Residents at Windham Terrace Assisted Living Remind Others of the Importance of Friendship

When going through life, it is often our friendships that keep us going through the good times and the bad. Many studies have even shown the benefits of friendship on one’s emotional and physical well-being. Because of the many changes that seniors face as they age, friendship is very important for older people. In many cases, friends are just as important as family. That’s why eight years ago when Arthur Rother and Ralph Herzog met, they both knew they had found someone they could count on in the years ahead. Rother and Herzog, both residents of Windham Terrace Assisted Living, met when living in an independent living community, bonding over shared experiences and interests while living just down the hall from one another. As the years have gone by, little has changed when it comes to their friendship. Both still take turns walking down the hall each morning to knock on the door to get the day and its adventures started. The friendship has given them each something to look forward to each day, and someone to talk and share with.

“Arthur is a pretty good guy,” said Herzog. “I can’t really imagine what I would do without him since we do pretty much everything together. I’ve known him for so long now it feels like he’s my brother and just another extension of my family.”

Before the friends moved into Windham Terrace themselves, Herzog would travel with Rother for his weekly trips to Windham Terrace to visit his wife, Rita. Because Rother had experienced a series of small strokes that placed a strain on his eyesight, Herzog became his navigator to make sure he made it safely to and from the community to visit Rita. Additionally, the pair made plenty of trips out to Big Island Pond to take in the sights and boats in the area.

“I’d be driving down the road and Ralph would yell at me to make sure I stayed in my lane,” laughed Rother. “I could never have made those trips to see Rita without him. I’m very fortunate to have him around, he gives me plenty of trouble on a daily basis, and we do what we can to keep each other on our toes. Our friendship happened naturally, just like it does when you’re a kid. That doesn’t happen very often in life, and we’ve been lucky to stay friends.”

After Rother’s wife passed and his own health became more of a concern, he made the decision to make Windham Terrace the place to call home. While moving meant he had to say goodbye to his best friend for a while, fate would have it that after a few months Herzog also made the move to Windham Terrace. Before the friends knew it, they were right back to living down the hall from one another, and the rest is history. Between meals, the occasional exercise class and a cocktail hour or two, one doesn’t have to look far to find Herzog and Rother, rarely without the other. The pair say that they are happy to have a friend to keep them company, that life would be a bit lonely on their own and that it’s important to have friends.

“Its stories like Arthur and Ralph’s that remind me how fortunate I am to have the friends I do in my own life,” said Lynda Brislin, executive director of Windham Terrace. “As we go through life’s many journeys, it’s important to have people alongside us that make it enjoyable. As we age it becomes even more important to find those who will stick by us through the good and the bad. We hope that Arthur and Ralph can be an inspiration to other seniors and encourage them to spark new friendships instead of going through life on their own. Windham Terrace is dedicated to ensuring that our residents have every opportunity to meet and get to know others and form new relationships.”