{"id":11699,"date":"2025-08-01T16:26:59","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T20:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=11699"},"modified":"2025-08-01T16:32:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T20:32:36","slug":"seniors-today-golden-years-or-forgotten-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2025\/08\/01\/seniors-today-golden-years-or-forgotten-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Seniors Today: Golden Years or Forgotten Years?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Rachael Knopf, YourPace Student Contributor<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OCALA, Fla. \u2014 For many senior citizens, retirement means peace, sunshine, and slower days. For Pete and Carolyn, their neighbors Pinky and June, and their friend Susan, getting older isn\u2019t all palm trees and shuffleboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pete and Carolyn live in a 55+ community in Ocala, Florida. They enjoy the perks: two pools, quiet streets, and neighbors who look out for each other. \u201cI love that my husband doesn\u2019t have to mow the lawn anymore,\u201d Carolyn said with a laugh. \u201cAnd I swim every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But staying afloat financially is tough. \u201cWe\u2019re just above water,\u201d said Pete, who returned to work at AutoZone to help cover car repairs. \u201cThings cost more, and our checks stay the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinky and June, who live nearby, say things used to be better. \u201cWhen we moved in, the community was friendly. We had potlucks and helped each other,\u201d Pinky said. \u201cNow it feels like all they care about is raising the rent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rising cost of living is a common theme. \u201cWe get a raise in Social Security,\u201d said June, \u201cbut Medicare takes more. Managing the finances becomes challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the couple finds strength in the community. Pete helps organize game nights and neighborhood events. \u201cWe knock on people\u2019s doors and get them involved,\u201d he said. \u201cIt keeps us from getting depressed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with friends around, some challenges are difficult to ignore. \u201cPeople walk past us like we\u2019re invisible,\u201d Susan, a neighbor, added. \u201cIt\u2019s like seniors don\u2019t count anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do they wish young people knew? \u201cLook us in the eye,\u201d said June. \u201cWe\u2019ve lived. We\u2019ve learned. We have a lot to share.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Rachael Knopf, YourPace Student Contributor OCALA, Fla. \u2014 For many senior citizens, retirement means peace, sunshine, and slower days. For Pete and Carolyn, their neighbors Pinky and June, and their friend Susan, getting older isn\u2019t all palm trees and shuffleboard. Pete and Carolyn live in a 55+ community in Ocala, Florida. They enjoy the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":11701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7374,7376],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-news","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11700,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11699\/revisions\/11700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}