As my wife and I grow older and gradually a little less mobile, less vigorous, less able to cope with the physical responsibilities of maintaining the home and grounds, we have been toying with the idea of buying or moving into a retirement home.

I spend quite a bit of time on the Internet and, browsing the subject, found that two groups of people — the very well-to-do and those whose financial resources are exhausted — have facilities available to them should they become age-disabled. Until the last few years, those in the middle class were sort of up against it.

So what do we do when we get to the point that we don’t have the energy, or the strength, to perform all the chores required to maintain the home, the yard, the garden, do the shopping, go out to dinner, etc.? I thought back to my mother. She insisted on staying in her own home where she needed, and could afford, home care; but where she — formerly a very sociable lady — was isolated and lonely.

Had there been a decent facility in Kodiak, her last 10 years could have been much more pleasant!

With these thoughts in mind, I spent some time investigating retirement housing on a visit to Anchorage a few months ago and found a retirement condominium on Muldoon Road.

It was a Saturday, but the manager was in and took the time to show me the apartments (one to three bedrooms), the large, attractive dining room with its grand piano, the game room with pool table, the exercise room, the shop, the library and the lounge. Apartments could be purchased, when available, by buying the owner’s equity and assuming the payments plus a small monthly management and maintenance fee. There were public laundry facilities or owners could have their own washer and dryer if desired. It looked really nice, but it wasn’t in Kodiak!

Then, out of the blue, came a weekend conference on what is called senior cohousing. This might be thought of as neighborhood housing in that each resident owns (or rents) their own space (cottage or apartment) and shares common facilities, such as dining rooms, workrooms, card rooms, meeting rooms, entertainment facilities, etc. This is relatively new in Alaska, but there are a number of projects Outside, each adapted by consensus to the needs of the founding group.

I’m sure there must be others in Kodiak who, like my wife and I, anticipate some real limitations in their older years, and would like to live where they can enjoy life without too many responsibilities and where they can socialize easily when they want to.

Anyone interested should check out a book by Charles Durrett, titled “Senior Cohousing,” or check the Internet Web site, http://seniorcohousing.com, and get ready to join the rest of us who want to see such a facility in Kodiak in the next few years.

Funding is available if there are enough of us who want it and we come up with a good plan.