When Joyce Kessler was making the move to a retirement community, it was not an instant process. After visiting five different communities, she found that something important to her was lacking in each one. But when she decided to take a look at Walnut Village upon the recommendation of a friend, everything changed.

“From the moment I pulled into the driveway, I had a very warm feeling,” she said. “Even the exterior was very friendly, and it was exactly what I was looking for – a smaller, intimate community where I felt like I would get to know most people.”

Now that Joyce has made Walnut Village her home, she is free to pursue one of her biggest passions: traveling. Joyce feels that her love for traveling has gotten stronger since living at Walnut Village because it gives her the freedom to be able to leave the community and know that her household is being well cared for.

“I know that when I come back it’s going to be the same as I left it … but cleaner!” she laughed. She travels one week every month, noting that her favorite place she’s visited is “the next one!” And at Walnut Village she has the option of traveling with her fellow residents to destinations far and wide, all organized by the community’s Life Enrichment department.

Despite her jet-setting hobby, Joyce knows that coming home to Walnut Village means she’ll be able to enjoy one of her favorite aspects of the community: the residents. She finds the friendliness and acceptance of the residents to be outstanding. “It’s a melting pot of different people of different backgrounds, and I can relate to many of them,” Joyce said.

Joyce has also helped share a part of her culture with her fellow residents. She is very involved with her temple and was instrumental in having Rabbi Miriam from Temple Beth Tikvah host Walnut Village’s menorah lighting on the sixth night of Chanukah. “I was the one who contacted her,” Joyce said. “She is a friend of probably 45 years. We went to Israel together, so we go way back.”

Aside from making friends in her community, Joyce finds time to reconnect with her neighbors from her previous residence by playing mahjong. And at Walnut Village, she enjoys her duties as volunteer “block captain” of the community’s Earthquake Committee. She loves all that Walnut Village has to offer, including the wonderful food and desserts.

For those debating whether to move to Walnut Village, Joyce has just two words of advice: Don’t Wait. “Do it the minute you feel that you need to make a change in your life. This is a marvelous community and you can make it what you want,” she affirmed, noting that you can be as busy as you want or as solitary as you want. “The choice is yours.”