Pictured: Resident Kay Hauer of Deupree House celebrates her 90th birthday in light-up shoes and a custom t-shirt.

Purposeful living can make all the difference in how we focus, react, and dream after retirement. When we make a choice to live purposefully, we’re also making a choice to live fully and enjoy each day fully. Purposeful living can be an abstract subject, though, and many people don’t know how to put into words how they would live purposefully.

At Deupree House in Cincinnati’s Hyde Park neighborhood, residents don’t have to worry about home maintenance or other stressors. Instead, they can focus on doing the things they’ve always loved and can devote more time to their passions. Meet three of our residents and see how they embrace the idea of purposeful living in their daily lives here at this premier retirement community.

Kay Hauer

First off, we’d like you to meet Kay Hauer, a resident volunteer at our support office. Kay has found a unique way to return to an activity she loved when she was ten years old: jump roping. But that’s not all. Not only has Kay begun jump roping again, but she’s also added in a new challenge: jumping backward. 

Kay also enjoys keeping her mind just as active, as she’s a frequent visitor at the library here. Sometimes she heads to the library in the middle of the night if she can’t sleep. After all, it’s open 24-hours a day. She’s also recently learned how to use Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic, so she’s still staying engaged and active even during this uncertain time.

Michael Porte

Another of our residents we’d like you to meet is Michael Porte. Michael has been keeping active, engaged, and living quite purposefully, especially in recent months. Forty years ago, he and his wife learned Tai Chi while in China, and he’s enjoyed it ever since. Rather than let go of that passion, he has continued to practice and even became a Tai Chi teacher for a while. 

According to Michael, Tai Chi helps improve your mindfulness so you can live in the present, something he strives to do. He’s also an active member of a writing group here at Deupree House so he and his fellow members can keep up their passion of writing.

Linda Callard

One of our newer residents, Linda Callard, has been finding ways to live purposefully while at Deupree House. She doesn’t have to worry about home upkeep or even cooking meals — 

and she says our staff who deliver the food are always smiling and quite helpful. Because she doesn’t need to spend time on these kinds of tasks, she’s able to do things she enjoys, like crossword puzzles, meeting people, and keeping in touch with her family throughout the day.

She also spent years volunteering at Marjorie P. Lee, and volunteering is certainly a way to help you live purposefully. Linda also enjoys playing bridge as a way to keep her mind active, as each hand makes you think.

Now that you’ve met three of our Deupree House residents, surely you can see how living purposefully and staying engaged after retirement can make a difference in your outlook and joy. When you join a retirement community, you can free up your time to focus on the activities you truly enjoy. In fact, you might even have time to rekindle your love of old activities, as Kay did with jump roping. No matter what you choose to do, staying engaged will help you continue to live purposefully after retirement.

If you’d like to hear more stories about how our residents live purposefully, listen to the ERS Linkage Podcast!