When Ted and Shirley Century, both 82, decided to downsize their home, they looked for a place near family. With seven children and 14 grandchildren scattered around the country, they had many places to choose from, but they wanted someplace where they could continue their active lifestyle.
Arizona won and they started looking for a place to live near Shirley’s son and his wife, Todd and Lisa Bellowe, and grandson, Mac, 3. “We thought about just buying a condo, but then we thought we’d vegetate since we don’t know anyone,” says Shirley. Then they found Maravilla Scottsdale, which offers resort retirement living (7325 E Princess Blvd., 480-630-3158). “Here, meeting people is just built in. There’s always something happening.”
They chose a casita, a unit in one of the fourplexes on the Maravilla grounds that features a private garage and a full guest suite for their many guests. They say that all of their children and grandchildren have taken advantage of that feature and come for a visit since they moved in last October. The Centurys have taken advantage of the many activities at Maravilla, including a recent hike in Antelope Canyon and a Colorado River Float that departed from Lee’s Ferry in Page. Fourteen Maravilla residents enjoyed the three-day trip.
In addition to enjoying the trip itself, Shirley says that they have also become closer friends with the other residents who were there. The couple is no stranger to travel, and Ted is an old hand on rivers. After retiring from his oral surgery practice in Illinois, Ted moved to Idaho because it provided easy access to the skiing and white-water paddling he enjoyed. In 2000 Shirley moved from Ohio to Idaho to marry Ted after the two met on JDate.
After 25 years of marriage, Ted spent eight years after his divorce “scouring the world before I decided the single life was no more for me.” Shirley was married 34 years before her divorce. With long marriages behind them, Shirley says, “We both knew what we wanted.” When Shirley logged onto JDate one gloomy Ohio Thanksgiving, she saw Ted’s profile.
“Ted was one of two (men) I answered. We kind of hit it off. We are both first-generation Americans – all four of our parents came from Poland; we both had family members with mental illness; and we both spoke Yiddish. That was enough to draw us together.” Ted says, “She seemed haimish with similar family and lifestyle.”
Since their marriage 14 years ago, the couple have kept busy traveling, both in their small RV, which they brought with them to Maravilla “for little side trips,” and on cruises (river and ocean) around the world. Ted says he enjoyed their vacation in Costa Rica, where he had gone before for white-water rafting. Shirley says their most exotic vacation was a river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. “That’s a great way to see that part of the world. We got off the boat every day in small cities with local guides.” Since moving to Maravilla, they’ve signed up for other trips including a Canyon Lake Dinner Cruise, a visit to Kartchner Caverns near Tucson and an antiquing trip to Prescott.
Maravilla Program Director Erin Masterson says, “We have an overnight trip or a cruise approximately once a quarter. … They (Ted and Shirley) go on a lot of outings, especially to museums like the MIM or Phoenix Art Museum. They are very involved.” “They have a really full calendar of activities,” says Ted, who enjoys participating in a singing group. He also likes the community’s grounds, where he walks their Havanese dog, Charlie, a couple times a day. Shirley goes to an exercise class two days a week when they aren’t traveling. She also enjoys a weekly yoga class and regular mah jongg games.
They didn’t take the Maravilla bus to one of the synagogues for the High Holidays though.They’d planned to visit one of Ted’s sons in Denver for the holidays, but Ted fell ill and they cancelled those plans. Though that did introduce them to another benefit of living at Maravilla – easy access to good medical care, says Ted.
Though both Ted and Shirley were active in their Jewish communities in Idaho, Illinois and Ohio, they say they haven’t found a place among the Valley’s synagogues.
“I’ve only been associated with small congregations of 80 to 200 couples,” says Ted, adding the Illinois and Idaho congregations he belonged to were both the only ones in town. “Scottsdale has 20 or 30 synagogues, and we’re a little taken aback by the size of the congregations. It takes some getting used to.” But they have connected with other Jewish residents at Maravilla. Shirley says about 30 people got together for a Passover seder in the spring. And Rabbi Levi Levertov with Smile on Seniors comes in once a month for Shabbat.
