The heart-warming story of two downsizers who fell in love and then started a new life together in a retirement village has prompted OverSixty.com.au and Downsizing.com.au to launch a survey about romance and friendship in over 50s communities.
David and Anthea Yates, both in their early 70s, married in February 2020 and in the same month moved from their homes in the regional centre of Waikerie to Stockland Hillsview retirement village in Happy Valley, south of Adelaide.
David and Anthea met around two years ago, after David - as a local men’s shed volunteer - helped Anthea move into her home at Waikerie. David had joined the men’s shed after the passing of his previous wife.
“It blossomed into a love affair,” said David.
The couple decided to get married, have their honeymoon and move into a retirement village - all in the same month.
David and Anthea had several reasons to make their move, including to find better weather, be closer to family, meet new friends, reduce home maintenance and simply to leave the past behind.
“We’ve both had heartaches during our lives and we needed to move away to be able to ease the hurt and the memories...not to completely forget but to ease the pain, and to start a new life together,” David said.
For Anthea, it was important that she moved closer to her daughter and grandsons, and also meet new friends in a like-minded community.
“I found that, in a small and very close community (such as Waikerie), and as someone who was a retiree who didn’t take children to school, that it was hard to meet people,” Anthea said.
“I enjoy living here in the retirement village where everyone is in a similar age group and friendly.”
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OverSixty.com.au and Downsizing.com.au have launched a survey on the subject.
