Enjoying the perks of ageing

Agnes ‘Nessie’ Morgan reckons there are some perks to being old. “I’ve worked hard all my life and now I can do what I want, when I want,” she said. And she has found the perfect place at Currie Park in Euroa, to exercise the freedom of old age.

“One of the things I really love about living at Currie Park is that I can see people and go to things and places if I want to. But if I want to stay in my apartment and sit and do my knitting or read, then that’s just okay,” Nessie said.

Nessie, 88 moved into Currie Park a decade ago. She spent the first two years in independent living and the past eight years in one of the village’s eight assisted living apartments.

“I love the wide open spaces around Euroa and the sense of openness about Currie Park. When I first moved in I lived in a unit with a view to the hills near Ruffy where I used to live. It was lovely,” Nessie said.

While Nessie may choose to stay at home when she pleases, there seems to be many reasons that she heads out a few times each week, including the weekly shopping trip for all the assisted living apartments, where a cooked lunch and light evening meal are provided. Lunch is served in the communal dining room and the evening meal is delivered to her door.

Each week she joins a staff member, Jenny, and the two head out to do the weekly shop-up. She enjoys the company and feels that assisting with the shopping is her way of contributing to the village community.

“I feel like I am giving something back to the place by helping out and I really enjoy it. I also help with the folding and ironing of the washed tea towels and serviettes. It’s something that I want to do for as long as I can,” Nessie said.

A few times a week Nessie fires up her electronic scooter and heads into Euroa’s town centre along the designated path. The 15-minute ride gets her out and affords her a glance up to the hills and the Strathbogie Ranges.

Most weeks she heads to the second-hand book shop and trades in a pile of just read books for another collection. Reading and knitting are her great companions when at home.

“I have loved reading my whole life and I read every night for a while when I go to bed,” she said.

Nessie knits throughout the year for the CWA, which donates knitted clothing to disadvantaged children. It’s a pastime she took up when she was 14 and old habits are hard to break especially if you are able to read and knit at the same time.

Each month she also joins friends at the regular Probus club meetings to hear a guest speaker or go on an outing.

Nessie has four sons who she keeps in touch with regularly. One son lives in nearby Violet Town. The others are further away, but there’s always cause for a catch-up including a grand-daughter’s wedding in Albury in October.

“There are a lot of wonderful activities to go to here. But I don’t go to that much. I talk to everybody in the place and I love living here. And I get to do what I want.”