Assisted Living Facilities in San Clemente, California

"The voice of Assisted Living" Phone: 916.448.1900

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(866) 333-6550

Who we work with & why

Assisted Living Tidbits

Personal reflections and memories of San Clemente, and why it is such a wonderful place to live!

I have been visiting San Clemente since the early 1970's. I remember feeling the sand on the beach getting caught between my 10 little toes before I had as many words in my vocabulary.

Now that I am 'grown' - San Clemente still retains all of it's magic and draw as it ever has. It hasn't changed much over the years. When we visit San Clemente nowadays, I have my wife and our 6-year old son in-tow, which is somewhat of a 'circle of life' feeling. We stay in the same place as we always have (a condo that is generously 'donated' to us for a week each year by my wonderful aunt and uncle), and we still take evening walks up Del Mar street. Nothing really jumps out at me that is 'different' and there are really no obvious signs that San Clemente has grown much. These are all good things.

I notice some of these "same" things a little differently now. The library, on Del Mar street looks the same as it always has, but I notice something peculiar about the sign out front. The sign prominently displays "Senior Center" above the verbiage/sign that says "County of Orange San Clemente Library." Maybe this is a small reflection on the values and demographics of San Clemente. Of course, there are an abundance of younger folks, but seniors are very prominent, visible, and active here. It's sure nice to see.

This past year, my wife and I brought my mother-in-law to San Clemente with us. She is in her 80's, and had just gotten over fighting Cancer, and seemed to be winning. Seeing her on her beach, with her scarf covering her bald head, walking on the beach in her bare feet (she was reading a book called 'Earthing' that discusses the benefits of walking in bare feet), we thought that she truly had crossed back into being healthy, and happy again. Introducing her to San Clemente was truly magical.

Unfortunately, not long after she returned home (back east), her health took a turn for the worse, and she has been in a nursing home ever since (she was too ill to go into assisted living, so she went straight from the hospital to a nursing facility). Her point of positive reference now is 'getting back to the beach' - and she brings this up almost every time we talk. San Clemente has offered her a goal, and a reason to keep going. We hope that we can see her back there sometime in the future - healthy again, and "Earthing" her way back through the magic of San Clemente.

San Clemente, of all of the places I have ever been, is one of the few places that I can visit, and leave with a sense of renewal, and better perspective on life. I have been on vacations to many other places in the world, and often times, at the end of the vacation, I am ready to leave, and I am tired. Not so with San Clemente. When vacation comes to a close here, I am refreshed, calmer, and saddened that I have to leave

My wife and I are actively discussing retiring here when that day comes. We've always been "mountain people" but we can easily imagine transitioning to being 'senior beachcombers' when our golden years finally arrive.