“I don’t see the slums. I don’t see death and destruction. I don’t see murders. You don’t see a lot of children running around here, either.”
These are the words of a resident of The Villages, an enormous retirement community in Florida profiled in Lance Oppenheim’s excellent 2020 documentary, Some Kind of Heaven. The residents have moved into a culture deliberately distinct from ordinary intergenerational life. No one under 19 may live there permanently, and visiting children are generally limited to 30 days a year. The residents spend their days in leisure activities without distraction. Think of the philosophy behind Eat Pray Love—but for old people. “You’re not gonna be tomorrow the same age you are today,” says a resident. “So think about you. You come here to live.” Life in this ecosystem is pickleball, not grandparenting.
I found the documentary amusing. My wife, Ester, found it utterly befuddling. Why on earth would someone move thousands of miles away from their grandchildren?
Read more
