The village PEOPLE

Kerre’s mum spends her first night in her new home and there’s talk of some nice fellas living there too!

And finally, finally Mum is in her new apartment at The Orchards. I have just this minute left her, happy as a bivalve, sitting in her new armchair in the place she can now call home. Craig, the lovely maintenance man, has hung all her paintings and photos.

Her clothes are stowed away neatly, the fridge is full and everything is arranged just so. To be honest, though, it felt like home the first time we walked through the door, even before we’d unpacked.

Mum walked in and gave me a hug, and said, “Oh, Kerre! It’s even better than I remembered!” Which is just as well, really.

She’d only seen the apartment once, for about 20 minutes, and couldn’t really remember what it looked like. I had taken some photos, but photos don’t really convey a sense of the proportions or the feel of a place, do they?

And the pictures of the apartment don’t tell you about the warmth of the fellow residents, their kindness and hospitality. Every single one we’ve met, at the café, or in the lounge or in the lift, has been so welcoming. Even people around the neighbourhood get the sense that this village is the real deal.

The lovely young woman from Spark commented how she’d always liked the look of the apartments when she used to live up the road. And Richard, who came to connect Mum’s Sky television so she can continue watching her beloved Chiefs

(she might be living in Auckland but she’ll never give up her Chiefs!) said to me, “This is exactly the sort of place I’d like to live in one day.” All the auspices seem to indicate that this is the right decision.

It felt a wee bit funny driving down the road and leaving Mum to spend her first night in her new home. A bit like she must have felt when she and Dad drove away and left me at my boarding school, all those years ago. Her apartment is a damn sight nicer than my old dormitory was, though. And the food is infinitely better. And there are way fewer rules.

There are even some nice boys at her place. There definitely weren’t any boys at Sacred Heart Girls’ College. If there were, they kept themselves well hidden from me…

But I know Mum will be fine. She was going to spend her first night finding places for the last few bits and pieces, and just settle herself in, then, the following night, she would make her society debut at Happy Hour.

She intends to join a few of the clubs they have at the village, and a couple of her friends have already booked dates to travel up from Hamilton and see her new home for themselves.

It really is the best thing that could have happened – for her and for all of us. She gets to spend time with her greatgrandchildren, I get to spend time with my mum, and at this stage of our lives, time is the most precious commodity. Especially now the world seems to be so precarious. Has it always been this way? Storms and floods, and landslides and pandemics. Or do you just become more aware of how precarious life is when you reach a certain age and stage?

Anyway, I’m counting my blessings and my lucky stars. To have my grandchildren and my daughter and son-in-law just up the stairs, and my mum safe and sound just down the road makes me one of the richest women in New Zealand, no matter how much (or how little) I have in the bank.

It felt a wee bit funny driving down the road and leaving Mum to spend her first night in her new home