House Options for Elderly Praised

I found the article by David Myers, “Staying Put,” (Sept. 9) extremely interesting. Hortense Tingstad comes across as someone who gets one year better every 12 months, not merely one year older.

My own mother is a healthy 81-year-old, who, although she lives with my husband and me in a separate area of our home, remains independent and involved in outside activity.

She had been renting an apartment, and thus had no sentimental attachment.

We both benefit. She is assured of companionship and caring, and I’m relieved of anxiety as to whether she is cooking properly for herself or just opening a can of something, or if she’s having trouble with her car, or if the manager is good about making needed repairs.

These are her golden years. As a German Jew she was trapped in France during the War years, and lost her husband and most of her family to the concentration camps. Then come the travail of gaining admission to this country, and working to support herself and me, at that time 12. A second marriage lasted only a few months, until his sudden heart attack and death.

Now she can enjoy life without the worries which darkened much of her past, and I can enjoy her, and her enjoyment.

I look forward to the remaining articles as Mr. Myers delves into housing for the elderly in the ‘90, anticipating that they will be as fine as his first.

MIRIAM TARSKY

Los Angeles