Al and Maxine Mitchener (pictured below at left) know a little something about logistics. After retiring from their first careers, the couple built on their love of world travel by starting a guided travel agency. Several times a year, they would serve as tour guides for groups of up to 50 seniors, taking them on adventures to the four corners of the Earth.
“We met a lot of wonderful people and made a lot of friends,” says Al. “But on tour, you’re working 16 hour days, from sunup to sundown.” From getting people through customs in New Zealand to managing hotel accommodations in Alaska to planning event reservations in South Africa, keeping all the details in order can be a superhuman task.
Keeping all the details straight when you’re making a big move can be just as daunting. So when the Mitcheners decided to move into a patio home at a Lutheran Senior Services community, they were only too happy to leave the details to LSS Move-In Resources.
“We worked with Ruth Jayne,” says Maxine, “and it was such a big relief to us.”
Ruth traveled to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to meet with the couple and to plot out the floor plan of their new residence. “She made a drawing of the place right down to the measurements of windows. She measured all our furniture, and helped us figure out what would fit, where we could put it…she helped us figure it all out.”
Planning the layout of their new home was just the beginning of the free services LSS Move-In Resources offers. Through in-home consultations, Ruth can help her clients decide which furniture would work best in their new living space, find ways to sell or donate unwanted furnishings, work with utility companies to transfer services smoothly, choose a moving company, and much more. She can even recommend realtors that offer significant cost savings to new LSS residents when it comes time to sell their old houses.
Serving as the Mitcheners’ tour guide for their moving experience, Ruth was with them every step of the way. “When we arrived, she was here,” Al says. “She helped the van people place the furniture. And the frosting on the cake? The movers were working over the noon hour, so Ruth brought back a delightful lunch for all of us. It’s a little thing, but when you’re working hard in a strange place, and here comes a nice lunch and a smiling face to go with it, you just have to say, ‘Wow.’”
“What impressed me most were all the little things Ruth went out of her way to do,” says Maxine. “She called us several times to make sure we had everything, right down to the shower curtain and dishwasher soap. And once we were here, she followed up very well to see if we had any questions about the community.”
From start to finish, Maxine says, “We found working with Ruth to be a very, very rewarding experience.” And with the moving process squared away quickly and easily, Al and Maxine can get back to doing what they love best – traveling the globe in search of new adventures.
To learn more about how LSS Move-In Resources works to ensure our residents’ moves are as smooth and carefree as possible, contact the senior living counselor at an LSS community near you.
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