New on the Ridge: Linda and Wayne Goetz
As they looked forward to their years ahead, Linda and Wayne Goetz wanted to stay in Northern California but were ready to trade the upkeep of their longtime Danville home for an easier way of life. They’d visited the Paradise Valley Estates Life Plan Community almost 10 years ago and, after visiting a host of other California senior-focused communities, decided the Solano County community was exactly the lifestyle and location they wanted. One driving factor? The new community’s new neighborhood — The Ridge.
They recently shared details about their decision to join the Life Plan Community and what they’re most looking forward to about their new home.
What’s so special about Northern California?
“We essentially have a four-season climate here. It’s beautiful,” says Wayne. “And then, we have wine country, Tahoe, Carmel, Monterey. I mean, you really don’t have to get on an airplane to search for so many absolutely beautiful places. We live right in the midst of all that. So, that’s what I like most, four seasons and the surrounding environment.”
How did you know it was the right time for a change?
“We’d been to lots of the luncheons, the dinners, all of the wonderful meals that they serve you at Paradise Valley Estates,” says Linda. “Their door was always open, and they had smiles on their faces. So, we kept saying, ‘When we’re ready, that’s where we’re going to go.’ We were invited to see The Ridge, the new neighborhood they’re opening, so we went to one of the lunches. When we came home, we said, ‘I guess it’s time. We’re ready.’”
What make The Ridge feel right for you?
“You go there and do nothing, if that’s what you want to do,” says Wayne. “For me, I’m a member of the Disaster Preparedness Program here in our neighborhood, and I want to go there, and I want to continue to contribute. I can roll up my sleeves and go to work basically and keep busy that way.” Linda, who says she is a very social person, plans to explore new interests like tai chi. “I love to play cards, to do day trips, go to wineries, and into the city,” shares Linda. “So, for me it was partly the activities and the social side of it.” Also appealing to both was the community’s military foundation. “I was born in Biloxi, Mississippi at an Air Force base and grew up in the military,” says Linda. “Wayne was in the military when I met him, and now we’re going into a partial military facility which I think is wonderful. The military is still very dear to me.”
Why is a living in a life Plan Community so appealing?
“Both Linda and I lost our parents and, in the course of that, it was hell. It really was hell,” says Wayne. “We don’t want to put our children through the arduous task of having to take care of us and care for us. Here, the security belt is already fastened.”
Linda recalls meeting a community ambassador at the Ridge luncheon who shared all that the community handles on behalf of residents. “He said they do this, they do that, they’ll change the refrigerator out if it breaks. In the end, he said, ‘They even change your lightbulbs.’ A week later Wayne and I are in our laundry room, and the lightbulb needed to be changed. So, Wayne gets out the big, heavy ladder and I’m down below holding the lightbulb and he drops the screw from the cover so now I’m down on the floor looking for it. We just looked at each other and then that lightbulb came back on. We both said, “We don’t have to do this again. It was our lightbulb moment,” she laughs.
