Meet Rich and Sandy Miller 56 years, and counting, of fun together.
This July marks 56 active and enjoyable years for Rich and Sandy Miller. “We still have fun together,” exclaims Sandy. They first met at a fraternity/sorority social mixer on the campus of Penn State in Pennsylvania’s Happy Valley.
They eventually settled in Rochester, New York. Rich worked in sales and marketing for Eastman Kodak Company and Sandy was a nurse for 30 years.
Sandy did everything from surgery center design, purchasing equipment, to hiring physicians for the center, assisting with surgeries and seeing the surgery center to its successful operation.
When it came to talking about Rich’s time at Kodak, Sandy noted that he went to several Olympics and also worked with Disney and the LPGA. They also worked at the New York World’s Fair for 6 months in 1965.
Together, Rich and Sandy have three boys, with the last two being twins. They also have five grandchildren who are all boys. “We have a hard time having girls in this family,” noted Rich.
Family is the reason we chose Athens.
Most recently, Rich and Sandy lived an hour east of Charlotte, North Carolina. In preparation for their move to Presbyterian Village, they recently settled down in an Athens-area apartment. “By moving here, we are closer to one of our sons, daughter-in-law and two of our grandsons.”
When it came to choosing Presbyterian Village, the continuum of care was an important factor. “We’ve both taken care of our parents but I didn’t want our kids to have to take care of us,” said Sandy. “Moving to Presbyterian Village takes care of all that.”
Our excitement is building.
When they first started considering senior living communities, Sandy says the choice was clear. “We have 17 friends who live in Life Plan Communities and they all love it. When we started looking around at communities, we saw that Presbyterian Homes of Georgia was building a new community in Athens, so we put down our deposit in the fall of 2016.”
Rich adds, “Before we moved to Athens, we looked forward to the monthly drone flyovers of the construction progress.”
Sandy continues, “Now that we’re here, we’re blown away by how beautiful the Village is. We can drive by and see our house and we’re getting really excited to move.”
Rich is looking forward to making the move too, “I’ve been playing quite a bit of tennis. The community will have pickleball, and I’m looking forward to learning how to play it.”
Sandy adds, “I’m going to enjoy the pool, the walking trails and the personal gardens. I love to garden. We’ll have new friends. We’re both athletic and we can take courses at the University of Georgia. Plus, we’ll have an opportunity to volunteer. I look forward to giving back. I think it’s important. The Village really has everything to offer to us.”
What advice would they offer to friends and family?
As their move-in date approaches, Rich and Sandy have fielded more questions from their friends. Rich says, “Some of them want to know how far along we are in the process, and many times they say they also need to make a plan for the future. I think more of our friends are starting to think about what they’re going to do.”
“I also tell them everything we know about The Village and how everyone we’ve touched base with is strong and positive. The word ‘Presbyterian’ to us is pretty solid. I was raised Presbyterian and Sandy was raised Methodist,” Rich continues.
Sandy sums it up this way: “The social aspect is probably the most important. With all the activities available we will be participating in many of them. We look forward to meeting all of you.”
