedroom cottages, would be two other buildings, one a large and complete kitchen/dining hall. The other could be a large recreational area. The very center of this rectangle could be an open air "atrium." All of the walkways would be completly covered from the weather. I hope this overly simple description gives you the concept. It would require a sizable piece of land.

I see it working like this: a group of like minded people, of all ages and genders, pool their money and "live together." One of the residences could house a nurse. It would be a "collective", for lack of a better term. I have many single friends who are wrestling with this question. Their answers are varied, and some quite ingenious.

Anyway, I did want to throw this concept into the mixture of thoughts.
And I also want to thank you again for starting this very useful thread. CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson