Resident Spotlight: Ed Larson

Longtime Sagewood Resident and now, Desert Willow Assisted Living Resident, Ed Larson, still believes more than a decade later, that his move to Sagewood was one of the best decisions he has made throughout his life. Ed moved into Sagewood Independent Living with his wife, Doris, in 2010 on just the second day the community opened its doors. He says while things change year from year, the faces at the community have remained consistently friendly and welcoming.

With Phase II of the Sagewood Independent Living community opening soon, Ed has watched the campus expand as time has passed, but the closeness and dedicated personal care by staff has remained the same. Ed is excited to meet the new residents that are part of the next phase and has complimented the staff on the way they have navigated through the pandemic over the last year, showing their care by making the vaccines quickly available to the community.

After spending several years in independent living and leading at Sagewood as the first Resident Council President, Ed elected to move to Desert Willow Assisted Living & Memory Care where he again took up a leadership position as Resident Council President at Desert Willow. The move to Desert Willow was for more day-to-day care, primarily for his wife, but he too needed more help managing his diabetes, too. He was very relieved to receive the extra help for Doris, but he also welcomed the modest support and care for his own needs. Doris has since passed away, but Ed continues to thrive while enjoying multiple friendships with his neighbors and also appreciates the daily support he receives from the care staff at Desert Willow Assisted Living. This daily assistance is helping him to stay independent longer as he continues to enjoy a healthy lifestyle at Desert Willow. He is even the President of the Resident Counsel and proudly represents his fellow neighbors at Desert Willow Assisted Living.

His private residence is spacious in the Desert Willow neighborhood, where his care is managed by an outstanding group that show their expertise in assisted living. Ed was thrilled at how easy the transition was from independent living to assisted living, with the help of his family and the wonderful staff at Desert Willow.

Ed’s story of growing with the community has highlighted the importance of continuous care within senior living communities. The constant changes of aging require special care for making adjustments and having access to resources and equipment. Ed complimented the integrative team at Sagewood who have made the transition easy for him to navigate.