As I prepared  to visit my mom for a couple of days, with our Erev Shabbat brisket braising in my oven and filling  the house with its fragrance,  I found myself reflecting on life in a retirement community.

My parents decided to relocate from New York to Arizona 16 years ago. The dry climate, the snow-free winters, and the proximity to my children and me provided the initial impetus for their migration. They moved into a large, beautiful house and quickly turned it into a home. They joined the local synagogue, found and frequented the nearby tennis courts, and proceeded to win and lose the same $2.00 every week at the mah jongg (mom) and pinochle (dad) tables. Life was good, and my mother often happily remarked that she felt as if she were attending a full time summer camp.

When my father (z”l) died in 2011, my parents’ friends rallied around my mom and they’ve stayed close to her. She’s made some new friends, too, and has made the best of life without her partner of almost 60 years. I take comfort in knowing that she lives in a home she loves, with routines and friends that give meaning to her days. I am glad she lives in a community where most of her health care professionals, and a hospital, are minutes away.

When I turned 50, my father began to nudge me to consider retiring and joining them in Sun City West, touted on its website as “Arizona’s Finest Golf Retirement Community.” I don’t play golf, or even tennis. Mah jongg and pinochle are not among my repertoire of diversions, although I do have many fond childhood memories of listening to my mother and her buddies move the tiles around the table while they noshed on bridge mix and other chazzery.

Leisure activities aside, the main reason I have no desire to move to Sun City West, or any other such community is probably the same reason many people who live there wouldn’t live anywhere else: there are no children there! The little ones in my life bring me much joy, and I am blessed with opportunities to watch them grow and flourish, even if I haven’t played as much of a role as I’d like to in their daily lives.

So while eternal summer camp sounds enticing on some levels, I think I will stick with short visits to my mom, and enjoy my own community for as long as I can.