Well, here I am. We moved in last year. I now have more room in the garage than I ever had in my shed, and some other poor, silly bugger has built the walls and paths.
We would like to introduce you to Geoff and Julie Ferguson. Geoff and Julie moved into Elements in 2014. This is Geoff’s story.
It is common knowledge that I did not want to move from our old home. I used every excuse to convince myself, “What about my shed?”, “I built that retaining wall”, “That’s the path we made”, “I built those steps by hand”, “I am too young”, etc, ad nauseam.
Julie worked in nursing for a long time and was very aware of people ending up somewhere, not where they would have chosen. She was determined that we should find a village whilst we are still able to make the decision.
Some years ago, Julie read an article about Elements and was immediately taken by the vision that Chiou See, the founder of Elements, had about how people should age and live successfully. In that article, Chiou See went on to explain how she has found the perfect block of land in an exclusive koala habitat and how she is designing a village based on her knowledge on what elements we need to live a full and purposeful life in our third age.
Shortly after, by sheer coincidence, Chiou See spoke at a Probus Springwood/Rochedale meeting, where Julie and I are members. It wasn’t long before Julie organised for us to visit this up and coming village. That was 2011.
Way back then, I insisted that we attend as many functions at Elements as we could. I think I was hoping for an excuse to say something facile like, “I told you it would be no good”. I can only blame the people who already lived here for stuffing up my plans.
Time after time, we came to their functions; they seem to gather for any excuse and I was beginning to think they celebrate parachute openings! We were always made to feel welcome.
Well, here I am. We moved in last year. I now have more room in the garage than I ever had in my shed, and some other poor, silly bugger has built the walls and paths. I have a work bench where I can do what I do best (I’m an Instrument Maker by trade) repair, sharpen and break things so I can fix them. Apart from the actual GRUNT of moving, it was like moving next door to neighbours that you’d known for years, and in fact we had.
Chiou See and her dedicated team, Joe (the Construction Foreman) and his contractors fell over backwards to help us move in on time, as we had to leave our old home by a certain date. What went on behind the scenes to do this, one can only imagine. I can only say they were like ants nest getting our fabulous new home ready.
Glitches, of course! Oh, but they were minor. You know what they say about itches… you don’t know you are alive unless you have an itch to scratch.
So seeing how everything is done for me, I now have so much more time to have our grandchildren over. Urghh…
This is all your fault, People of Elements, THANK YOU ALL.
Geoff
A beautiful, easy living retirement village nestled in the Daisy Hill State Forest, Springwood, Brisbane, Queensland. Our stylish 2 or 3 bedroom apartments, including garden option, offer single level access and luxury retirement communities with neighbours close by but with privacy assured.
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