It attracts thousands of retirees with its beaches and golf courses, but can Florida really turn back the clock? Its residents seem to think so
‘AGE.” The platinum blonde in tight raspberry capri pants, waving impressive sculpted nails, fingers adorned with rings the size of golf balls, shrugs. “As far as I am concerned, 80 is the new 60 or maybe even 55, at a push.”
It is early afternoon inside Galleria, an upscale shopping mall in Fort Lauderdale, a pleasant waterfront city of towering retiree condominiums, north of Miami.
People who appear to be middle-aged or younger are snoring gently in the deep leather sofas put there to take the exhaustion out of shopping. Senior citizens, escaping the blinding June heat outside for the cool of the mall, are hopping in and out of demonstration massage chairs, barely listening to sales pitches.
Glamorous and sprightly elderly women are mulling over halter neck beach dresses. A man with a shock of jet black hair and enough wrinkles to put him in the octogenarian age bracket dances across the menswear department of Neiman-Marcus, politely asking me which shirt he should choose: would it be psychedelic palms or the red and purple checks? A tough choice, so he opts for both.
The nation’s headquarters for retirees, Florida’s major industry is the “age wave”. Targeting here is relentless, from law and accounting firms, specialising in estate matters, to clinics treating conditions from stiff necks and arthritis to cosmetic surgery and impotence.
Then there are the “early bird” seniors dinners, the happy hours, the casino incentives for elderly gamblers, the cut-price furniture and clothing for those magically entering the twilight years zone. Inevitably, also, there are the many funeral homes.
Retirement communities in Florida continue to attract people from all over the US and abroad, notably Scandinavia, drawn by affordable luxury homes that have fallen in price since the property slump. Sunshine, beautiful beaches, golf courses, highly organised aged-related services, and a more affordable cost of living are the main attractions.
Property promotional bumph describes Florida as a hotbed of physical activity. Vigorous oldsters are depicted swimming, cycling, playing tennis, jogging – not so much growing old gracefully as staying young forever.
So, is it a myth, that lure of rejuvenation, turning back the clock, a madly optimistic hormonal silliness, a place where people come to believe that 80 is indeed the new 55?
“No,” replies Fort Lauderdale-based Dr Bruce Szamier, a former Harvard medical professor specialising in inherited eye diseases.
Today he works as a yacht broker too, though he is still involved in science and eye research. Not for a moment considering retirement, the tanned 70-year-old is soon to re-marry.
“People keep going much longer down here,” he says. “They stay younger and more active. Maybe it’s the climate, but it is also far easier to live in condo [condominium] developments where you don’t have to mow the lawn or worry about roof repairs. You pay a maintenance fee and it is taken care of.
“There are all sorts of other perks, like a golf course, on your doorstep, a swimming pool, social outlets. You can easily find company. If you are an active person, there is just so much to do here in Florida.”
A “luxury resort adult community” called Forest Trace, west of Fort Lauderdale city, became home more than five months ago to Jack and Evelyna Cantwell. He is a retired top advertising executive, second generation Irish with roots in Cork and Kilkenny. She is an English-born, prolific inventor, related to the Dyson (vacuum cleaner) inventing dynasty.
They decided to move into this more secure environment after, as Evelyna (84) puts it, Jack suffered a couple of “nonsenses” (bad turns) and she had several minor strokes and a fall.
They sold their condo where they had been happy for 12 years since moving from Philadelphia to Florida, deciding that a mild and unobtrusive level of security and care was an inevitable next stop. They did not want to be “a bother to the children, worrying about us and if we were alright”.
This is the best of both worlds. At Forest Trace, which has more than 300 apartment units in a purpose-built series of buildings, they enjoy their complete independence and privacy in a spacious two-bedroom flat with its own fully equipped kitchen and fabulous views over 70 acres of grounds and a large lake, knowing there is unobtrusive surveillance from staff and a 24-hour on-site medical call-up.
Imagine a five-star hotel with all the amenities that conjures up: spacious meeting rooms, library, a beautiful dining room with free seating and dining from mid-afternoon to evening, a lobby where a pianist is tinkling away, landscaped lavish greenery on the other side of the windows but occupied exclusively by senior citizens. That’s Forest Trace.
Residents who are 100 years old or more are not uncommon here, still enjoying the flagship entertainment and even going on stage to sing along with Broadway and cruise ship entertainers at night.
Younger residents include Morganna King, who played Marlon Brando’s wife in the film The Godfather, and an aunt of the judge featured in the Judge Judy television show.
The complex has an assisted living wing for those who need a higher level of care but still below nursing home dependency. That later, and sometimes inevitable, step is designed to be achieved seamlessly.
Evelyna Cantwell, elegant and quick-witted, a renowned bio-chemist whose inventions have ranged from an ultrasound scanner for examining burns and other skin problems to oxygenating products for preserving cut flowers, earned herself the title in syndicated US newspapers of “mother of invention” and continues to work on new projects at Forest Trace.
Jack (89) cheerful and outgoing in a bright pink Ralph Lauren shirt and yellow tie, “drags her out of bed every morning before 7.30am to swim” in the large heated pool, which form part of resort-style amenities that include steam and sauna rooms, fitness centre and beauty parlour.
“People here really celebrate life,” says Jack, showing off the impressive building and grounds. “People aren’t waiting for death, they enjoy every day that comes.”
Michelle Slagel, marketing manager at Forest Trace, says it offers one of the best and cheapest deals anywhere: from $2,700 (€1,900) a month for a large one-bedroom apartment for one person with an add-on of $500 for a partner sharing, inclusive of two meals with menu choice per day, all activities and entertainment, which is pretty much non-stop, including outings, clubs, sports, shopping, golf, and a daily happy hour with two free cocktails.
“We try to give our guests the best quality of life, what they miss is their youth and you can never give that back. But you can make growing older a lot easier and also fun . . . laughter and looking forward to stuff means so much,” Slagel says.
Dublin-born staff member Paula Mullen, who runs the shop at Forest Trace, says: “I was broken-hearted visiting Ireland and seeing how bad some retirement homes were in comparison.
“There was absolutely nothing only depressing ‘waiting for death’ options, and older people needing more security, back-up and companionship were not being catered for at all.”
Beverly Abramowitz (81), lately arrived at Forest Trace and still unpacking her cases after a solo trip around China, adjusts her bling gold glasses, fixes her pretty lace trimmed blouse and declares: “Age . . . don’t give into it, stay healthy, eat properly, take exercise and live and laugh.
“That’s been my philosophy and whenever I hear old people ‘acting old’ and complaining I just walk away.
“Stay positive and you stay young . . . that’s the secret. It’s the philosophy down here in Florida where a lot of us come and it works.”
foresttrace.com