The Last Place: Diary of a Retirement Home

We spend our entire lives setting up a sense of community. Jobs, families, homes, neighborhoods. But what happens in the twilight of our years? When old age forces us to make a change? When we pull up a lifetime of roots and settle into a new—and final —place?

Presbyterian Homes is a retirement community in Evanston. It was one of the first in the country to offer what is now called 'continuing care'. Residents can live in independent town houses on the campus and over the years graduate to assisted care apartments, or the nursing facility. Nearly 550 people call Presbyterian Homes—home…ranging in age from 65 to 106. This is their story—in their own words.

"Well this is just a little plastic jar to fill up with white raisins, cover them with gin and leave them standing for a couple weeks. They puff up a little bit, and then you eat nine every day. Not eight, or ten, although I sometimes have my ten. And some people claim that it helps arthritis. And I've got enough in here for maybe two, three days."

—Eleanor Erikson