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Looking Back And Looking Forward

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 14, 2009

When the "powers that be" at Brookdale Senior Living Corporation created their company theme for 2009 they must have had Freedom Plaza in mind, for the chosen motif of Dream! Dare! Discover! fits to a tee. It was on those very premises that Freedom Plaza came into being.

In the 1980s, a small group of retired military officers sat and dreamed, scribbling numbers and drawings on paper napkins. Then they dared to put time, effort and resources into making their dream a reality, and Freedom Plaza, surpassed all their expectations.

The succeeding management groups of Freedom Plaza and the residents have continued to dream, dare and discover.

For instance: one of the first big social events after Freedom Plaza opened in 1992 was an Oktoberfest. Enthused by that party, residents dreamed of celebrating "the world's biggest beer bash" in the city of its origin, Munich, Germany. Twenty of them dared to embark on the journey and, though most had been to Europe before, they discovered new delights, such as lodging in castle hotels and joining in a village wine fest.

Yet another group of Freedom Plaza residents, its Opera Club members, dreamed of seeing performances in European opera houses. They dared to act when the opportunity was presented, and discovered the thrill of watching Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" in the same theater in Prague in which he once conducted it.

Closer to home, Freedom Plaza residents dreamed of an in-house computer center and instructional classes; of a continuing education program such as Grad School for Seniors; of pickle ball and bocce ball courts; of their own literary publication, "The Word." They dared to put their knowledge and energy into helping those dreams to come about and have discovered the difference those added pleasures make in their lives.

So Freedom Plaza residents will continue to dream in this new year of 2009. Encouraged by management personnel and supported by its resources they will dare to step out and grasp the possibilities of those dreams, and they will discover, anew, that life -- even with its limitations -- is a wondrous gift to be embraced, appreciated and enjoyed.

Peggy Burgess is a creative consultant with Freedom Plaza.

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