Home sweet home

“My husband had been in the hospital for three long months ... and I just didn’t know what to do,” Ginger remembers.

Ginger and Jim Elings lived in Sacramento for 45 years before selling their business and returning to Klamath Falls, Oregon, Ginger’s hometown. They had comfortably downsized into a nice condominium on a golf course, and they were really enjoying retirement when Jim began experiencing a string of health complications that quickly went from bad to worse.

“He was so very ill,” says Ginger. “And it seems that everything medically that could go wrong did gone wrong.”

Ginger found herself overwhelmed with the emotions and daily responsibilities that every caretaker experiences. “Everything happened so fast that we really didn’t have time to prepare.”

The Elings are fortunate to have a very supportive, proactive family spread across the country from Florida to Oregon. One day they coordinated a conference call to tell Ginger, “You have to be in a place with better access to medical services, and be closer to us.”

A solution!

That’s when the Elings’ daughter in Bend found Touchmark at Mt. Bachelor Village. She set up an appointment for her mother to come visit.

To get a better feel for the community, Ginger stayed in a Touchmark guest room. Feeling distraught and not particularly social, Ginger reluctantly joined the residents for dinner one evening. She’s glad she did.

“Everyone was so nice to me!” says Ginger. “It was like I had known them all my life ... and they’re still that way! It’s incredible just how friendly and fun everyone is, both residents and staff.”

Ginger pauses long enough in her story to say something to her granddaughter, who is there to visit her grandfather and give her grandmother a luxurious pedicure.

“We are so lucky to have a daughter, a granddaughter, two great-granddaughters, and three nieces here in Bend.” Ginger says. “They make us feel so special!”

“Totally different than any other community”

Jim spends many hours each day gazing out of their large picture window, captivated by the meandering Deschutes River and the fascinating parade of chipmunks, birds, and people outside. He especially looks forward to seeing the family of deer that comes up every morning to feed along the river bank.

“He is doing so well here; it’s unbelievable,” Ginger says.

Best of all, Ginger knows that moving to Touchmark’s Cliff Lodge—near to all the professional help they need—has enabled her and her husband to stay together in their lodge home.

“Jim was so bad in Klamath Falls that I didn’t know if we were even going to get him moved here. I figured that if we did get him to Bend, we’d be in Assisted Living. But he’s done so much better here. We are able to be together in Cliff Lodge’s Independent Living, and we are comfortable and happy here.”

“Yes, we’re going through some very hard times right now, but we are so glad we’re here at Touchmark. It’s where we need to be at this time in our lives.”

back to top