January 7, 2014
San Francisco Chronicle
Matile Rothschild and Joan Zimmerman lived more than a decade in their San Francisco home, in a quiet neighborhood near Lake Merced where they had a community of friends who were like family.
But in recent years that started to change as their friends retired and moved away - settling in cheaper areas outside the city or moving closer to family. The women began considering their own options, even checking out a retirement home in Portland, Ore., near Rothschild's son.
"It was gorgeous up there, and I seriously considered it," said Rothschild, 80, even as her partner shook her head with a grimace. "But I knew I'd stand out there."
That Portland home, Zimmerman said, was "a straight place." The assisted living home they finally moved into late last year - called Fountaingrove Lodge, tucked among the oak trees in Santa Rosa - is touted as the first continuing care center in the country geared specifically to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors.
"You'd have to hide who you are at a straight place," said Zimmerman, 77. "Everyone here (at Fountaingrove) is in the same boat. It's like immediate family."
Rothschild and Zimmerman are among the first generation of men and women who are entering old age after spending most, if not all, of their adult lives without hiding their sexual orientation.
Read more:
http://www.sfgate.com/lgbt/
No comments:
Post a Comment